Hi Steve and Lindsay, this is also how "Riverdance" came about. "Riverdance" was the Interval Act and it was such a success that they went global, see link below Thanks as usual for the great upload, love from Ireland xx ua-cam.com/video/zy79KKpQ988/v-deo.html
Australia was invited as part of the 60th anniversary of Eurovision and they just never left. Eurovision was quite popular in Australua. Israel state broadcaster Is a member of the European broadcasting union so can enter. Morocco is also an EBU member and entered once in 1980. Lebenon entered in the 2000s but withdrew
Or as Ulrika Jonsson once add at end of that sentence, at euro vision 1997 “You fooools” and Terry Wogan to remind viewers “you’ve only yourself to blame” 😂
It happens every May. The top 10 acts from each Semi-Final qualify for the Grand Final; joining 'The Big 5' and last years winner totalling 26 songs. The song has to be original (no covers), it can't be more than 3 mins long and can be in any language but no more than 6 people can be on stage at any one time. Semi-final 1: 13 May 2025 (2 hours) - Semi-final 2: 15 May 2025 (2 hours) - Grand Final: 17 May 2025 (4 hours). I've been to four contests - 2000/2006/2011 & 2023. The atmosphere is like nothing else I have ever experienced, it's electric 😃The contests are broadcast live on YT.
What makes the Eurovision in the uk for me is the commentary by Graham Norton he makes it fun talking about the weird acts, it's been on tv for so long its something you grow up with, it's like a family tradition to watch it - the good and bad songs 😂
ABBA had been making music in Sweden for a few years before hand. They attempted to be Sweden's entry in 1973 with 'Ring Ring' but didn't get chosen. In 1974 'Waterloo' won and the rest is history. Cliff Richard was frontman of The Shadows. Also made movies like 'Summer Holiday'. The UK used to submit artists who were previously well known and were relatively successful but in the last couple of decades it's generally been people who had no track record as established artists wouldnt want to be involved. Over the week of Eurovision there are the two semi finals and a heap of rehearsals before the contest itself on the Saturday night. Each one is ticketted seperately.
So Steve and Lyndsey.. I’m from Near Liverpool.. trust me whilst we didn’t win it cos Ukraine did (for obvious reasons), lpool was alive for that week.. and I mean ALIVE!!! We were proud to host it.. it’s the best party for the 3-4 nights… you have to find a way to stream the show next year and watch it live
Sadly, the UK would have come 2nd that year anyway even if you exclude the sympathy televote for Ukraine. It's not as simple as Ukraine 1st, UK 2nd so if you drop Ukraine down then UK gets 1st. I did a deep dive into the detailed televoting which Eurovision put on their website. Although Sam Ryder won the jury vote, Ukraine overtook and Spain came within a few points of overtaking him after the televote was added. The vast majority of countries had UK way down the list in the televote while Spain had a large quantity of 2nd places behind Ukraine. Going from 2nd to 1st gains you 2 extra points. This means if you drop Ukraine down the list there would have been enough first places for Spain to overtake the UK. Sorry, I'm a stats nerd an find this sort of nonsense interesting.
Eurovision was in my city (Liverpool, UK) last year on behalf of Ukraine and it was insane the amount of planning and events held in the city. It must have cost an absolute fortune but we had a week of free concerts on the waterfront and tonnes of activities around the city. It was brilliant.
@seandonohue6793 I came over from Dublin for the Ukrainian/Liverpool final. Totally fantastic time. 'Village' location great, infrastructure great, people great, musical heritage great. Liverpool had it all. Would recommend UK repeating Liverpool (if they win again).
That's not entirely true. That's what it claims to be but when it comes to televoting there's just no saying what's in people's minds when it comes to picking up the phone or going on the web - performance, staging, politics all play a factor. Even the guidelines for the juries have performance and overall appeal as considerations.
It started fairly modestly in the 1950s as a way of using music to bring together a Europe that had been ravaged by war. It was one of the first internationally live broadcasts of its kind for television. The public vote was only introduced at he 1998 contest hosted in the UK by the BBC. It is a huge event in Europe often with families and friends gathering to watch it and also those avoiding it at all costs! To put it into perspective, the Eurovision final in 2024 was watched live by 163 million people from 150 countries and the Super Bowl was watched by 124 million. The contest takes place in May every year over the course of a week with Semi-Final 1 on the Tuesday, Semi-Final 2 on the Thursday and the Grand Final on the Saturday. Countries begin announcing their artists and songs usually from January to March so you’re just in time to enjoy the build up to the 2025 contest and to find your local broadcaster/stream to watch it live.
The semi finals take place over a couple of days and the grand final takes place on Saturday night what lasts around 4 hours in the U.K. It is shown on the bbc and iPlayer
The Eurovision Song Contest is run by the EBU (European Broadcast Union) which is funded by the member countries. By contributing, the national broadcasters can sydicate their content, and it also allows them to access the Eurovision Song Contest. The National broadcasters of countries like Australia & Israel are paying into the EBU, so therefore qualify to participate. The "Big 5" (Germany, Spain, France, Italy & UK) pay the most into the EBU, and automatically qualify direct to the Grand Final, while the remaining countries have to qualify through a Semi-Final
many people think bbc pay millions, but in reality its only 350k a year. how often can you get access to broadcast 10 hours of peak time live tv for that smal amount.
The Uk although a big financier of the contest, do treat it as a bit of a joke. A lot tune in the hear the commentary from the late great Terry Wogan and now Graham Norton . They basically takr the P9ss out of it.
Terry was actually banned by three countries from ever commentating on the competition if their country won, because they got upset when he couldn't take their performances seriously.... It was more of a honorary ban, as those countries would never win anyway...
I do wonder if our dismissive attitude to Eurovision was just a coping mechanism since we were so terrible for so long! Funny also how the contest has always been covered in the UK by an Irishman.
I think if you want to see a full Eurovision Song Contest, buckle up as it goes on for hours. Although I think you need to see a full one to get some context. I would suggest Eurovision Song Contest held in Liverpool 2023 on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine who for obvious reasons couldn't hold it in their country. So the UK stepped in (as we came 2nd with Sam Ryder- Spaceman) and the city of Liverpool IMO did a good job. The city was buzzing, embraced the Ukraine culture and was a success. Just a brief clip of the Flag Parade where each participating country is introduced and on this occasion it was combined with previous Ukrainian entries to the contest. ua-cam.com/video/Z2E6PvBgvs0/v-deo.htmlsi=_pgIn8JHmbbJNqEG
Israel made its Eurovision debut in 1973. It became eligible after becoming part of the European Broadcasting Union, which is behind the event. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) invited SBS to participate in the contest representing Australia for the first time in 2015, as a guest participant to celebrate the 60th edition of the event.
It's a song contest - the song writers/composers have to be from the country that is entering, but the singers/performers can be recruited from anywhere in the world. I really like Eurovision - every year there are some really great songs, but also some songs and performances that are funny or bizarre. It's very mixed.
