To the uneducated the Eurovision Song Contest might appear to be a bunch of Europeans having a party while the rest of the world watches on in confusion. And it is just that, however it is also slightly more than that too. I will explain.
Eurovision started in Switzerland in the 1950s. After the devastation of World War 2 a “light entertainment programme” was conceived in hopes that it would bring together the countries of the EBU (European Broadcasting Area).
Countries wishing to participate do not have to be members of the European Union, they don’t even have to be located on the continent of Europe. However the country must be an active member of the European Broadcasting Area. Countries like Cyprus and Israel have competed in previous years and in 2015 to mark the 60th anniversary of the show Australia will be competing.
The rules state that the country which won the preceding year’s contest must host the event 12 months later; this year’s contest will therefore be held in Vienna, thanks to a historic victory for Conchita Wurst, with 290 points.
Sometimes countries are unable to finance the event and therefore send particularly silly acts. It seems that Greece decided to use this strategy in 2013.
However some countries purposefully send silly acts in hope that they will be memorable. For example Ukraine in 2007 and Finland in 2006 who won that year with a bunch of singing Klingons (not going to lie, I totally voted for them).
Each country’s points are determined by a 50/50 combination of viewer votes and a jury of music professionals in each country. When all the points have been calculated, the presenters of the show call upon each voting country in turn to invite them to announce the results of their vote.
Voting can be a controversial process as old alliances, grudges against neighbours, and current political tensions can factor into each country’s decision.
Oh you want me to talk about the UK? Ugh, fine then.
The UK never wins. We might have won in the past but not any more. Every year people like to get their hopes up because maybe just this year we will actually win. But we won’t. Seriously.
This year the UK is being represented by the duo Electro Velvet with their song Still In Love With You. They were put together for the contest, and consist of Bianca Nicholas – who once appeared on The Voice – and Alex Larke, who spends most of his time as a Mick Jagger impersonator.
Surprisingly the UK has won Eurovision more than once, 5 times in fact. One time we even managed to win with Congratulations by Cliff Richard. But we’re not going to win this year. Don’t even think about going to the comments and saying something like “maybe it will be different this time”. No. We’re not going to win.
Though it does appear that Eurovision has worked to bring countries closer together. Even if that is only through mutual hatred.
Oh and I nearly forgot about the dancing grannies. Because that happened.
The Paper Kind 
35 responses to “Everything You Need To Know About Eurovision”
This is like one of that events that I have to watch every year, it’s a tradition for me. However Portugal never wins and most of the times it doesn’t even go to the final which is sad. I’m pretty sure that unfortunally we are not going to be in the final this year and it’s one of rare ocasions that I actually like the song that we have.
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Awww thats sad. Its annoying that we have the rounds now, but I think thats because there are so many countries who want to compete.
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Thanks, Emma. I had no idea what Eurovision was. In my defense, I am in Canada. 🙂
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Hopefully you understand a little more now 😀
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Wow, this is really cool. Thanks for explaining. 🙂
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Thank you for reading 😀
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I can’t even write a comment, still studying the Ilustrated Beginner’s Guide. Awesome!
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Thanks!
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Same goes for Germany 😀
We never win, unless we send a teenager with a strange accent. And to be fair, I don’t think UK are going to win either, but at least your entry is not the same generic pop crap as everybody else has to offer, so that’s something…
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You’re right it was a little different than the normal crap we send. But it didn’t help. I think we did really badly this year. Even worse than Germany.
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Learned a lot! Thanks for the post.
Jeanette Hall
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Thanks Jeanette!
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I absolutely love Eurovision, despite living in Australia, and have been watching since the 80s. This year Australia has a guest performer and we will be able to vote for the very first time! I can’t wait. Thanks for the awesome post. Amy
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Yeah I heard that Eurovision is very popular in Aus. Though I haven’t actually heard that entry yet! Need to go have a look at that. Thanks for reading 🙂
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Call Lordi a bunch of singing Klingons again and certain blogs will be unsubscribed to.
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Okay okay okay, they are a bunch of singing trolls. Better?
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You’ve got half of Mr. Lordi’s lineage right there, so I’m happy. (and yes there is an official canonical backstory to each of the band members because they’re awesome like that.)
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Thats really cool. I need to go have a look at that.
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Go for it!
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Eurovision generally works best when accompanied by booze!
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Yes well I didn’t want to say that!
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I quite like UK song, but maybe cause I’m generally fond of charleston-vibe.
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I’ve listened to it a couple of times, its really not so bad. At least it isn’t as bad as some songs we’ve had.
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It’s not bad at all 🙂 I’m also listening and growing fond of the song. It’s fun! Also, I find the male singers voice rather pleasing to listen. But I do realize, that this style might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad.
My other favourite is the duo from Norway.. since I can’t vote for my most favourite one, (honestly, never felt so strongly about the song from my own country), then I might give a point to these two 🙂
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Yes I like Norway’s entry. Sweden was very good as well. A very deserving winner.
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I actually lived in London for five years and never understood it. (I also never watched it.) Thanks for the primer. 🙂
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Ahh yeah, watching it does help. Not by much though! Thanks for reading 🙂
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Of course! Thanks for reading first! 😉
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You’re welcome 🙂
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I like the UK song with its 1920s still musicality. Most Euro-vision entries, from a Canadian perspective looks like it they are trapped in a Las Vegas – Disco Dimension combined with bizarre novelty acts/tunes that don’t appear to be serious about anything. I guess the novelty acts are poking fun at the melodramatic seriousness of the Vegas Disco acts. 😀
It is certainly a different cultural reality from Canada & the U.S.A. .
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Yes, Euro-pop can be very strange, especially if you’re not used to it. The fun part is trying to work out which countries are taking the competition seriously.
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Have to admit, I don’t really know. It didn’t win I know that (though Sweden was very good). I’m guessing it came somewhere near the bottom.
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Just had a look and apparently UK got 5 points. Which is really really bad compared to Sweden who got 365.
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Well at least you guys made it into the finals. We didn’t haha!
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Haha yup!
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