Does anyone here are fans of this annual musical extravaganza? Or have heard or it?
In the 1950s, as a
war-torn Europe rebuilt itself, the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU)—based in Switzerland—set up an ad hoc committee to search for ways of bringing together the countries of the EBU around a "
light entertainment programme". Thus, on 24 May
1956, in the town of
Lugano, Switzerland, the Eurovision Song Contest was born.
Since then,
52 countries have participated at least once and now, on its
60th year, is one of the
longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the
most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Its Youtube channel recently celebrated its 1 billionth view.
Winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides an opportunity for the winning artists to capitalise on the surrounding publicity and further their careers. Artists whose international careers were directly launched into the spotlight following their participation at Eurovision include:
ABBA, who won the contest for Sweden in
1974 with "
Waterloo";
Céline Dion, who won for Switzerland in
1988 with the French-language song "
Ne partez pas sans moi" ("Don't leave without me"); the Spaniard
Julio Iglesias, who has sold over 300 million records worldwide; and
Loreen, who won in
2012 for Sweden with "
Euphoria".
Eurovision Song Contest
Originally Posted by dota-er
Reply With Quote
Posting Permissions
