What is Eurovision? Everything to know about the biggest song competition in the world

Jacob Sarkisian
·5 min read
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The Oscars this year were a spectacular affair with “Oppenheimer” taking home Best Picture amongst six other wins. But what made the Academy Awards such a party this year was Ryan Gosling’s live performance of “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie.” Now, if you enjoyed that performance, you’ll surely love the Eurovision Song Contest. Camp, glittery, spectacle. But what is the Eurovision Song Contest, you may ask? Well, here’s a complete guide to fill you in and get you ready for the big event.

What is the Eurovision Song Contest?
The Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition organised every year by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The contest is made up of various European countries that perform a song and compete for the public’s votes in each country as well as the points of the judges (more on that later).

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The first edition of the contest was held in 1956 and was won by Switzerland with the song “Refrain” by Lys Assia. Since then, 70 songs from 27 countries have won the contest as of 2023 (in 1969, four countries won — Spain, UK, Netherlands, and France). Sweden won last year and, as a result, tied the record for most wins with seven victories. They are joint with Ireland in that regard. France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the UK have five wins each.

Where does the Eurovision Song Contest take place?
The contest takes place in the country that wins the competition the year previously. So, Azerbaijan won in 2011 and then hosted the 2012 edition of the contest, for example. Last year’s winner was Sweden who won with the song “Tattoo” by Loreen. This year’s edition will be held in Malmö as a result.

Sometimes, however, mitigating circumstances dictate that the year’s winner cannot host the next year’s event. The 2022 winner was Ukraine, for example, who couldn’t host the 2023 edition due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. Instead, that contest was held in the UK, which is where Sweden won.

Who is in the Eurovision Song Contest?
The previous year’s winner automatically qualifies for the next year’s competition while the Big Five also qualify automatically. The Big Five are made up of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK and they get this privilege because they are the highest-paying EBU members who contribute the most money to funding the event every year.

The rest of the countries have to compete in two semi-finals. The top 10 countries from each semi-final then qualify for the final.

Australia is also in the Eurovision Song Contest, which might not make much sense given that, well, they aren’t in Europe. The country was allowed to compete in 2015 to commemorate the 60th Eurovision Song Contest and they’ve remained in the contest ever since, although they do have to qualify like all the other countries bar the Big Five and the previous winner.

How does the Eurovision Song Contest final work?
Once all the countries have qualified from the semi-finals, they each perform in the final in a lengthy, colourful, and often hilarious broadcast. Once everyone has performed, the phone lines for voting are opened in every country.

Then, a representative from each country (usually a celebrity) appears on the broadcast to announce the voting results from that country. The results are made up of a combination of the public’s votes and a jury’s decision. Each country awards 1-8, 10, and 12 points to its favorite song from the competition. The most favorite song is awarded 12 points.

Once every participating EBU country has voted (and this counts for all EBU members, not just the countries that qualified for the final), the votes are tallied up and made into a league table. The league table is updated constantly as the points come in, so it makes for tense viewing.

Last year, there were 26 countries competing — Sweden finished top of the table with 583 points, Finland finished second with 526, and Israel finished third with 362. If there happens to be a tie at the end of voting, the country that received the most public votes is declared the winner.

When is this year’s Eurovision Song Contest?
This year’s competition will be held in Malmö in Sweden. The two semi-finals took place on May 7 and May 9, respectively. The grand final will take place on Saturday, May 11 at 20:00 BST. Stay tuned for more Euro updates.

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