How old is Eurovision? Eurovision - pages of history, best songs and performers

TASS-DOSSIER /Pavel Duryagin/. "Eurovision" - international competition pop song, has been held since 1956 among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU; created in 1950). Eurovision is one of the most popular non-sporting television events in the world, attracting an audience of approximately 180 million viewers each year.

The idea of ​​the competition appeared in 1955 at a meeting of the EBU committee in Monaco. The music festival in San Remo (Italy) was taken as an example. The first competition, originally called the Eurovision Grand Prix ( modern name received since 1968) was held on May 24, 1956 in Lugano (Switzerland). Seven countries took part, each presenting two songs. The first winner of the competition was the Swiss singer Lise Assia.

Since 1957, one representative from each of the EBU participating countries has competed at the competition. Russian performers have been participating in Eurovision since 1994. Over the entire history of the competition, 52 countries took part in it, including some non-European states (Israel, Morocco, etc.).

Eurovision format

The format of the competition has changed many times. Currently, the rule is that 26 countries participate in the final: the Big Five countries (the main sponsors of the competition are Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy), the hosts of the competition, as well as 10 winners each from the two semi-finals. In 2015, an exception was made: Australia became the 27th participant in the final (participating in the competition for the first time).

Australia has been participating in the competition since 2015. That year, in connection with the 60th anniversary of the competition, the EBU decided to expand the geographical scope of Eurovision by agreeing on the participation of Australian performers in the competition with the broadcaster SBS (which is an associate member of the EBU). This company previously broadcast Eurovision in Australia for over 30 years. The representative of this country, Guy Sebastian, received the right to directly participate in the finals in 2015 without going through the semi-final stage.

Each country can be represented by a soloist or Music band number of no more than 6 people, age - not younger than 16 years. Citizenship and nationality of participants does not matter. Thus, in 1988, Switzerland’s victory brought Canadian singer Celine Dion. A song in any language lasting no more than 3 minutes is performed live by the artist. Musical accompaniment can sound in the form of a phonogram. The composition must be publicly performed for the first time no earlier than September 1 of the year preceding the competition. The national selection of Eurovision participants is carried out by local broadcasters - members of the EBU.

In 2016, significant changes were made to voting rules. If in previous years the results audience voting and the jury's ratings were presented as a single result, one half of which was the jury's ratings, and the other half the audience ratings, now judges and fans will evaluate the performers separately. According to the new rules, first in final show Jury scores will be announced (from 1 to 12 points, with the exception of 9 and 11, which will indicate the gap between second and third places), and then the result of the audience vote (via official application, as well as via telephone or SMS), starting from the most recent place. The total results will allow us to identify the best performer.

The winner of Eurovision is awarded a prize in the form of a crystal microphone. The next competition is held in one of the cities of the winning country.

Who pays for the competition?

The costs of the competition are covered by the organizational budget of the host country, sponsorship income, as well as entry fees from EBU members. For example, according to press reports, in 2015 the entry fee from Spain (one of the main sponsors) amounted to 356 thousand euros. Repeatedly, EBU members refused to participate in Eurovision for financial reasons. Thus, in 2015, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovakia and a number of other countries did not take part in the competition. At the same time, countries that did not nominate their nominees still have the right to vote in choosing the winners.

Who won most often

Nai larger number Representatives of Ireland won seven victories at Eurovision (including three in a row in 1992-1994). They are followed by performers from Sweden, who were recognized as the best six times. Luxembourg, France and Great Britain won five times each. Russia has one victory to its name: in 2008, Dima Bilan won the competition in Belgrade (Serbia). Over 60 years, more than 1.4 thousand compositions have been performed at Eurovision. Most often the winning songs were those performed on English language(30 times), French is in second place (14 wins), Dutch and Hebrew are in third (3 wins each).

Eurovision in Moscow

In 2009, after the victory of Dima Bilan, Russia became the host of Eurovision for the first time. The final took place on May 16 in Moscow at the Olimpiysky sports complex. Its hosts were Ivan Urgant and Alsou. The Norwegian won Belarusian origin Alexander Rybak with the song Fairytale (English: "Fairy Tale").

Eurovision 2016

The final of the 61st Eurovision Song Contest will take place on May 14, 2016 in Stockholm. It was planned that representatives from 43 countries would take part in the music competition, but on April 22 it was announced that Romanian singer Ovidiu Anton would not perform at Eurovision due to debt public television of this country to the organizers of the project. Thus, the number of participants was reduced to 42.

Last year's winner Måns Selmerlöw and Petra Mede were selected as presenters. Russia will be represented by Sergey Lazarev with the song You Are the Only One (English: “You are the only one”).

On May 10, the first semi-final of the competition took place. According to its results, Russian Sergei Lazarev, as well as performers from Austria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Hungary, Cyprus, Malta, the Netherlands, Croatia and the Czech Republic, reached the final. On May 12, ten more finalists were determined in the second semi-final - they were representatives of Australia (this non-European country continues its participation in the competition after its debut last year), Belgium, Bulgaria, Georgia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia and Ukraine.

Representatives of these 20 countries, as well as musicians from Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Sweden will take part in the final.

The history of Eurovision goes back 59 years. This became the reason for Eurovision being included in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest-running song competition. How was the competition created, what are the rules for participating in it, and what does it give to its winners?

