1.
Hofburg
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The Hofburg is the former imperial palace in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was the principal winter residence, as Schönbrunn Palace was the summer residence. Since 1279 the Hofburg area has been the seat of government. The Hofburg has been expanded over the centuries to various residences, the imperial chapel, the imperial library, the treasury, the Burgtheater, the Spanish Riding School. The palace faces the Heldenplatz ordered under the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph I, as part of what was planned to become the Kaiserforum, the name translates as Royal Castle, which denotes its origins when it was initially constructed during the Medieval Age. Initially constructed as the seat of the Dukes of Austria in the 13th century, from 1438 to 1583 and from 1612 to 1806, it was the seat of the Habsburg kings and emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, thereafter the seat of the Emperor of Austria until 1918. It has continued its role as the seat of the head of state and is used by the Austrian Federal President. It is also the permanent conference seat of the Organization for Security, presently the Burghauptmannschaft is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Economy. In September 1958 parts of the Hofburg were opened to the public as a convention centre, in the first ten years the Burghauptmannschaft operated the convention centre, since 1969 a private company has been managing the international congress and events center. Every year the centre hosts about 300 to 350 events with around 300,000 to 320,000 guests. Among the events are conventions and meetings as well as banquets, trade fairs, concerts, the oldest sections originate from the 13th century and were primarily constructed by the last of the Babenbergers or by Ottakar II of Bohemia. Previously the castle of the Austrian rulers had been located on the square called Am Hof, the castle had a square-shaped outline with four turrets, surrounded by a moat and a drawbridge that led to the inside. These oldest sections of the castle form the Swiss Court. There situated are a chapel, from the 15th century, and the treasury, which holds, among other objects, the imperial insignia of the Holy Roman Empire. The Court Music Chapel is located in the Court Chapel and this is where the Vienna Boys Choir traditionally sing for Sunday mass. The appearance of the Swiss Court was given during the reign of Emperor Ferdinand I during the Renaissance, the entry Swiss Gate displays the many titles of Emperor Ferdinand I and the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece painted on the ceiling. An adjoining section of the Swiss Wing houses the Radetzky Apartments, next to the Knights Hall is the Guard Room, where the duty officer of the Household Guards kept watch over the emperor. The lower section of this wing once accommodated the imperial kitchen, although not physically connected to the rest of the complex, the imperial mews of the Hofburg were originally built as a residence for the then crown prince Maximilian II
2.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
3.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
4.
ORF (broadcaster)
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Österreichischer Rundfunk is the Austrian national public service broadcaster. Funded from a combination of television licence fee revenue and limited on-air advertising, austria was the last country in continental Europe after Albania to allow nationwide private television broadcasting. September 2, it aired a first broadcast address by Austrian President Michael Hainisch, one year later, a powerful transmitter, designed by the German Telefunken company, was installed on the roof of the former War Ministry building on Ringstraße in central Vienna. Regular transmissions began on 1 October 1924 from provisional studios inside the War Ministry building that were to become known as Radio Wien, by the end of October 1924 it already had 30,000 listeners, and by January 1925100,000. Relay transmitters, established across the country by 1934, ensured that all Austrians could listen to Radio Wien at a fee of two schillings. Radio programmes aimed at an audience, featuring classical music, literature. First live radio broadcasts aired in 1925, transmitted from the Vienna State Opera, on the other hand, news broadcasts only played a minor part out of deference to the Austrian press and the neutralism policy of the federal government. Nevertheless, also regular sportcasts began 1928 and in 1930 the Austrian legislative election was comprehensively covered, at that time, RAVAG registered about 500,000 listeners, having become a mass medium. One of the last RAVAG transmissions was Schuschniggs farewell address on March 11, in 1939, the former RAVAG transmission facilities were taken over by the German Reichspost. In World War II, listening to Feindsender became an offence, however. Reichssender Wien transmissions were important for strategic bombing alerts, the Funkhaus broadcasting centre itself was damaged by Allied bombs in January and February 1945, followed by the Red Army Vienna Offensive. Reichssender Wien last aired 6 April, before retiring SS troops blew up the Bisamberg transmitter, the RAVAG transmissions limited to the East Austrian Soviet occupation zone, and in the beginning Cold War era were increasingly considered Communist propaganda broadcasting. A number of radio stations began broadcasting in the different occupation zones and radio become a popular medium among Austrians. The Western Allies could operate their programmes nationwide from Vienna, with a higher popularity rating than the outdated RAVAG transmissions. In 1955, the regional stations were brought together as the Österreichisches Rundspruchwesen which later, in 1958, became the Österreichischer Rundfunk GmbH. All of ORFs domestic radio channels are also streamed over the internet, a version of Ö1 is broadcast internationally via short wave as Ö1 International. Its schedule includes a number of programmes in English and Spanish. An additional service, Radio 1476, formerly broadcast on medium wave each evening from 18.00 until just after midnight and its schedule was a mixture of items from Ö1, programmes for linguistic and cultural minorities, folk music, and special productions
5.
Vienna Boys' Choir
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The Vienna Boys Choir or Vienna Choir Boys is a choir of boy sopranos and altos based in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the best known choirs in the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also many other countries. The choir is a private, not-for-profit organization, there are approximately 100 choristers between the ages of ten and fourteen. The boys are divided into four touring choirs, named after Austrian composers Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert, each group tours for about nine to eleven weeks. Some pieces include Good Morning and Merry Christmas from Vienna Boys, the choir is the modern-day descendant of the boys choirs of the Viennese Court, dating back to the late Middle Ages. The choir was, for practical purposes, established by a letter from Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg on 30 June 1498, instructing court officials to employ a singing master, jurij Slatkonja became the director of the ensemble. The role of the choir was to musical accompaniment for the church mass. Over the centuries, the choir has worked with composers, including Heinrich Isaac, Hofhaimer, Biber, Fux, Caldara, Gluck, Salieri, Mozart, Franz Schubert. In 1920, following the fall of the Austrian Empire, the Hofkapelle was disbanded, however, the rector at the time, Josef Schnitt, sought a continuation of the tradition. In 1924, the Vienna Boys Choir was officially founded, the choir adopted the now-famous blue and white sailor suit, replacing the imperial military cadet uniform that included a dagger. The composer HK Gruber is one of the graduates of the reformed choir, since 1948, the Palais Augarten has served as their rehearsal venue and boarding school, which goes from kindergarten level up to middle school level. In 1961, Walt Disney filmed Almost Angels, a drama about the Vienna Boys Choir, set. Gerald Wirth became the artistic director in 2001. However, since then, the choir has come under pressure to modernize and has faced criticism of their musical standards, the choir has for the first time had to advertise for recruits after a rival choir school was established by Ioan Holender, director of the opera company. He complained of both falling standards and poor communication with the choir and he said that the State Opera sometimes trained boys for particular stage roles, only to find out on the day of performance that they were unavailable as they had gone on tour with the choir. Some boys were attracted to the choir school by the prospect of a more relaxed atmosphere. After Eugen Jesser died in May 2008, Walter Nettig became the choirs president, gerald Wirth has been the artistic director since 2001, and he also became the choirs president in 2013
6.
Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Denmark has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 45 times since its debut in 1957. Having competed in ten consecutive contests until 1966, Denmark was absent for eleven consecutive contests from 1967-1977, since 1978, they have been absent from only four contests. Denmark has won the contest three times, the Danish qualifying competition for the contest is the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler placed third at the countrys first attempt in 1957, Denmark then won the contest for the first time in 1963 with the song Dansevise performed by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann. The country would not return to the top five for over twenty years, Hot Eyes then finished third in 1988, as did Birthe Kjær in 1989. In the 1990s, due to performances in the previous years. They did make the top ten three times, with Aud Wilkens fifth place in 1995 being Denmarks only top five result of the decade, the second Danish victory came in 2000, with the Olsen Brothers defying the odds to win with Fly on the Wings of Love. In 2001, as hosts, Denmark finished second with Never Ever Let You Go performed by Rollo & King, in 2002, Malene Mortensen became the first Danish entry to finish last. Denmark were absent from the 2003 contest, in 2005, Copenhagen hosted Congratulations,50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary. Denmark achieved its best result for nine years at the 2010 contest, a Friend in London then finished fifth in 2011. Denmark won the contest for the time in 2013, with Only Teardrops performed by Emmelie de Forest receiving Denmarks highest ever score with 281 points. Denmark has placed in the top five a total of 14 times and has a score of 65.261 points. Denmark first participated at the Eurovision Song Contest 1957, held in Frankfurt, the country had intended to compete at the first contest in 1956, but had submitted its application past the deadline and was, therefore, not allowed to compete. Denmark was the first Nordic country to take part in the contest, with Sweden, Norway, iceland, however, did not take part until 1986. Denmarks first participants were Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler, who sang the song Skibet skal sejle i nat and their performance was controversial as, at the end of the song, the couple performed an 11-second kiss, which caused outcry in some countries. Nevertheless, the performance achieved a respectable 3rd place, Denmark won the contest for the first time in 1963, when Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann sang Dansevise. When Norway announced its votes, the presenter Katie Boyle could not hear the spokesperson, the final result was valid and the victory went to Denmark. Accordingly, in 1964, the contest was held in Denmark for the first time, after the 1966 contest and a record low 14th place, Denmark withdrew from the contest, as DR´s new head of entertainment Niels Jørgen Kaiser did not view the contest as being quality entertainment
7.
Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests, in 1995,1999,2001 and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956, and won it themselves, Switzerland won the contest again in 1988. Lys Assia won the very first contest in Lugano in 1956 with the song Refrain and she returned to place second in 1958. In 1993, Annie Cotton gave the country its eighth top three result, when she placed third, in the 21st century, Switzerland has only once reached the top ten, in 2005 with the girl band Vanilla Ninja finishing eighth. Since the introduction of the round in 2004, Switzerland has failed to qualify for the final nine times. At the 2014 contest, Sebalter gave the country its second best result of the century, Switzerland had been absent from Eurovision four times since their participation began in the first contest. These absences, in 1995,1999,2001 and 2003 were caused by poor results in previous contests that relegated Switzerland from the contest, Switzerland has four official languages, French, German, Italian, and Romansh. For decades, the requirements stated that the song had to be performed in a national language. Out of their 55 appearances in the Contest, Switzerland has sent 52 songs,24 of which were in French,12 in German, nine in Italian, nine in English, both of Switzerlands winning songs have been sung in French. ^ The full results for the first contest in 1956 are unknown, the official Eurovision site lists all the other songs as being placed second. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example, Germany and France placed inside the top ten, as of 2016, Switzerlands voting history is as follows, Over the years Switzerland has broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest on three television stations, SRF, RTS and RSI. Table key Points to and from Switzerland eurovisioncovers. co. uk
8.
Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Austria has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 49 times since its debut in 1957. The country has won twice, in 1966, with the song Merci Chérie by Udo Jürgens, Austria currently holds the record for longest gap between wins, with 48 years between victories. Austria finished last at its first attempt in the contest in 1957, before Liane Augustin gave the country its first top five result in 1958, having finished sixth in 1964 and fourth in 1965, Udo Jürgens won the contest at his third attempt in 1966. This would be Austrias only top three result of 20th century, the countrys best result over the next 46 years would be fifth place, which it achieved with Milestones in 1972, Waterloo & Robinson in 1976 and Thomas Forstner in 1989. Austria has finished last in the final a total of seven times, the country also finished last in the semi-final in 2012. After a three-year absence, ORF announced on 28 July 2010 that Austria would return to the contest in 2011, because of this, Austria became the first host country to receive nul points. Austria has opted out of participation in several Contests, the first of these was the 1969 Contest, which was staged in Madrid. As Spain was ruled at that time by Francisco Franco, Austria chose to boycott the Contest, the following year, Austria was again absent. This was due to the result in 1969 in which four songs tied for first place. From 1973 to 1975, Austria stayed away as well, the exact reason for this is unclear, however the scoring system in use at one of these Contests - allowing all entrants a guaranteed number of points - may have been a factor. The country was ineligible to compete in 1998 and 2001, as it had not achieved high placings in the five previous years. They returned for the 2007 contest in Helsinki, but came second to last in the semi-final, despite withdrawing, the final of the 2008 contest was screened on ORF. ORF decided not to participate in the 2009 contest, but did broadcast the final as in 2008, the EBU announced that they would work harder to bring Austria back to the contest in 2010, along with former participants Monaco and Italy. It was, however, confirmed that Austria would not participate in the 2010 Contest in Oslo, in July 2010, the chairman of ORF, Alexander Wrabetz, stated that Austria would return for the 2011 contest, due to it being held in its neighbour Germany. In 2011, Austria reached the final for the first time since 2004, ^ Specifically Styrian, a Southern Bavarian dialect spoken in Styria. ^ Specifically Mühlviertlerisch, a Central Bavarian dialect spoken in Upper Austria, ^ While Austria and Germany both finished with no points, Austria is listed as finishing ahead of Germany due to the tiebreaker rule that favours the song performed earliest in the running order. Therefore, Germany finished in 27th place, with Austria in 26th, if a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition, back in 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the finals the following year
9.
