History Series / EurovisionSongContest

-->Hilversum 1958 introduced the convention of last year's winning country hosting the current edition. Italy's entry "Nel blu dipinto di blu" became a global SleeperHit after the contest, hitting #1 on Billboard and winning the two big Grammys (the only Eurovision song to win this award) in 1959.

-->In a break from convention, the Netherlands declined hosting rights this year, having already hosted the event 2 years prior, thus the honors went to the runner-up nation.

-->Like three years ago, the United Kingdom had to host after last year's winner (i.e., France) declined due to financial troubles (though this time, Britain volunteered). The contest was hosted in the BBC Broadcasting Centre, who wanted to give this year's contest a distinct feel. The audience and entrants were located in different soundstages, and a boom mike was used. This led to rumors that the entries were prerecorded. In contrast to winning Denmark, its Nordic neighbors all received ''nul points'', as did the Netherlands (second in a row).

-->Sweden withdrew due to boycott, while Portugal's debut saw it off with ''nul points'', as did Germany, Switzerland and Yugoslavia (their first time). The Netherlands sent the ESC's first entrant without a pure European ancestry (i.e., Indonesian-blooded Anneke Grönloh), while Spain's Los TNT was the first entry with at least three members. Italy won via CurbStompBattle, being 30 points ahead of the next-best-placed song. Gigiola was 16 at the time of victory, the youngest Eurovision winner at the time.

-->Luxembourg 1966 saw the establishment of a rule restricting entries to their home country's languages (after Sweden sung in English last year). This would also be Austria's first and only win until 2014 (courtesy of a certain drag queen, no less). The Netherlands' entrant Milly Scott was the first black person to compete in Eurovision, as well as the first to use a portable microphone.

-->Like three years ago, the UK wins with a wide berth, this time 25 points ahead of runner-up Ireland. Luxembourg's entry would be CoveredUp by Paul Mauriat as an instrumental. The Portugese entrant was the first black male entrant in Eurovision, and was supposedly chosen by prime minister Salazar to prove that he wasn't racist.

-->Amsterdam 1970 was hit by a four-nation boycott due to protests over last year's results, to which EBU responded by setting up a one-round tiebreaker. This edition also saw the appearance of then-unknown Julio Iglesias for Spain. Ireland's win, however, would presage the country's domination of the series for years to come.

-->Dublin 1971 saw the voting system hit a big problem, as some judges score less than others. This is also Monaco's only win, while the EBU abolished a rule restricting entries to two performers. With The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the UK sent a Northern Irish singer to ease the Dublin audience. This edition also saw the debut of BBC's Radio/TerryWogan and his penchant for snide remarks.

-->Prince Rainier of Monaco, last year's winning country, declined hosting rights due to lack of funds, thus marking the Eurovision's first British foray outside England. Songwriter Yves Dessca became the second to win the tournament twice, the first for two different countries (having also written Monaco's winning entry last year), and the first twice-in-a-row.

-->This edition now allows entries to be sung in any other language than their national tongue, saw the tournament extend its reach beyond Europe proper with the debut of Israel, an increase in security following the tragic events of the 1972 Summer Olympics not a few months earlier in Munich (which also involved Israel), and also saw Wogan's TV debut, which allows for more snarking watched by millions. The Spanish entry was accused of plagarizing the 1966 Yugoslavian entry, but was not disqualified. "Eres tu" went on to become a huge hit despite placing second.

-->Luxembourg declines hosting back-to-back, so Britain once again steps up to the plate and elected the port city of Brighton to host the event. France withdrew from the final as a sign of mourning over the death of President Georges Pompidou during the week (and whose funeral coincided with the final). Their entrant was seen in the audience at the part where she would have performed. Brighton 1974, however, would be forever associated with ABBA, who would use their Eurovision victory as a springboard for international stardom. Meanwhile, the Italian entry was thought as a tool to get people to vote yes in the then-upcoming Italian referendum on divorce, which was already being campaigned heavily across the country, while the Portugese entry was used as a signal for the Carnation Revolution.

-->The first Eurovision to utilize the 12-point voting system. Greece withdrew in protest over the introduction of Turkey, who staged the invasion of Cyprus the previous year, while Portugal's entry was an unabashed celebration of the aforementioned Carnation Revolution.

-->Sweden, last year's host, withdrew due to the potential cost of hosting another edition, to which EBU responded with a stipulation encouraging all participating nations to at contribute to the cost of staging the contests, while Turkey withdrew in response to Greece last year. "Save Your Kisses For Me" became another huge hit sparked by the ESC, while the Greek entry drew controversy for being about the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

-->London 1977 marks France's second victory on British soil and so far their very last Eurovision title. However, it was the runner-up, the UK's "Rock Bottom", that was the most commercially successful. Germany sent globally popular disco group Silver Convention, while Dream Express from Belgium caused some flak because the three female members were reported to be wearing transparent tops for the event (they didn't eventually). The contest was going to be held in April, but was pushed back due to a strike involving BBC cameramen and technicians.

-->Israel's win (with a dozen consecutive ''douze points'', which is an Eurovision record that stands to this day) naturally never sat well with broadcasters from the Arab World, with Jordan prematurely ending its broadcast and saying that Belgium (the runner-up) won the next day. Denmark returns after a long absence, while Greece's entry (competing together with Turkey for the first time) is a tribute to Creator/CharlieChaplin, who died the previous year (the German national final also had a song called "Charlie Chaplin"). Norway suffers the series' first ''nul points'' under the new voting system implemented in 1975.

-->Unlike previous years, Turkey withdrew not due to its traditional feud with Greece, but due to pressure from Arab countries objecting to its participation alongside host Israel, which won back-to-back. Yugoslavia did not broadcast the show for this same reason. Fourth-placers Dschinghis Khan later achieve success with the song "Moskau".

-->Israel withdrew due to the final clashing with "Yom Hazikaron" ("Day of Remembrance"), a major Israeli holiday commemorating its fallen soldiers, while Monaco withdrew due to dissatisfaction with their performance last year (and would not return until the 2004 semifinals), Morocco joins for their only Eurovision to date, and Ireland won through Australian export Logan.

-->Best-known for the UK's winning act featuring its two male members ripping off the skirts of its two female members, only to reveal miniskirts underneath -- {{Foreshadowing}} the stripping acts that would become a staple for years to come. Norway would repeat the indignity of scoring ''nul points'' from three years ago, while Turkey's points disappeared from the scoreboard due to a glitch. The interval act was "Timedance" by Bill Whelan, said to be a precursor to Riverdance.