Eurovision: history of the competition

From the name you can guess that the initiators of the creation of the competition were the countries of the European Union, which were part of the For the first time, the idea of ​​the competition was more or less clearly voiced in the 50s. Marcel Besançon, who at that time was the director of Swiss television. His initiative was supported by all EBU participants - this is how the history of Eurovision began.

In May 1956, the first concert was to take place in Switzerland. The first Eurovision was held quite modestly: in the main hall small theater Kursaal brought together one performer from 7 European powers. Participants could submit 2 songs at once at the competition. The winner was chosen by the jury, not the audience. This was the only competition where such rules were in effect.

The first winner of the famous competition was the Swiss performer Lise Assia with the song “Refrain”.

Eurovision: requirements for participants and songs

The history of Eurovision has developed by leaps and bounds since then. In 1957, 10 countries already took part, and then the number of new participants only grew. The rules that were familiar to everyone began to be introduced: for example, for a song that should last no more than 3 minutes, or for exclusively “live performance” of their numbers by performers.

Taking into account the annual experience of holding the competition, its creators constantly improved the set of rules. For some time now there has been a requirement that no more than 6 people should be on stage during a performance, including backup dancers and backing vocals.

The songs must be completely new and up to date. qualifying round at Eurovision not to appear on air and not to be posted on the Internet. Previously, there was also a rule that the competition song must be performed by a representative from the country exclusively in the state language. But since 1999, each participant can sing a song in any language they wish.

Eurovision finalists get a big bargaining chip in their hands to develop their careers. Participation in the competition is an excellent chance to break into the music market of other countries and strengthen your position in the domestic show business.

Eurovision countries

Despite the fact that the competition is European, the number of participating countries is not limited only to those states that are located in Europe. The history of Eurovision has shown that the competition receives remarkable attention in all countries of the world, so the creators of the competition decided not to limit themselves to geography.

Currently, all countries that are members of the European Broadcasting Union can participate in the competition. It is this rule that allows countries such as Australia, Azerbaijan, Armenia or Israel, which do not belong to the European territories even remotely.

In total, over the entire existence of the competition, 51 countries took part in it. Some countries do not send their representatives to the event all the time, but from time to time skip the competition, citing economic or political reasons.

The Eurovision finalists may soon make room and welcome new participants from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and other Asian countries into their ranks.

As is known, between Western culture and Soviet Union for a long time there was an “iron” curtain. Eurovision was no exception. The history of the competition does not recall a case where representatives from the Soviet Union participated in the event.

And even during Gorbachev’s perestroika, Georgy Veselov’s initiative that “it would be possible to send a Soviet artist to a European competition” was not supported. Presumably this lucky person could be Valery Leontyev. However, the Communist Party rejected this proposal, considering that such a turn of events would be too radical.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, its former 15 member states, one by one, turned their attention to Europe. Only Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan have not yet made it to the live broadcasts of Eurovision, while the rest of the countries participate almost every year, and some of them are very successful.

Russia has been regularly participating in Eurovision since 1994. During this time, such performers as Masha Katz, Alsou, Dima Bilan, the group “Buranovskie Babushki”, Polina Gagarina, “Tatu” and another group of Max Fadeev - "Serebro". The most enchanting performance was Dima Bilan’s number “Believe”, which brought victory to Russia in 2008. Less successful were the performances of Philip Kirkorov, Alla Pugacheva, Mumiy Troll, Prime Minister and Yulia Savicheva.

In 2001, Estonia won the competition, in 2002 a Latvian won first place, in 2005 Eurovision moved to Kiev, and in 2011 the winners were the duet “Ell & Nikki” from Azerbaijan.

Eurovision records

There are also records that were set at the Eurovision Song Contest. The State of Ireland's history of victories ranks first in this record table, as the Irish have returned home victorious 7 times; 3 victories out of 7 were achieved one after another in 1992, 1993 and 1994.

Following the Irish, Sweden firmly established itself on the record holder podium, having won the competition 6 times. Spain has gone the longest time without winning the competition; the last time it was victorious was back in 1969.

Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest the fastest: representatives from the country began to participate only in 2003, and already in 2004 Ruslana was in first place in the competition table.

Portugal has never won the competition, despite its many attempts. A participant from Norway, Alexander Rybak, received a record number of points in 2009.

And the youngest participant to win Eurovision at the age of 13 was Belgian Sandra Kim.

Criticism of the competition

For some time now, the competition has been subject to very harsh criticism from not only the participating countries (for example, Italy boycotted the competition for 14 years), but also musical figures, as well as television viewers.

For example, many Eurovision participants are faced with the fact that the competition seems to evaluate not their performing skills, but the policies pursued by their state. Moreover, good ratings given in a “neighborhood” manner often greatly amuse the viewers of the Eurovision Song Contest. Voting has become so predictable that any even more or less savvy person can predict, with an error of one point, which country will give whom how many points.

However, at the Eurovision Song Contest, voting is not the only reason to have a good laugh. The overall level of performers has dropped very noticeably, as they refuse to show their own individuality and are strenuously trying to copy the winner of the previous year. For example, with the naked eye one could notice that after Ruslana’s show with drums in 2004, in 2005 only the lazy did not pull some ethno-drums onto the stage and dress up in leather. It's surprising that after Conchita Wurst's victory, everyone didn't go on stage with beards.

Winners with amazing careers: Frida Boccara

Nevertheless, performers from all countries strive to get into the competition, because Eurovision participants (if the performance is successful) have obvious advantages in constructing further career. However, not everyone can take advantage of the given chance correctly.