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 50 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordis Hard Rock Hallelujah, previously, its best showing was Marion Rung’s song Tom Tom Tom in 1973, which was placed 6th. Finland has finished last in the contest ten times, receiving nul points in 1963,1965 and 1982, since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final six times. In 2014, the country had its best result for eight years when Softengine finished 11th, in 2015 Finland finished last in Semi Final One with the shortest ever Eurovision entry Aina mun pitää that only lasts 1 minute and 25 seconds by PKN. Before the 2006 victory, Finland was considered by many as the ultimate under-achiever of Eurovision, prior to its triumph, it had placed last a total of eight times, once with nul points after the introduction of the current scoring method. Finlands entry in 1982, Nuku pommiin by Kojo, was one of fifteen songs since the modern scoring system was instituted in 1975 to earn no points. Due to low results, Finland was excluded from the contest in 1995,1997,1999,2001 and 2003, in 2006, Finland won with The band Lordi and its song Hard Rock Hallelujah, an entry different from the mainstream Europop that dominated the competition. The song broke records scoring the highest number of points in Eurovision Song Contest history. The record was broken by Norway in 2009. All of Finlands entries were in English between 1973 and 1976 and again since 2000, both of these periods allowed submissions in any language, two entries,1990 and 2012, were in Swedish, which is an official language in Finland alongside Finnish. All of Finlands other songs have been in Finnish, in voting patterns, Finland has traditionally supported and been supported by the other Nordic countries. In recent years also the Baltic nations, such as Estonia and Latvia have been favoured by Finland, and the other way around. In 2004, Finlands first-place vote went to Sweden, in 2005, it contributed 12 points to Norway, in 2006, it was Russias turn to get the 12 points, but it was Serbia who got their top score in 2007. The first time in Eurovision history that Sweden gave Finland 12 points was in 2006 for Lordis song Hard Rock Hallelujah, in 2007, they repeated this, giving 12 points to Hanna Pakarinen with Leave Me Alone. Finland has also given notably high points to Italy, a country that had not competed in various periods, especially from 1998 to 2010, ^ In 2009, Finland qualified through the back-up jury selection. If a country had won the year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
10.
Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Portugal has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 48 times since its debut in the 1964 contest. Since then it has missed five contests,1970,2000,2002,2013 and 2016, Portugal has yet to win the contest and holds the record for most appearances in the contest without a win. In fact, the country has yet to reach the top five of any contest, the contest is broadcast in Portugal by Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Portugals debut entry was António Calvário with Oração, it was not a successful debut for the country, with Calvário coming last in the contest. Since then Portugal has come last on two occasions, in 1974, when Paulo de Carvalho sang E depois do adeus. Prior to Moniz finishing sixth in 1996, Portugals best result in the contest was two seventh-place finishes, for Carlos Mendes in 1972 and José Cid in 1980,1996 remains the last time that Portugal reached the top ten. Despite having some really weak results the 90s were the most successful decade for the country reaching the top 10 four times, Portugal had admission to take part in the 2000 and 2002 contest but refused. Its place was taken by Latvia both times, which ended up winning the contest in the latter year, since semi-finals were introduced in 2004, Portugal has failed to reach the final eight times, including from 2004 to 2007. The country did reach the final from 2008 to 2010, in 2008, Vânia Fernandes finished 13th with the song Senhora do Mar, Portugals best outcome since 1998. As of 2016,2010 remains the last time Portugal participated in the Eurovision final, having failed to qualify from the four more times. Portugal has been absent from five contests since their first participation, the countrys first absence was in 1970 where Portugal, along with four other countries, boycotted the contest due to the result of the previous year, when four countries were announced the winner. Portugal missed the 2000 contest due to their poor results over the past five years. Despite being eligible to enter the 2002 contest, RTP declined to enter, the fourth absence was in 2013, when Portugal didnt participate for financial reasons. The fifth absence was in 2016, Festival da Canção is the Portuguese national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, organized by RTP, and is normally held in February/March of the year of the contest. It is one of the longest-running Eurovision selection methods, previously a number of regional juries selected the winner, however recently the winner has been selected through televoting. In 2009 and 2010, a 50-50 system between district juries and televote has been used. In the years when Portugal was absent from the contest, the Festival da Canção hasnt been held and it is worth noticing that three out of five times that Portugal was absent the contest was held in Sweden. Table key NOTE, If a country had won the previous year, in addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year
11.
Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest
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The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is selected by a positional voting system. Each country awards two sets of 12,10, 8–1 points to their 10 favourite songs, one from their professional jury, the current system has been in place since 2016. In 2003, Eircoms telephone polling system malfunction, irish broadcaster RTÉ did not receive the polling results from Eircom in time, and substituted votes by a panel of judges. Between 1997 and 2003, lines were opened to the public for five minutes after the performance. Between 2004 and 2006 the lines were opened for 10 minutes, in 2010 viewers were allowed to vote during the performances, but this was rescinded for the 2012 contest. The BBC contacted regional juries by telephone to choose the 1956 winners, and this method continued to be used until 1993. The following year saw the first satellite linkup to juries, to announce the votes, the contests presenters connect by satellite to each country in turn and inviting a spokesperson to read the countrys votes in French or English. The presenters originally repeated the votes in both languages, but since 2004 the votes have been translated due to time constraints, the scoreboard displays the number of points each country has received and, since 2008, a progress bar indicating the number of countries which have voted. Note The most-used voting system was last used for the 1969 contest and this system was used from 1957 to 1961 and from 1967 to 1969. Ten jurors in each country each cast one vote for their favourite song, in 1969 this resulted in a four-way tie for first place, with no tie-breaking procedure. A second round of voting in the event of a tie was introduced to this system the following year, from 1962 to 1966, a voting system similar to the current one was used. With the latter system, a country could choose to give points to two instead of three, in 1965, Belgium awarded the United Kingdom six points and Italy three. Although it was possible to one country nine points, this never occurred. The 1971,1972, and 1973 contests saw the jurors in vision for the first time, each country was represented by two jurors, one older than 25 and one younger, with at least ten years difference in their ages. Each juror gave a minimum of one point and a maximum of five points to each song, in 1974 the previous system of ten jurors was used, and the following year the current system was introduced. Spokespeople were next seen on screen in 1994 with a link to the venue. The 2004 contest had its first semifinal, with a change in voting. This resulted in Ukraines Ruslana finishing first, with a record 280 points, to date, non-qualifying countries are still allowed to vote in the final
12.
Puppet on a String
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Puppet on a String is the name of the Eurovision Song Contest-winning song in 1967 by British singer Sandie Shaw. It was her thirteenth UK single release, the song was a UK Singles Chart number one hit on 27 April 1967, staying at the top for a total of three weeks. Al Hirt released a version of the song in 1967 that went to number 18 on the Adult Contemporary chart, Shaw had originally performed the song as one of five prospective numbers to represent the United Kingdom in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest on The Rolf Harris Show. She had never been taken with the idea of taking part in the contest but her discoverer, Adam Faith, had talked her into it, of the five songs performed, Puppet on a String was Shaws least favourite. In her own words I hated it from the very first oompah to the final bang on the big bass drum, I was instinctively repelled by its sexist drivel and cuckoo-clock tune. As a result, Puppet on a String became her third Number One hit in the UK and was a big worldwide smash, Shaw also recorded Puppet on a String in French, Italian, Spanish, and German. Shaw re-recorded Puppet on a String in early 2007 in honour of her 60th birthday and this took place after Shaw visited her friend, musician Howard Jones, and found him playing some chords on his keyboard and humming a melody. He encouraged her to continue the melody and before long she realised that it was in fact Puppet on a String and they recorded the new, slow-tempo electronic version of the song and sent it to producer/mixer Andy Gray who put the final touches on the song. Shaw stated that she loved the new version and released it exclusively for download from her. It was available for download for sixty days. As a result of its popularity, Shaw continued to put out new songs on her website for download for the months of her 61st year. The song was covered in over 200 versions in over 30 languages, Norwegian, In 1967 Bente Aaseth released the single Sprellemann on His Masters Voice. The Norwegian lyrics were written by Juul Hansen, portuguese, In 1967 by Simone de Oliveira released her version, entitled Marionette. In 1990, the song was covered by Ana Faria as Feira Popular, the song is about an evening out at Feira Popular de Lisboa. Its featured on their album with the same title Russian,1968, Emil Gorovets, title, Я не кукла Slovak, In 1967 Slovak singer
13.