Actually the broadcast company makes the rule, but generally the song writers can come from anywhere too. Last year RTL decided that for their return they wanted only Luxembourg residents to enter
There's definitely a compilation video of all the songs and their singers over the years from it's first year up to three present day. It really does give you a real insight into how it's changed over the years in reflecting the music of the time and from being a more serious competition to less so.
Eurovision is a Song Contest, not a Singing Contest. So as long as the song was written, produced and composed in your country, who actually performs it is considered irrelevant.
You're right about the emphasis being a SONG contest. So the performer's origin doesn't matter. But even the song doesn't have to be written by the competing country.
Whether you're a fan of Eurovision or not, it's an event that brings people together - and a huge number of people end up watching it on the night. At the very least, it's just an excuse to throw a party and have a laugh
Eurovision makes me cringe and I shall not be watching this video - and have already said my apologies to Steve and Lindsay but I would rather visit the Reptile House at London Zoo and hold a python than watch that or any song contest. Mind you. Good Luck to The UK every entry... Am not unpatriotic... I just like real music like Queen or The Beatles, or Bon Jovi, or Bryan Adams, or Exchange...etc. 👍🌝🏴💕🇬🇧🤭🖖
I've got such fond memories of Terry Wogan hosting (Steve and Lyndsey - you should look into his life, he was Irish, but considered a National Treasure). Graham Norton definitely took over Terry's spiritual shoes.
This video is a little bit outdated. Sweden's Loreen now has also won it twice. Australia was allowed to enter for the 2015 song contest (the 60th year) because the country are massive fans of the show and outside of Europe it is most watched in Oz. They've been in ever since. The reason Israel is allowed to enter is because they're a member of the European Broadcasting Union. All countries entering must belong to EBU (except for Australia). For obvious reasons Russia (and Belarus) were barred for the last two years and I believe Russia even withdrew from EBU. EDIT: You can't vote for your own country. Every country has their own "professional" jury who vote, and then the general public vote via text message, calling or using an app.
Ridiculous to ban Russia. The competition is meant to be about coming together, now it's being used as a political tool. I mean, it was always a bit political, but to ban a country because of the political climate is ridiculous.
@@samhilton4173 The 'political climate' is why Israel stills gets to enter. Not sure that starting an invasion and a war is simple political climate though...
Eurovision is huge, the Semi Finals are broadcast over two days and the final takes most of the night. People often host Eurovision parties with people each bringing one dish typical of one of the competing countries. Also sometimes you will get minority languages use, like one French entry was sung in Breton rather than French. In all its great fun.
Trust me, it's a big deal. It's watched by around 120 million people worldwide. Although the voting is very political and the UK never get votes. The show goes on for about 4 hours with the voting taking much of the night. The UK invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan made it so the UK got very few votes as no one agreed to the invasion.
There are two big pieces of media that people and fans of Eurovision like. The first was an episode from the the 90s TV show Father Ted A Song For Europe. This played up how Ireland was on a winning streak in the contest for so long. The other is the 2020 movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. A spoof on the contest that starred and created by Will Ferrel in conjunction with the Eurovision Broadcasting Union. Will Ferrel was/is a big fan of the Eurovision and was introduced to it by his Swedish wife. He wanted to make something that would bring awareness to the contest for Americans and got the permission to film on location at the 2019 events with the stage, some previous contestants and audiences used in the filming. It was planned that the movie would debut along side the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, but as the pandemic happened the contest was not held (the only year in its history to not). They decided to release the movie anyway and became 2020s must watch Eurovision for every fan. Neither of these are highly accurate to the contest itself, but they do give a sneak peak to what happens behind the scenes.
One of the best UK songs 'Spaceman' by Sam Ryder came 2nd in 2022 to Ukraine. Recognized as the real quality winner by pretty much everyone. Check out the Eurovision video for that.
As a kid, we always watched Eurovision, as I got older I kind of didn’t watch it anymore. But we have watched it the last few years, it’s ridiculous! We have our own little fun voting game and get some foods from different countries in and make a night of it. 😂
Try watching a YT video of Riverdance, the interval act at the 1994 Eurovision in Dublin, Ireland. It launched the huge Riverdance worldwide phenomenon and is still great to watch even after 30 years.
For the most part, the acts that do represent their countries are either from there or have heritage from there. Flo Rida, Céline Dion and Olivia Newton John were just the odd exceptions
It started as a way to promote peace and culture with the big five and live on tv throughout the Continent which was a big tech achievement in those years , hence Eurovision . Nowadays it's more of a massive weird fun event and lasts three or more hours . Graham Norton is our commentator and we are resigned nowadays we aren't going to win but it's a great excuse for a party .
Entry is open to countries that belong to the European Broadcasting Union, which naturally includes those that are physically within the continent, but also nearby countries that can receive broadcasts from European countries (Israel, Morocco, Armenia, and Azerbaijan have all entered, and other North African and West Asian countries would be eligible). Australia was invited to join in 2015 because of the big audience in that country who watched a delayed broadcast. It has nothing to do with the Commonwealth.
It’s important to bare in mind is the stadium isn’t the only people who come to watch if. In the host city there entire city is more or less set up to be a huge street party. With screens to watch it set up around the place 18:21 It is hundreds of thousands to millions as Europe has hundreds of millions of people
*bear (in mind) - _not bare_ *their (city) - _not there_ (Sorry but am a lifelong pedant and cannot bear to see words and names misspelt or mispronounced). 👍🌝🏴💕🇬🇧🤔🖖
@williamdfr1715 I don't agree with you. As for non English speakers...it will help to improve their English. As for your opinion of me... I couldn't give a flying duck. If you don't like it. Don't read it.
We don't take it too seriously here, it's nice for your country to win but it's just a good laugh and excuse to have friends round for a Eurovision party . 😊
I had the most fun when I went to photograph Lordi when they played a gig in London. My friend's band Lord of the Lost represented his country Germany last year with a song called Blood & Glitter...I think they got nil points!! Too much stage blood perhaps!!
Eurovision is a TV network based in Switzerland and covers all of Europe, north Africa and west Asia. Australia is a 'guest' participant. The half time intermission is an advert for the host country and produced Riverdance one year in Ireland (though Hothouse Flowers 'don't go' was very good the previous year). The original performance of Riverdance can be seen on youtube and still moves me and I'm not Irish!
Eurovision is the competition, the European Broadcasting Union is an association of television and radio public service broadcasters that co-operates to set standards and ensure technical interoperability. They also sponsor some cultural content and facilitate content sales between members. The only direct content they produce is Eurovision and its young Eurovision spinoffs, the European Choir Competition and the European Championships which is an attempt to organise some existing sporting competitions into a four year format similar to the Olympics and Commonwealth games.
Actually the UK hold the record in the song contest for the most second places of 16 over the years. Not so much recently but 2022 Sam Ryder was 2nd behind Ukraine.
