1.
Scandinavium
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Scandinavium is an indoor arena located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Construction on Scandinavium began in 1969 after decades of setbacks, and was inaugurated on 18 May 1971, Scandinavium is the home arena for Frölunda HC of Swedish Hockey League, and venue for the annual Göteborg Horse Show. Financing for the arena and other proposed facilities became a subject of public and political debate, in the 1962 election campaign the Swedish Social Democratic Party guaranteed that they would build the arena if they won the election. The Social Democrats won the election and a process was started but financing was still an issue. A company responsible for the construction was formed by the municipality and private investors, an estimated construction cost of twenty-three million SEK caused wild protests and intense debates but did not delay the progress. In May 1969 it was discovered there was no construction permit for the arena. When tartan tracks were installed near the end of construction, the concentration of gases in the building was so high that one spark could have potentially blown up the entire structure. When construction was completed in May 1971, Scandinavium stood as the largest covered arena in northern Europe with an capacity of 14,000 spectators. The construction cost totaled thirty-one million SEK, which resulted in an eight million SEK budget deficit, scandinaviums sweeping appearance comes from the hyperbolic paraboloid shaped saddle roof.5 meters ×1.2 meters. The hanging cables rise ten meters to the top from the saddle point, the building is 14 meters tall, from the event floor to the pinnacle of the roof. The ring beam is supported by forty circular columns and four stiff pylons, the pylons consist of radially oriented concrete walls, with a length of 3.5 meters, which stores ventilation equipment. The video board, lights, and sound system is suspended in a radially oriented cable system anchored in the four pylons and it was not consider stable enough for colour telecasting to attach these components directly to the roof. The cable system also serves as tension rods for the ring beam, the seating in Scandinavium is arranged in a one-level monolithic grandstand. The round design of the structure and the oval shape of the 4,100 m² arena floor results in more rows along the length of the floor. The first six rows are telescopic seating which can be electrically retracted, there are forty-four executive boxes in the arena, located between the two northern pylons. The ice hockey rink measures 61 meters ×30 meters which is standard international size, new double frame half boards were installed in 2001, designed to switch to NHL rink dimensions or to be easily removed when other events than ice hockey take place. For the 2011 Göteborg Horse Show a new surface was purchased for 2 million SEK. Scandinavium is located in central Gothenburg, in the Heden district of the borough Centrum, Scandinavium is one of the center pieces of the event district called Evenemangsstråket, with Ullevi Stadium, Liseberg, Universeum, the Museum of World Culture, and Bergakungen nearby
2.
Gothenburg
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Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, the city has a population of approximately 550,000 in the urban area, Gothenburg was founded as a heavily fortified, primarily Dutch, trading colony, by royal charter in 1621 by King Gustavus Adolphus. At a key location at the mouth of the Göta älv, where Scandinavias largest drainage basin enters the sea. Gothenburg is home to students, as the city includes the University of Gothenburg. Volvo was founded in Gothenburg in 1927, the original, parent Volvo Group and the now separate Volvo Car Corporation are still headquartered on the island of Hisingen in the city. Other key companies are SKF and Astra Zeneca, Gothenburg is served by Göteborg Landvetter Airport 30 km southeast of the city center. The smaller Göteborg City Airport,15 km from the city center, was closed to airline traffic in 2015. The city hosts some of the largest annual events in Scandinavia, the Gothenburg Film Festival, held in January since 1979, is the leading Scandinavian film festival with over 155,000 visitors each year. In summer, a variety of music festivals are held in the city, such as Way Out West. The city was named after the Geats, the inhabitants of Gothia, the river on which the city sits is the Göta älv or Gothia River. Göta borg Gothia Fortress is the fort on the Göta Älv, in Dutch, Scots, and English, all languages with a long history in this trade and maritime-oriented city, the name Gothenburg is used for the city. The French form of the city name is Gothembourg, but in French texts, Gothenburg can also be seen in some older English texts. In Spanish the city is called Gotemburgo and these traditional forms are sometimes replaced with the use of the Swedish Göteborg, for example by The Göteborg Opera and the Göteborg Ballet. However, Göteborgs universitet, previously designated as the Göteborg University in English, the Gothenburg municipality has also reverted to the use of the English name in international contexts. Other old variations in Swedish are Götheborgh, and the more common Götheborg, one English text, written in the late 15th century, states the name as Guthaeborg. In 2009, the city launched a new logotype for Gothenburg. Since the name Göteborg contains the Swedish letter ö the idea was to make the more international. As of 2015, the name is spelled Go, teborg on a number of signs in the city
3.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
4.