-->West Germany's winning entry was 1.61 times as much as that of runner-up Israel, a Eurovision record that stood until 2009, while the entry's songwriters, Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger, would become German Eurovision mainstays with 18 songs between them, and West Germany (later Germany as a whole, with the assimilation of communist East Germany in 1990) has since (except 1996) became a perennial finals contender. Finland's anti-nuclear entry failed to reverberate throughout Europe, and thus took over Norway's indignity of scoring ''nul points'' from last year. As a show of support for Argentina (at war with the UK), Spain sent a tango number and placed 10th.

-->Munich 1983 was the first Eurovision broadcast in UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}, whose high viewership ratings later inspired the EBU to invite it into a semifinals interval act for 2014 and an entry proper the next year. Israeli performer Ofra Haza placed 2nd and later gained recognition for her contributions to ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' soundtrack. Spain and Turkey shared the dishonor of scoring ''nul points'' for this year, while Ireland withdrew due to its broadcaster RTE going on strike. The votes were read out in three languages instead of two, stretching the contest to three hours.

-->Like four years ago, Israel withdrew due to the final clashing with Yom Hazikaron (a movable holiday, set in Iyar 4 of the Hebrew calendar), while UK's entry was met with boos due to British hooligans causing a ruckus there in 1983 after failing to qualify for the 1984 Euro Championships. Sweden's winning entry was the first sung in Swedish.

-->Norway, perennial Eurovision whipping-boy with six last-place finishes, three of which with ''nul points'', shocked the tournament by winning their first contest, a fact not lost on presenter and 1966 Eurovision runner-up Lill Lindfors, whose faux-WardrobeMalfunction act during the interval remains a highlight to this day. Netherlands and Yugoslavis withdrew due to their Remembrance Day and the anniversary of the death of Josip Broz Tito respectively. The first Eurovision winner, Lys Assia, was a guest of honor.

-->13-year-old Sandra Kim stood out as the youngest Eurovision winner (by faking her age as 15; today Eurovision restricts the minimum age to 16), while Norway enjoyed every moment of its very first Eurovision hosting duties. Greece withdrew because the contest conflicted with Holy Saturday.

-->The largest edition at the time, which made the EBU put the cap on participating countries to 22. Johnny Logan becomes the first performer to win twice, while Turkey gets the ''nul points'' axe this year. Israel's entry was largely comedic and the country's culture minister threatened to resign if they went to Brussels. He never went through with this, and the song placed 8th.

'''Venue:''' Palais de Beaulieu\\

-->Lausanne 1989 featured the youngest singers in Eurovision history: 11-year-old Nathalie Pâque of France and 12-year-old Gili Natanael of Israel. Bad publicity regarding their presence forced the EBU to set the minimum participating age at 16. A new tiebreaker rule was set, where the entry with the most 12 points wins (if that doesn't suffice, the number of 10 points would also be taken into account). The winning song was performed by a Croatian.

-->Many entries reflected the profound changes brought by the fall of communism, while the winning entry looked further, in anticipation of the unified European market by 1992. Malta wanted to return, but was barred due to the 22-nation cap (though they still held their own national finals).

-->The Netherlands backed out due to the final coinciding with Remembrance of the Dead, a holiday commemorating all Dutch casualties since World War II, allowing Malta to return. Sweden wins out over France under the 1989 tiebreaker rules (both had four twelve-pointers, but Sweden had five ten-pointers against France's two).

-->The EBU eschews the 22-nation cap by allowing the Netherlands to return. The winning entry was written by Johnny Logan, becoming the first three-time winner.

-->Ireland was apparently too good for RTE, who expressed to the EBU that, should Ireland win this one, they couldn't be expected to host yet again. The field was cut down to 23 to reduce airtime, thus relegating last year's bottom seven while reinstating 1993's bottom five (as Italy declined to join). While the host had a disappointing 14th-place finish, they at least took heart in the fact that Norway's winning entry had an Irish violinist, Fionnuala Sherry.

'''Winner:''' United Kingdom -- "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina & The Waves
-->Due to negative reception of the 1996 qualifiers, the EBU implemented a new relegation system where the five nations with the lowest average scores for the last five years are to be forced to sit out, allowing last year's sit-outs to fill the gaps -- in this case, however, Israel turned down the opportunity as the final clashed with Holocaust Remembrance Day, thus granting a reprieve for Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Italy returns after a long hiatus. Norway and Portugal jointly share ''nul points'', while for the second time, UK wins in Irish soil, with five 10-pointers and a dozen 12-pointers -- records matched only in 2005.

'''Winner:''' Denmark -- "Fly on the Wings of Love" by the Olsen Brothers
-->Fitting the first Eurovision of the new millennium, Stockholm 2000 set a record attendance of 13,000 (which was broken next year), while Latvia becomes the last of the Baltic States to enter the fray, joining the 1999 bottom five's return in lieu of last year's bottom five, where it managed to finish at third-place. Predictions of Estonia winning were overturned by Denmark winning with a huge 40-point lead over runner-up Russia. This edition also saw the EBU give the "Big Four" -- France, Germany, Spain and UK, the largest financial contributors to Eurovision -- an automatic bye into the finals regardless of average standings.

-->Copenhagen 2001 broke attendance records with 33,000 viewers, as the venue is the home turf of Denmark's national football team. This was also the first time since 1989 where all the acts are entirely new to the contest. This was also said to be the year Terry Wogan went so far with his snarks the BBC was forced to apologize to the Danish hosts. The field was also cut down to 23, with last year's bottom seven forced to sit out and be replaced with 1999's bottom five, alongside returning Greece. Estonia surprised Europe with its first Eurovision victory, in the process making one of their members, Aruba-born David Benton, aged 50, the first black and oldest winner of the contest.

-->For this year, the EBU changed the qualification rules such that only the "Big Four", last year's top 15, and last year's sit-outs. Originally the slots were limited to 22, but the addition of two slots granted a reprieve for Israel and Portugal -- the latter, however, withdrew due to problems in their broadcaster RTP, thus saving Latvia from getting axed... which led to a wild DarkHorseVictory courtesy of Marie N.