Frida Boccara did not miss her chance. After she won the competition in 1969, her popularity throughout for long years held on high level. The singer became the owner of two Gold and one Platinum discs. However, the singer’s popularity was at a high level even before the competition: in 1966, Boccara even went on tour to the USSR.

More than a million of the singer’s records were bought in the Soviet Union. The performer even released two songs in Russian - “ White light"and the famous "Tenderness", the music for which was written by Alexandra Pakhmutova, and the lyrics by Nikolai Dobronravov.

ABBA

The Eurovision Song Contest, which has a long history of victories, still has not seen a more legendary and popular group in its ranks than ABBA. In 1973, the Eurovision Commission unanimously rejected the song “Ring” by a young Swedish group. In retaliation, the group members recorded the song in several languages, launched it on the radio in countries such as Holland, Sweden, Austria, Belgium and even South Africa, and topped the foreign charts.

In 1974, the group still wins Eurovision with the song “Waterloo”. And since then it was almost impossible to stop her: the Swedish team occupied leading places in the charts around the world, including the USA. Even in the Soviet Union, which did not really favor foreign artists, ABBA was a completely legal group, whose record could easily be bought in a store. Soon, one after another began to appear on the screens. documentaries about the members of the team who became legends during their lifetime.

ABBA songs are still played on radio stations around the world.

Toto Cutugno

Over time, not only the competition, but also various Eurovision ratings and the history of Eurovision have become extremely popular. The winners of the song competition received more and more privileges on the world stage of music show business.

Toto Cutugno took advantage of all of them completely and unconditionally, eventually becoming a star of the 80s. Toto Cutugno is also a talented songwriter and has collaborated with such pop stars as Ricchi e Poveri, Adriano Celentano, Dalida and Joe Dassin.

Cutugno was widely known not only in Europe, but also in the Soviet Union. Everyone still remembers his unconditional hit “L’italiano”.

These days, Toto Cutugno is a regular and constant guest of retro concerts organized by Avtoradio. They attract a full house and are broadcast on central Russian television channels.

Celine Dion

There's another one world star, which once won the competition, something the history of Eurovision can only be proud of. The winners, as mentioned earlier, did not always know how to correctly use the given chance. But which triumphantly took first place in 1988, was able to build successful career and after the hype surrounding her victory died down.

After Eurovision, Celine switched from French songs to English ones, signed several successful contracts and already achieved world fame and recognition in the early 90s.

Until now, Dion is one of the highest paid performers in the world. The woman is famous for her vocal technique and a powerful voice. Surprisingly, back in the late 80s, the performer had voice problems during one of her tours. The doctor diagnosed that Dion does not know how to properly use his ligaments. As a result, the singer underwent a course of treatment, and then re-learned singing from a famous American teacher.

In 2004, she even managed to receive a World Award Music Awards as the best-selling female singer of all time. The most famous song in the singer’s repertoire is still the hit “My heart will go on” from the film “Titanic”.

Eurovision is a pop song competition held by the countries of the European Broadcasting Union. One representative from each member country of the union takes part in the competition. To participate you must submit an application. A live broadcast is used to demonstrate the completion of the competition. A representative of one country (or a team), participating in the competition, can perform one pop composition, which lasts no more than 3 minutes. According to the terms of the competition, no more than six artists can be on stage at the same time. The song that becomes the most popular is determined by voting, in which television viewers and a jury from all countries participating in the semi-finals and finals participate.

The first competition took place in 1956. Since then it has been held every year. It is the most popular (non-sporting) event in the world. The audience that the competition gathers is 600 million viewers. Eurovision, in addition to the member countries of the union, is shown in a number of countries around the world and the CIS, which are located outside the borders of Europe. 2000 was the first year when the singing competition began to be shown on the Internet. In 2006, there were 74 thousand online viewers.

Participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has a great influence on the fame of artists. The world learned about the legendary ABBA (1974) and Celine Dion (1988) thanks to the competition.

Rules. Basic provisions of Eurovision

Throughout the history of this song competition, the rules of participation have changed several times. Today's rules say that the participating country must select the performer in any way. The sound at the competition is live, the song is performed once. The sequence of performances is determined by drawing lots. After the performance last participant, voting takes place within 15 minutes. You cannot vote for a representative of your own country. In parallel with television viewers, a professional jury takes part in voting. The votes are summed up and the total score is displayed, which the participant receives.

Requirements for a song at Eurovision

The song must be new. The performance must be live. You are only allowed to use accompaniment recording. The language in which the song is written can be any.

Requirements for Eurovision participants

The participant must be at least 16 years old and of any nationality. The country's representative at the competition may not even be its citizen. Appearance the participant must be decent. A contract is concluded with the winner, under the terms of which he undertakes to attend all events held by the broadcasting union.

National Eurovision selections

There can only be one song per country. Only in 1956 two songs took part in the competition. Songs in countries are chosen by voting.

Television broadcasting and Eurovision venue

All EBU member countries can broadcast the competition. Changing anything in the broadcast is prohibited.

The winner country of the previous competition is chosen as the venue for the competition. Most of the costs fall on the EMU. A few weeks after winning the competition, preparations begin for the next competition.

There have been cases of refusal to hold a competition. In 1972, Monaco refused to host the competition (there was no venue in the country). In 1974, Luxembourg refused because preparation required a lot of costs.

Most often, the singing competition took place in the UK. During the period from 1960 to 1988 - eight times.