Since this video was made, Sweden have equaled Ireland with 7 wins, and also have an artist who have won twice (Loreen) As for tourism, the contest is often seen as a way to showcase the country for tourism - Before each act participates (as the behind the scenes get the stage ready for the act with props etc.) there is a tevevised 'Postcard' of the act doing something in the host country (at a local market, gettinng ice cream, walking along a beach or in the mountains, shopping in a city, etc.)
I remember when I was a kid, a lot of Eurovision songs were sung in English. But then they changed the rules, and each country had to present their song in their native language. But the rules have since been changed again, so that each country can choose which language to use. So you may, for example, get Norway singing their song in Spanish, or Italy singing their song in Maltese! I can't think of any actual examples of this, but I'm sure there have been a few in recent years.
Eurovision is...Unique.. One of the best bands ever, was Lordi. They are from Finland, and won in 2006 Nobody else has ever come close to this Masterpiece
I think the event is a week. It happens in may every year. Two semifinals, tuesday and thursday and the grand final on saturday. A lot of activities and receptions during the week. I think you can buy a ticket for the whole week or per day.
Australia and Israel were invited to join in Eurovision, because historically they had TV channels that bought and broadcast the competition (and therefore already helped to fund it). The important thing to remember is that the competition is for the 'best' origingal SONG not artist - so a country can choose for their song to be sung by a non-national - as did Canadian Celine Dion for Switzerland, and Australian Olivia Newton John for the UK. These are outliers, of course, and usually the performers are from the country they represent. The grand finale is basically a huge party night! My favourite entries are usually the east european quirky mix of traditional folk muisc and modern pop. I think the way a song is chosen varies from country to country (and over the years|). The UK typically runs a pre-competition contest where the public votes for their favourite of about half a dozen possible entries. The two semi finals are broadcast on TV in the week of the contest, followed by the grand finale on a third night. Nowadays, each country has a judging panel who allocate points to each entry (or maybe their top 10?). There are also phone and internet votes by the public in every participating country. The panel results are shown first, with the public votes added second to find the winner. The 'Prize' is really the honour, and the opportunitites for Europewide exposure following the win.
Small nitpick: Israel joined the European Broadcasting Union in the 1950s becoming eligible to enter Eurovision. Israel didn't actually start to compete until the early '70s. Best Wishes. ☮
Back in the day, it was very much homegrown, there were not many entering and the talent was the best they had. Its got weirder as time has passed and not as it was. Australia is allowed to enter, but cannot host, because they were big fans of Eurovision but are not in Europe. Its always been a little political, as in certain countries vote for their neighbours etc etc. Despite many people's view that the UK does badly in it, we have actually won it many times. The top three countries who have won it are, Ireland, and Sweden 7 times. France, Luxembourg, UK, the Netherlands 5 times and Israel 4 times for example.
I haven't watched Eurovision for years, last time was around 2013 I think? In 2007 Verka Serduchka from Ukraine was robbed of 1st place, I still listen to it, that was the guy in the silver outfit. Lordi, of course were brilliant, even Cezar from Romania brought a smile to my face, he performed 'Its my life ' in 2013. If you want to know more about the performance, Google Dracula at Eurovision, you will see why.
As the voiceover briefly mentioned, the voting format has changed over time, but these days, in the final, there are two rounds of voting: one from a panel of music professionals from each country, and another based on a count of public votes (by phone, app, etc.). You're not allowed to vote for your own country's act. Voting in the two semi-final shows is slightly more complicated, but is basically similar.
Eurovision is more than just Europe. Australia has been a popular part of Eurovision for a few years now, as has Israel. The reason is surprising to many people. Participants have to be members of the European Broadcasting Union, and the Australian multicultural media network, SBS, is a member of the EBU. Australia was given a single trial invitation, but their entry was so popular they were invited back on a long term basis. I assume something similar happened with Israel.
You should watch the Will Ferrell Netflix movie Eurovision Song Contest: the Story of Fire Saga, maybe not for the channel as I know you don't do movie reactions, but it's a really fun and funny love letter to Eurovision from 2020 when Eurovision, like most else, was cancelled. Also Rachel McAdams is just fantastic in it.
It doesn't matter WHO the performer is ... or where they are from..... it is not a singer contest.... it is the SONG ... written by someone from that country.... which is being judged.
Australia are huge fans of Eurovision and to celebrate the 60th anniversary (I think), they were allowed to compete and they are still allowed. We all question why Isreal is allowed. 😡
12:18 That's more like a 3rd, than a majority. Also this is an old video, Sweden has got another win, in 2023, so Sweden has a tie with Ireland now. 12:39 Yes, these are the semifinals of 2023. 13:11 It varies from year to year, how many countries are competing. Some countries might drop of, since it's quite expensive, especially for small countries, to attend, or there can be something that upset them in a previous contest, that would make them not want to do it anymore. Here are the number of countries in the most recent contests: 2024:37, 2023:37, 2022:40, 2021:39, 2019:41, 2018:43, 2017:42, 2016:42, 2015:40, 2014:37, 2013:39, 2012:42, 2011:43, 2010:39
It lasts 3 nights (two semifinals and the final) though a lot of people will only watch the final which is 3-4 hours long and have a party for it. Just to let you know, you can’t vote for your own country but a lot of votes do go to neighbouring countries. I’m pretty sure there’s videos showing clips of all the past winners which might be a good overview if you wanted to look further, similar for songs that came second etc (there probably is one for songs that came last but it’s probably a coin flip for if that would be funny or painful to watch😅)
To someone from the UK hearing any woman saying ABBA is not their cup of tea is crazy. There are so many girls from pre teen to elderly who could tell you their favourite ABBA song. You would have many fans in agreement about ABBA though as even their own country hated them because they are poppy and in the 70s Sweden (their native country) they loved rock/metal.
Not just girls. Many men love ABBA too, they just might not freely admit it! I had a cousin who absolutely loved ABBA, and he introduced me to a lot of his favourite album tracks, when at the time I was only aware of their chart singles. But it seems he only admitted his love of ABBA to me. He sadly passed away six years ago, and it was only in a recent conversation with his sister and his widow that I found out they had absolutely no idea he was such a big ABBA fan!
I am a (71yo) English woman (born and raised in SE London) who can and will say quite confidently / truthfully, that ABBA is/ are _not my cup of tea_ either. I _don't_ dislike their songs, but it wouldn't bother me one iota if I never heard any of them ever again.🏴💕🇬🇧🖖
For any Brits looking in who (like me) will likely have no idea what "milquetoast" means, apparently it's this: "A very timid, unassertive, spineless person, esp. one who is easily dominated or intimidated.". Make of that what you will, ABBA fans!
Has Lyndsey ever seen Riverdance? They weren't an entry into the competition, they were the interim act while we were waiting for the votes to be counted. But they are good. Especially if Michael Flatley & Jean Butler were the leading dancers.