-->To accommodate the growing numbers of Eurovision aspirants, the EBU eschewed the relegation system in favor of a semifinal structure, where the "Big Four" and last year's top 10 are given automatic byes, while the rest go through a semifinals phase, from which only ten can pass through. The final saw Ukraine's Ruslana emerge victorious after a three-way battle with Russia and Greece, while Serbia and Montenegro made an impressive second-place finish for a debutant. This edition also saw the first use of the generic Eurovision logo: the contest's name with the "O" replaced with a heart containing the host nation's flag, with unique designs added for every subsequent edition.

-->Like last year, the semifinal phase system was used (though this time, with Germany and Spain from the "Big Four" making it into last year's top 10, Russia and Malta were given the remaining byes). Unlike last year, however, the competition was wide-open, with Greece winning its first Eurovision contest (and to date the only automatically-qualified finalist to win the title), while the "Big Four" languished at the cellar.

-->Finnish hard rock band Lordi made Eurovision history by becoming the first from their genre to win the trophy with a record-breaking 292 points (curiously, they also led the semifinal with 292 points). Also, to cut airtime, broadcasting the votes was streamlined such that only the 8-, 10- and 12-point scores were announced, while the lower scores were immediately beamed onscreen.

'''Venue:''' Olympic Stadium\\

-->Moscow 2009 saw Norwegian violinist-singer Rybak break Lordi's record with 387 points, with its 95-point lead over second-placed Iceland also setting another record. Following criticism over bloc voting, the EBU changed the voting system to its current form, where both the jury and phone-in votes are given a 50-50 footing in weighing the scores. This pretty much helped change the pattern of Western European nations getting axed by Eastern European callers -- UK won its best placing yet, 5th with 173 points (it also helped that Creator/AndrewLloydWebber was the pianist). On the other hand, this edition also saw Georgia being forced to withdraw over their entry being interpreted as an attack on then-prime minister Vladimir Putin and the bitter rivalry between Armenia and Azerbaijan rearing its head into Eurovision, when Armenia put in a picture of a pro-Armenian statue from the hotly-contested Nagorno-Karabakh territory on their postcard and Azerbaijan obfuscated Armenia's entry. This season also featured the debut of current British commentator, Graham Norton.

-->With Italy becoming a major financial contributor, the "Big Four" becomes the "Big Five", allowing it to gain a bye into the final. Nevertheless, fan-favorite Sweden took the title for the fifth time with 372 points, and while that failed to beat Rybak's 2009 record, it nevertheless broke his record for margin of victory -- 113 points over next-placed Russia -- and set a new record for most ''douze points'' awarded (18). Loreen also eschewed the usual bright and elaborate stage show in favor of a more subtle lighting, outfit and choreography. Baku 2012 was also notable for the top 3 countries (Sweden, Russia, and Serbia) earning their positions largely without bloc voting: Sweden and Russia both got points from 40 of 42 countries, and Serbia got points from 30 of 42. Albania achieved their best-ever result, 5th place with 146 points as well as second in the first semifinal, while Norway saved the United Kingdom from last place, making for Norway's eleventh time in the bottom of the rankings. As usual, the host's rivalry with Armenia figured again when the latter opted out of this edition for "security reasons", not to mention that the host faced scrutiny over its human rights records and pressure from Iran condemning the event.

-->Emphasizing its theme, Malmö 2013 introduced a tradition from the Junior Eurovision of flags of the nations marching in and all the acts performing together at least once. Repeating history, Denmark won for the second time on Swedish soil, with its entry being a favourite going into the final, and faced neck and neck competition with Ukraine and Azerbaijan for most of the voting phase (who, as it turns out, was exposed by Lithuanian media attempting to buy people's votes). Other notable entries included the United Kingdom dusting off Bonnie Tyler (of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" fame) and finishing badly as usual (but ''not'' in last, thankfully), Germany's {{Cascada}} performing (virtually) last year's winning song, and Romania's Cezar, an operatic dubstep vampire. With Sweden hosting, there were a record number of references to ABBA, and also had Swedish football superstar Zlatan Ibrahimović welcoming the crowd to his hometown.

-->Copenhagen 2014 is one of the more politically-charged editions, with Russia getting most of the heat (as it was held weeks after it invaded Crimea ''and'' a year after it instituted laws restricting the promotion of homosexuality), where their performers, 17-year-old twins sisters Anastasiya and Maria Tolmachevy (themselves winners of the 2006 Junior contest), were being booed whenever they received high votes. Early indications that Sweden would win again were overturned when bearded Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst charmed the entire continent to victory. Of the Big Five, UK finished somewhere in the middle of the table with a forgettable song, whereas Italy and Germany did likewise, while Spain fared better with a tenth-place finish courtesy of Ruth Lorenzo, fifth-placer at the 2008 edition of ''Series/TheXFactor'' UK, and France finished last, with their song about wanting to have moustaches performed by a group composed of a Weird Al lookalike, a guy dressed and painted like an African tribesman and three other guys. [[{{Irony}} They did not have any moustaches per se.]]

-->The upcoming edition, already making waves with the introduction of Australia, a non-European EBU subscriber with a strong interest in the contest, and Ukraine withdrawing over both financial issues and current events.

** Looks to be played disappointingly straight in the 2015 contest as well. Of 40 participating countries, only 7 entries (Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Montenegro, Finland, and Romania) include lyrics in a language other than English. Serbia will be entering their first English-language entry since debuting as an independent entity. Most notably, Israel, whose broadcaster used to require at least half of the lyrics of their entries be in Hebrew, is sending an entirely English song in light of their poor qualification record in recent years.

-->Dublin 1971 saw the voting system hit a big problem, as some judges score less than others. This is also Monaco's only win, while the EBU abolished a rule restricting entries to two performers. With The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the UK send a Northern Irish singer to ease the Dublin audience. This edition also saw the debut of BBC's Radio/TerryWogan and his penchant for snide remarks.

-->Greece withdrew in protest over the introduction of Turkey, who staged the invasion of Cyprus the previous year, while Portugal's entry was an unabashed celebration of the aforementioned Carnation Revolution.

-->Israel's win (with a dozen consecutive ''douze points'', which is an Eurovision record that stands to this day) naturally never sat well with broadcasters from the Arab World, with Jordan prematurely ending its broadcast and showing the runner-up entry from Belgium the next day. Denmark returns after a long absence, while Greece's entry (competing together with Turkey for the first time) is a tribute to Creator/CharlieChaplin, who died last year, while Norway suffers the series' first ''nul points'' under the new voting system implemented in 1975.