Eurovision Song Contest 1966
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 5 March 1966 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg, the host venue was Grand Auditorium de RTL in Villa Louvigny. The winner was Austria with the song Merci, Chérie performed and composed by Udo Jürgens and this would remain Austrias only win in the contest until their second win in 2014. The rule stating that a country could only sing in any of its national languages was created in this year. The 1966 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in Luxembourg City, the venue chosen to host the 1966 contest was the Villa Louvigny, which also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1962. The building served as the headquarters of Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion and it is located in Municipal Park, in the Ville Haute quarter of the centre of the city. During the voting process, the presenter accidentally greeted United Kingdom by saying Good night, London. She then realized her mistake and said Good evening, London, after Michael Aspel,1966 marked the year the first ever black singer graced the Eurovision stage, Milly Scott representing the Netherlands. She was also the first singer to use a portable microphone and this was the last contest that Denmark participated in until 1978, more than a decade later. It was also one of the first contests in which an entry was not accompanied by an orchestra, during the Saturday afternoon rehearsal Modugno performed the new arrangement with three of his own musicians as opposed to the orchestra, which went over the three minute time limit. Following his rehearsal Modungo was confronted by the producers about exceeding the time limit and was asked to use the original arrangement with the orchestra. Modungo was so dissatisfied with the orchestra that he threatened to withdraw from the Contest, despite websites and the official programme listing Angelo Giacomazzi as the conductor, Giacomazzi actually played the piano for the entry. All countries which participated in the 1965 contest returned for a consecutive year. There were no new nations, nor any returning, nor withdrawals, each performance had a conductor who was maestro of the orchestra. Udo Jürgens from Austria whose previous participations were in 1964 and 1965, and Domenico Modugno from Italy,1. ^ The song also contains phrases in French. Each national broadcaster sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language. Details of the commentators and the station for which they represented are also included in the table below
14.
Eurovision Song Contest
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The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy since 1951. The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty years, since its inauguration in 1956 and it is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and China. An exception was made in 2015, when Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the event. In November 2015, the EBU announced that Australia was invited back as a participant in the 2016 contest after their success in 2015, following their success again in 2016, Australia will compete again in 2017. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet via the Eurovision website, winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a short-term boost to the winning artists career, but rarely results in long-term success. Notable exceptions are ABBA, Bucks Fizz and Céline Dion, all of whom launched successful careers after their wins. Ireland holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times—including four times in five years in 1992,1993,1994 and 1996. Under the current voting system, the highest scoring winner is Jamala of Ukraine who won the 2016 contest in Stockholm, under the previous system, in place from 1975 to 2015, the highest scoring winner is Alexander Rybak of Norway with 387 points in 2009. Satellite television did not exist, and the Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network, the name Eurovision was first used in relation to the EBUs network by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951. The first contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, seven countries participated—each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in more than one song per country was performed, since 1957. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland, the programme was first known as the Eurovision Grand Prix. This Grand Prix name was adopted by Denmark, Norway and the Francophone countries, the Grand Prix has since been dropped and replaced with Concours in French, but not in Danish or Norwegian. The Eurovision network is used to carry news and sports programmes internationally. However, in the minds of the public, the name Eurovision is most closely associated with the Song Contest, a country as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country, typically, but not always, that countrys national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, during this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries songs, nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the song with the most points is declared as the winner, the programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show
15.
Eurovision Song Contest 1968
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th Eurovision Song Contest. The contest was won by the Spanish song La, la, la, performed by Massiel, closely followed by the United Kingdom, with a margin of just one point. Originally Spain entered Joan Manuel Serrat to sing La La La, Serrat was withdrawn and replaced by Massiel, who sang the same song in Spanish. The contest was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London,1968 was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast in colour. Also all of Eastern Europe and Tunisia broadcast the contest, katie Boyle hosted the contest for a third time. In May 2008, a documentary by Spanish film-maker Montse Fernández Villa,1968, the documentary claimed that the contest should in fact have been won by the United Kingdoms entry – Congratulations performed by Cliff Richard – which finished second by one vote. Massiel, the performer of the entry, was outraged by the allegations, and claimed that if there had been fixes, other singers. José María Iñigo, author of the statement in the documentary, personally apologized to Massiel, both Massiel and Iñigo accused television channel La Sexta, broadcaster of the documentary, of manufacturing the scandal. There were no withdrawing, returning, or débutant nations in the 1968 contest, each performance had a conductor who maestro the orchestra. Only one artist returned in this years contest, the winner of the 1962 contest, Isabelle Aubret, returned once more for France. The table below shows the order in which votes were cast during the 1968 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country. Each national broadcaster sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language. Details of the commentators and the station for which they represented are also included in the table below. Several non-participating countries also decided to broadcast the contest on their television stations
16.
Sandie Shaw
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Sandie Shaw is an English singer. One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, after a long and successful career, Shaw announced her retirement from the music industry in 2013. Sandra Ann Goodrich was born and brought up in Dagenham, Essex, on leaving school, she worked at the nearby Ford Dagenham factory, and did some part-time modelling before coming second as a singer in a local talent contest. As a prize, she appeared at a charity concert in London and he introduced her to his manager, Eve Taylor, who won her a contract with Pye Records in 1964 and gave her the stage name of Sandie Shaw. Taylor teamed Shaw with songwriter Chris Andrews, who wrote her first single, As Long as Youre Happy Baby, which failed to make the charts. However, for her second single Taylor gave her the Bacharach and David song Always Something There to Remind Me, which had been a No.49 US pop hit for singer Lou Johnson. Shaws version rose quickly to No.1 in the UK Singles Chart in the autumn of 1964, and also charted in the United States at No.52 on the Billboard Hot 100 early the following year. Id Be Far Better Off Without You was issued as the follow-up, but DJs preferred its B-side, Girl Dont Come, also written by Andrews, Girl Dont Come reached No.3 in the UK and became her biggest US hit, reaching No.42. It was followed by hits in the UK including Ill Stop at Nothing, Long Live Love, her second UK No.1 in 1965. The singles were produced by Taylor, Andrews and Shaw herself, Sandie Shaw was a regular on popular British TV programmes of the time such as Top of the Pops, Ready Steady Go. and Thank Your Lucky Stars. She was seen as epitomising the swinging Sixties, and her trademark barefoot performances endeared her to the public at large and she also recorded most of her hit singles in Italian, French, German and Spanish boosting her popularity in Europe. She was popular across South America, performed behind the Iron Curtain, Shaw also released several original albums in the 1960s, Sandie, Me, Love Me, Please Love Me, The Sandie Shaw Supplement and Reviewing the Situation. These albums generally consisted of Andrews-penned songs mixed with cover versions of songs made popular by other musicians, by 1967 Shaws record sales were declining and her manager decided on more of a cabaret appeal. She was invited by the BBC to represent the UK in that years Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna and it gave her a third UK No.1 single, a record for a female at the time. Puppet on a String also became a hit and the largest-selling single of the year in Germany, qualifying for a gold disc for one million plus sales in the UK. Her Eurovision success almost did not happen, the BBC wanted to drop her because she had been the woman in a divorce case. Fashion had become another of Shaws trademarks, and in 1968 she began the Sandie Shaw fashion label, selling her own brand of clothing, in the same year she hosted her own TV show, The Sandie Shaw Supplement, and issued an LP of the same title. Shaw was to have made her debut in Mrs. Brown, Youve Got a Lovely Daughter
17.