Just to explain the voting. Each country's jury and public televote awards their favourite 10 songs points. 1st place gets 12 points, 2nd 10, 3rd 8, 4th 7 etc. Countries cannot vote for themselves. So if you're 11th on everybody's list you don't end up in 11th place, you get 0 points. All countries taking part, not just the ones in the final, get to cast votes. In the last couple of years they have also introduced a rest of the world televote calculated in the same way. This has gone through a whole heap of changes over the years.
Ukraine won in 2022 but the Eurovision board decided they could not host it in 2023 due to the war so the UK hosted it in Liverpool on their behalf. Hosting the competition can bring in so many tourists in. In Liverpool lots of Americans came over for it as well people from all over the world it so popular.if you cannot get a ticket, they sell out fast, fan zones are usually set up all over the host city so people can watch live on large screens with lots of other entertainment through the day in these zones.
8:37 It has always been like that, people have had the freedom to represent whichever country they want. Already in the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, the very first one was Michèle Arnaud representing Luxembourg. First winner, competing for another country than than their own was Anne Marie David, from France, won for Luxembourg in 1973. Helena Paparitzou is born and raised in Sweden, but won for Greece in 2005 (her parents are from Greece). Katrina in Katrina and the Waves, was born in the US, but won for the UK in 1997. Just to name a few.
As far as I know none of the winning artists from Luxembourg came from Luxembourg. Jean Claude Pascal, France Gäll, Anne Marie David and Corinne Hermes are all French and Vicky Leandros is Greek.
@@royescfan9594 Yes, and I think I read somewhere that only 8 out of Luxembourg's 38 entries in Eurovision has represented by a singer from Luxembourg.
@10:00 The UK has been criticised by other entrants for *not* having its song sung by established artists from the mid-1970s onwards, despite having a very successful commercial music business. That has also encouraged other countries to avoid voting for the UK entry ("If you guys don't take the contest seriously, why should we vote for you?"). The biggest UK performers simply don't want to risk their reputation by joining in, so recently our song has usually been sung by acts beyond their peak, or by newcomers, or by acts from other countries.
Valid point about the quality of recent UK entries, and yet you still read the usual comments about it being because of Iraq, or Brexit. It's because the BBC has no need of a song to pull in viewers, they know they are going to get audience figures thanks to Graham Norton. Choose a song that would be able to place on the UK chart and people will vote for it
The Ukraine won in 2022, but because of the conflict, the 2nd place country got to host it in 2023. That was us here in the U.K. Sam Ryder won in 2nd place to the Ukraine.
Guys the acts roll into town earlier and appear sometimes locally before the competition - incidentally this is always held inside. Each country has a jury voting on other country’s acts and then there is a public vote. Incidentally the Scandinavian countries tend to vote for each other and as the uk no longer is a member of the EU and is without neighbours we usually find ourselves “ frozen out “ .
How do you explain then that the UK had its best result in years just two years ago, after Brexit? Think about it, when was the last time a UK entry made it into the UK charts. Many other countries put a lot of work into doing well. BBC knows that the public will tune in on the night and they will get their viewing figures thanks to Graham Norton, not the song.
Sweden have 7 wins now since their last year win by Loreen with song Tattoo with same points as Ireland has currently and hosted the competition in 2024 in Malmö..the winner was Switzerland that is going to host the competition in 2025
Back in the day, Eurovision was taken as seriously as cancer but in the last fifteen years or so it's become more of a joke. People dressed in outrageous costumes and singing both political and "comedy" songs have been more prolific. Take it for what it is, a semi serious "song" contest that generates a huge amount of money and coverage for both the promoters and the winners.
"....doesn´t want to host" from the narrator is BS, hosting the ESC is big business and a huge boost for the respective host city. Great reaction, i ´d highly recommend that, for the next ESC, you guys invite all your friends and throw a big ESC party while watching it ;)....all the best from Austria.
The Eurovision now has an additional category of voters, the Rest of the World (Yes this includes the US) and stream it live on the internet. There is also a kids Eurovision contest as well. Edit: From memory the UK has the distinction of being the first country to score zero at the end of voting (please correct me if I remembered incorrectly).
Possibly the televote, but I think it was Norway who got the dreaded nil points first many years earlier prior to the televote being counted separately from the jury vote.
Crucially, you cannot vote for your own country. They're quite good at tracing where the calls are coming from. Though a British expat living in Spain could vote for the UK. The other part not mentioned is that if a country cannot host after winning, then it is traditional for the UK to step in as hosts. After Ukraine won recently, it obviously wasn't safe to hold it in Kyiv, so it went to Liverpool.
Actually they don't unless the national broadcaster decides that, like RTL did last year for Luxembourg's return. Germany's Ralph Siegel has written songs for Switzerland, Luxembourg, Montenegro, San Marino...
There's little mention of the legendary Buck's Fizz entry for the UK in 1981
The competition is so popular in Australia the organiser invited them to join. Israel is allowed to compete as members of European Broadcasting Union.
Ireland of 2024 was absolutely incredible, one you should definitely check out!
It's a song contest. The singer can come from anywhere, it's the song which represents the country
Hence why Celine Dion won for Switzerland in 1988.
Hi Steve and Lindsay, this is also how "Riverdance" came about. "Riverdance" was the Interval Act and it was such a success that they went global, see link below
Thanks as usual for the great upload, love from Ireland xx
ua-cam.com/video/zy79KKpQ988/v-deo.html
Australia was invited as part of the 60th anniversary of Eurovision and they just never left. Eurovision was quite popular in Australua.
Israel state broadcaster Is a member of the European broadcasting union so can enter.
Morocco is also an EBU member and entered once in 1980. Lebenon entered in the 2000s but withdrew
Countries cannot vote for their own song.
I think Steve was referring to the viewers. They wanted their country to win, even though their government wont have wanted it.
Or as Ulrika Jonsson once add at end of that sentence, at euro vision 1997 “You fooools” and Terry Wogan to remind viewers “you’ve only yourself to blame” 😂
@@jules.8443Viewers can't vote for their own song either.
It happens every May. The top 10 acts from each Semi-Final qualify for the Grand Final; joining 'The Big 5' and last years winner totalling 26 songs. The song has to be original (no covers), it can't be more than 3 mins long and can be in any language but no more than 6 people can be on stage at any one time. Semi-final 1: 13 May 2025 (2 hours) - Semi-final 2: 15 May 2025 (2 hours) - Grand Final: 17 May 2025 (4 hours). I've been to four contests - 2000/2006/2011 & 2023. The atmosphere is like nothing else I have ever experienced, it's electric 😃The contests are broadcast live on YT.
What makes the Eurovision in the uk for me is the commentary by Graham Norton he makes it fun talking about the weird acts, it's been on tv for so long its something you grow up with, it's like a family tradition to watch it - the good and bad songs 😂
No matter how good Graham Norton is no one can be as wonderful as Terry Wogan was.
@@deniseadams1703 Neither of those is as good as Marty Whelan who at least has respect for the countries participati
@@deniseadams1703 I was about to say the same thing!
Sam Ryders song was brilliant. Liverpool hosted for Ukraine & was great for the city. X
In my opinion Sam still one that year.