-->Unlike previous years, Turkey withdrew not due to its traditional feud with Greece, but due to pressure from Arab countries objecting to its participation alongside host Israel, which won back-to-back. Fourth-placers Dschinghis Khan later achieve success with the song "Moskau".

-->Israel withdrew due to the final clashing with "Yom Hazikaron" ("Day of Remembrance"), a major Israeli holiday commemorating its fallen soldiers, while Monaco withdrew due to dissatisfaction with their performance last year (and would not return until the 2004 semifinals), Morocco joins for the only time in Eurovision history, and Ireland won through Australian export Logan.

-->Best-known for the UK's winning act featuring its two male members ripping off the skirts of its two female members, only to reveal miniskirts underneath -- {{Foreshadowing}} the stripping acts that would become a staple for years to come. Norway would repeat the indignity of scoring ''nul points'' from three years ago.

-->West Germany's winning entry was 1.61 times as much as that of runner-up Israel, a Eurovision record that stood until 2009, while the entry's songwriters, Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger, would become German Eurovision mainstays with 18 songs between them, and West Germany (later Germany as a whole, with the assimilation of communist East Germany in 1990) has since (except 1996) became a perennial finals contender. Finland's anti-nuclear entry failed to reverberate throughout Europe, and thus took over Norway's indignity of scoring ''nul points'' from last year.

-->Munich 1983 was the first Eurovision broadcast in UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}, whose high viewership ratings later inspired the EBU to invite it into a semifinals interval act for 2014 and an entry proper the next year. Spain and Turkey shared the dishonor of scoring ''nul points'' for this year, while Ireland withdrew due to its broadcaster RTE going on strike.

-->Norway, perennial Eurovision whipping-boy with six last-place finishes, three of which with ''nul points'', shocked the tournament by winning their first contest, a fact not lost on presenter and 1966 Eurovision runner-up Lill Lindfors, whose faux-WardrobeMalfunction act during the interval remains a highlight to this day.

-->13-year-old Sandra Kim stood out as the youngest Eurovision winner (by faking her age as 15; today Eurovision restricts the minimum age to 16), while Norway enjoyed every moment of its very first Eurovision hosting duties.

-->The largest edition at the time, which made the EBU put the cap on participating countries to 22. Johnny Logan becomes the first performer to win twice, while Turkey gets the ''nul points'' axe this year.

-->Unlike previous years, Turkey withdrew not due to its traditional feud with Greece, but due to pressure from Arab countries objecting to its participation alongside host Israel, which won back-to-back. Third-placers Dschinghis Khan later achieve success with the song "Moskau".

Songs must be original, no more than 3 minutes long and contain some lyrics (no {{Instrumentals}}). Between 1974 and 1998, songs had to be sung in one of the official languages of the country entering. However, this rule was removed after a long string of wins by UsefulNotes/{{Ireland}}, who were felt to have an unfair advantage by being one of only three countries able to sing in English (which was rapidly becoming the ''lingua franca'' of Europe).

-->Like last year, Frankfurt 1957 was still radio-oriented, though TV viewership has seen an increase. Because of the disparate length of songs -- Italy had 5:09, while UK only had 1:52, a rule was later set up restricting songs to 3 minutes. Frankfurt 1957 also established the concept of phone-in juries and barring participating countries from voting for their own entries.

-->Hilversum 1958 introduced the convention of last year's winning country hosting the current edition.

-->Like 1957, the Netherlands' winning entry was written by Willy Van Hemert, making him the first person to win Eurovision twice.

-->This edition saw the first time countries ended up with ''nul points'' (i.e., Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Spain).

-->Like three years ago, the United Kingdom had to host after last year's winner (i.e., France) declined due to financial troubles (though this time, Britain volunteered). In contrast to winning Denmark, its Nordic neighbors all received ''nul points'', as did the Netherlands (second in a row).

-->Sweden withdrew due to boycott, while Portugal's debut saw it off with ''nul points'', as did Germany, Switzerland and Yugoslavia (their first time). The Netherlands sent the ESC's first entrant without a pure European ancestry (i.e., Indonesian-blooded Anneke Grönloh), while Spain's Los TNT was the first entry with at least three members. Italy won via CurbStompBattle, being 30 points ahead of the next-best-placed song.

-->Naples 1965 saw the debut of Ireland, which would dominate the series for many years, while Finland, Germany and Spain suffer ''nul points'' for the second time, and Belgium their first. The winning song was written by Music/SergeGainsbourg.

-->Luxembourg 1966 saw the establishment of a rule restricting entries to their home country's languages (after Sweden sung in English last year). This would also be Austria's last win until 2014 (courtesy of a certain drag queen, no less).

-->Like three years ago, the UK wins with a wide berth, this time 25 points ahead of runner-up Ireland.

-->London 1968's winning entry was originally to be sung by Joan Manuel Serrat in Catalan, but due to the Franco regime's crackdown on any perceived insurgent activity, he was replaced with the slightly more politically-correct Massiel.

-->Dublin 1971 saw the voting system hit a big problem, as some judges score less than others. This is also Monaco's only win, while the EBU abolished a rule restricting entries to two performers. This edition also saw the debut of BBC's Radio/TerryWogan and his penchant for snide remarks.

-->This edition now allows entries to be sung in any other language than their national tongue, saw the tournament extend its reach beyond Europe proper with the debut of Israel, an increase in security following the tragic events of the 1972 Summer Olympics not a few months earlier in Munich (which also involved Israel), and also saw Wogan's TV debut, which allows for more snarking watched by millions.

-->Luxembourg declines hosting back-to-back, so Britain once again steps up to the plate and elected the port city of Brighton to host the event. France withdrew from the final as a sign of mourning over the death of President Georges Pompidou during the week (and whose funeral coincided with the final). Brighton 1974, however, would be forever associated with ABBA, who would use their Eurovision victory as a springboard for international stardom.

-->Greece withdrew in protest over the introduction of Turkey, who staged the invasion of Cyprus the previous year, while Portugal's entry was an unabashed celebration of the Carnation Revolution.

