ABBA, Celine Dion, and now Maneskin are a few of the most famous musicians in the 21st century. All three rose to fame after participating in a musical song contest known as Eurovision in 1974, 1988 and 2021 respectively.
What Is Eurovision?
Eurovision was created by Marcel Bezençon, director of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in 1956. Starting as a branch of the Italian Sanremo Music Festival, it quickly grew into a European sensation and now has become one of the most-watched programs in the world.
Originally called Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne or “Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix,” the name has evolved over the years. In 1968, the “Grand Prix” was dropped, officially becoming the Eurovision Song Contest (commonly abbreviated to ESC).
In 2015, the contest celebrated its 60th anniversary with the announcement that Australia had been officially invited to participate. The EBU recently expanded into America for the American Song Contest in 2022 on NBC, hosted by Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dog.
How Does It Work?
Over the years it has grown to 40 participating countries, from the European giants France and Italy to smaller countries such as San Marino.
To prepare for the contest, most countries have resorted to National Finals, where people perform their songs live and a jury and/or viewers will vote on their favorite. Some countries, such as Austria and Armenia, will opt to have an internal selection where music producers either listen to submitted songs or select an established artist.
Once all songs are chosen, the ESC itself is split into three parts: semifinal one, semifinal two, and grand final. All three sections take place during the same week, around the beginning of May.
For each section, songs are voted through by a jury and televote, each making up 50% of the total vote. Every country has a jury which is comprised of five people, all of whom have ties or are involved in music production. Both the jury and viewers vote the same way.
The top ten songs and given allotted points from one to 12, starting with the last place (one point for 10th place, two points for ninth, etc). The top three songs are given eight, 10, and 12 points respectively, and out of fairness, no one is allowed to vote for their own country.
The singer doesn’t have to be from that specific country nor do they have to be European in any way, although most countries prefer to have someone of native origin to represent them.
To perform in the semifinals, countries are randomly assigned one of the two semifinals and only ten countries in each group go through to the Grand Final.
Due to the number of funds donated to the EBU, five countries have automatically qualified for the Grand Final since 2011: Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The host country is also automatically qualified.
Each year, the country of the winner of the previous year is allowed to host the next ESC. This is not required, however, as some countries have not been able to afford the high cost. If Eurovision 2020 had been able to go through, the Netherlands would’ve spent a total of $26.25 million (ESC 2021 only cost $19 million thankfully.)
In a case where a country declines to host, whether it be for the cost, multiple wins in a row, or any other external circumstance, one of the big five are asked to step in. This has only happened seven times since the start of Eurovision.
There are also separate and extensive rules for songs, performances, etc.
A few weeks before Eurovision officially begins, many participating countries tour around parts of Europe to perform for smaller audiences. Israel, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands are a few countries that have become famous for hosting these pre-contest parties. This is also when many artists start press tours, attempting to garner favor and streaming numbers with the viewers.
Famous Winners
As mentioned before, ABBA and Celine Dion are just a couple of famous artists who have come out of Eurovision.
- ABBA (1974) competed for Sweeden with their song “Waterloo.” The group has become one of the most famous bands of all time and recently released a new album after a 40-year gap.
- Celine Dion (1988) represented Switzerland with her song “Where Does My Heart Beat Now,” beating the UK by one point and becoming the second best-selling female artist of all time.
- Lordi (2006) represented Finland with “Hard Rock Hallelujah” and is known for their elaborate monster costumes, an homage to Kiss and other rock groups. It was the first metal/rock act to win and proved that a wild song and act could win.
- Netta (2018) competed for Israel with her song “Toy,” where she created the backing instrumentals live on stage using a pedal loop. Her song recently blew up on Tiktok during the pandemic.
- Duncan Laurence (2019) competed for the Netherlands with his song “Arcade.” Winning 498 points, his song would go viral on Tiktok in 2020, resulting in his song becoming the highest-streamed Eurovision entry on Spotify with 689 million streams.
- Maneskin (2021) is the most recent winner as of 2021, representing Italy with “Zitte E Boni” and quickly rising on Billboard 100 charts with their cover of “Beggin” from their time on the Italian X-Factor.
- Riverdance, while not a winner, started as an interval act for Eurovision in 1994 and quickly became an international sensation.
The Pandemic
As with many things in 2020, Eurovision was canceled due to the pandemic. With the Netherlands set to host and all participants selected, everyone wondered how ESC would be handled for the following year. Do you select new artists? What about the economic impact? Which countries would be able to participate? Would it even happen?
All the questions were answered in mid-2020 when the EBU announced that Eurovision 2021 would still be happening and the artists selected in the previous year were welcomed to participate again. Despite some COVID scares, the competition went on to garner 183 million views with Italy’s Maneskin’s “Zitti e Buni” winning with 524 total points.
Controversies
Of course, it wouldn’t be a competition show without controversy. From political stunts and streaking on stage to accusations of cheating, Eurovision has always had its share of drama.
Back in 1986, one of the most famous controversies was surrounding the Belgium winner Sandra Kim. Performing “J’amie La Vie”, Kim was thought to be 15, when in reality she had just turned 13. At the time, there were no official age rules, but it was assumed that the contestants would be around 16 or over. With this technicality, Kim was able to be crowned the official winner and in 1990, a rule was created that prohibited anyone under 16 to participate.
Note that in 2003, Junior Eurovision (JESC) was created to allow younger artists to participate. The same rules from ESC are in place. You can read more about that competition on their official site.
More recently in 2016, Ukraine entrant and winner Jamala was under fire for her song “1944,” which described the deportation of her grandmother and other Crimean Tatars under Stalin rule. Despite being under the scrutiny of breaking the ‘no political lyrics’ rule, the song was approved which caused tension with Russia.
In December 2020, JESC was held almost all virtually, with countries sending in live pre-recorded videos of each contestant. France’s Valentina won with “J’imagine,” but was accused of overlaying pre-recorded vocals to their video. There was no official investigation that was released, but in 2021, Valentina sang live for the interval act of JESC, proving that she could sing the song to a live audience.
In Media
In 2020, Netflix released the comedy movie “Eurovision: Fire Saga” starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams as an Icelandic singing group. Created by Ferrell, it was inspired by his exposure and growing love of Eurovision after meeting and marrying his wife Viveca Paulin. Considered a tribute to the song contest itself, many former winners were invited to make cameos and perform.
This Year
Hosted by Italy in Turn, the 2022 contest – with the theme “Sound of Beauty” – is set to happen on May 10, 12, and 14. Forty countries are participating this year, with Russia pulling out due to the war with Ukraine in recent months and, as of right now, Israel has also pulled out due to conflicts with the Foreign Ministry. After pulling out in 2021, Armenia and Montenegro have returned to participate.
You can listen to all the entries below and find more information about Eurovision on their official website.