Lill Lindfors
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Maj Lillemor Lill Lindfors, born 12 May 1940 in Helsinki, Finland is a Swedish singer who has performed in Scandinavia since the 1960s. She debuted as an actress in Uddevalla in 1960 and the following year as a recording artist. In the most recent decades, Lindfors has been known in Scandinavia for her shows in which she mixes music with a lot of comedy. She was one of the first artists who sang samba in Sweden, Eurovision Song Contest Lindforss performance of Nygammal Vals with Svante Thuresson took second place in the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest. She later admitted it was a gag, but that it had not been rehearsed beforehand, according to author John Kennedy OConnors book The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, the EBU was not pleased with this stunt. It remains one of the most iconic moments in the contests history and she also performed Musik ska byggas utav glädje as the contests major opener. Others She has starred in several Swedish TV-shows which have been awarded in Montreaux, in 1998, she became Swedens Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF. She married director Peter Wester in 1969 and had a daughter Petronella. 1964, Adam och Eva 1967, Påsen 1967, Du är den ende 1968, Kom i min värld 1970, Albin & Greta 1970, Vi har varann 1970, Mellan dröm och verklighet 1971, Sång 1973, Kom igen. Lindforss official website Ms. Lindfors presenting the votes at the Eurovision Grand Prix on YouTube Ms. Lindfors wardrobe malfunction on YouTube
5.
Curt-Eric Holmquist
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Curt-Eric Gunnar Holmquist is a Swedish conductor. Holmquist first helped the Swedish dance band Curt Haagers in 1966, Holmquist has conducted the Swedish entries for the Eurovision Song Contest on six occasions,1984,1985,1987,1990,1993 and 1997. In addition to conducting the Swedish entries he also conducted the Belgian entry in 1985, Holmquist is now program director at Liseberg. He is also conductor at Lotta Engbergs sing-along shows at Liseberg
6.
Sveriges Television
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Aftonbladet is a Swedish tabloid published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. The newspaper was founded by Lars Johan Hierta in December 1830 under the name of Aftonbladet i Stockholm during the modernization of Sweden, in 1852 the paper began to use its current name, Aftonbladet, after 25 name changes. It describes itself as an independent social-democratic newspaper, but it also publishes extreme left wing columnists in its culture section. The owners of Aftonbladet are the Swedish Trade Union Confederation which bought it in the 1950s, LO sold a large of its shares in the paper to the Schibsted group. As per 15 June 2009 Schibsted bought another 41% and became the majority owner with 91%, however, LO has the right to appoint the political editor of the paper. Aftonbladet, based in Stockholm, is published in tabloid format, the paper reported news and also criticised the new Swedish king Charles XIV John. The king stopped Aftonbladet from being printed and banned it, during its existence, Aftonbladet has leant in different political directions. Initially liberal, it drifted towards conservatism under Harald Sohlman, editor in chief from 1890 to 1921, during World War I, a majority holding was sold to the German government in a secret arrangement. In 1929 the newspaper came under the control of the Kreuger family, in 1932 it backed Per Albin Hanssons new Social Democratic government. Just a few years later it realigned with the Liberal Party, heavily influenced by pro-German staff members, the newspaper supported Germany during World War II. The Kreuger era came to an end on 8 October 1956, despite interest from both the Liberal Party and the Centre Party, Torsten Kreuger sold Aftonbladet as well as Stockholms-Tidningen to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. The ownership change was first followed by a drop in circulation. In the 1960s, however, the newspaper saw its circulation surge rapidly, by the early 1990s Aftonbladet had run into economic problems, and many had begun to question the competence of the trade union movement as a media owner. On 2 May 1996, the Norwegian media group Schibsted acquired a 49.9 percent stake in the newspaper, the Swedish Trade Union Confederation kept the remaining 50.1 percent of its shares. The same year its circulation passed that of long-time tabloid rival Expressen, in 2005 Aftonbladet started a Web portal for business news as a joint venture with Svenska Dagbladet. In 1998 the circulation of Aftonbladet was 397,000 copies on weekdays and 502,000 copies on Sundays, the circulation of the paper was 402,000 copies in 2001. As of 2004 the paper was the most selling daily both in Sweden and in other Nordic countries, having a circulation of 422,000 copies and it was 429,000 copies on weekdays in 2005
7.
Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Greece has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 37 times since its debut in 1974, missing six contests in that time. Greece won for the first time in 2005 with My Number One, the national broadcaster, Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi broadcast the event each year and organised the process for the selection of the Greek entry. Greece has never finished last in the contest, in the 21st century, Greece has been more successful, with ten top-ten results, including third-place finishes for Antique in 2001, Sakis Rouvas in 2004 and Kalomira in 2008. Greece was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 after it was revealed that Themis Adamantidis was to sing Sarantapente Kopelies, a previously released song. A known Greek folk song had been revised for the competition, Greece was forced to pay a fine, and was allowed to return the following year. Had Adamantidis been allowed to perform Sarantapente Kopelies, he would have appeared second at Harrogate, after returning in 1983, ERT decided that all of the possible songs were of low quality and decided not to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984. Had she performed, she would have appeared eighteenth and she would have performed the song Wagon-lit, the following year ERT announced that it would not return at the Eurovision Song Contest 2000 due to financial reasons. The song also made Greece the first country not a member of Big Four to win the contest without going through a semifinal. Before Greeces win, the highest score was third place, achieved by duo Antique in 2001 with Die for You and then again by Sakis Rouvas in 2004 with Shake It. Greeces least successful result was at 20th place in 1998 with the song Mia Krifi Evesthisia by Thalassa, with 12 points, all from Cyprus, riskyKidd, with 35 points, but this time Cyprus was out of the contest. In 2006, the 51st Eurovision Song Contest was held in Athens, Greece, the two hosts were popular singer, and former contestant, Sakis Rouvas and Greek American presenter Maria Menounos. The singer representing Greece in their own country was popular Greek Cypriot artist Anna Vissi, for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, ERT was able to secure a high-profile artist once again and planned a national final to choose the song. Greece has been one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision Song Contest in the 21st century, including ninth in 2006, seventh in 2007, third in 2008, seventh in 2009, eighth in 2010 and seventh in 2011. In 2014, Greece finished in 20th place, which, along with 1998, is the countries worst result in the contest, Greece was one of only three countries to have never failed to qualify from the semifinals since their 2004 introduction. In addition, Greece also qualified from the 1996 audio-only pre-qualifying round, in 2015, Greece failed to reach the top-ten for the third time in four years, finishing 19th. Since 2013, the music channel MAD produces the Greek national final, for 2016, ERT selected the Eurovision entry internally. They selected the band Argo with the song Utopian Land For the first time since the semi-finals were introduced in 2004 and they finished 16th in the first semi-final. Greece is famous for, especially in recent years, always giving twelve points to Cyprus and this is one of many examples of the bloc voting seen in contest which also occurs between Iberian, Balkan, Scandinavian, ex-Soviet and Baltic countries
8.
Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest
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Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 39 times since making its debut in 1973. Israel is able to enter the contest as a Israel Broadcasting Authority member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union, Israel has won the contest three times. Israels first appearance at the contest in 1973 was successful, with Ilanit finishing fourth, Israel then achieved back to back victories in 1978 and 1979, with wins for Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, with the song A-Ba-Ni-Bi and Gali Atari and Milk and Honey, with Hallelujah. The countrys best results in the 1980s were the second-place finishes for Avi Toledano in 1982, former winner Izhar Cohen returned to place fifth in 1985. Duo Datz finished third in 1991, before Israel achieved its third victory in 1998, with Dana International, Eden then finished fifth in 1999. Israel has hosted the contest twice, in 1979 and 1999, in 1980, the IBA declined to host the contest for a second successive year for financial reasons. Instead the contest was held in The Hague, as the date set for the 1980 contest conflicted with Yom Hazikaron – Israeli Memorial Day – Israel did not participate. This is the time that the winning country did not compete the following year. As of 2014, Israel has the record for most participations in the contest without ever coming last, since the Introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Israel has failed to reach the final six times. In 2014, the failed to qualify for the fourth consecutive year. In 2015, Israel reached the final for the first time in five years, the only Israeli entrant to achieve a better result in the 21st century is Shiri Maimon in 2005, who gave the country its tenth top five result in the contest, finishing fourth. To date there have been three Israeli victories in the contest, Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta won in Paris in 1978 with the uptempo A-Ba-Ni-Bi. On home ground in Jerusalem the following year, Israel won again, unusually, Israel did not defend the title in 1980. The third victory came almost 20 years later in Birmingham in 1998, singer Dana International took top honours with the song Diva, setting off widespread celebrations in Israel. Israels earliest selections were picked by the Israel Broadcasting Authority, the first singer to represent the country in 1973 was Ilanit, who finished 4th. Criticism increased after she was sent again four years later, leading to a rule that the winner of the already established Hebrew Song, the Eurovision Song Contest winners of 1978 and 1979 were selected by this method. From 1981 the selection process was handled by the Kdam Eurovision with the exceptions of 1990,1998,1999,2000, 2002–2004, 2006–2007 and 2010 where the selections were again picked by the IBA. The winner of the 1980 Hebrew Song and Chorus Festival, a band called The Brothers & the Sisters with the song Pizmon Chozer, after winning the contest in 1978 and 1979, the IBA was financially and logistically unable to organise the event for the second consecutive year
9.
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
Greece
Israel
Netherlands
Yugoslavia
Norway
Austria
Cyprus
Denmark
Italy
Luxembourg
Sweden
Switzerland
Ireland - John Skehan
Finland - Annemi Genetz[19]
Cyprus - Anna Partelidou[4]
Denmark - Bent Henius[5]
Spain - Matilde Jarrín
France – Élisabeth Tordjman
Turkey - Fatih Orbay
Belgium - An Ploegaerts
Portugal - Maria Margarida Gaspar
Germany - Christoph Deumling
Israel - Yitzhak Shim'oni[20]
Italy - Beatrice Cori
Norway - Erik Diesen[21]
United Kingdom - Colin Berry
Switzerland - Michel Stocker[22]
Sweden - Agneta Bolme-Börjefors[13]
Austria - Chris Lohner
Luxembourg - Frédérique Ries
Greece - Synia Kousoula[23]