Eurovision Song Contest 1964
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the ninth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, after the victory in the 1963 edition. Italy won the contest for the first time scoring 49 points with the song Non ho letà, the host venue for the contest was Tivolis Koncertsal in Denmarks capital city Copenhagen, which lies within Denmarks famous amusement park and pleasure garden Tivoli Gardens. Each country had 10 jury members who distributed three points among their one, two, or three favourite songs, the points were totaled and the first, second, and third placed songs were awarded 5,3, and 1 votes in order. If only one song got every point within the jury it would get all 9 points, if only two songs were chosen, the songs would get 6 and 3 points in order. A political protest occurred after the Swiss entry, a man trespassed onto the stage holding a banner that read Boycott Franco & Salazar, whilst this was going on, television viewers were shown a shot of the scoreboard, once the man was removed the contest went on. Her performance was given a repeat on British television the following afternoon. As with the 1956 contest, no recording of the actual contest performance is known to survive. Reports say that this is there was a fire at the studios of DR. No other broadcaster recorded the show other than for the Winners reprise. It has been speculated that the BBC once held a copy of the show, as an empty tape canister marked Eurovision 1964 was found during a storage cleanup, but the tape was missing, presumably wiped. The audio of the show however is still intact. Sweden did not participate because of a boycott by singers, portugal made its début in the contest, however they became the first country to score nul points on their début. Germany, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia also scored nul points for the first time, the Netherlands became the first country to send a singer of non-European ancestry, Anneke Grönloh was of Indonesian descent. The Spanish group Los TNT was the first group of three or more participants of the history of the ESC, one artist returned to the contest this year, Switzerlands Anita Traversi that represented the country in 1960. Each national broadcaster sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language. Details of the commentators and the station for which they represented are also included in the table below
18.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
19.
Eurovision Song Contest 2015
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The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 was the 60th anniversary edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest musical event. The contest took place in Vienna, Austria, following Austrian Conchita Wursts victory in the 2014 and this was the second time that Austria hosted the contest, the 1967 being the first. The 2015 contest consisted of two semi-finals, which place on 19 and 21 May, and a final, held on 23 May 2015. The shows were presented by Mirjam Weichselbraun, Alice Tumler and Arabella Kiesbauer while Conchita Wurst was hosting the green room, forty countries participated in the contest, with Australia making a guest appearance, and Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Serbia returning. Ukraine, however, announced their withdrawal due to financial and political reasons around the Ukrainian crisis, once all the votes had been announced, based on 50% jury and 50% televoting, Sweden won the contest for the sixth time, with Måns Zelmerlöws song Heroes. Sweden became the first country to win the contest twice in the current format, and this was the second win in four years. Italy won the voting with Russia in second place. Sweden won the voting, with Latvia in second place. This is the first time since the juries were reintroduced alongside the televoting in 2009 that the winner didnt place first in the televoting, for the first time, the top four of the contest all scored 200 points or better. Russias entry A Million Voices became the first non-winning Eurovision song to score over 300 points, Austria and Germany became the first countries 2003 to score no points in the final. Austria is also the first host country to score nul points, the 2015 contest also saw the best ever result for Montenegro since its independence, and the Czech Republic. Also the top two countries of this contest were the same as the top two countries in the 2012, being Sweden and Russia, over 197 million viewers worldwide watched the contest, beating the 2014 viewing figures by 2 million. The Wiener Stadthalle hosts the annual Erste Bank Open tennis tournament, after Austrias victory in the 2014 Contest, their delegation revealed the possibility of hosting the contest either in the capital city, Vienna, or in Salzburg. Vienna, considered the front-runner, had two venues in the phase, Wiener Stadthalle and the trade centre, Messe Wien. Also in the race were Stadthalle Graz and Schwarzl Freizeit Zentrum, with a maximum capacity of 30,000, the Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt also joined the race, however, it would require the construction of a roof for the contest to be hosted there. Innsbruck also joined the race with Olympiahalle, which hosted ice hockey, a fifth city, Linz, joined the race with Brucknerhaus, although the venue is not big enough for the contest. Being geographically close to Linz, Wels showed desire to host the event as well, oberwart, with the Exhibition hall, and Vorarlberg, with the Vorarlberger Landestheater, were the latest cities to declare an interest. On 29 May 2014, Austrian host public broadcaster ORF and the EBU released some requirements, ORF requested interested parties to respond by 13 June 2014
20.
Habsburg
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The House of Habsburg, also called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740, from the sixteenth century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish branches. Although they ruled distinct territories, they maintained close relations. The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland, in the canton of Aargau, by Count Radbot of Klettgau. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the name as his own. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th, by 1276, Count Radbots seventh generation descendant Rudolph of Habsburg had moved the familys power base from Habsburg Castle to the Duchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany in 1273, and the dynasty of the House of Habsburg was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became ruler of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918. A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to expand its domains to include Burgundy, Spain and its colonial empire, Bohemia, Hungary. In the 16th century, the separated into the senior Habsburg Spain and the junior Habsburg Monarchy branches. The House of Habsburg became extinct in the 18th century, the senior Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Bourbon. It was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine, the new successor house styled itself formally as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, the origins of the castles name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg, or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, the first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108. The Habsburg Castle was the seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, in the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other families such as the House of Kyburg. By the second half of the 13th century, count Rudolph IV had become one of the most influential territorial lords in the area between the Vosges Mountains and Lake Constance
21.
Austria-Hungary
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The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and the Hungarian states were co-equal, Foreign affairs and the military came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. Austria-Hungary was a state and one of the worlds great powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2, the Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world, after the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was annexed in 1908. The annexation of Bosnia also led to Islam being recognized as a state religion due to Bosnias Muslim population. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I and it was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The realms full, official name was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, each enjoyed considerable sovereignty with only a few joint affairs. Certain regions, such as Polish Galicia within Cisleithania and Croatia within Transleithania, enjoyed autonomous status, the division between Austria and Hungary was so marked that there was no common citizenship, one was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen, never both. This also meant that there were always separate Austrian and Hungarian passports, however, neither Austrian nor Hungarian passports were used in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia. Instead, the Kingdom issued its own passports which were written in Croatian and French and it is not known what kind of passports were used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of both Austria and Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary had always maintained a separate parliament, the Diet of Hungary, the administration and government of the Kingdom of Hungary remained largely untouched by the government structure of the overarching Austrian Empire. Hungarys central government structures remained well separated from the Austrian imperial government, the country was governed by the Council of Lieutenancy of Hungary – located in Pressburg and later in Pest – and by the Hungarian Royal Court Chancellery in Vienna. The Hungarian government and Hungarian parliament were suspended after the Hungarian revolution of 1848, despite Austria and Hungary sharing a common currency, they were fiscally sovereign and independent entities. Since the beginnings of the union, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary could preserve its separated. After the revolution of 1848–1849, the Hungarian budget was amalgamated with the Austrian, from 1527 to 1851, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its own customs controls, which separated her from the other parts of the Habsburg-ruled territories
22.