ABBA had been making music in Sweden for a few years before hand. They attempted to be Sweden's entry in 1973 with 'Ring Ring' but didn't get chosen. In 1974 'Waterloo' won and the rest is history.
Cliff Richard was frontman of The Shadows. Also made movies like 'Summer Holiday'.
The UK used to submit artists who were previously well known and were relatively successful but in the last couple of decades it's generally been people who had no track record as established artists wouldnt want to be involved.
Over the week of Eurovision there are the two semi finals and a heap of rehearsals before the contest itself on the Saturday night. Each one is ticketted seperately.
So Steve and Lyndsey.. I’m from
Near Liverpool.. trust me whilst we didn’t win it cos Ukraine did (for obvious reasons), lpool was alive for that week.. and I mean ALIVE!!! We were proud to host it.. it’s the best party for the 3-4 nights… you have to find a way to stream the show next year and watch it live
Sadly, the UK would have come 2nd that year anyway even if you exclude the sympathy televote for Ukraine. It's not as simple as Ukraine 1st, UK 2nd so if you drop Ukraine down then UK gets 1st.
I did a deep dive into the detailed televoting which Eurovision put on their website. Although Sam Ryder won the jury vote, Ukraine overtook and Spain came within a few points of overtaking him after the televote was added. The vast majority of countries had UK way down the list in the televote while Spain had a large quantity of 2nd places behind Ukraine. Going from 2nd to 1st gains you 2 extra points. This means if you drop Ukraine down the list there would have been enough first places for Spain to overtake the UK.
Sorry, I'm a stats nerd an find this sort of nonsense interesting.
Eurovision was in my city (Liverpool, UK) last year on behalf of Ukraine and it was insane the amount of planning and events held in the city. It must have cost an absolute fortune but we had a week of free concerts on the waterfront and tonnes of activities around the city. It was brilliant.
@seandonohue6793
I came over from Dublin for the Ukrainian/Liverpool final.
Totally fantastic time.
'Village' location great, infrastructure great, people great, musical heritage great.
Liverpool had it all. Would recommend UK repeating Liverpool (if they win again).
Peace love from England ❤
Its a song contest not a singing contest
That's not entirely true. That's what it claims to be but when it comes to televoting there's just no saying what's in people's minds when it comes to picking up the phone or going on the web - performance, staging, politics all play a factor. Even the guidelines for the juries have performance and overall appeal as considerations.
It started fairly modestly in the 1950s as a way of using music to bring together a Europe that had been ravaged by war. It was one of the first internationally live broadcasts of its kind for television. The public vote was only introduced at he 1998 contest hosted in the UK by the BBC. It is a huge event in Europe often with families and friends gathering to watch it and also those avoiding it at all costs! To put it into perspective, the Eurovision final in 2024 was watched live by 163 million people from 150 countries and the Super Bowl was watched by 124 million. The contest takes place in May every year over the course of a week with Semi-Final 1 on the Tuesday, Semi-Final 2 on the Thursday and the Grand Final on the Saturday. Countries begin announcing their artists and songs usually from January to March so you’re just in time to enjoy the build up to the 2025 contest and to find your local broadcaster/stream to watch it live.
i am sure at least one year they had viwers over 200million
The semi finals take place over a couple of days and the grand final takes place on Saturday night what lasts around 4 hours in the U.K.
It is shown on the bbc and iPlayer
The Eurovision Song Contest is run by the EBU (European Broadcast Union) which is funded by the member countries.
By contributing, the national broadcasters can sydicate their content, and it also allows them to access the Eurovision Song Contest.
The National broadcasters of countries like Australia & Israel are paying into the EBU, so therefore qualify to participate.
The "Big 5" (Germany, Spain, France, Italy & UK) pay the most into the EBU, and automatically qualify direct to the Grand Final, while the remaining countries have to qualify through a Semi-Final
many people think bbc pay millions, but in reality its only 350k a year. how often can you get access to broadcast 10 hours of peak time live tv for that smal amount.
The Uk although a big financier of the contest, do treat it as a bit of a joke. A lot tune in the hear the commentary from the late great Terry Wogan and now Graham Norton . They basically takr the P9ss out of it.
Terry was actually banned by three countries from ever commentating on the competition if their country won, because they got upset when he couldn't take their performances seriously....
It was more of a honorary ban, as those countries would never win anyway...
But in a very British loving way!
I do wonder if our dismissive attitude to Eurovision was just a coping mechanism since we were so terrible for so long! Funny also how the contest has always been covered in the UK by an Irishman.
the bbc only psy 350k that is cheap as one episode of eastenders costs 500k +
Regarding professional singers being allowed, it is not a singing contest but a song writing one.
I think if you want to see a full Eurovision Song Contest, buckle up as it goes on for hours. Although I think you need to see a full one to get some context. I would suggest Eurovision Song Contest held in Liverpool 2023 on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine who for obvious reasons couldn't hold it in their country. So the UK stepped in (as we came 2nd with Sam Ryder- Spaceman) and the city of Liverpool IMO did a good job. The city was buzzing, embraced the Ukraine culture and was a success. Just a brief clip of the Flag Parade where each participating country is introduced and on this occasion it was combined with previous Ukrainian entries to the contest. ua-cam.com/video/Z2E6PvBgvs0/v-deo.htmlsi=_pgIn8JHmbbJNqEG
Israel made its Eurovision debut in 1973. It became eligible after becoming part of the European Broadcasting Union, which is behind the event. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) invited SBS to participate in the contest representing Australia for the first time in 2015, as a guest participant to celebrate the 60th edition of the event.
"that band from the 80's"
"oh you mean KISS"
that made me laugh, as KISS started in '73.
It's a song contest - the song writers/composers have to be from the country that is entering, but the singers/performers can be recruited from anywhere in the world. I really like Eurovision - every year there are some really great songs, but also some songs and performances that are funny or bizarre. It's very mixed.
Actually the broadcast company makes the rule, but generally the song writers can come from anywhere too. Last year RTL decided that for their return they wanted only Luxembourg residents to enter
@@williamdfr1715 I think you are right. The rules seem to be ever changing.
There's definitely a compilation video of all the songs and their singers over the years from it's first year up to three present day. It really does give you a real insight into how it's changed over the years in reflecting the music of the time and from being a more serious competition to less so.
Eurovision is a Song Contest, not a Singing Contest. So as long as the song was written, produced and composed in your country, who actually performs it is considered irrelevant.
You're right about the emphasis being a SONG contest. So the performer's origin doesn't matter.
But even the song doesn't have to be written by the competing country.
Awesome is not a word I would use
Whether you're a fan of Eurovision or not, it's an event that brings people together - and a huge number of people end up watching it on the night. At the very least, it's just an excuse to throw a party and have a laugh
the only people who watch it are alphabet people.