-->Sweden, last year's host, withdrew due to the potential cost of hosting another edition, to which EBU responded with a stipulation encouraging all participating nations to at contribute to the cost of staging the contests, while Turkey withdrew in response to Greece last year.

-->London 1977 marks France's second victory on British soil and so far their very last Eurovision title.

-->Israel's win (with a dozen consectuive ''douze points'', which is an Eurovision record that stands to this day) naturally never sat well with broadcasters from the Arab World, with Jordan prematurely ending its broadcast and showing the runner-up entry from Belgium the next day. Denmark returns after a long absence, while Greece's entry (competing together with Turkey for the first time) is a tribute to Creator/CharlieChaplin, who died last year, while Norway suffers the series' first ''nul points'' under the new voting system implemented in 1975.

-->Unlike previous years, Turkey withdrew not due to its traditional feud with Greece, but due to pressure from Arab countries objecting to its participation alongside host Israel, which won back-to-back.

-->Emphasizing its theme, Malmö 2013 introduced a tradition from the Junior Eurovision of flags of the nations marching in and all the acts performing together at least once. Repeating history, Denmark won for the second time in a Eurovision hosted by Sweden, with its entry being a favourite going into the final, and faced neck and neck competition with Ukraine and Azerbaijan for most of the voting phase (who, as it turns out, was exposed by Lithuanian media attempting to buy people's votes). Other notable entries included the United Kingdom dusting off Bonnie Tyler (of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" fame) and finishing badly as usual (but ''not'' in last, thankfully), Germany's {{Cascada}} performing (virtually) last year's winning song, and Romania's Cezar, an operatic dubstep vampire. With Sweden hosting, there were a record number of references to ABBA, and also had Swedish football superstar Zlatan Ibrahimović welcoming the crowd to his hometown.

-->Copenhagen 2014 is one of the more politically-charged editions, with Russia getting most of the heat (as it was held weeks after it invaded Crimea ''and'' a year after it instituted laws restricting the promotion of homosexuality), where their performers, 17-year-old twins sisters Anastasiya and Maria Tolmachevy (themselves winners of the 2006 Junior contest), were being booed whenever they receive high votes. Early indications that Sweden would win again were overturned when bearded Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst charmed the entire continent to victory. Of the Big Five, UK finished somewhere in the middle of the table with a forgettable song, while Spain fared better with a tenth-place finish courtesy of Ruth Lorenzo, fifth-placer at the 2008 edition of ''Series/TheXFactor'' UK, and France finished last, with their song about wanting to have moustaches performed by a group composed of a Weird Al lookalike, a guy dressed and painted like an African tribesman and three other guys. [[{{Irony}} They did not have any moustaches per se.]]

-->Copenhagen 2014 is one of the more politically-charged editions, with Russia getting most of the heat (as it was held weeks after it invaded Crimea ''and'' a year after it instituted laws restricting the promotion of homosexuality), where their entry, 17-year-old twins sisters Anastasiya and Maria Tolmachevy, was being booed whenever they receive high votes. Early indications that Sweden would win again were overturned when bearded Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst charmed the entire continent to victory. UK finished somewhere in the middle of the table with a forgettable song, while France finished last, with their song about wanting to have moustaches performed by a group composed of a Weird Al lookalike, a guy dressed and painted like an African tribesman and three other guys. [[{{Irony}} They did not have any moustaches per se.]]

-->--'''Irlande Douze Pointe''', Ireland's entry to the 2008 contest. "Sung" by Dustin the Turkey, a puppet.

** In 2008, there's Ireland's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfuJaf6IBpk Dustin the Turkey, Douze Points.]] Do we even need to say anything here? Just look at it!

* {{Troll}}: No, we aren't talking about entries with SoBadItsGood quality, we mean entries performed by artists who outright '''insults''' [[HypocriticalHumor the show itself]] for it's voting system and clichés with heavy satire. So far there have been three notable examples:

** In 2008, there's Ireland's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mogesoyp8HY Dustin the Turkey, Douze Points.]] Do we even need to say anything here? Just look at it!

-->Copenhagen 2001 broke attendance records with 33,000 viewers, as the venue is the home turf of Copenhagen's national football team. This was also the first time since 1989 where all the acts are entirely new to the contest. This was also said to be the year Terry Wogan went so far with his snarks the BBC was forced to apologize to the Danish hosts. The field was also cut down to 23, with last year's bottom seven forced to sit out and be replaced with 1999's bottom five, alongside returning Greece. Estonia surprised Europe with its first Eurovision victory, in the process making one of their members, Aruba-born David Benton, aged 50, the first black and oldest winner of the contest.

-->Greece withdrew in protest over the introduction of Turkey, who staged the invasion of Cyprus last year, while Portugal's entry was an unabashed celebration of the Carnation Revolution.

-->Israel's win (with a dozen consectuive ''douze points'', even, a Eurovision record that stands to this day) naturally never sat well with broadcasters from the Arab World, with Jordan prematurely ending its broadcast and showing the runner-up entry from Belgium the next day. Denmark returns after a long absence, while Greece's entry (competing together with Turkey for the first time) is a tribute to Creator/CharlieChaplin, who died last year, while Norway suffers the series' first ''nul points'' under the new voting system implemented in 1975.

-->Naples 1965 saw the debut of Ireland, which would dominate the series for many years, while Finland, Germany and Spain suffer ''nul points'' for the second time, and Belgium their first.

-->'''Slogan:''' "[=#JoinUs=]"\\

-->Moscow 2009 saw Norwegian violinist-singer Rybak break Lordi's record with 387 points, with its 95-point lead over second-placed Iceland also setting another record. Following criticism over bloc voting, the EBU changed the voting system to its current form, where both the jury and phone-in votes are given a 50-50 footing in weighing the scores. This pretty much helped change the pattern of Western European nations getting axed by Eastern European callers -- UK won its best placing yet, 5th with 173 points (it also helped that Music/AndrewLloydWeber was the pianist). On the other hand, this edition also saw Georgia being forced to withdraw over their entry being interpreted as an attack on then-prime minister Vladimir Putin and the bitter rivalry between Armenia and Azerbaijan rearing its head into Eurovision over the former putting a picture of a statue from the hotly-contested Nagorno-Karabakh territory on their postcard and the latter deliberately obfuscating the broadcast of Armenia's entry. This season also featured the debut of the current BBC commentator, Graham Norton.