President of Austria
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The President of Austria is the federal head of state of Austria. The President of Austria is directly elected by adult suffrage once in every six years. The Presidents offices are located in the Leopoldine Wing of the Hofburg Imperial Palace, many presidents have gained tremendous popularity while in office, and no incumbent has ever lost a bid for re-election, although Kurt Waldheim did not run for a second term in office. Five presidents have died in office, from 2004 to 2016, the office was occupied by social democrat Heinz Fischer. The empire noticeably began to fracture in late 1917 and manifestly disintegrated into a number of independent nation states over the course of the following year, as chairman, he also became a member of the Austrian State Council. On 12 November 1918, the State Council collectively assumed the functions of head of state according to a resolution of the National Assembly, on 11 November, Emperor Karl I announced I relinquish every participation in the administration of the State. Likewise I have released the members of the Austrian Government from their offices, the next day, parliament proclaimed the Republic of German Austria. The assembly presidents continued to serve as acting heads of state until 4 March 1919, anton David and Seitz were the presidents of the National Constituent Assembly. Austrias first Bundespräsident proper thus was Michael Hainisch, Karl Seitz immediate successor, in a related note, many popular sources quote some more or less random date between October 1918 and March 1919 as the beginning of Seitz tenure. The constitution originally defined Austria to be a parliamentary republic, originally, the constitution was radically parliamentarian in character. The bicameral parliament, called the Federal Assembly, not only possessed legislative power, the cabinet was appointed by the National Council rather than the president, who in turn was elected by the both houses of the Federal Assembly rather than the people. The presidents term of office was four rather than six years, the president was answerable to the Federal Assembly and, in particular, had no authority to dissolve the National Council. Not even having much influence on the appointment of Constitutional Court justices. The role and nature of the President was the result of a compromise reached during the drafting of the constitution and it was under this constitutional framework that Michael Hainisch and Wilhelm Miklas assumed office on 9 December 1920 and 10 December 1928, respectively. The parliamentary system prescribed by the constitution was highly unpopular, however, the Heimwehr was in favor of a system granting more powers to the president. On 7 December 1929, under growing pressure from the Heimwehr and it also called for the office to be filled by popular vote for a term of six years. The first election was scheduled for 1934, however, owing to the growing worldwide financial crisis, all parties agreed to suspend the election in favour of having Miklas reelected by parliament. Though Austria now was a dictatorship in all but name, power was concentrated in the hands of the Chancellor, Wilhelm Miklas was stripped of the powers hed gained in 1929, but agreed to act as a figurehead of institutional continuity anyway
23.
L'amour est bleu
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Lamour est bleu is a song whose music was composed by André Popp, and whose lyrics were written by Pierre Cour, in 1967. Brian Blackburn later wrote English-language lyrics for it, the song describes the pleasure and pain of love in terms of colours and elements. The English lyrics focus on colours only, using them to describe components of lost love, the English version by Vicky Leandros also appeared as Colours of Love in some locations including the UK. The song was the one performed during the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. At the close of voting, it had received 17 points, placing 4th in a field of 17, behind Il doit faire beau là-bas, If I Could Choose and the winning song, Puppet on a String. Greek-born Leandros recorded the song both in French and English, and had a modest hit in Europe with it, but in Japan and she also recorded it in German, Italian and Dutch. It was succeeded as Luxembourgian representative at the 1968 Contest by Chris Baldo & Sophie Garel with Nous vivrons damour, Vicky Leandros went on to win the Contest five years later with the song Après toi, again representing Luxembourg. Its five-week run at the top was second longest of any instrumental of the Hot 100 era next to 1960s Theme from A Summer Place. Not surprisingly, the song spent 11 weeks atop Billboards Easy Listening survey, Billboard ranked the record as the No.2 song for 1968. It is the version of the song in the United States. The Mauriat recording also reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, the Mauriat album containing Love is Blue, Blooming Hits also reached #1 on the Billboard Top Lps and Tapes chart for five weeks. Mauriats version was featured repeatedly in an episode of Chris Carters television series Millennium titled A Room with No View, during the episode, the omnipresent melody is used by a kidnapper to brainwash a group of youths. His version is briefly heard in The Simpsons episodes Theres No Disgrace Like Home and The Blue. It was played over the credits of Mad Mens sixth-season episode The Flood. Al Martinos Love is Blue peaked at No.57 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No.3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts in 1968, jeff Beck recorded a rock interpretation of Mauriats version in 1968. It reached No.23 on the UK Singles Chart, bing Crosby Claudine Longets Love Is Blue peaked at No.71 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. The Sandpipers recorded a French version on their 1968 album Softly, Marcia Hines covered the song on her Marcia Hines Live Across Australia album. 1978 Symphonic metal band Therion covered this song on its 2016 EP Les Epaves, official Eurovision Song Contest site, history by year,1967
24.
DR (broadcaster)
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DR, officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, is the Danish government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company. Founded in 1925 as an organization, it is Denmarks oldest and largest electronic media enterprise. DR is a member of the European Broadcasting Union. DR is funded by a licence which is charged to all Danish households with television sets, computers, smartphones. Today, DR operates six television channels, all of which are distributed free-to-air via a nationwide DVB-T network, DR also operates eight radio channels, of which all are available nationally on DAB radio and online. On FM radio only the original 4 stations are available, DR was founded on April 1,1925 under the name of Radioordningen, changed to Statsradiofonien in 1926, and Danmarks Radio in 1959. Which was changed to DR in 1996, statsradiofoniens second FM radio station, Program 2, was added in 1951, followed by P3 in 1963. Experimental television broadcasts started in 1949, with regular programming beginning on October 2,1951 with the launch of Denmarks first television channel, colour television test broadcasts were started in March 1967, with the first large-scale colour broadcasting occurring for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. Danmarks Radio officially ended test transmissions of television on April 1,1970. On exactly 16 May 1983 at 14,00 CEST, DR launched its first teletext information service, Danmarks Radios monopoly on national television lasted until 1988, when TV2 started broadcasting. 8 years later DR launched their second channel, DR2 on August 30,1996. It was sometimes called den hemmelige kanal in its early years because it could not be seen nationwide at its launch, the first trials of DAB were carried out in 1995, with eight channels officially launching in October 2002. On June 7,2007, DR launched a news channel DR Update. It was later added as a traditional channel, at the Danish changeover to over-the-air digital signals on November 1,2009, DR added three new channels to their lineup DR K - an intercultural, documentary and odd-film channel. DR HD – Denmarks first free-to-air high-definition channel intended to air shows from the other DR channels in true HD only. In 2013 the line-up of television channels was changed once again, a new channel targeting young people, DR3 replaced DR HD. Another channel for children, DR Ultra replaced DR Update, the closure of DR Update was the start of a revamping of DR2 as a channel for news and society. Also in 2013, DR introduced a new logo in which the words DR featured in a white sans-serif font on a black background
25.
