The Eurovision Song Contest

[DazedOblivion]

Thanks, Sanna, for all the photos and the YouTube! Wow! You even got to be there at the Finland finals! ;D That's fantastic!

After these many years of reading your posts and watching videos, I still don't quite understand how Eurovision works and what the judges are looking for.

I still like Germany's entry from a few years back: Texas Lightning singing "No No Never"!

Who will represent Ireland this year?

[Hideaway]

The Eurovision Song Contest has long and quite complicated rules and they have changed many times. I tried to collect the important bits.
This is how the competition works.

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. Each country participates via one of their national EBU-member television stations, whose task it is to select a singer and a song to represent their country in the international competition.

The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries. During this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries' songs: nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the winner is declared as the song with the most points. The winner receives, simply, the prestige of having won—although it is usual for a trophy to be awarded to the winning songwriters, and the winning country is invited to host the event the following year.

Each country must submit one song to represent them in any given year they participate. There is a rule which forbids any song being entered which has been previously commercially released or broadcast in public before a certain date relative to the Contest in question. The purpose of this rule is to ensure that only new songs are entered into the Contest, and not existing successful songs of years gone by, which might give a country an unfair advantage due to the fact that the song is already known and popular.

In the first Contest in 1956, there was no time limit on songs. In 1957, a limit of 3½ minutes was recommended. In 1962, this was revised to 3 minutes precisely. The performance and/or lyrics of a song "must not bring the Contest into disrepute".

All vocals must be sung live: no voices are permitted on backing tracks. From 1956 until 1998, it was necessary for the host country to provide a live orchestra for the use of the participants. Prior to 1973, all music was required to be played by the host orchestra. From 1973 onwards, pre-recorded backing tracks were permitted—although the host country was still obliged to provide a live orchestra in order to give participants a choice. If a backing track was used, then all the instruments heard on the track were required to be present on the stage. In 1997 this requirement was dropped. The rule requiring countries to sing in their own national language has been changed several times over the years. From 1956 until 1965, there was no rule restricting the languages in which the songs could be sung. However, in 1966 a rule was imposed stating that the songs must be performed in one of the official languages of the country participating. The language restriction continued until 1973, when it was lifted and performers were again free to sing in any language they wished. In 1977, the EBU decided to revert to the national language restriction. In 1999, the rule was changed again to allow freedom of language once more.

There is no restriction imposed by the EBU on the nationality of the performers or songwriters. Individual broadcasters are, however, permitted to impose their own restrictions at their discretion.

From 1998 onwards, four particular countries would always qualify for the Eurovision final, regardless of their positions on the scoreboard in previous Contests. They earned this special status by being the four biggest financial contributors to the EBU (without which the production of the Eurovision Song Contest would not be possible). These countries are Germany, France, Spain and the United Kingdom. Due to their untouchable status in the Contest, these countries became known as the Big Four.

The voting systems used in the Contest have changed throughout the years. The modern system has been in place since 1975, and is a positional voting system. Countries award a set of points from 1 to 8, then 10 and finally 12 to other songs in the competition — with the favourite song being awarded 12 points.

Historically, a country's set of votes was decided by an internal jury, but in 1997 five countries (Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom) experimented with televoting, giving members of the public in those countries the opportunity to vote en-masse for their favourite songs. The experiment was a success, and from 1998 onwards all countries were encouraged to use televoting wherever possible. Back-up juries are still utilised by each country, in the event of the televoting failure. Nowadays members of the public may also vote by SMS, in addition to televoting. Whichever method of voting is used—jury, telephone or SMS—countries may not cast votes for their own songs. However, juries are to be brought back in 2009 following criticism about the fairness of public voting.

This year's full rules can be found here: www.eurovision.tv/upload/esc2009rules.pdf

So in short Eurovision Song Contest is EBU's contest where the juries and voters are looking for the best song (that it written for the contest). It is not a singing contest, the singer doesn't really win anything.

This year's Irish entry will be chosen on February 20th.

[DazedOblivion]

Thanks for that, Sanna.

I actually read all that and wondered: what prevents countries from voting for the weakest of the other countries in order to eliminate those songs that mighten threaten their own chances at winning? What ensures that such politically calculated strategies don't control the Eurovision competition? It seems to me that some of the acts from last year that I watched were nothing short of ghastly! (I actually kinda liked that song by that weird, bearded French dude, though .)

Also, in the finals, do ALL the countries get to vote, even if they did not qualify for the finals?

[Hideaway]

Feb 13, 2009 4:49:03 GMT 1 DazedOblivion said:

Thanks for that, Sanna.

I actually read all that and wondered: what prevents countries from voting for the weakest of the other countries in order to eliminate those songs that mighten threaten their own chances at winning? What ensures that such politically calculated strategies don't control the Eurovision competition? It seems to me that some of the acts from last year that I watched were nothing short of ghastly! (I actually kinda liked that song by that weird, bearded French dude, though .)

