Eurovision for the first time. Eurovision - pages of history, best songs and performers

Eurovision is an annual music song competition held among performers from countries that are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). That is why among the competition participants you can see performers from Israel and other countries outside Europe. Each participating country sends one participant to Eurovision who performs one song. The winner of the competition is determined by voting by viewers and a jury from each participating country.

The Eurovision music competition was first held in 1956. The competition appeared as a result of the transformation of the Italian Sanremo festival. Marcel Beson, who was very fond of this project, saw in the competition an opportunity to unite nations in the post-war era. The festival in Sanremo still exists today. And Eurovision today is one of the most anticipated and popular events in the musical life of Europe. Every year this competition is watched by more than 100 million television viewers around the world.

Every year, before the competition, a pre-selection procedure takes place, which helps determine the list of participating countries. Performers from the Big Four EBU countries - , - enter the competition automatically.

We can say that the luckiest country at Eurovision is Great Britain. Of course, it became the winner more often (7 times against 5 victories of Britain), but the British took second place 15 times, France and Luxembourg, like England, won 5 times, but they took second place no more than three times.

The nationality of performers at Eurovision does not matter. This is confirmed by the participation of Katrina Lescanish in the competition. She was born in America and performed with the Cambridge band Waves. Another foreigner representing Great Britain in the competition was Ozzy Gina J., while Greek Nana Mouskouri and Belgian Lara Fabian competed for Luxembourg in 1963 and 1988 respectively. By the way, the victory in 1988 went to Switzerland, represented by the Canadian singer Celine Dion. It was the victory at the competition that turned the unknown singer into a real star.

In 1986, the competition was won by 13-year-old Belgian Sandra Kim with the song “J’aime la vie.” Now the Eurovision rules set an age limit for performers - you can take part in the competition from 16 years old.

There are special strict rules for the final of the competition. For example, there cannot be amplifiers on stage, the drummer must play on a provided drum kit. The performer may use instrumental backing tracks. Any song whose duration is more than 3 minutes can be disqualified. Everyone remembers that “brevity is the sister of talent.”

The first Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano (Switzerland). 7 countries took part in the competition with two artists/songs per country. Lis Assia from Switzerland won with the song “Refrain”. Lis beat out the Belgian song "The Drowned Men Of The River Seine".

The second Eurovision Song Contest was held in the German city of Frankfurt am Main. For the first time, Austria, Great Britain and Germany took part in the competition. The victory was won by Corrie Brocken from the Netherlands, who performed the song “Net Als Toen”. It was in 1957 that the rule was adopted that the duration of a song should be no more than three minutes.

The location of the competition was the city of Hilversum (). Third place went to the Italian singer Domenico Modugno, who performed the song “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu”. This song was later recorded under the name “Volare” and became a real hit. The victory went to Andre Clavet from France with the song “Dors Mon Amour”. Great Britain did not participate in this competition.

Cannes, France. The UK returned to Eurovision and took second place with "Sing Little Birdie", beating France's "Oui, Oui, Oui, Oui" by just one point. The winner was Holland with the song “Een Beetje”. Starting this year, professional composers are prohibited from serving on the jury.

The Netherlands refuses to host the competition for the second time and Eurovision is being held in the UK for the first time. Frenchwoman Jacqueline Boyer took first place with the song “Tom Pillibi”, second place went to the British with their song “Looking High, High, High”, performed by Brian Jones. This year the number of participating countries has increased to 13 due to Norway joining the competition and Luxembourg returning. 1960 was also the first year that the final of the competition was shown live. Finland has decided to take this step.

Eurovision returns to Cannes (France). Luxembourg won with the song “Nous les amoureux”, performed by Jean-Claude Pascal. Second place out of 16 participating countries was taken by Great Britain, represented by The Allisons.

The venue of the competition was Luxembourg. The song “Un premier amour”, performed by the Frenchwoman Isabelle Oubre, took first place with 26 points.

France refuses to host Eurovision for the third time and the competition is again held in London. Luxembourg is represented by Greek singer Nana Mouskouri, while the French pop star represents Monaco. For the first time in the history of the competition, Norway scored zero points. Denmark won with the song “Dansevise”, performed by Greta and Jürgen Ingmann.

The festival takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Second place is again taken by the UK - Matt Monroe with the song “I Love The Little Things”. Later, his song “Walk Away”, a reworked version of the composition of this year’s Austrian participant, became very popular. The victory went to Italy with the song “Non ho l’eta”, performed by 16-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti.