Rolf Harris
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Rolf Harris is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. Harris is widely known for his musical compositions Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport, which became a Top 10 hit in Australia, the UK, and the United States. He often used unusual instruments in his performances, he played the didgeridoo, is credited with the invention of the wobble board, during the 1960s and 1970s, Harris became a popular television personality in the UK, later presenting shows such as Rolfs Cartoon Club and Animal Hospital. In 2005, he painted a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. He lived in Bray, Berkshire, England, for more than six decades, Harriss career as a popular entertainer stopped when he was convicted and imprisoned for sexual offences. In 2014, at the age of 84, he was jailed on twelve counts of indecent assault that took place between 1968 or 1969 and 1986, on four female victims then aged eight and nineteen. As a result, he was stripped of many of the honours he had been awarded during his career, including the AO, since 2014, Harris has been serving a prison sentence of five years and nine months, at HMP Stafford. Harris was cleared of charges in February 2017, when a jury acquitted him of three charges and was unable to reach a verdict on four others. Harris was born on 30 March 1930 in Bassendean, Perth, Western Australia, to Agnes Margaret and Cromwell Harris and he grew up in Wembley, Western Australia. He was named after Rolf Boldrewood, the pseudonym of an Australian writer whom his mother admired, after his later fame, Harris was often referred to as the boy from Bassendean within Australia. As a child he owned a dog called Buster Fleabags, about whom he wrote a book. He painted a portrait of the then Lieutenant Governor of Western Australia, Sir James Mitchell and he won the 1949 Claude Hotchin prize for oil colours with his landscape On a May Morning, Guildford. As an adolescent and young adult Harris was a champion swimmer, in 1946, he was the Australian Junior 110 yards Backstroke Champion. He was also the Western Australian state champion over a variety of distances and strokes during the period from 1948 to 1952, Harris moved to England in 1952 and became an art student at City and Guilds of London Art School in South London, at the age of 22. He went on to illustrate Harbins Paper Magic programme in 1956, in 1954, Harris was a regular on a BBC Television programme Whirligig, which featured a character called Willoughby, who sprang to life on a drawing board, but was erased at the end of each episode. By this stage, Harris had drifted away from art school as a slightly disillusioned student. At the time that he was working with Veal, Harris was also entertaining with his piano accordion every Thursday night at a called the Down Under, frequented by Australians. At the Down Under venue Harris honed his entertainment skills over several years, eventually writing what became his theme song, Tie Me Kangaroo Down
26.
Racism
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Racism is discrimination and prejudice towards people based on their race or ethnicity. Today, the use of the term racism does not easily fall under a single definition, the Holocaust is the classic example of institutionalized racism which led to the death of millions of people based on their race. Ethnicity is often used in a close to one traditionally attributed to race. Therefore, racism and racial discrimination are often used to describe discrimination on an ethnic or cultural basis, according to a United Nations convention on racial discrimination, there is no distinction between the terms racial and ethnic discrimination. Racist ideology can become manifest in many aspects of social life, Racism can be present in social actions, practices, or political systems that support the expression of prejudice or aversion in discriminatory practices. Associated social actions may include nativism, xenophobia, otherness, segregation, hierarchical ranking, supremacism, in the 19th century, many scientists subscribed to the belief that the human population can be divided into races. The term racism is a noun describing the state of being racist, the origin of the root word race is not clear. Linguists generally agree that it came to the English language from Middle French, a recent proposal is that it derives from the Arabic ras, which means head, beginning, origin or the Hebrew rosh, which has a similar meaning. Early race theorists generally held that some races were inferior to others and these early theories guided pseudo-scientific research assumptions, the collective endeavors to adequately define and form hypotheses about racial differences are generally termed scientific racism. To date, there is evidence in human genome research indicating that race can be defined in such a way as to be useful in a genetic classification of humans. An entry in the Oxford English Dictionary defines racialism simply as An earlier term than racism, but now superseded by it. The revised Oxford English Dictionary cites the shortened term racism in a quote from the year,1903. It was first defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as he theory that human characteristics and abilities are determined by race. Additionally, the Oxford English Dictionary records racism as a synonym of racialism, as its history indicates, popular use of the word racism is relatively recent. The word came into usage in the Western world in the 1930s, when it was used to describe the social and political ideology of Nazism. It is commonly agreed that racism existed before the coinage of the word, garner summarizes different existing definitions of racism and identifies three common elements contained in those definitions of racism. First, a historical, hierarchical power relationship between groups, second, a set of ideas about racial differences, and, third, the UDHR was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. They are born equal in dignity and rights and all form a part of humanity
27.
Conducting
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Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. A conductors directions will almost invariably be supplemented or reinforced by verbal instructions or suggestions to their musicians in rehearsal prior to a performance. The conductor typically stands on a podium with a large music stand for the full score. Conducting while playing a piano or synthesizer may also be done with musical theatre pit orchestras, communication is typically non-verbal during a performance. However, in rehearsals, frequent interruptions allow the conductor to give verbal directions as to how the music should be played or sung, Conductors act as guides to the orchestras or choirs they conduct. They choose the works to be performed and study their scores, to which they may make adjustments, work out their interpretation. They may also attend to matters, such as scheduling rehearsals, planning a concert season, hearing auditions and selecting members. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles such as big bands are usually led by conductors. The principal conductor of an orchestra or opera company is referred to as a music director or chief conductor, or by the German words Kapellmeister or Dirigent. Conductors of choirs or choruses are sometimes referred to as director, chorus master, or choirmaster. Conductors of concert bands, military bands, marching bands and other bands may hold the title of director, bandmaster. Respected senior conductors are sometimes referred to by the Italian word, an early form of conducting is cheironomy, the use of hand gestures to indicate melodic shape. This has been practiced at least as far back as the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, other devices to indicate the passing of time came into use. Rolled up sheets of paper, smaller sticks and unadorned hands are all shown in pictures from this period, the large staff was responsible for the death of Jean-Baptiste Lully, who injured his foot with one while conducting a Te Deum for the Kings recovery from illness. The wound became gangrenous and Lully refused amputation, whereupon the gangrene spread to his leg, in instrumental music throughout the 18th century, a member of the ensemble usually acted as the conductor. This was sometimes the concertmaster, who could use his bow as a baton and it was common to conduct from the harpsichord in pieces that had a basso continuo part. In opera performances, there were sometimes two conductors – the keyboard player was in charge of the singers, and the principal violinist or leader was in charge of the orchestra. By the early 19th century, it became the norm to have a dedicated conductor, the size of the usual orchestra expanded during this period, and the use of a baton became more common, as it was easier to see than bare hands or rolled-up paper
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Maestro