The 2011 contest was won by Azerbaijan after a rather narrow vote where they were firmly placed second or third for the first half and where the top four were switching around up until the last vote -- at one point, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvmQgRQsN3c#t=37s even the UK was on top for all of sixty seconds]]. The finale had gotten an unusually strong selection this year with up to five or six favourites[[note]]To get an idea of the unpredictability of the voting that year, if you look at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2011#Final_2 scoreboard]], you will notice that almost every country received points from at least 10 countries, the only exception being Switzerland (which placed last). In addition, 20 of the 25 competing entries received at least one round of douze points, with Bosnia and Herzegovina receiving the most with 5 douze points.[[/note]] - [[DarkHorseVictory but Azerbaijan was barely a blip on the radar]][[note]]To be fair, although they received points from less countries than Sweden (30 of the 43 voting countries other than themselves as opposed to 32 countries for Sweden) and received less douze points than Bosnia and Herzegovina (3 as opposed to 5 sets), they still received the greatest amount of high points by being in the top three of 18 countries[[/note]]. The performances in the finale included a unicycle, sand art, exploding glass and a pair of hyperactive Irish twins whose hair became a running joke when the votes were to be cast.

UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}, by and large the fan favorite, took the title for the fifth time in 2012 with 372 points and a 113 point lead over Russia, not quite beating Norway's 2009 record. However, Sweden set its own record by receiving the ''douze points'' from 18 countries, the highest number in the contest's history. Loreen's performance was notable for eschewing the usual elaborate stage show and bright lighting and going for darker lighting, an understated outfit, and more restrained choreography that invoked martial arts. Many other countries also went for more understated shows; Ukraine and France stood out as having the most elaborate stage shows in the final. 2012 was also notable for the top 3 countries (Sweden, Russia, and Serbia) earning their positions largely without the aid of bloc voting; Sweden and Russia both got points from 40 of 42 countries, and Serbia got points from 30 of 42. Albania achieved their best-ever result, 5th place with 146 points as well as 2nd in the 1st semifinal; Norway saved the United Kingdom from last place, making for Norway's 11th last place result in the entire history of the contest.

Repeating history, Denmark (who won the contest the last time it was hosted in Sweden) won the 2013 contest with Emmelie de Forest's song "Only Teardrops"; the song was a favourite going into the final, and faced neck and neck competition with Ukraine and Azerbaijan for most of the voting phase (who, as it turns out, was exposed by Lithuanian media [[http://panarmenian.net/eng/news/158889/ attempting to buy people's votes]]). To make matters worse, Denmark's entry was later accused of plagiarism, but the decisions still stand regardless of the controversy. Other notable entries included the United Kingdom dusting off Bonnie Tyler (of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" fame) and finishing badly as usual (but ''not'' in last, thankfully), Germany's {{Cascada}} performing [virtually] last year's winning song, and Romania's Cezar, an operatic dubstep vampire. With Sweden hosting, there were a record number of {{ABBA}} references.

2014's contest in Denmark was one of the more politically-tinted ones, taking place only weeks after Russia annexed part of Ukraine, ''and'' almost a year after it instituted laws restricting the promotion of homosexuality. As a result, the crowd was more vocal than usual, loudly booing Russia's teenaged twin singers while the results were announced. Early indications that Sweden would win again were overturned when EnsembleDarkhorse Music/ConchitaWurst, a gay bearded drag queen representing Austria, charmed the entire continent and [[DarkHorseVictory won]]. The Netherlands came in 2nd place, and Sweden 3rd. Russia came seventh, but only got points from 13 countries as opposed to 27 in 2013 and finished below Ukraine. The UK finished somewhere in the middle of the table with a forgettable song, while France finished last, with their song about wanting to have moustaches performed by a group composed of a Weird Al lookalike, a guy dressed and painted like an African tribesman and three other guys. [[{{Irony}} They did not have any moustaches per se.]]

-->'''Slogan:''' "Under the Same Sky\\

-->'''Slogan:''' "Awakening\\

-->Like last year, the semifinal phase system was used (though this time, with Germany and Spain from the "Big Four" making it into last year's top 10, Russia and Malta were given the remaining byes). Unlike last year, however, the competition was wide-open, with Greece winning its first Eurovision contest, while the "Big Four" languished at the cellar.
----

The 2008 contest was won by UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}, in a contest that was accused to contain a large amount of political voting (most of the other former Soviet states giving Russia 12 points), the British entry coming last (jointly with UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} and UsefulNotes/{{Poland}}, not coincidentally two other countries that rarely benefit from political voting) and several entries in the '''''weird''''' category. The Irish entry was a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_the_Turkey puppet Turkey Vulture]] that is actually an extremely famous (children's) television character in Ireland, who had released six albums and recorded with [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] and [[BandAid20 Bob Geldof]]. He won the national "Eurosong 2008" contest by public voting, much to the dismay of people who wanted to bring a serious contestant to Belgrade. He failed to get through the semi-finals, being booed before even starting their performance. There are many who believe that he wasn't even the most embarrassing entry they ever sent. Meanwhile, UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}} had [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaqBdbAsjl4 pirates]][[note]]The song was covered more successfully by the pirate metal band AleStorm[[/note]], UsefulNotes/{{Azerbaijan}} had [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo0VrY5C-ow thong-clad succubi]], and UsefulNotes/{{France}} had noted electronica artist Sebastien Tellier perform alongside female backing singers that performed with fake beards. See below for UsefulNotes/BosniaHerzegovina and UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}'s entries.

The 2009 contest was won by UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} by a country mile, beating {{Lordi}}'s previous record of 292 points by nearly a hundred (although still not the record in percentage terms - 387 out of a possible 492 isn't as good as 164 out of a possible 204, as achieved in 1976) A fresh change from the usual status quo of Western countries being near the bottom end of the table, changes in the voting system allowed songs to be judged more on their merit rather than the country of origin, and ''boy'', did they. The UK got their best score in twelve years, 173 points, finishing fifth (the fact that the song was written by AndrewLloydWebber, who also played the piano, arguably helped). Compare that to their previous appearances, having not finished in the top half since 2003. The finalists were mostly singers, with Norway winning by virtue of a violin.