In Naples (Italy), Luxembourg wins with a song by the Frenchman Serge Gainsbourg, performed by 17-year-old France Gall. The UK takes second place for the fifth time in 8 years thanks to singer Katya Kirby, who performed the song “I Belong”.

The victory in the competition goes to Udo Jürgens with the song “Merci Cheri”, who represented Austria. Starting this year, the rule comes into force that the song presented at the competition must be performed in the state language of the performing country.

The competition takes place in Vienna (Austria). Vicky Leandros performed for Luxembourg for the first time with the song “L’amour est bleu”, which later became a classic. This year's winner was Sandie Shaw with her song "Puppet On A String". The UK takes first place for the first time.

London, Great Britain. The competition takes place at the Royal Albert Hall. The first place was taken by the Spanish singer Massiel with the song “La La La”. The word "La" was used 138 times in this song. Briton Cliff Richard with the song “Congratulations” was one point behind the Spaniard and took second place.

Eurovision takes place in Madrid, Spain. For the only time in the history of the competition, four countries took first place at once. The Netherlands with "De troubadour" performed by Lenny Cure, France with "Un Jour, Un Enfant" performed by Frida Boccara, UK with "Boom bang a bang" performed by Lulu and Spain with the song "Vivo cantando" performed by Salomé ( Maria Rosa Marco).

The location of the competition was determined by drawing lots between the winning countries of 1969. The competition ended up taking place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This year, changes were made to the rules, which eliminated the possibility of several participants winning at the same time. In the event that several performers receive the same number of points, they must perform the song again and the jury, in addition to representatives of the countries claiming first place, again determines the winner. If in this case there is a draw, both countries will receive the Grand Prix. In 1970, due to disagreement with the voting system, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Finland refused to take part in the competition. As a result, the number of participants in the competition was reduced to 12. The victory went to the Irish singer Dana with the song “All kinds of everything,” eclipsing the Spanish singer Julio Iglessias, who took only fourth place.

Dublin, . This year, a rule came into effect limiting the number of performers on stage to six. The first place was taken by the representative of Monaco, Severine, with the song “Un banc, un arbre, une rue”.

Monaco refused to host the competition and Eurovision is taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The winner was a Greek girl living in Germany, but singing for Luxembourg - Vicky Leandros with the song “Apres toi”.

The competition takes place in Luxembourg. This is the first time Israel is taking part in the competition, which required additional security measures. The rules have once again undergone changes; now the performer can independently choose the language for performing the song. For the second year in a row, Luxembourg won with the song “Tu te reconnaitras”, performed by Anne-Marie David. ABBA's song "Ring Ring" failed in the national selection competition.

Brighton, UK. Greece is taking part in the competition for the first time. From France, no one spoke out in connection with the death of President Georges Pompidou. The Swedish group ABBA took first place with their famous song “Waterloo”.

Stockholm, Sweden. Türkiye is taking part in Eurovision for the first time. Due to Turkey's participation, Greece refuses to participate in the competition, thus expressing its protest against the Turkish invasion of Northern Cyprus. France and Malta returned to the competition. The winner was the Netherlands with the song “Ding-A-Dong” performed by the groups Teach-In.

The Hague, Netherlands. Turkey refuses to participate in the competition, and therefore Greece returns. For the third time in the history of the competition, the UK wins with the song “Save Your Kisses For Me”, performed by the band Brotherhood Of Men.

London, Great Britain. The rules of the competition are undergoing minor changes. Once again, songs must be performed only in the official language of the performing country. France won this year with the song “L’oiseau et l’enfant”, performed by Marie Miriam, who became a star in France.

Paris, France. Türkiye and Denmark are returning to the competition. The victory went to Israel thanks to the catchy song “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta group.

Eurovision takes place in Jerusalem. Türkiye once again refuses to take part in the competition. The victory went to the hosts, who were represented by Gali Atari and Milk and Honey with the composition “Hallelujah”.

Israel refused not only to host the competition, but also to participate in Eurovision. The competition took place in The Hague, the Netherlands. Turkey returned to the number of participants in the competition, Morocco took part in Eurovision for the first time. The victory went to the Irishman Johnny Logan, who performed the song “What’s Another Year”.

