By: Logan Brown
Ever wondered about the first Eurovision? Or how it manages to get 7.4 million views in the UK? Well, you have come to the right article. Eurovision is a singing contest with each European country having a singer to represent them, hence the “Euro”. Whoever wins hosts the next year's show.
In 1955, a meeting was held in Monaco where members of the European Broadcast Union discussed the idea of a song contest which would be broadcast across the world. The contest was first held on the 24th of May in 1956 with seven countries participating - each had two songs.That year, Eurovision was hosted in Switzerland and they surprisingly won the competition! At this time, the countries could vote for themselves if they wanted. Each country sent members to go vote for the winner but Luxembourg could not send anyone and so they allowed Switzerland to vote on their behalf. Controversy quickly spread as people speculated whether Switzerland had used this opportunity to vote for themselves again.
The most successful country with the most wins is Ireland with seven victories and Sweden in second place with six. Even though the contest has been held only 64 times, there have been a total of 67 winners as in 1969 there was a tie between Spain, UK, France and The Netherlands. The contest is the longest running singing competition in the world as stated by the Guinness Book of World Records. Another strange fact is that even though the competition is for European countries, Australia participates in it. They were allowed to enter for the competition’s 60th Anniversary and they will continue to participate until 2023. If Australia ever won, they wouldn’t be allowed to host the show the next year as it is not in the European continent. So don’t worry, you wouldn't need to go on a 16 hour flight to see the next Eurovision!
This year, Ukraine won with many viewers showing solidarity with the war.-torn country. Personally, I think Ukraine were definitely deserving of the win. The UK came an impressive second place in this year's competition. The previous year, the UK was 26th so that is quite the improvement! Also, it was held in Italy as the tradition is that whoever wins holds the competition next year. Strangely, Norway entered onto the stage and sang their song (Give That Wolf A Banana) wearing neon yellow wolf masks! Also, Russia was banned this year as a demonstration of solidarity with Ukraine. This is not the first time they have not been present in recent years. In 2017, Russia withdrew themselves from the Kyiv Eurovision because their lead singer, Yulia Samoylova, was banned from entering Ukraine. In light of recent global events, we ask the question of who will host it in 2023? Maybe the runners up in the UK? Or some other country? Or, hopefully, the conflict in Ukraine will have ended and the winners can host the contest on their home soil!
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