Eurovision makes me cringe and I shall not be watching this video - and have already said my apologies to Steve and Lindsay but I would rather visit the Reptile House at London Zoo and hold a python than watch that or any song contest. Mind you. Good Luck to The UK every entry... Am not unpatriotic... I just like real music like Queen or The Beatles, or Bon Jovi, or Bryan Adams, or Exchange...etc. 👍🌝🏴💕🇬🇧🤭🖖
I never bother with it. Nor do most people I know.
The UK could enter The Beatles in their prime next year, and still struggle to get votes 😂
Yeah, people generally hate us and we don't care. 😂
I've got such fond memories of Terry Wogan hosting (Steve and Lyndsey - you should look into his life, he was Irish, but considered a National Treasure). Graham Norton definitely took over Terry's spiritual shoes.
This video is a little bit outdated. Sweden's Loreen now has also won it twice. Australia was allowed to enter for the 2015 song contest (the 60th year) because the country are massive fans of the show and outside of Europe it is most watched in Oz. They've been in ever since. The reason Israel is allowed to enter is because they're a member of the European Broadcasting Union. All countries entering must belong to EBU (except for Australia). For obvious reasons Russia (and Belarus) were barred for the last two years and I believe Russia even withdrew from EBU.
EDIT: You can't vote for your own country. Every country has their own "professional" jury who vote, and then the general public vote via text message, calling or using an app.
Ridiculous to ban Russia. The competition is meant to be about coming together, now it's being used as a political tool.
I mean, it was always a bit political, but to ban a country because of the political climate is ridiculous.
@@samhilton4173 The 'political climate' is why Israel stills gets to enter. Not sure that starting an invasion and a war is simple political climate though...
Eurovision is huge, the Semi Finals are broadcast over two days and the final takes most of the night. People often host Eurovision parties with people each bringing one dish typical of one of the competing countries. Also sometimes you will get minority languages use, like one French entry was sung in Breton rather than French. In all its great fun.
I'm from the UK and I didn't know half of that 😆 Thanks for covering this topic ! I'm not a huge fan of it but it is a LOT of fun 😉
Trust me, it's a big deal. It's watched by around 120 million people worldwide. Although the voting is very political and the UK never get votes. The show goes on for about 4 hours with the voting taking much of the night. The UK invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan made it so the UK got very few votes as no one agreed to the invasion.
Eurovision has a huge following across the world and generates a lot of money.
There are two big pieces of media that people and fans of Eurovision like. The first was an episode from the the 90s TV show Father Ted A Song For Europe. This played up how Ireland was on a winning streak in the contest for so long.
The other is the 2020 movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. A spoof on the contest that starred and created by Will Ferrel in conjunction with the Eurovision Broadcasting Union. Will Ferrel was/is a big fan of the Eurovision and was introduced to it by his Swedish wife. He wanted to make something that would bring awareness to the contest for Americans and got the permission to film on location at the 2019 events with the stage, some previous contestants and audiences used in the filming. It was planned that the movie would debut along side the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, but as the pandemic happened the contest was not held (the only year in its history to not). They decided to release the movie anyway and became 2020s must watch Eurovision for every fan.
Neither of these are highly accurate to the contest itself, but they do give a sneak peak to what happens behind the scenes.
One of the best UK songs 'Spaceman' by Sam Ryder came 2nd in 2022 to Ukraine. Recognized as the real quality winner by pretty much everyone. Check out the Eurovision video for that.
Would be fun to see you both do the Shlagerfest compilation video.
remember watching it with my mum on our black and white telly when i was a kid we used to have a good laugth watching it🙂
Yes please watch a video of the winners 🙋♀️🎶🇺🇸 that should be fun!
Steve you should show her the video of River Dance i bet she would love it.
As a kid, we always watched Eurovision, as I got older I kind of didn’t watch it anymore. But we have watched it the last few years, it’s ridiculous! We have our own little fun voting game and get some foods from different countries in and make a night of it. 😂
Try watching a YT video of Riverdance, the interval act at the 1994 Eurovision in Dublin, Ireland. It launched the huge Riverdance worldwide phenomenon and is still great to watch even after 30 years.
I think Steve already watched that a while ago.
For the most part, the acts that do represent their countries are either from there or have heritage from there. Flo Rida, Céline Dion and Olivia Newton John were just the odd exceptions
Check out the comedy show "Father Ted" set in Ireland, where they set out to lose at a singing contest, loosely based on Eurovision
"My Lovely Horse" 😂
@@gbulmer This is a travesty, It was the same note over and over again
It started as a way to promote peace and culture with the big five and live on tv throughout the Continent which was a big tech achievement in those years , hence Eurovision . Nowadays it's more of a massive weird fun event and lasts three or more hours . Graham Norton is our commentator and we are resigned nowadays we aren't going to win but it's a great excuse for a party .
Oh do a reaction to all the winners of Eurovision over the years. 🇮🇪
I’m am 52 years old now, and in all those years I have only ever watched one, and that was when I was a kid.
You learn quickly. 😁
@@elemar5 Me too
I only watch the voting
Entry is open to countries that belong to the European Broadcasting Union, which naturally includes those that are physically within the continent, but also nearby countries that can receive broadcasts from European countries (Israel, Morocco, Armenia, and Azerbaijan have all entered, and other North African and West Asian countries would be eligible). Australia was invited to join in 2015 because of the big audience in that country who watched a delayed broadcast. It has nothing to do with the Commonwealth.
If the US wants to take the Eurovision song contest I think you should take it....PLEASE!
they got their chance 2 years ago, it was loosley based on official version but was pretty much a failure
It’s important to bare in mind is the stadium isn’t the only people who come to watch if. In the host city there entire city is more or less set up to be a huge street party. With screens to watch it set up around the place 18:21
It is hundreds of thousands to millions as Europe has hundreds of millions of people
*bear (in mind) - _not bare_
*their (city) - _not there_
(Sorry but am a lifelong pedant and cannot bear to see words and names misspelt or mispronounced).
👍🌝🏴💕🇬🇧🤔🖖
@@brigidsingleton1596 if the person is a native English speaker I would say bravo. If they're not, you have quite a cheek though
@williamdfr1715
I don't agree with you.
As for non English speakers...it will help to improve their English.
As for your opinion of me...
I couldn't give a flying duck. If you don't like it. Don't read it.
We don't take it too seriously here, it's nice for your country to win but it's just a good laugh and excuse to have friends round for a Eurovision party . 😊
I had the most fun when I went to photograph Lordi when they played a gig in London. My friend's band Lord of the Lost represented his country Germany last year with a song called Blood & Glitter...I think they got nil points!! Too much stage blood perhaps!!
Eurovision is a TV network based in Switzerland and covers all of Europe, north Africa and west Asia. Australia is a 'guest' participant. The half time intermission is an advert for the host country and produced Riverdance one year in Ireland (though Hothouse Flowers 'don't go' was very good the previous year). The original performance of Riverdance can be seen on youtube and still moves me and I'm not Irish!