Dublin, Ireland. Yugoslavia and Israel returned to the competition. Cyprus took part in the competition for the first time. The victory was won by the British group Bucks Fizz, who performed the song “Making Your Mind Up”. Germany is in second place, only 4 points behind Britain.

Harrogate, UK. First place went to Germany with the song “Ein Bißchen Frieden”, performed by singer Nicole. This song was recorded in six languages ​​and reached number one in the charts in all European countries.

Munich, Germany. Luxembourg decided to send a “trained singer”, Corinne Hermé, to the competition. And this decision justified itself - she took first place, ahead of the Israeli singer Ofra Haza.

Eurovision takes place in Luxembourg. British band Belle and the Devotions were booed at the end of their performance. Sweden won with the song “Diggi-Loo, Diggi-Lee” performed by Herrey’s.

Gothenburg, Sweden. The victory went to the Norwegian group “Bobbysocks” with the song “La det swinge”. For the first time in the history of the competition, it was broadcast only via satellite.

Bergen, Norway. The victory in the thirtieth anniversary Eurovision contest was won by 13-year-old Sandra Kim, who performed the song “J’Aime La Vie”. Belgium was the first. The host of the competition was the Norwegian Minister of Culture Ase Kleveland, who took third place at Eurovision in 1966.

Brussels, . First place was taken by Irishman Johnny Logan, who performed the song “Hold Me Now”. He became the first to win Eurovision twice.

Dublin, Ireland. Thanks to the singer Celine Dion with the song “Ne partez pas sans moi”, Switzerland takes first place in the competition. British representative Scott Fitzgerald was just one point behind her.

Lausanne, Switzerland. The thirty-fourth Eurovision Song Contest was memorable for the fact that two participants were still children: 11-year-old Nathalie Park represented France and 12-year-old Gili Nathanel, who competed for Israel. It was because of these participants that the rule was adopted that participants in the competition should not be under 16 years old. This year's winner was Yugoslavia with the song "Rock me" performed by Riva. The UK is again in second place.

Zagreb, Yugoslavia. By this year, the number of participants had become relatively constant, with 22 countries taking part in the competition. The victory in 1990 was won by the Italian Toto Cutugno, who performed the song “Insieme: 1992”.

Rome, Italy. This year there was intense competition between France with "C'est le dernier qui a parle qui a raison" sung by Amina and Sweden with "Fangad av en stormvind" sung by Carola. Both participating countries scored 146 points. In accordance with the rules, in this case, the victory is won by the country that most often received the most points (12 points, 10, etc.). As a result, Sweden became the winner.

Malmo, . Irish singer Linda Martin took first place in the competition with Johnny Logan’s song “Why me?” Johnny Logan became the first artist to win the Eurovision Grand Prix three times. Once as a songwriter and twice as a performer.

Millstreet, Ireland. For the first time, three former Yugoslav republics, which declared their independence, are taking part in Eurovision. As a result, the number of competitors increased to 25. For the fifth time in the history of the competition, the victory went to the representative of Ireland - singer Niamh Kavanagh, who performed the song “In your eyes”.

Dublin, Ireland. This year, Hungary and Russia took part in the competition for the first time. However, the number of competitors did not change, since Denmark, Belgium, Israel, Luxembourg, Italy, Turkey and Slovenia did not take part in the competition this year. The third success in a row and only the sixth success came to Ireland with the song “Rock’n roll kids”, performed by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. Russia's debut at Eurovision brought the country 9th place. The country was represented by Judith (Maria Katz) with the song “Eternal Wanderer”.

Dublin, Ireland. The composition of participating countries continues to change. Norway wins Eurovision for the second time. This year's winner was the group Secret Garden, who performed the song “Nocturne”. Philip Kirkorov with the song “Lullaby for a Volcano” brought Russia only 17th place.

Oslo, Norway. Due to the fact that a large number of countries expressed their desire to take part in the competition, a new selection system was introduced. It included an additional jury and a preliminary audio application, which had to be sent to the EBU. The number of participants was limited to 23. In 1996, Russia did not take part in Eurovision. Ireland took first place, thereby setting a record for the number of victories (seven). The winning song was “The voice” performed by Imer Quinn.

Eurovision takes place again in Dublin, Ireland. The selection system has been modified to ensure that all countries can take part in the competition at least once every two years. The winning country of last year's competition automatically takes part in the competition. The remaining 17 participants are selected based on their GPA over the past 5 years. Great Britain won with the song “Love shine a light”, performed by Katrina and The Waves. Alla Pugacheva performed from Russia with the song “Primadonna”. However, neither the popularity of the singer in our country nor the monumentality of the song made an impression. As a result, only 15th place.