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Maestro is an honorific title of respect. The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, the word maestro is most often used in addressing or referring to conductors. Less frequently, one might refer to respected composers, performers, impresarios, in the world of Italian opera, the title is also used to designate a number of positions within the orchestra and company that have specific duties during rehearsal and performance. These include, Maestro sostituto or maestro collaboratore, musicians who act as répétiteurs, Maestro concertatore, the keyboard continuo player, who prepares singers and leads rehearsals. The word is used in fine arts such as painting and sculpture, although master. Maestro is used in the sport of fencing, for a fencing instructor, the Maestro Myth, Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power. Kennedy, Michael, The Oxford Dictionary of Music,985 pages, ISBN 0-19-861459-4 Warrack, John, West, Ewan
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Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest
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The Netherlands has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut as one of the seven countries competing in the very first contest in 1956. It has missed only four contests so far, the preselection process was often done through the Nationaal Songfestival, with the winner qualifying to represent the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest. The Netherlands has won the contest four times, with four victories, the Netherlands ranks in the top 10 most successful Eurovision countries. The countrys first two came in the 1950s, with Corry Brokken in 1957 and Teddy Scholten in 1959. Sandra & Andres finished fourth in 1972 and Mouth & MacNeal were third in 1974, the Netherlands best result of the 1980s was fifth, achieved by both Maggie MacNeal in 1980 and Marcha in 1987. In the 1990s, Ruth Jacott, with sixth place in 1993 and Edsilia Rombley, with fourth in 1998, the Netherlands have finished last in the contest final on four occasions, in 1958,1962,1963 and 1968. They also finished last in the semi-final in 2011, since the semi-finals were introduced in 2004, the Netherlands has reached the final on only four occasions, failing to reach the final for eight years in a row, from 2005–2012. Opting for a selection has fared well for the Netherlands since 2013, when Anouk became the first Dutch entry in nine years to qualify for the final. In 2016, the Netherlands once again qualified for the final, the Netherlands has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest four times, in 1958,1970,1976 and 1980. The first three times were after winning the year, while the 1980 contest was staged in the Netherlands. Similarly, the Netherlands had declined the right to organise the 1960 contest, the Netherlands has missed only four contests in its Eurovision history. The first of these was at the 1985 contest, held in Gothenburg, the contest, held on 4 May conflicted with the Dutch Remembrance of the Dead and as such the Netherlands withdrew. In 1991 the contest was held on 4 May. There was no Dutch participation in the 1995 and 2002 contests, the Netherlands did compete in 2000. But at 22,00 on Saturday 13 May, the broadcast was cancelled because of the Enschede fireworks disaster which happened a few hours before. The points awarded by the Netherlands were taken from the jury vote. Table key NOTE, The full results for the first contest are unknown, the official Eurovision site lists all the other songs as being placed second. Willem van Beusekom provided NOS TV commentary every year from 1987 until 2005, however, on November 7,2005 it was announced that Van Beusekom would quit his role as Dutch commentator saying Its good to step back
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Dolf van der Linden
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David Gijsbert van der Linden, known as Dolf van der Linden, was a Dutch conductor of popular music with a reputation which extended beyond the borders of the Netherlands. David Gijsbert van der Linden, the son of a salesman of musical instruments, was born in Vlaardingen, before World War II, he played in some different bands as a pianist and tried his hand at arranging music for these bands. His colleagues started calling him Dolf, because he reminded them of a colleague with that name. In 1945, he was asked by Dutch authorities who had arrived back from their exile in London to form an orchestra for light music, picking musicians he knew from all over the Netherlands, he thus managed to create the Metropole Orchestra. Famous names from early years were Benny Behr, Sem Nijveen, Kees Verschoor. In 1957, van der Linden conducted the winning Dutch entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, Net als toen, in the year after, he and his orchestra accompanied the Eurovision Song Contest which was organised by Dutch TV in Hilversum. Afterwards, he was asked by, amongst others, the BBC to do work for them. All in all, between 1957 and 1971, van der Linden conducted 13 Dutch Eurovision entries, amongst which two winners. In 1969 he refused to go to the Eurovision Song Contest in Spain, frans de Kok stepped in and was lucky enough to accompany what turned out to be another winning entry, De troubadour by Lenny Kuhr. In the 1970 contest in Amsterdam, he was asked by RTÉ to step in and conduct All Kinds of Everything by Dana, in the 1970s, Dolf van der Linden tried to rejuvenate and modernise his orchestra. In 1980, he retired and his successor as conductor of the Metropole Orchestra was Rogier van Otterloo. In 1995 he was awarded a Golden Harp for his achievements for entertainment music in the Netherlands, at the ceremony. In 1999, van der Linden died in Hilversum, on 22 June 2015, which would have been van der Lindens 100th birthday, the Metropole Orchestra played a concert of his compositions and arrangements. At this occasion, the first copy of van der Lindens biography, written by Bas Tukker, was presented to Dolfs younger brother Rob
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Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Luxembourg has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 37 times since making their debut at the first contest in 1956. From 1956 to 1993, Luxembourg missed only one contest, in 1959, since 1994, Luxembourg has not participated in the contest. Luxembourg has won the contest a total of five times, the only countries with more victories are Sweden, with six, and Ireland, with seven. Their first victory was in 1961 when Jean-Claude Pascal won with the song Nous les amoureux, France Gall gave them their second victory in 1965 with Poupée de cire, poupée de son. Luxembourgs fifth victory was in 1983 when Corinne Hermes won with Si la vie est cadeau, since being relegated from taking part in 1994, the country withdrew from the contest indefinitely. Luxembourgs Minister of Culture, Maggy Nagel, expressed her desire for the country to return to the contest and this was later explained as a misunderstanding by the Culture Minister. A collaboration with San Marino has been proposed, but later SMRTV clarified that there have only been talks between the two countries and that the broadcaster is evaluating other proposals and it was later announced that the project would not move forward due to funding problems. In 2004, RTL were to return to Eurovision after an absence of 11 years, however, after monetary issues, Luxembourg withdrew. Strong rumours indicated that RTL would participate at the 2005 contest, however, RTL later decided against it, and said that they would never return. In 2008, RTL later reiterated their lack of interest in returning to the contest, in recent years the Luxembourg branch of OGAE has been campaigning for Luxembourg to return to the contest. However, they would have had to secure fees regarding participation, although it was rumoured that Luxembourg would return in the 2012 edition of the contest, RTL has announced that no such intentions exist at present. On 31 July 2014, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg confirmed that Luxembourg would not be returning to the contest in 2015 and it was reported on 26 October 2014 that the countrys Minister of Culture, Maggy Nagel, expressed her desire for the country to return to the contest. This was later confirmed by Nagel to be a misunderstanding and that the country would not be returning, however, on 24 November 2014, it was announced that Mersch had failed to raise the necessary funds in time for the project to move forward. On 21 June 2016, the Petitions Committee of the Government of Luxembourg received five petitions on various matters in relation to the Grand Duchy, one of which was for Luxembourg to return to the Eurovision Song Contest. The Luxembourg Government will therefore hold a debate to discuss the proposals set out on the petition, nevertheless, RTL reiterated its intention not to participate on 22 August. Between 1956 and 1993 Luxembourg was only absent from the Contest once, however, in 1993 Luxembourg was relegated from taking part in the 1994 Contest, and has yet to return. Due to the small size and the national broadcasters penchant for internal selection, most of Luxembourgs entrants came from outside the Grand Duchy. All five of the artists from Luxembourg were foreign, four were French
Denmark
United Kingdom
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Luxembourg
Austria
France
Portugal
Switzerland
Sweden
Finland
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