Eurovision semi-final and final

These stages were introduced in 2004. Since 2001, the Big Four countries - Great Britain, France, Germany and Spain - have qualified for the finals regardless of the number of votes. In 2011, Italy joined them.

Eurovision voting

The voting system currently in place was first used in 1975. Each country awards points to the 10 countries it considers the best. The song that gets the most votes gets 12 points and then in descending order. Since 1998, following the example of five countries, all countries have introduced televoting for viewers. But the national jury still exists. Viewers vote using phone calls or SMS voting.

Announcement of Eurovision votes

The announcement of the results occurs in ascending order, ending with the highest score - 12. According to the latest rules, the queue for announcing the voting results is determined by drawing lots.

Equal number of points at Eurovision

There were cases during the competition when participants received the same number of votes. Then the winner was determined by the number of countries that voted for this participant, regardless of the scores. Based on the total number of “12” points that he received, as well as the total number of all ratings that the participant received.

If all these indicators coincide, then only then will several people be named winners.

Neighborhood voting at Eurovision

Viewers often cast their votes not for a specific participant, but for the country of which they are representatives. The organizers of the competition are trying to minimize this phenomenon, since it interferes with the main goal of the competition - stimulating the creation of original compositions.

History of Eurovision

The idea of ​​holding a competition arose in the 50s of the last century. It was approved by the EMU General Assembly, which was held in Rome in 1955. The official goal was to hold an annual festival 0 of the Eurovision Song Contest, which would be broadcast throughout Europe and help identify talented and original songs in the genre of popular music.

The first name of the competition is “Eurovision Grand Prix”, which took place in 1956 in Switzerland. As the number of participants increased, it was decided to eliminate countries that show the worst results.

Ireland has the largest number of victories - 7, followed by Sweden, Great Britain, France and Luxembourg with 5 each.

Style of music at Eurovision

The style of music is chosen by the performer. Restrictions are imposed only on texts in terms of prohibiting the use of obscene expressions, political appeals and insults. Many are trying to prepare a song that fits the format of the competition that has developed during its existence.

Almost regularly, performers in the style of rock, jazz, rap and blues began to participate in the competition. However, they practically do not achieve success.

Eurovision participating countries

The competition participants are countries that are members of the European Broadcasting Union. Several representatives of Asia are taking part: from Armenia, Israel and Cyprus, as well as countries located in both Europe and Asia: Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan.

Total number of countries that took part in the competition (in different time) - 51.

The unrealized idea of ​​the USSR participating in Eurovision

In the territory former USSR The competition has been broadcast since 1965. In 1987, the possibility of the USSR participating in the competition was considered. A proposal was made to send Valery Leontyev to the competition. But the idea was not supported by Gorbachev.

From the countries of the former Union, 10 states took part in the competition and representatives of Estonia in 2001, Latvia in 2002, Ukraine in 2004, Russia in 2008 and Azerbaijan in 2011 won. Over all the years, countries only failed to make it into the top three twice. In total, the countries of the former USSR received 15 prize places: 5 first, 5 second and 5 third.

During the period from 1994 to 2012, there were 8 refusals (for economic reasons) from participation in the competition and 5 non-admissions from countries of the former USSR. The main reasons for non-admission were legal and political. Lithuania refused to participate most often - 6 times. The main reason is financial problems. the most big number Russia has no permits - 3.

Eurovision records

In first place in terms of winnings is Ireland (7 wins, of which 3 in a row). At the beginning of the history of the competition, Eurovision countries won. The last decades have not brought victory to any of them.

The beginning of the 21st century brought victory to countries that had never before won such a prestigious competition. The list of winning countries is growing new country Every year. Finland won for the first time after 45 years of participation. Ukraine became the winner in the second year after the start of participation in the competition, Russia became the first after 12 years of participation.
The country that has gone the longest without winning the competition is Portugal. She has been participating in the competition since 1964. In 1996, the representative of this country took 6th place and since then this has been the best result.

Popularity of Eurovision in the Yandex search engine

As you can see, the query “Eurovision” is quite popular in the Russian-language segment of the Internet of the Yandex search engine:
- 290,796 queries in the Yandex search engine per month,
- 2,149 mentions of Eurovision in the media and on the websites of news agencies Yandex.News.

Along with the Eurovision query, Yandex users search for:
Eurovision 2012 - 120282 requests in Yandex per month
Junior Eurovision - 84398
Junior Eurovision 2012 - 59059
Eurovision 2013 - 39604
Eurovision song - 35753
Eurovision songs - 35752
Eurovision winners - 29132
Eurovision 2012 winner - 18090
Eurovision Russia - 16971
Eurovision download - 16035

Eurovision is a competition known throughout the world. It is the brightest event in the spring. Participating countries begin preparing for it in advance: some organize competitions among performers within their country, others are guided by the popularity of the artists.

The choice of some participants is sometimes frightening, and sometimes makes them fall into depression, on the eve of, in the opinion of many, the collapse of morality on Earth. For example, in 2014, the list of Eurovision winners was replenished with the name of Conchita Wurst...

Eurovision yesterday, today, tomorrow. Transformation of the competition

In the first year of its existence, Eurovision had a unifying and entertaining character. Tired of wartime, people wanted to take a little break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Now Eurovision is a rather shocking competition, which is often accused of bias, politicization, and sometimes even immorality. However, despite the change in focus, Eurovision is becoming brighter and better quality from year to year. It is important to note that the competition has outgrown the previously designated framework - singing competitions among representatives of the adult contingent. This is evidenced by the list of Eurovision winners throughout history.