Eurovision is the competition, the European Broadcasting Union is an association of television and radio public service broadcasters that co-operates to set standards and ensure technical interoperability. They also sponsor some cultural content and facilitate content sales between members. The only direct content they produce is Eurovision and its young Eurovision spinoffs, the European Choir Competition and the European Championships which is an attempt to organise some existing sporting competitions into a four year format similar to the Olympics and Commonwealth games.
Actually the UK hold the record in the song contest for the most second places of 16 over the years. Not so much recently but 2022 Sam Ryder was 2nd behind Ukraine.
They only won it because of the war- pathetic
Apart from ABBA, as previously mentioned, Celine Dion or Julio Iglesias also participated in the ESC.
Since this video was made, Sweden have equaled Ireland with 7 wins, and also have an artist who have won twice (Loreen)
As for tourism, the contest is often seen as a way to showcase the country for tourism -
Before each act participates (as the behind the scenes get the stage ready for the act with props etc.) there is a tevevised 'Postcard' of the act doing something in the host country (at a local market, gettinng ice cream, walking along a beach or in the mountains, shopping in a city, etc.)
The economic benefit to Liverpool a few years ago was somewhere in the region of £58 million
It the song and the country that is competing. The singer can be from any country. But it is most common that they are from the county they represent.
I remember when I was a kid, a lot of Eurovision songs were sung in English. But then they changed the rules, and each country had to present their song in their native language. But the rules have since been changed again, so that each country can choose which language to use. So you may, for example, get Norway singing their song in Spanish, or Italy singing their song in Maltese! I can't think of any actual examples of this, but I'm sure there have been a few in recent years.
Eurovision is...Unique..
One of the best bands ever, was Lordi.
They are from Finland, and won in 2006
Nobody else has ever come close to this Masterpiece
I was going to put a bet on that Lordi would win, I didn't get around to it.
@@medic1627
Same here..
I was working solid the week before the contest and never managed to place the bet.
I think the event is a week. It happens in may every year.
Two semifinals, tuesday and thursday and the grand final on saturday. A lot of activities and receptions during the week. I think you can buy a ticket for the whole week or per day.
Australia and Israel were invited to join in Eurovision, because historically they had TV channels that bought and broadcast the competition (and therefore already helped to fund it).
The important thing to remember is that the competition is for the 'best' origingal SONG not artist - so a country can choose for their song to be sung by a non-national - as did Canadian Celine Dion for Switzerland, and Australian Olivia Newton John for the UK. These are outliers, of course, and usually the performers are from the country they represent.
The grand finale is basically a huge party night!
My favourite entries are usually the east european quirky mix of traditional folk muisc and modern pop.
I think the way a song is chosen varies from country to country (and over the years|). The UK typically runs a pre-competition contest where the public votes for their favourite of about half a dozen possible entries. The two semi finals are broadcast on TV in the week of the contest, followed by the grand finale on a third night.
Nowadays, each country has a judging panel who allocate points to each entry (or maybe their top 10?). There are also phone and internet votes by the public in every participating country. The panel results are shown first, with the public votes added second to find the winner. The 'Prize' is really the honour, and the opportunitites for Europewide exposure following the win.
Small nitpick: Israel joined the European Broadcasting Union in the 1950s becoming eligible to enter Eurovision. Israel didn't actually start to compete until the early '70s.
Best Wishes. ☮
I miss Ofer Nachshon from isreal. he was well loved just like wogan was doing the voting results
Back in the day, it was very much homegrown, there were not many entering and the talent was the best they had. Its got weirder as time has passed and not as it was. Australia is allowed to enter, but cannot host, because they were big fans of Eurovision but are not in Europe. Its always been a little political, as in certain countries vote for their neighbours etc etc. Despite many people's view that the UK does badly in it, we have actually won it many times. The top three countries who have won it are, Ireland, and Sweden 7 times. France, Luxembourg, UK, the Netherlands 5 times and Israel 4 times for example.
I haven't watched Eurovision for years, last time was around 2013 I think?
In 2007 Verka Serduchka from Ukraine was robbed of 1st place, I still listen to it, that was the guy in the silver outfit.
Lordi, of course were brilliant, even Cezar from Romania brought a smile to my face, he performed 'Its my life ' in 2013. If you want to know more about the performance, Google Dracula at Eurovision, you will see why.
Katrina is an American singer and is the last UK winner in 1997.
You should watch Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga with Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams. 😂
As the voiceover briefly mentioned, the voting format has changed over time, but these days, in the final, there are two rounds of voting: one from a panel of music professionals from each country, and another based on a count of public votes (by phone, app, etc.). You're not allowed to vote for your own country's act. Voting in the two semi-final shows is slightly more complicated, but is basically similar.
Eurovision is more than just Europe. Australia has been a popular part of Eurovision for a few years now, as has Israel. The reason is surprising to many people. Participants have to be members of the European Broadcasting Union, and the Australian multicultural media network, SBS, is a member of the EBU. Australia was given a single trial invitation, but their entry was so popular they were invited back on a long term basis. I assume something similar happened with Israel.
You should watch the Will Ferrell Netflix movie Eurovision Song Contest: the Story of Fire Saga, maybe not for the channel as I know you don't do movie reactions, but it's a really fun and funny love letter to Eurovision from 2020 when Eurovision, like most else, was cancelled. Also Rachel McAdams is just fantastic in it.
If you ever do tune in you'll probably join the collective disbelief at the juries scoring lol
It doesn't matter WHO the performer is ... or where they are from..... it is not a singer contest.... it is the SONG ... written by someone from that country.... which is being judged.
Australia are huge fans of Eurovision and to celebrate the 60th anniversary (I think), they were allowed to compete and they are still allowed. We all question why Isreal is allowed. 😡
12:18 That's more like a 3rd, than a majority. Also this is an old video, Sweden has got another win, in 2023, so Sweden has a tie with Ireland now.
12:39 Yes, these are the semifinals of 2023.
13:11 It varies from year to year, how many countries are competing. Some countries might drop of, since it's quite expensive, especially for small countries, to attend, or there can be something that upset them in a previous contest, that would make them not want to do it anymore. Here are the number of countries in the most recent contests:
2024:37, 2023:37, 2022:40, 2021:39, 2019:41, 2018:43, 2017:42, 2016:42, 2015:40, 2014:37, 2013:39, 2012:42, 2011:43, 2010:39
It lasts 3 nights (two semifinals and the final) though a lot of people will only watch the final which is 3-4 hours long and have a party for it. Just to let you know, you can’t vote for your own country but a lot of votes do go to neighbouring countries. I’m pretty sure there’s videos showing clips of all the past winners which might be a good overview if you wanted to look further, similar for songs that came second etc (there probably is one for songs that came last but it’s probably a coin flip for if that would be funny or painful to watch😅)
The first time Australia was in it we came second in grand final. We were invited 3 times
To someone from the UK hearing any woman saying ABBA is not their cup of tea is crazy. There are so many girls from pre teen to elderly who could tell you their favourite ABBA song. You would have many fans in agreement about ABBA though as even their own country hated them because they are poppy and in the 70s Sweden (their native country) they loved rock/metal.