The 2010 contest was won by Germany (their first win since 1982[[note]]Counting UsefulNotes/WestGermany as the same country as TheBerlinRepublic[[/note]]) and was the first "Big Four" winner since the United Kingdom thirteen years previously. Their song, "Satellite" by Lena[[note]][[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent Sung in English, while apparently attempting some kind of Lily-Allen-esque-Cockney / Australian accent, through the filter of her German accent...]][[/note]], was already a hit single across the continent in the weeks leading to the contest, and its popularity sustained it through to the Final night. The UK came bottom and the Spanish got to do their song again after someone invaded the stage.

-->Fitting the first Eurovision of the new millennium, Stockholm 2000 set a record attendance of 13,000 (which was broken next year), while Latvia becomes the last of the Baltic States to enter the fray, joining the 1999 bottom five's return in lieu of last year's bottom five, where it managed to finish at third-place. Predictions of Estonia winning were overturned by Denmark winning with a huge 40-point lead over runner-up Russia.

'''Participating Nations:''' 22 -- Greece and Italy return\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 21 -- Cyprus withdraws\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 22 -- Cyprus returns\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 22 -- no changes\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 22 -- Malta returns; Netherlands withdraws\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 23 -- Netherlands returns\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 25 -- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia debut; Yugoslavia withdraws\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 25 -- Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia and Slovakia debut; Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Turkey withdraw\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 23 -- Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Slovenia and Turkey return; Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland withdraw\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 23 -- Estonia, Finland, Netherlands, Slovakia and Switzerland return; Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Israel and Russia withdraw\\

'''Participating Nations:''' 25 -- Macedonia debuts; Belgium, Finland, Israel, Romania and Slovakia returns; Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Iceland, Italy and Russia withdraw\\

-->Italy's RAI relinquishes hosting rights and thus joins last year's bottom five in the bench, thus allowing for the 1996 bottom five to return, alongside incoming Macedonia. Birmingham 1998 was the last Eurovision with an in-house orchestra and language restrictions, while also introducing phone-in voting. Switzerland earns the indignity of leaving with ''nul points'', while the final was decided by the last vote, which went in favor of Israel's Dana International -- the first transgender winner in Eurovision history.

-->Ireland was apparently too good for RTE, who expressed to the EBU that, should Ireland win this one, they couldn't be expected to host yet again. The field was cut down to 23 to reduce airtime, thus relegating last year's bottom seven while reinstating 1993's bottom five (as Italy declined to join). While the host had a disappointing 14th-place finish, they at least took heart in the fact that Norway's winning entry had an Irish violinist.

* '''1960''' -- London, England, United Kingdom\\

* '''1977''' -- London, England, United Kingdom\\

* '''1979''' -- Jerusalem, Israel\\

* '''1984''' -- Luxembourg City, Luxembourg\\

-->In an incredibly tight race, Switzerland narrowly beat UK by ''one point'', in the process introducing the world to then-unknown Francophone Canadian guest singer Celine Dion. The field was reduced to 21 after Cyprus was forced to withdraw for trying to reenter a song meant for a prior edition, while Austria this time gets ''nul points''.

'''Winner:''' Italy -- "Insieme: 1992" by Toto Cutugno

The contest has run since 1956 and was quite well-respected in its early years, with established artists such as CliffRichard and SergeGainsbourg taking part and others such as Dana and Sandie Shaw launching successful careers off the back of the show. The original idea was to foster post-[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII WWII]] European unity and showcase the varied musical talent that Europe had to offer. What's interesting to note that this contest is open not just to [=EU=] countries, nor just European countries, but to all countries which are active broadcasting members of the [=EBU=], which also includes UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}, UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}, UsefulNotes/{{Tunisia}}[[note]]Tunisia and Lebanon pulled out of the contest the only year they entered as they refused to compete with and/ or broadcast Israel's entry[[/note]], Azerbaijan and some other Middle-Eastern, technically-Asian, and North-African countries[[note]]As Graham Norton said on his show when explaining the premise "We use 'European' ''very'' loosely."[[/note]]. With the contest taking a credibility dive in the 1970s, the last band to successfully launch an international career from the show were {{ABBA}}, who won in 1974 with "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGs7dTjUsXw Waterloo]]", though several acts have remained popular in their own countries after entering the show.

These days, Eurovision is split into two main camps. The first is the Eastern and Central European countries, who generally take it [[SeriousBusiness fairly seriously]], seeing it as an important marker of new-found independence. The winner hosts the next show, which can do wonders for the tourist industry in obscure cities (though the contest itself can be ruinously expensive to host). Entries from Eastern and Central Europe are generally rock-ballads with some sort of ethnic tinge to them. The second major group is the Western countries that made up the "traditional" entrants to Eurovision before Communism fell in the early 1990s. They tend to view the contest as all rather silly, camp fun, and enter either novelty acts, drag queens or camp pop (or sometimes both together) -- then grouse about political voting when they don't win.

The format of the show has changed over the years, but remains broadly the same: First a series of songs is performed, then voting takes place to determine a winner. The votes from each country are "telephoned" (now shown by live feed) in to the studio one at a time, providing dramatic tension. The traditional way to start this is to say "Hello, [host city], this is [capital of particular country] calling".

Before 1997, all voting was done by panels of expert judges. However, following accusations of "political" and "bloc" voting, public phone votes were introduced. Some have argued [[NiceJobBreakingItHero that this has only made it worse]] (particularly as emigrants can vote for their home country -- ''La Pologne, douze points!''); the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom's ''nul points'' in 2003 was alleged to be because of their recent invasion of Iraq (although the real reason was probably Jemini's ''horrifying'' off key singing), and by 2007, the bloc-voting had become so prevalent among ex-Soviet and ex-Yugoslav countries that UsefulNotes/{{Malta}} fixed their votes in protest. The situation in 2007, followed by a similar (but less prevalent) repeat in 2008, prompted the EBU to change the voting rules to a hybrid system reflecting jury votes and public votes, which contributed to leveling the contest for Western countries from 2009 onwards.