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest has been held since 2003. It is analogous to an adult with the only difference: the age limit is up to 15 years. The list of Junior Eurovision winners has already included 12 names. Its main difference from its adult counterpart is the presence of an annually changing slogan (the only year in which it was absent was 2010).

Eurovision winners of all years. List of the first 10 years of existence

In 2016 music competition Eurovision is turning 60 years old, so it would be useful to at least briefly trace its history. First of all, the Eurovision winners of all years should be included in its chronicle. The list will include nominees who took the Grand Prix:

• 1956. Country in which the competition was held: Switzerland, Lugano. Winner: Lis Assia. Composition: Refrain. Winning country: Switzerland.
• 1957. Country in which the competition was held: Germany, the city of Frankfurt am Main. Winner: Corrie Brocken. Composition: Net Als Toen. Country: Netherlands.
• 1958. Venue: Hilversum. Winner: Andre Clavet. Composition: Dors Mon Amour. France.
• 1959. France, Cannes. Winner: Teddy Scholten. Composition: Een Beetje. Country: Netherlands.
• 1960. Venue: UK. Winner: Jacqueline Boyer. Composition: Tom Pillibi. France.
• 1961st. France, Cannes. Winner: Jean-Claude Pascal. Composition: Nous les amoureux. Country: Luxembourg.
• 1962. Venue: Luxembourg. Winner: Isabelle Oubre. Composition: Un premier amour. France.
• 1963rd. Great Britain. Winner: Greta and Jürgen Ingmann. Composition: Dansevise. Country: Denmark.
• 1964. Venue: Denmark, Copenhagen. Winner: Gigliola Cinquetti. Composition: Non ho l'eta. Italy.
• 1965. Italy, city of Naples. Winner: France Gall with the song Poupée de cire, poupée de son. Country: Luxembourg.

The second decade of Eurovision. Winners

• 1966. Venue: Luxembourg. Winner: Udo Jurgens. Composition: Merci Cheri. Country: Austria.
• 1967. Austria, city of Vienna. Winner: Sandy Shaw. Composition: Puppet On A String. Country: Great Britain.
• 1968. Venue: UK, London. Winner: Massiel. Composition: La La La. Spain.
• 1969. Venue: Spain, Madrid. For the first time in the history of Eurovision, the Grand Prix was awarded to four nominees at once:
  - Performer: Lenny Cure. Composition: De troubadour. Country: Netherlands.
  - Performer: Frida Boccara. Composition: Un Jour, Un Enfant. Country: France.
  - Performer: Lulu. Composition: Boom bang a bang. Country: Great Britain.
  - Performer: Salome (Maria Rosa Marco). Composition: Vivo cantando. Country: Spain.
• 1970. Netherlands, city of Amsterdam (determined by drawing lots). Winner: Dana. Composition: All kinds of everything. Country: Ireland.
• 1971. Venue: Ireland, Dublin. Winner: Severin. Composition: Un banc, un arbre, une rue. Monaco.
• 1972. Scotland, city of Edinburgh. Winner: Vicky Leandros. Composition: Apres toi. Country: Luxembourg.
• 1973. Venue: Luxembourg. Winner: Anna-Maria David. Composition: Tu te reconnaitras. Luxembourg.
• 1974. UK, Brighton. Winner: Abba group. Composition: Waterloo. Country: Sweden.
• 1975. Venue: Sweden, Stockholm. Winner: group "Teach-In". Composition: Ding-A-Dong. Netherlands.

The third decade of Eurovision

• 1976. Venue: Netherlands, The Hague. Winner: Brotherhood Of Men with the song Save Your Kisses For Me. Country: Great Britain.
• 1977. Great Britain, London. Winner: Marie Miriam. Composition: L'oiseau et l'enfant. Country: France.
• 1978. Venue: France, Paris. Winner: Izrah Cohen and the Alphabeta group. Composition: A-Ba-Ni-Bi. Israel.
• 1979. Israel, city of Jerusalem. Winner: Gali Atari and Milk & Honey. Composition: Hallelujah. Country: Israel.
• 1980. Venue: Netherlands, The Hague. Winner: Johnny Logan. Composition: What's Another Year. Ireland.
• 1981. Ireland, Dublin city. Winner: Bucks Fizz. Song: Making Your Mind Up. Country: Great Britain.
• 1982. Venue: UK, Harrogate. Winner: Nicole and her melodic Ein Bißchen Frieden. Germany
• 1983. Germany, Munich city. Winner: Corinne Herme. Composition: Si la vie est cadeau. Country: Luxembourg.
• 1984. Venue: Luxembourg. Winner: Herrey's. Composition: Diggi-Loo, Diggi-Lee. Sweden.
• 1985. Sweden, Gothenburg city. Winner: Bobbysocks, who performed La det swinge. Country: Norway. Broadcasting occurs exclusively thanks to satellites.

Fourth decade of Eurovision

• 1986. Venue: Norway, Bergen. Sandra Kim won with her performance of J'Aime La Vie. Country: Belgium.
• 1987. Belgium, Brussels city. For the second time, the list of Eurovision winners was joined by Johnny Logan, who performed Hold Me Now. Country: Ireland.