Birmingham, UK. This year, a televoting system was launched to attract additional attention from viewers to the show. This year's winner created a lot of buzz. Israel took first place thanks to transsexual singer Dana International, who performed the song “Diva.”

Jerusalem, Israel. The victory at Eurovision in 1999 was won by the representative of Sweden, Charlotte Nilsson, who performed the song “Take me to your heaven”. This year, new rules were also adopted: songs can be performed in any language, and you can also sing with a backing track, replacing the orchestra. Russia did not take part in the competition this year.

Eurovision takes place in Stockholm, Sweden. It was this year that Russia made its first notable appearance at the competition. Our country took 2nd place thanks to the singer Alsou. First place was taken by two Olsen brothers from Denmark, who performed the song “Fly on the wings of love.”

Copenhagen, Denmark. The competition took place at the Parken stadium, 35,000 people watched Eurovision live, which became a record for the competition. Russia was represented by the Mumiy Troll group with the song “Lady alpine blue”. This year our country took only 12th place. The winners were Estonian performers Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL with the song “Everybody”.

The Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Tallinn, Estonia. Russia is represented by the group “Prime Minister” with the song “Northern girl”. The result is 10th place. The winner of this competition was singer Mari N from Latvia, who performed the song “I wanna”. This was the second victory in a row for the Baltic countries.

Riga, . Russia is going all-in and sending the notorious group TATU to Eurovision with the song “Don’t Believe, Don’t Be Afraid.” The group took only third place. The first place was taken by Sertab Erener from Turkey, who amazed everyone with her song “Everyway That I Can” and the show she staged on the stage of Skonto Hall. This year, Ukraine took part in Eurovision for the first time, and as a result took 14th place.

Istanbul, . This year, young singer Yulia Savicheva performed for Russia. Many experts believe that Yulia performed quite professionally; she was able to overcome her anxiety and performed with dignity. However, this was not enough for victory; as a result, only 11th place. First place went to Ukrainian Ruslana, who performed a fiery song with Hutsul motifs “Wild Dances”.

Kyiv, . In February 2005, the Eurovision qualifying round took place in Russia: TV viewers chose the winner through interactive voting. According to the results of the audience vote, singer Natalya Podolskaya won. With the song “Nobody Hurt No One” she represented our country in Kyiv. At Eurovision, Natalya took only 15th place. The victory went to the singer from Greece Helena Paparizou, who performed the song “My Number One”.

This year's international music festival took place in Athens. Dima Bilan with the song “Never Let You Go” first competed in the Eurovision semi-finals (since Russia did not score the required number of points in 2005), and then in the final, where he took second place. The victory went to the Finnish rock band “Lordi” with the song “Hard Rock Hallelujah”. The group performed at Eurovision dressed as monsters, which shocked many viewers of the competition.

Helsinki, . Russia was represented by the female trio “Silver”, which was created shortly before the competition. Their song “Song No. 1” took third place at Eurovision. The winner was the singer from Serbia Maria Šerifović with the composition “Prayer”.

Eurovision 2008 took place in Belgrade, Serbia. Dima Bilan is representing Russia for the second time, whose song “Believe” brought victory to our country. On the same stage with Bilan were figure skater, Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko, and the famous Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton. In second place was the Ukrainian singer Ani Lorak with the song “Shady lady” to the music of Philip Kirkorov, and in third place was the Greek Kalomira with the song “Secret combination”.

The 54th Eurovision Song Contest was held in Moscow. The winner of the competition was Alexander Rybak, representing Norway. In terms of the number of points scored, Rybak set an absolute record - in the final he scored 387 points. The famous French singer Patricia Kaas took part in this competition. Arash and Aysel competed for Azerbaijan. A Ukrainian citizen, Anastasia Prikhodko, performed for Russia with the song “Mamo”. She took only 11th place.

This year the music festival took place in Norway. This is the third time the country has hosted Eurovision on its territory. The first time Eurovision took place in Norway in 1986 thanks to the victory of the duo “Bobbysocks”, the second time - in 1996 after the victory of the group Secret Garden and the third time the right to host the competition was obtained thanks to Alexander Rybak. The winner of the 55th Eurovision Song Contest was singer Lena Mayer-Landrut with the song “Satellite”. Russia was represented by the musical group of Peter Nalich with the song “Lost and Forgotten”. The guys took 11th place, but they themselves were satisfied with the result.