Not just girls. Many men love ABBA too, they just might not freely admit it! I had a cousin who absolutely loved ABBA, and he introduced me to a lot of his favourite album tracks, when at the time I was only aware of their chart singles. But it seems he only admitted his love of ABBA to me. He sadly passed away six years ago, and it was only in a recent conversation with his sister and his widow that I found out they had absolutely no idea he was such a big ABBA fan!
I am a (71yo) English woman (born and raised in SE London) who can and will say quite confidently / truthfully, that ABBA is/ are _not my cup of tea_ either.
I _don't_ dislike their songs, but it wouldn't bother me one iota if I never heard any of them ever again.🏴💕🇬🇧🖖
Not everyone has milquetoast taste in music. Lindsey even references Slipknot earlier in the video 😂
@TheOrlandoTrustfull
What the heck is milquetoast taste?!!
For any Brits looking in who (like me) will likely have no idea what "milquetoast" means, apparently it's this: "A very timid, unassertive, spineless person, esp. one who is easily dominated or intimidated.". Make of that what you will, ABBA fans!
The Eurovision song contest is not a song contest it's a political popularity , punishment exercise.
It's a SONG contest, not a singing contest. The song comes from the specific country, but anyone can perform it.
Has Lyndsey ever seen Riverdance? They weren't an entry into the competition, they were the interim act while we were waiting for the votes to be counted. But they are good. Especially if Michael Flatley & Jean Butler were the leading dancers.
In 2003 we FULLY deserved last place. It was most definitely not political, Jemini was a dire entry
When Ukraine won the contest England helped them out by hosting the contest the next year in Liverpool
Just to explain the voting. Each country's jury and public televote awards their favourite 10 songs points. 1st place gets 12 points, 2nd 10, 3rd 8, 4th 7 etc. Countries cannot vote for themselves. So if you're 11th on everybody's list you don't end up in 11th place, you get 0 points. All countries taking part, not just the ones in the final, get to cast votes. In the last couple of years they have also introduced a rest of the world televote calculated in the same way.
This has gone through a whole heap of changes over the years.
Ukraine won in 2022 but the Eurovision board decided they could not host it in 2023 due to the war so the UK hosted it in Liverpool on their behalf. Hosting the competition can bring in so many tourists in. In Liverpool lots of Americans came over for it as well people from all over the world it so popular.if you cannot get a ticket, they sell out fast, fan zones are usually set up all over the host city so people can watch live on large screens with lots of other entertainment through the day in these zones.
8:37 It has always been like that, people have had the freedom to represent whichever country they want. Already in the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, the very first one was Michèle Arnaud representing Luxembourg. First winner, competing for another country than than their own was Anne Marie David, from France, won for Luxembourg in 1973. Helena Paparitzou is born and raised in Sweden, but won for Greece in 2005 (her parents are from Greece). Katrina in Katrina and the Waves, was born in the US, but won for the UK in 1997.
Just to name a few.
As far as I know none of the winning artists from Luxembourg came from Luxembourg. Jean Claude Pascal, France Gäll, Anne Marie David and Corinne Hermes are all French and Vicky Leandros is Greek.
@@royescfan9594 Yes, and I think I read somewhere that only 8 out of Luxembourg's 38 entries in Eurovision has represented by a singer from Luxembourg.
@10:00 The UK has been criticised by other entrants for *not* having its song sung by established artists from the mid-1970s onwards, despite having a very successful commercial music business. That has also encouraged other countries to avoid voting for the UK entry ("If you guys don't take the contest seriously, why should we vote for you?"). The biggest UK performers simply don't want to risk their reputation by joining in, so recently our song has usually been sung by acts beyond their peak, or by newcomers, or by acts from other countries.
Valid point about the quality of recent UK entries, and yet you still read the usual comments about it being because of Iraq, or Brexit. It's because the BBC has no need of a song to pull in viewers, they know they are going to get audience figures thanks to Graham Norton. Choose a song that would be able to place on the UK chart and people will vote for it
The Ukraine won in 2022, but because of the conflict, the 2nd place country got to host it in 2023. That was us here in the U.K. Sam Ryder won in 2nd place to the Ukraine.
Guys the acts roll into town earlier and appear sometimes locally before the competition - incidentally this is always held inside. Each country has a jury voting on other country’s acts and then there is a public vote. Incidentally the Scandinavian countries tend to vote for each other and as the uk no longer is a member of the EU and is without neighbours we usually find ourselves “ frozen out “ .
How do you explain then that the UK had its best result in years just two years ago, after Brexit? Think about it, when was the last time a UK entry made it into the UK charts. Many other countries put a lot of work into doing well. BBC knows that the public will tune in on the night and they will get their viewing figures thanks to Graham Norton, not the song.
Sweden have 7 wins now since their last year win by Loreen with song Tattoo with same points as Ireland has currently and hosted the competition in 2024 in Malmö..the winner was Switzerland that is going to host the competition in 2025
If you watched the whole competition for 1 year (2 semis and final), it'll take about 10 hours
"Probably not taken so serious..." hihihihihihihihihihiihi
Back in the day, Eurovision was taken as seriously as cancer but in the last fifteen years or so it's become more of a joke.
People dressed in outrageous costumes and singing both political and "comedy" songs have been more prolific.
Take it for what it is, a semi serious "song" contest that generates a huge amount of money and coverage for both the promoters and the winners.
just treat it as a comedy show with songs thrown in and questionable outfits :)
Named after the tv company who started it.
No, just don’t watch it.
"....doesn´t want to host" from the narrator is BS, hosting the ESC is big business and a huge boost for the respective host city. Great reaction, i ´d highly recommend that, for the next ESC, you guys invite all your friends and throw a big ESC party while watching it ;)....all the best from Austria.
The Eurovision now has an additional category of voters, the Rest of the World (Yes this includes the US) and stream it live on the internet. There is also a kids Eurovision contest as well.
Edit: From memory the UK has the distinction of being the first country to score zero at the end of voting (please correct me if I remembered incorrectly).
Possibly the televote, but I think it was Norway who got the dreaded nil points first many years earlier prior to the televote being counted separately from the jury vote.
Tyler Rumple watched a mix of songs from Eurovision if you can watch the original video
Crucially, you cannot vote for your own country. They're quite good at tracing where the calls are coming from. Though a British expat living in Spain could vote for the UK.
The other part not mentioned is that if a country cannot host after winning, then it is traditional for the UK to step in as hosts. After Ukraine won recently, it obviously wasn't safe to hold it in Kyiv, so it went to Liverpool.
Don’t try to understand it, just enjoy and laugh at the spectacle
Its the song they vote on. The writers of the song have to be from the country.
Actually they don't unless the national broadcaster decides that, like RTL did last year for Luxembourg's return. Germany's Ralph Siegel has written songs for Switzerland, Luxembourg, Montenegro, San Marino...
Nil point! Classic 😂