• 1988. Venue: Ireland, Dublin. She won with Ne partez pas sans moi. Switzerland.
• 1989. Switzerland, city of Lausanne. Winner: Riva. Composition: Rock me. Country: Yugoslavia.
• 1990. Venue: Yugoslavia, Zagreb. Winner: Toto Cutugno. Composition: Insieme: 1992. Country: Italy.
• 1991. Venue: Italy, Rome. Winner: Carola. Composition: Fangad av en stormvind. Country: Sweden.
• 1992. Venue: Sweden, Malmo. Winner: Linda Martin. Johnny Logan song: Why me? (Ireland).
• 1993. Ireland, Millstreet. Winner: Niamh Kavanagh. Composition: In your eyes. Country: Ireland.
• 1994. Venue: Ireland, Dublin. Winner: Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. Composition: Rock'n roll kids. Ireland.
• 1995. Ireland, Dublin. Grand Prix: Garden. Song: Nocturne.

Fifth decade of Eurovision

• 1996. Venue: Norway, Oslo. Grand Prix: Emer Quinn. Song: The voice. Country: Ireland.
• 1997. Ireland, Dublin. Grand Prix: Katrina and The Waves. Song: Love shine a light. Country: Great Britain.
• 1998 Venue: UK, Birmingham. Grand Prix: Dana International. Song: Diva. Israel.
• 1999 Israel, Jerusalem. Grand Prix: Charlotte Neilson. Song: Take me to your heaven. Country: Sweden.
• 2000th. Venue: Sweden, Stockholm. Grand Prix: Olsen brothers. Song: Fly on the wings of love. Denmark.

• 2001st. Denmark, Copenhagen. Grand Prix: Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL. Composition: Everybody. Country: Estonia.
• 2002. Venue: Estonia, Tallinn. Grand Prix: Marie N. Song: I wanna. Latvia.
• 2003. Latvia, Riga. Grand Prix: Sertab Erner. Composition: Every way that I Can. Country: Türkiye.
• 2004. Venue: Turkey, Istanbul. Grand Prix: Ruslana. Composition: Wild Dances. Ukraine
• 2005. Ukraine, Kyiv. Winner: Helena Paparizou. Composition: My Number One. Country: Greece.

Sixth decade of Eurovision

• 2006. Venue: Greece, Athens. The Grand Prix: rock band Lordi. Hard Rock Hallelujah. Country: Finland.

• 2007. Finland, Helsinki. Winner: Maria Sherifimovich. Song: "Prayer". Country: Serbia.
• 2008. Venue: Serbia, Belgrade. Winner: Composition: Believe. Russia.

• 2009 Russia capital is Moscow. Winner: Alexander Rybak. Composition: Fairytale. Country: Norway.
• 2010. Venue: Norway. Winner of the 55th music competition: Song: Satellite. Germany.
• 2011 Venue: Dusseldorf, Germany. Winner: Ell & Nikki. Composition: Running Scared. Azerbaijan.
• 2012. Where it took place: Winner: Lorin. Composition: Euphoria. Country: Sweden.
  Topping the list of winners of the first Eurovision semi-final interesting group from Russia “Buranovskie Babushki” with the song Party for Everybody.
• 2013 Venue: Sweden, Malmo. Emmilie de Forest has joined the list of Eurovision winners. Song: Only Teardrops. Denmark.
• 2014. Where it took place: Denmark. Winner: Conchita Wurst. Composition: Rise Like A Phoenix. Austria.

• 2015. Country hosting the 60th Anniversary International Competition: Austria. Winner: Mons Zelmerlev. Composition: Heroes. Country: Sweden.

Ireland is the country with the record number of victories

Researchers of the competition note that Ireland is included in the list of Eurovision winning countries more often than others. The country has already hosted performing participants on its territory 7 times.

• 1970. The victory went to the Irish performer Dana, who performed the song All kinds of everything. This was the first, but not the last, Grand Prix won by Irish singers at the Eurovision Song Contest.
• 1980. Johnny Logan won with the song What’s Another Year.
• 1987. The victory went to Johnny Logan, who performed the song Hold Me Now. Johnny became the first to join the list of Eurovision winners twice. Throughout history, few have received this honor.
• 1992. The victory went to performer Linda Martin, who performed with Johnny Logan’s composition “Why me?” In addition to Linda's victory, Ireland became the first country to have an artist who won the Eurovision Grand Prix three times.
• 1993. Niamh Cavan won the Grand Prix with the song In your eyes.
• 1994 became significant for Ireland. Thanks to Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan's song Rock 'n roll kids, Ireland hosted Eurovision contestants for three years in a row.
• 1996- for the seventh and so far the last time, Ireland and its nominees took the Grand Prix at Eurovision. The record was set by Imen Quinn, who performed The voice.

Russia can turn away from Europe as much as it wants with its cheeses and liberal values, but this does not apply to the large-scale pseudo-musical competition “Eurovision”. In 2015, Polina Gagarina, a veteran of music competitions and winner of the second Star Factory, was sent to the anniversary competition. Although Eurovision today can hardly boast of a truly interesting musical program, few remain on the sidelines. During the competition, everyone, from Russia to Iceland, is literally seized with a fever, comparable only to large sports championships. The final will take place tomorrow - in anticipation of it, we’ll figure out why everyone is still crazy about Eurovision and what’s really behind this competition.

Dasha Tatarkova

Where did Eurovision come from?

It was invented after World War II to unite nations experiencing the results tragic event, and concentrate on the joys of peacetime. Eurovision was held for the first time in 1956 according to the idea of ​​the European Broadcasting Union. The festival in San Remo was taken as an example. The competition was held in the company's homeland, Switzerland, 7 countries participated, and the organizing country won.