The 56th Eurovision Song Contest was held in the city of Dusseldorf, located in Germany. The winner was a duet from Azerbaijan. The song “Running Scared” brought the duo 221 points. Alexey Vorobyov represented Russia, who scored 77 points and took only 16th place.

Eurovision 2012 took place in Azerbaijan, in Baku, where a concert complex with a capacity of 20,000 seats was built specifically for the competition. Montenegro returned to the list of participants.

The 58th Eurovision Song Contest was held in the city of Malmö. Sweden hosted the Euroshow for the fifth time. The winner was the representative with the song Only Teardrops. According to the voting results, the singer scored 281 points. Russian Dina Garipova took fifth place. Refused to participate in the competition: Czech Republic. Slovakia, Türkiye and Portugal. Armenia returned to Eurovision.

The 59th Eurovision Song Contest took place in Denmark from 6 to 10 May. 37 countries took part in it: representatives of Poland and Portugal returned to the stage of the international competition. For the first time, performers from Montenegro and San Marino became finalists of the competition. The winner, with 290 points, was an Austrian drag queen performer with the song Rise Like A Phoenix.

The anniversary, 60th Eurovision Song Contest was held in Austria from 19 to 23 May 2015. The winner was the representative of Sweden with the song “Heroes”. Contestant from Russia Polina Gagarina with the composition “Million Voices” took an honorable second place, unconditionally winning the sympathy of the European public. Representatives from 40 countries competed in the anniversary event; Ukraine refused to participate for the first time due to economic difficulties. For the first time, a performer from Australia came to Eurovision, performing under special conditions.

Eurovision 2016 was the 61st song contest held in Stockholm, Sweden from 10 to 14 May. Representatives from 42 countries took part in it, including a performer from Australia, who performed under special conditions. The victory was won by the singer from Ukraine Jamala with the composition “1944”. The representative of Russia Sergey Lazarev with the song “You Are the Only One” took third place, receiving the highest number of points - 361 - from television viewers. In 2016, for the first time since 1975, the rules of the competition were changed: now the jury's scores are announced separately from the results of TV viewers' voting.

The 62nd Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Kyiv (Ukraine) from May 9 to 13. Ukraine is hosting the competition for the second time.

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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 quite modest: in the main hall of the small Kursaal theater, one performer from 7 European powers gathered. 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.

Songs must be completely new and not appear on air or posted on the Internet before the Eurovision qualifying round. 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 even remotely belong to European territories, to participate in the competition.

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 you know, for a long time there was an “iron” curtain between the culture of the West and the Soviet Union. 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 the 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 building a future 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 remained high for many years. 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, documentaries about the members of the group, who became legends during their lifetime, began to appear on the screens one after another.

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

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 is another world star who 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 who triumphantly took first place in 1988, was able to build a successful career even after the hype around 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 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 win the World 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 took place in 1957 in the city of Lugano in Switzerland. 7 European countries took part in it: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and West Germany. Denmark, Austria and the UK were also going to take part, but due to technical reasons they were excluded because they did not submit their application on time.

From each participating country, two performers performed their songs at the competition. The organizers considered it desirable that each of the participants be selected by a strict jury - spectators of the competition in each country. There were practically no restrictions on songs, performances, the number of props and participants in the act, although they should not last more than three and a half minutes. The order in which the countries performed was determined by a draw, but the participants themselves decided which song to perform first. The first winner was Switzerland, represented by singer Lis Assia with the song "Refrain".

The first Eurovision and until 1997 were determined by a qualified jury selected in each country. According to the rules, juries also do not have the right to represent their own country. Since 1997, the jury has been abolished and is held online. The jury was elected and then it voted, but the scores assigned by the jury were given to the artists only in conditions that did not allow the population to vote. However, since 2009, their grades are again taken into account when assigning overall scores.

New rules for participants

Every year, without participating in the semi-finals, a representative of the winning country, as well as the Big Five countries - France, Great Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy, can take part in the competition. The remaining participants, before performing on the stage of Eurovision itself, must win the hearts of the audience in the semi-finals. Now about 40 countries participate in Eurovision every year.