The 2008 contest was won by UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}, in a contest that was accused to contain a large amount of political voting (most of the other former Soviet states giving Russia 12 points), the British entry coming last (jointly with UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} and UsefulNotes/{{Poland}}, not coincidentally two other countries that rarely benefit from political voting) and several entries in the '''''weird''''' category. The Irish entry was a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_the_Turkey puppet Turkey Vulture]] that is actually an extremely famous (children's) television character in Ireland, who had released six albums and recorded with [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]] and [[BandAid20 Bob Geldof]]. He won the national "Eurosong 2008" contest by public voting, much to the dismay of people who wanted to bring a serious contestant to Belgrade. He failed to get through the semi-finals, being booed before even starting their performance. There are many who believe that he wasn't even the most embarrassing entry they ever sent. Meanwhile, UsefulNotes/{{Latvia}} had [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaqBdbAsjl4 pirates]][[note]]The song was covered more successfully by the pirate metal band AleStorm[[/note]], UsefulNotes/{{Azerbaijan}} had [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo0VrY5C-ow thong-clad succubi]], and UsefulNotes/{{France}} had noted electronica artist Sebastien Tellier perform alongside female backing singers that performed with fake beards. See below for UsefulNotes/BosniaHerzegovina and UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}'s entries.

The 2009 contest was won by UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} by a country mile, beating {{Lordi}}'s previous record of 292 points by nearly a hundred (although still not the record in percentage terms - 387 out of a possible 492 isn't as good as 164 out of a possible 204, as achieved in 1976) A fresh change from the usual status quo of Western countries being near the bottom end of the table, changes in the voting system allowed songs to be judged more on their merit rather than the country of origin, and ''boy'', did they. The UK got their best score in twelve years, 173 points, finishing fifth (the fact that the song was written by AndrewLloydWebber, who also played the piano, arguably helped). Compare that to their previous appearances, having not finished in the top half since 2003. The finalists were mostly singers, with Norway winning by virtue of a violin.

The 2010 contest was won by Germany (their first win since 1982[[note]]Counting UsefulNotes/WestGermany as the same country as TheBerlinRepublic[[/note]]) and was the first "Big Four" winner since the United Kingdom thirteen years previously. Their song, "Satellite" by Lena[[note]][[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent Sung in English, while apparently attempting some kind of Lily-Allen-esque-Cockney / Australian accent, through the filter of her German accent...]][[/note]], was already a hit single across the continent in the weeks leading to the contest, and its popularity sustained it through to the Final night. The UK came bottom and the Spanish got to do their song again after someone invaded the stage.

The 2011 contest was won by Azerbaijan after a rather narrow vote where they were firmly placed second or third for the first half and where the top four were switching around up until the last vote -- at one point, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvmQgRQsN3c#t=37s even the UK was on top for all of sixty seconds]]. The finale had gotten an unusually strong selection this year with up to five or six favourites[[note]]To get an idea of the unpredictability of the voting that year, if you look at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_2011#Final_2 scoreboard]], you will notice that almost every country received points from at least 10 countries, the only exception being Switzerland (which placed last). In addition, 20 of the 25 competing entries received at least one round of douze points, with Bosnia and Herzegovina receiving the most with 5 douze points.[[/note]] - [[DarkHorseVictory but Azerbaijan was barely a blip on the radar]][[note]]To be fair, although they received points from less countries than Sweden (30 of the 43 voting countries other than themselves as opposed to 32 countries for Sweden) and received less douze points than Bosnia and Herzegovina (3 as opposed to 5 sets), they still received the greatest amount of high points by being in the top three of 18 countries[[/note]]. The performances in the finale included a unicycle, sand art, exploding glass and a pair of hyperactive Irish twins whose hair became a running joke when the votes were to be cast.

UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}, by and large the fan favorite, took the title for the fifth time in 2012 with 372 points and a 113 point lead over Russia, not quite beating Norway's 2009 record. However, Sweden set its own record by receiving the ''douze points'' from 18 countries, the highest number in the contest's history. Loreen's performance was notable for eschewing the usual elaborate stage show and bright lighting and going for darker lighting, an understated outfit, and more restrained choreography that invoked martial arts. Many other countries also went for more understated shows; Ukraine and France stood out as having the most elaborate stage shows in the final. 2012 was also notable for the top 3 countries (Sweden, Russia, and Serbia) earning their positions largely without the aid of bloc voting; Sweden and Russia both got points from 40 of 42 countries, and Serbia got points from 30 of 42. Albania achieved their best-ever result, 5th place with 146 points as well as 2nd in the 1st semifinal; Norway saved the United Kingdom from last place, making for Norway's 11th last place result in the entire history of the contest.

Repeating history, Denmark (who won the contest the last time it was hosted in Sweden) won the 2013 contest with Emmelie de Forest's song "Only Teardrops"; the song was a favourite going into the final, and faced neck and neck competition with Ukraine and Azerbaijan for most of the voting phase (who, as it turns out, was exposed by Lithuanian media [[http://panarmenian.net/eng/news/158889/ attempting to buy people's votes]]). To make matters worse, Denmark's entry was later accused of plagiarism, but the decisions still stand regardless of the controversy. Other notable entries included the United Kingdom dusting off Bonnie Tyler (of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" fame) and finishing badly as usual (but ''not'' in last, thankfully), Germany's {{Cascada}} performing [virtually] last year's winning song, and Romania's Cezar, an operatic dubstep vampire. With Sweden hosting, there were a record number of {{ABBA}} references.

2014's contest in Denmark was one of the more politically-tinted ones, taking place only weeks after Russia annexed part of Ukraine, ''and'' almost a year after it instituted laws restricting the promotion of homosexuality. As a result, the crowd was more vocal than usual, loudly booing Russia's teenaged twin singers while the results were announced. Early indications that Sweden would win again were overturned when EnsembleDarkhorse Music/ConchitaWurst, a gay bearded drag queen representing Austria, charmed the entire continent and [[DarkHorseVictory won]]. The Netherlands came in 2nd place, and Sweden 3rd. Russia came seventh, but only got points from 13 countries as opposed to 27 in 2013 and finished below Ukraine. The UK finished somewhere in the middle of the table with a forgettable song, while France finished last, with their song about wanting to have moustaches performed by a group composed of a Weird Al lookalike, a guy dressed and painted like an African tribesman and three other guys. [[{{Irony}} They did not have any moustaches per se.]]

See also [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest the Wikipedia article]].

In 2007, the ''Eurovision Dance Contest'' started, essentially featuring a lot of people from the ''StrictlyComeDancing'' franchise. Few of the freestyle dances had the supposed national connection and about a dozen involved the removal of clothing. The first winner was Finland, with Poland winning the 2008 contest.

** Andorra and the Czech Republic have only participated 6 times and 3 times respectively, but have never gathered enough points to qualify for the final. Neither country has returned to the contest since 2009.