Since then, the Eurovision Song Contest has become one of the oldest and largest television programs in the world: it has already been watched by more than 100 million people this year, and at its peak the audience of the program reached 600 million viewers. The ideological mission of the organizers - to unite nations - has been fulfilled: the main unity in which the participating countries merge is aggressive rivalry, especially noticeable today, when any sneeze of the participants is immediately spread throughout the Internet.

Eurovision today is a spectacular show, somewhere at the intersection of Cirque du Soleil and reality competitions like The Voice. This is not yet a Lady Gaga concert, but it seems that everything is heading towards that. Of course, this was not always the case: at first the competition was very simple, the participants simply went on stage to the microphone and performed very modest and calm numbers by today’s standards; in the end we're talking about about the fifties. Since then, the intensity of the performances has been increasing.

Although for Eurovision it was as if there was no rock and roll, no punk, no others musical revolutions, it absorbed innovations in non-conflict pop music with pleasure. The effectiveness of what was happening on stage changed along with the volume, until eventually the formats familiar to us today were established. Note that the manner of singing in English also did not come immediately, but eventually globalization took its toll.

How to get to Eurovision?

The name is misleading: it seems as if membership in the competition is guaranteed only to countries that are members of the European Union. In reality, this is not the case: the competition involves different countries that are not geographically tied to Europe. Applications are submitted by TV channels that are members of the European Broadcasting Union, which created the competition. Each country, or rather a television company, can nominate only one participant, having previously conducted its selection at home in a format convenient for it.

Thus, the composition of participants changes from year to year, depending on who decides to apply. However, some members, for example the Vatican, have never taken advantage of such an opportunity, which is a pity - a representative of the Pope would do well to shake up the whole event. Today, Eurovision participants are mainly artists who are familiar with music competitions first-hand, or those who have passed the local selection based on a principle similar to the main competition. This is exactly why winners or participants of reality talent shows like our “Star Factory” often go to represent the country.

After the TV companies have selected their representatives and the song, the semi-finals begin. They were invented quite recently (the first circle appeared in 2004, and the second in 2008), since the number of participants has increased significantly. In previous years, potential contestants for the following year were eliminated based on current Eurovision scores and requirements such as broadcasting, so the semi-finals now give many more countries a shot at breaking through to the top. In addition to the contenders fighting for the opportunity to reach the final, Eurovision has its own elite, to whom this right was initially assigned. Since 2000, these have been the “big four”: Great Britain, Germany, France and Spain. In 2010, Italy joined them, and in 2015, Australia also joined as an exception. Plus, a place in the final is always reserved for the winning country of the previous year.

Why is the music at Eurovision so bad?

The songs of the participants are always one hundred percent radio hits. Nowadays, from year to year, they bet either on a cheerful pop melody, or on a soulful ballad, or on local exoticism, at least in the eyes of other countries. Eurovision likes to boast that it gave rise to the worldwide fame of Celine Dion, ABBA and Julio Iglesias. However, in a crowded music market, becoming a global pop star simply because of winning a competition is becoming more and more difficult every year. Those who try to break the paradigm of plastic songs performed by young and attractive people are much more memorable.

Few people remember just the pop songs that won in different years, but the heavy metal Lordi, which Finland unexpectedly put up, Conchita Wurst, over whom the whole of Europe quarreled, or the slightly ridiculous but charming “Buranovsky Grandmothers” are still remembered. 2015 is no exception in this sense. This time Finland is again trying to push the boundaries of the tight competition - they sent the punk band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät, whose participants were diagnosed with developmental delays, and the representative of Poland Monika Kuszynska will be the first to perform at the competition in a wheelchair.

How does voting work?

The votes are divided in half between the audience and the jury. Each country chooses 10 favorite numbers, and then points are distributed depending on the popularity of the track in each country, from 12 to zero. The method of voting has changed over time, at first it was decided solely by the jury, then it was only the audience's choice. Since 2009, a mixed system has been established: both spectators and a special jury of professionals from each country influence the outcome of the competition. To vote today, you don’t have to call or send an SMS - just download the official Eurovision app. The counting of votes takes place during the out-of-competition final presentation of the organizing country. This year the closing song will be performed by Conchita Wurst.

No matter how much the founders of Eurovision tried to avoid favoritism, since the audience's sympathies began to be converted into numbers, it has become obvious that everyone votes primarily based on geopolitical sympathies. Neighbors vote for neighbors and are deeply offended if someone violates this order. It even has its own memes - just remember the guy with the saxophone, whose performance at Eurovision was turned into into a 10 hour video. Great Britain, which performs very poorly from year to year, is viewed rather condescendingly, despite victories in the distant past, and Russia is treated with caution. The Tolmachev sisters, who performed last year, were booed in public domestic policy country that made waves throughout the world.

Why did Australia become Europe?

In 2015, the competition is being held in Vienna, since last year’s winner was Conchita Wurst, representing Austria. Eurovision 2015 is the 60th, and in honor of the anniversary, the organizers wanted to make some spectacular gesture - they decided to invite Australia to participate, where the show has been popular for many years. The SBS television company, which represented the country at the competition in 2015, has been broadcasting Eurovision for more than thirty years.