Russia has already participated in the competition 18 times by 2014; the best result was achieved by performer Dima Bilan, who brought Eurovision to Russia in 2009. The Eurovision Song Contest held in Russia became one of the most expensive and grandiose competitions in history. It was during Eurovision in Moscow that new records were set for the number of points scored by the winner and the number of people who voted for the performers.

In the 1950s, at the dawn of the television age, all the television and radio companies in the world at that time had almost no connection with each other. This is how Eurovision appeared - a TV network that united companies from European countries, establishing the European Broadcasting Union - EBU. And already in the mid-50s, the idea arose to create a common competition for cultural rapprochement. Marcel Betzenon, the general director of Swiss television, at one of the meetings proposed his own version of a competition, the goal of which is to choose the best song from the Old World. The competition was based on the already existing Sanremo Music Festival, which took place in Italy.

The name "Eurovision" was first mentioned in relation to the EBC in November 1951. The competition itself was first called the “Eurovision Grand Prix”. However, later the competition and the Union itself became absolute synonyms, although the latter still exists. Today it has 66 members covering 79 countries. Among the Russian media in the EBU are Channel One, the Rossiya TV channel and the Mayak radio station.

The first Eurovision took place in 1956 in the Swiss city of Lugano. Italy, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany took part in the competition, with two performers from each country. The first winner was Lis Assia from Switzerland. Every year the number of countries wishing to take part in the song competition increased, and then new rules were introduced. Those countries that showed the worst results in the current year were excluded from the competition for the next year.

The rules of the game are simple: the performer with the most points wins, and the winner's country hosts the next competition. Sometimes a country, for some reason, may refuse to host Eurovision in its area, and then the competition is moved to another place.

In 1969, it so happened that four countries took first place: the Netherlands, France, Great Britain and Spain. To decide which country would have the honor of hosting the next competition on its territory, a draw had to be held. As a result, Eurovision was held in Amsterdam.

Over time, various restrictions began to be introduced into the rules. Since 1957, there has been a requirement that a song should not last more than three minutes, and since 1960, the competition has been shown live on television. After the case of four winners, the rules were changed so that if several countries get the same number of points, they perform again and a new vote is held.

The year 1989 for Eurovision was remembered for two young participants: 11-year-old Natalie Park from France and 12-year-old Gili Nathanel, who competed for Israel. After this, an age restriction was introduced: participants must be over 15 years old.

Russia has been taking part in the competition since 1994. The country was represented at the first competition for our country by singer Maria Katz, who won the Russian national competition. performed under the pseudonym Judith with the song “Eternal Wanderer” and took ninth place, scoring 70 points. Her result remained the best for Russia for the next six years.

Eurovision is a peaceful competition, but sometimes scandals and funny incidents occur here too. And often this is connected with political problems. For example, in 2009, a group from Georgia was going to perform the song “We Don"t Wanna Put In” at the competition. The name of the song was deliberately consonant with the surname of the then Prime Minister of Russia -. This composition was chosen as a sign of Georgia’s protest against the armed conflict with Russia , which arose in August 2008. Due to complaints from Russia, the organizers of the competition stipulated that the Georgian group could only perform with a different song.As a result, the country refused to participate in 2009, when the competition was held in the Russian Federation.

Sometimes awkward situations at a competition turn out to be just a joke.

In 2010, during a performance by a Spanish singer, a man came on stage and began making faces along with the circus performers who were part of the act. A few seconds later, security came on stage and the man jumped into the audience. It later turned out that it was the Spanish prankster Jimmy Jump, who often runs out onto football fields during matches.

In 2017, at the Eurovision final, when the competition was held in Kyiv, in the middle of the performance of the Ukrainian singer Jamala, a man with an Australian flag on his shoulders ran onto the stage. Then he turned his back to the stage and pulled down his pants, exposing his butt. It was Ukrainian pranker Vitaly Sedyuk, who had already “pranked” many celebrities in a similar way. However, this prank cost about 8.5 thousand hryvnia in fine.

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 the Second World War in order to unite nations experiencing the results of a 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; after all, we are talking about the fifties. Since then, the intensity of the performances has been increasing.

Although for Eurovision it was as if neither rock and roll, nor punk, nor other musical revolutions existed, 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 hard 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 light of the country's internal politics, which thundered 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 pain points, and nothing else. Perhaps this is precisely why, of the 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 the oldest participants in the 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.

The Russian singer's chances are 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.