Political voting has been a problem in ESC for a long time, especially in recent years. That's why the contest's rules have changed and juries are to return to the ESC this year.

Feb 13, 2009 4:49:03 GMT 1 DazedOblivion said:

Also, in the finals, do ALL the countries get to vote, even if they did not qualify for the finals?

Yes.

[DazedOblivion]

That's good that they all get to vote in the final. Thanks for answering my questions, Sanna.

[Hideaway]

All the songs to this year's contest have been chosen. (The full list is on the previous page.)

At the moment my absolute favorite is Norway (Alexander Rybak - Fairytale).



All the songs can be found here: www.eurovision.tv

[DazedOblivion]

Thanks, Sanna! I think that Sharon Corr might be a little partial to Norway. I did notice quite a few entries that feature violins and cellos.

Hey! How did Finland end up with a rapper this year??

I quickly went through the list at the link you gave and listened. I made a quicklist of 10 other entries that stood out in my mind. Some of the countries didn't have videos yet.

Croatia
Denmark
Estonia
Iceland
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Moldova
Montenegro
Switzerland

A couple of the standouts (in my head, that is):

ESTONIA (her voice sounds quite a lot like that of Agnetha Fältskog)
HQ
(Seems like they borrowed a little bit from "Reach Out, I'll Be There" by the Four Tops.)

ICELAND
HQ

I somehow really liked MOLDOVA. Watch out for them - their song has a very danceable rhythm like the "Macarena".
HQ

Many of the songs had the steady beat that wasn't as interesting as Moldova's.

It seems to me that it's going to be a very tough competition this year.

[Hideaway]

Mar 28, 2009 16:56:50 GMT 1 DazedOblivion said:

Hey! How did Finland end up with a rapper this year??

Well....I guess it's because they used to be popular in the 90's and Waldo's People was one of the first Finnish bands who had international success and the band is now making a comeback. Some Finns think that because Waldo's People were popular 10 years ago they will do well in the contest.

I'm still bitter that Passionworks feat. Tony Turunen with their song Surrender didn't win. (They came 3rd.) But I have to say that the song didn't sound so good live. The singer had high fever and she had almost lost her voice.
Btw Tony Turunen is Tarja Turunen's (from Nightwish) brother. I think he has a great voice and I heard that he is starting a band. I'm looking forward to that.

This would have been so much better choice. But since I'm a fan of Finnish heavy music I would always send heavy music to the contest. *lol*



I also like Estonia's song this year. I think it's really cool that they sing in Estonian. It's been 11 years since there has been an Estonian language song in the contest.

It's always funny listen to Estonian. It sounds exactly like Finnish and the languages are so similar that Finns can understand some of the words even if they don't speak Estonian.

[DazedOblivion]

Mar 29, 2009 10:05:53 GMT 1 Hideaway said:

Mar 28, 2009 16:56:50 GMT 1 DazedOblivion said:

Hey! How did Finland end up with a rapper this year??

Well....I guess it's because they used to be popular in the 90's and Waldo's People was one of the first Finnish bands who had international success and the band is now making a comeback. Some Finns think that because Waldo's People were popular 10 years ago they will do well in the contest.

I'm still bitter that Passionworks feat. Tony Turunen with their song Surrender didn't win. (They came 3rd.) But I have to say that the song didn't sound so good live. The singer had high fever and she had almost lost her voice.

Btw Tony Turunen is Tarja Turunen's (from Nightwish) brother. I think he has a great voice and I heard that he is starting a band. I'm looking forward to that.

This would have been so much better choice. But since I'm a fan of Finnish heavy music I would always send heavy music to the contest. *lol*

Thanks for the explanation, Sanna. That's really tough about the singer having a fever and almost losing her voice. It's too bad in a song contest that it would come down to that to destroy their hopes to represent Finland.

Mar 29, 2009 10:05:53 GMT 1 Hideaway said:

I also like Estonia's song this year. I think it's really cool that they sing in Estonian. It's been 11 years since there has been an Estonian language song in the contest.

It's always funny listen to Estonian. It sounds exactly like Finnish and the languages are so similar that Finns can understand some of the words even if they don't speak Estonian.

That's interesting that the languages are so similar.

[Hideaway]

Here is Alexander Rybak who is representing Norway this year playing a song called "Song from a secret garden" (by Secret Garden). This is one of the most beautiful songs that I've heard.




Btw, Secret Garden won the ESC in 1995 representing Norway with a song called "Nocturne".

[DazedOblivion]

Thank you, Sanna! Great playing by Alexander Rybak.

Yes! It certainly is a beautiful piece composed by the incredibly melodically-gifted composer, Rolf Lovland of Secret Garden. He also wrote "You Raise Me Up" that was a big hit for Josh Groban.