Despite the time difference, Australians will vote on equal terms with everyone else. The choice of a local lucky winner for the competition is quite natural. The Australian jury, in accordance with the unspoken tradition of modern times, decided that it was best to entrust such an important task to the winner of the first Australian “Idol” - Guy Sebastian. However, what will happen if Australia wins is not clear. Since it is participating as an exception, the country will not be able to bring the competition home, although, perhaps, Australia simply does not count on winning. Pageant officials have however stated that if Australia emerges as the winner, its broadcaster SBS will have to choose a European country for the next competition, but whether Australia will then still be a participant has not yet been decided.

What is the essence of the competition if not the music?

The Eurovision Song Contest is anything but a musical event: behind the plastic facade it combines several diverse phenomena, only hiding behind music as a form of existence. At the same time, for ordinary Europeans this is the only vote that, despite all its obvious political overtones, remains exciting and fun. Moreover, other elections may envy his transparency. Countries vote for their neighbors and friends, who are often closer rather than further away, so that the finger-pointing process explains the distribution of political likes in and around Europe.

“Eurovision” has become a litmus test not only for political ideas, but also for a certain average taste. Not all countries send someone more or less famous in their homeland to the competition, but most radio-friendly tracks talk about what kind of pop music, in the opinion of TV channel producers, is most profitable and will definitely attract attention in their homeland. It is more difficult to judge other countries, but if you remember who Russia sent away, everything falls into place: “Buranovskie Grandmothers” and Dima Bilan talk equally a lot about the preferences of our compatriots.

“Eurovision” has become a competition in a cube: it combines popular reality shows like “Idol”, “The Voice”, “Star Factory”, dance battles and even beauty contests. Titles songs about love, peace and unity - like the lines of answers from contestants fighting for a sparkling tiara. It’s just like in “Miss Congeniality”: the participants dream of “world peace.” The competitiveness of what is happening makes Eurovision something of a sport for everyone. The language of music is universal: to watch it, you don’t need to understand the rules, and to cheer, you don’t need to know the teams or the results of previous selections. It's simple: one country, one participant and a sea of ​​emotions.

Behind all this, the music itself fades into the background. The song lasts three minutes and no more, there is a maximum of six people on stage. The fact that songs and not something else are competing is rather nominal, especially today, when the performance itself plays no less a role. Just remember Alexander Rybak from Norway, who was inspired largely by the fact that he played the violin while gymnasts jumped around him. The diversity of world music exists separately from Eurovision. Here, year after year, they present dance tracks that go straight to the Turkish disco, or power ballads, a kind of pure technical soul for white people.

This is very easy-to-understand music that can be easily broken down into its components: here’s the beat, here’s the verse, here’s the bridge; the singer hits pure notes, the stronger the voice, the better. Producers treat creating a hit as a matter of honor, in which there is no room for experimentation: the track must hit all the proven criteria. pain points, and nothing else. Perhaps this is precisely why solo performers 28 victories belong to women, and only 7 to men. An impressive ballad just typical of women's repertoire.

When did Russia participate and who represented it?

For political and ideological reasons, at the time the competition appeared, the USSR did not even think about sending anyone to sing for the country. During Gorbachev's reforms, in 1987, the USSR Minister of Education proposed sending Valery Leontyev to Eurovision - to establish contact with the Western capitalist world, but no one supported him. Not all countries of the former Soviet Union received a place in the competition as easily as Russia did after the collapse of the Union. Many are still refused participation due to political and economic considerations, fearing that the applicant TV channel will not be able to adequately fund the event on its part.

For the first time, Russia was represented at Eurovision by singer Maria Katz under the pseudonym Judith. After her from us to the competition went a variety of participants: at first they tried to rely on local figures like Alla Pugacheva and Philip Kirkorov, but their performances turned out to be among the most disastrous Russian numbers. Since then, Russia has had several refusals to participate, and then several shock hits. Alsou earned second place, Tatu - third. Before winning, Dima Bilan came close to second place in 2006; in 2012, “Buranovskie Babushki” ended up there. The “Silver” group became a prize-winner in 2007, finishing in third place.

Russia's overall score, considering its recent participation and even one victory, is very good. In the overall ranking we are in 16th place, second only to oldest members competition. Russia has become a Eurovision winner six times, taking one of the first three places; Dima Bilan brought the competition to his homeland once - in 2008. It is indicative how the political climate within a country influences who is chosen to represent the entertainment industry. In very recent 2009, Russia was represented by Anastasia Prikhodko, who sang in Russian and Ukrainian - unfortunately, such friendship of peoples is now difficult to imagine on the stage of the official TV channel. But if last year they sent the extremely positive Tolmachev sisters, this time they decided to loosen their grip a little. Polina Gagarina allows herself to take a selfie with Conchita Wurst and, despite the rather mediocre song, she does not lose her charisma and gives her all on stage.

Who made it to the finals and who can win?

This year's semi-finals included 33 countries. After the selections, 20 winners will compete for the title of winner, as well as 5 sponsoring countries, Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, France, as well as Australia, plus the host country - Austria. The final finalists were revealed tonight after the second semi-final. The countries also received serial numbers of performances: Polina Gagarina will sing third from the end.

Chances Russian singer rated as one of the highest in the competition. Around Eurovision, as around any competition, there has long been a huge betting industry and a pool of bookers offers similar estimates of the likely outcome. So far, according to one estimate, Gagarin is in second place, losing the championship to Sweden; according to another, our chances of winning are still less, somewhere around 10 to 1, after Estonia, Sweden and Australia.