Eurovision Song Contest: winners of all the years

Every year the Eurovision Song Contest gathers millions of TV viewers, provokes incredible excitement and provokes a variety of scandals around its appearance. The most reckless fans make bets on the winner, those who are a fan of one or another performer vote for their idol, and the rest simply enjoy high-quality music and excellent staging shows. The winners of Eurovision (below) become real idols in their country, they are idolized and they enter the history of world music as great personalities who once again glorified their state.

Switzerland was the first

The Eurovision Song Contest (winners of all the years will be named in our article) has existed for 60 years without one year. During this time, the event has acquired a huge number of spectators. Even today, when the show industry produces highly professional and grandiose programs, none of them can compare with this famous competition. The palm of the Eurovision championship can be ceded only to the American "Oscar", and even then not always. The European song contest is an expensive presentation and a multi-million audience in Europe and beyond.

The first time the idea of involving European countries and demonstrating their cultural values arose in English Torquay on February 12, 1950. This idea belonged to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It is an alliance of 23 Mediterranean and European broadcasting organizations, set up to cooperate in the creation and broadcasting of radio and television.

The joint first project of the company was the broadcasting of the coronation of Elizabeth II in early June 1953 from the capital of Great Britain. "Eurovision" (winners of all the years will be known later) will be created in a few years. In the meantime, EBU became famous for the broadcast of the football World Cup.

The EMU partners from Italy, who conducted a music festival in San Remo, and were committed to establishing the Grand Prix of European compositions. So, on October 19, 1955, the Eurovision Song Contest was officially created in the capital of Italy by the EBU General Assembly.

In the Swiss city of Lugano for the first time this event took place, in which seven countries took part. Its organizer was Marcel Besancone - general director of the Swiss television company.

Competition Rules

The winner of Eurovision 1 is Liz Assia, who won the contest with a song from Emily Gardaz and Geo Woomard. The composition was called Refrain. The event itself took place in a small theater Kursaal. Liz sang the song in French.

Since then, a lot has changed, but the general rules for organizing the event remained virtually the same. Since 1956, "Eurovision" is arranged every year in the middle of the last spring month. The festival takes place in the state that won the previous competition. Singers whose age exceeds 18 years are eligible to participate in the competition.

All artists are obliged to sing without a soundtrack and necessarily a new song, the duration of which is limited to three minutes.

They recognized the world

During the existence of the Eurovision Song Contest, the winners of all the years have become famous for some time. But the star of most of them faded soon after the event. Only a few managed to win recognition and become world-famous people. So, thanks to the festival, the immortal team of ABVA has gained popularity. It was after this performance that they won the love and recognition of the audience. A year before the performance the band did not even have a name, and in its arsenal there were only a couple of songs. In 1974, in London on the stage of "Eurovision" ABBA sang the song Waterloo and laid the foundation of its demand. And in 2005 this song was recognized as the best one for all the time of the contest existence.

On the second day after the festival, the legendary singer of the soundtrack from the movie "Titanic" Celine Dion awoke. The girl participated in the show in 1988. Nearly 600 million people watched her performance. Celine presented the composition Je Danse Dans Ma Tete. Then the competition took place in Ireland, and Dion spoke from Switzerland.

Winning Countries

For almost 60 years of the competition, almost all European countries took part in it. Among them are the Netherlands, Spain, Monaco, Ukraine, Switzerland, Great Britain and Russia. Also worth noting Italy, Luxembourg, France, Denmark and other states. But there are, of course, the countries-winners of the "Eurovision", which have become favorites for several times. Thus, Ireland won seven times (1970 - Dana, 1980 and 1987 - Johnny Logan, 1992 - Linda Martin, etc.). The second place is occupied by Great Britain (Sandy Shaw in 1967, Lulu and other performers at different times), Luxembourg (1961 - Jean-Claude Pascal, 1965 - Frans Gall and other victories) and France (1958 - André Clavot , 1960 - Jacqueline Bouillier, 1962 - Isabelle Aubre and two more wins of other performers a little later), who won five times. Holland and Sweden were awarded four times (Corri Brocken, Teddy Scholten, ABVA, Herreys became winners in different years).

Also among the winners are:

• Denmark - Greta and Jungen Ingmann, Olsen Brothers, Emily de Forest;
• Italy: Giglola Cinquetti, Toto Cutugno;
• United Kingdom: Lulu, Brotherhood of Man, Bucks Fizz, Katrina and the Waves;
• Monaco: Severin;
• Israel: Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta, Gali Atari and Milk and Honey;
• Germany: Nicole, Lena;
• Belgium: Sandra Kim;
• Yugoslavia: Riva;
• Estonia: Tanel Padar, Dave Benton, 2XL;
• Latvia: Marie N;
• Turkey: Sertab Ehner.

One more time they won: Finland, Greece and Azerbaijan.

Russian victory

In 2008, with the song Believe Me, the singer from the Russian Federation Dima Bilanu managed to achieve the victory. He scored 272 points, ahead of Ukrainian Ani Lorak. In the semifinal, the performer slightly spoiled the composition, but immediately after the concert he soberly assessed the situation, corrected mistakes and already made the best of the finals.

The best of the best

Songs-winners of "Eurovision" of all the years are hits that, despite their prescription, continue to be relevant and are on the list of the most popular world pop songs. Among such hits, I would like to mention the aforementioned Waterloo (ABBA) and Save Your Kisses for Me, performed in 1976. The English group sang the winning composition Brotherhood of Man.

No less popular is the composition Only Teardrops, performed in 2013 by the representative of Denmark, Emily de Forest. Many listeners remember how Alexander Rybak became the winner. He introduced his famous Fairytale in 2009.

Life after Eurovision

The winners of the "Eurovision" contest often remain just participants of the prestigious event. After the performance, they are immediately forgotten. But sometimes, as we already mentioned above, they manage to succeed. How did the artists live after the cherished festival? For example, the winner of 2004 Ruslana (Ukraine) eventually became the People's Artist of Ukraine and to this day has published four studio albums. But Maria Sherifovich (Serbia), who managed to win thanks to the song Molitva in 2007, has not sung any more worthwhile and equally popular composition.

What the year foretells

"Eurovision" (winners of all the years mentioned above) this year also promises to be interesting. It may not be the same as it was in 2014 with the performance of Conchita Wurst (Austria), but still. This time everything will happen in Austrian Vienna. Victory is predicted by William Hill of Sweden. The second position can be taken by Il Volo from Italy with the song "Big Love". Three of the leaders are closed by the Estonian blowing of Stig Räst and Elina Born.

Russia will be represented by Polina Gagarina, who is predicted the tenth place. The competition will be held from 19 to 23 May. 40 countries plan to participate in it. Whether everything is as it should be, experts say, it is not known, but there is nothing left before the festival, so wait a little and see everything.