I just now noticed that Secret Garden have a new CD on the way. I really enjoy their music. I found out about them from a PBS television show that featured their music. I only knew later that they won the ESC in 1995.

[Hideaway]

First Semi-Final: The Qualifiers

Tonight, the First Semi-Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest took place in the Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow. In an exciting show, the representatives of ten countries were picked to advance to the Final.

Millions of viewers tuned in tonight to watch the First Semi-Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. The show was broadcast live from the Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow, and it was presented by Natalia Vodyanova and Andrey Malakhov. Nine qualifying countries were picked by televoting, and a tenth finalist was selected by the national juries all over Europe. All the countries represented in the First Semi-Final were voting, as well as Germany and the United Kingdom. This is the list of countries that qualified (the full results will be revealed after the Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest):

* Turkey
* Sweden
* Israel
* Portugal
* Malta
* Finland
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Romania
* Armenia
* Iceland

That now means that 15 out of 25 participants of the Final of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest are known. The remaining 10 finalists will be known after the Second Semi-Final, to take place on May 14th at 21:00 CET.

www.eurovision.tv

[DazedOblivion]

Thanks, Sanna!

I had lost track of what is happening at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Congratulations to your country Finland for making it to the finals. ;D

So, are Switzerland and Montenegro completely out of the running now, or do they have a chance to be selected as a judges' choice?

The 2nd Semi features six of the entries that I picked in March after listening to the YouTubes.

[Hideaway]

Second Semi Final: The Qualifiers

* Azerbaijan
* Croatia
* Ukraine
* Lithuania
* Albania
* Moldova
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Norway
* Greece

May 13, 2009 6:21:51 GMT 1 DazedOblivion said:

Thanks, Sanna!

I had lost track of what is happening at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Congratulations to your country Finland for making it to the finals. ;D

So, are Switzerland and Montenegro completely out of the running now, or do they have a chance to be selected as a judges' choice?

The 2nd Semi features six of the entries that I picked in March after listening to the YouTubes.

Yes, Switzerland and Montenegro didn't make it to the final. The 10 songs that qualify from semi final include the judges' choice. Both semi final voting results are revealed after the final.

To be honest I was surprised that Finland qualified and I'm happy that all Nordic countries are in the final. Norway is the favorite to win the whole contest and Denmark has gotten a lot of publicity as one of the Denmark's songwriters is Ronan Keating. Ronan is no stranger to the ESC. He hosted ESC with Carrie Crowley in 1997 when the contest was held in Dublin.

Ronan is not the only famous songwriter this year. UK's song is written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren. Andrew Lloyd Webber will also play piano during UK's performance.

[Hideaway]

The Grand Final: Saturday, 16th of May, 2009 (21:00 CET)[/U]

01. Lithuania: Sasha Son - Love
02. Israel: Noa & Mira Awad - There Must Be Another Way
03. France: Patricia Kaas - Et S'il Fallait Le Faire
04. Sweden: Malena Ernman - La Voix
05. Croatia: Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea - Lijepa Tena
06. Portugal: Flor-De-Lis - Todas As Ruas Do Amor
07. Iceland: Yohanna - Is It True
08. Greece: Sakis Rouvas - This Is Our Night
09. Armenia: Inga & Anush - Jan Jan
10. Russia: Anastasia Prikhodko - Mamo
11. Azerbaijan: AySel & Arash - Always
12. Bosnia and Herzegovina: Regina - Bistra Voda
13. Moldova: Nelly Ciobanu - Hora Din Moldova
14. Malta: Chiara - What If We
15. Estonia: Urban Symphony - Rändajad
16. Denmark: Brinck - Believe Again
17. Germany: Alex Swings Oscar Sings! - Miss Kiss Kiss Bang
18. Turkey: Hadise - Düm Tek Tek
19. Albania: Kejsi Tola - Carry Me in Your Dreams
20. Norway: Alexander Rybak - Fairytale
21. Ukraine: Svetlana Loboda - Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)
22. Romania: Elena - The Balkan Girls
23. The United Kingdom: Jade Ewen - It's My Time
24. Finland: Waldo's People - Lose Control
25. Spain: Soraya - La Noche Es Para Mí (The Night Is For Me)


The voting

* After all songs have been performed, viewers in all 42 participating countries can vote by making a phone call and/or sending an SMS for their favorite song(s). You are allowed to vote up to 20 times, but you cannot vote for your own country

* Each country then gives 12 points to the most popular entry, 10 points to the second most popular, then 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points

* Professional juries in all 42 countries vote as well. Just like the televoters, each jury in each country then gives 12 points to the most popular entry, 10 points to the second most popular, then 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points

* The televoting results and the jury results are then merged per country. Each result counts for 50%

* Spokespersons in all 42 countries will read out the merged results, giving 12 points to the most popular entry, 10 points to the second most popular, then 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points

* The country with the highest number of points wins the 54th Eurovision Song Contest


Eurovision Song Contest Official Site