By Daria Bocicova
I've spent all of the love I saved
We were always a losing game
Small-town boy in a big arcade
I got addicted to a losing game.
If the music in your head hasn't started playing upon reading that, you've clearly been living under a rock for the past two years. Arcade by Duncan Lorens, Euphoria by Lareen, Fairytale by Alexander Rybak, Toy by Netta, Zitti e Buoni by Maneskin, the list can honestly go on forever, for it is but the tip of the Iceberg that is the Eurovision Song Contest. Speaking of Icebergs, Celine Dion competed for Switzerland in Eurovision 1988 and won with her song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi. Not impressed yet? Well, what if I told you that ABBA became as popular as it is now due to Eurovision 1974 and the win they brought Sweden with their song Waterloo, which turned the eyes of the world towards them the very next morning. Another winner that made it to your FYP is an Italian band, Maneskin, who brought their home country its third win since the creation of the contest with their song Zitti e Buoni. Although you probably are more familiar with their relatively recent, I wanna be your slave. I feel like now I definitely got your attention, and I'm going to use this momentum for a little walk down history lane.
Origins
In 1950, in an effort to unite European countries following the second world war through cross-border television, The European Broadcasting Union or EBU, was created. Five years later, an idea for a pan-European singing contest was conceived at a conference of the European Broadcasting Union in Monaco in 1955, inspired by the Italian Sanremo Festival. It was determined that the very first ever Eurovision Song Contest would be held in the Swiss resort of Lugano the next year. Although several cameras were recording the contest for the very few Europeans who had a telly set at the time, the 1956 Eurovision Song Contest was predominantly a radio programme.
Voting
Over the years, the voting systems utilised in the competition have evolved. While everything started in 1956 with only two judges from each participating country taking part in a secret vote, the current system has been in place since 1975. Each country has to assemble a panel of national judges who then award songs from other countries with points ranging from 1 to 8, then 10 and eventually 12 — with the favourite receiving the now-famous douze points. Traditionally, only an internal jury chose a country's set of votes, but in 1997, five nations experimented with televoting, allowing members of the general public in those countries to vote en masse for their favourite songs. The trial was a success, and all nations were invited to employ televoting if feasible beginning in 1998. Today, while the judges still attribute their points, the public is invited to cast theirs as the hosts communicate with the presenters through broadcasted video calls. When all the juries announce their decisions, the voting stops, and after the final recap, the winner is announced, ranging from least votes acquired to most.
Structure
While initially, Eurovision was a one-day event, the contest has now been separated into three parts. The conclusion of the Cold War in the early 1990s resulted in a surge in participation, with many former Eastern Bloc countries lining up for the first time to participate. This process is still going on, with additional countries entering every day. As a result, the EBU developed the Semi-Final format in 2004, which was expanded to two Semi-Finals for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008. To qualify for the Final, all countries except the 'Big Five' — France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom – and the host country must be in the top-10 of a Semi-Final. In turn, the contestant or the contestants who will be fighting for the chance to represent their country is chosen months prior, usually through a more minor song contest within each country.
Politics
Although initially, the contest was supposed to be a non-politicised event to bring all the European countries together and create a sense of community, quite a few performances were affected by politics over the years.
A long-standing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan prompted a couple incidents since the countries joined the competition in the late 2000s. Eurovision has strict rules against politically charged performances that Armenia broke on certain occasions, including a political message in the name of the entry and waving a flag of a region in Azerbaijan that was ethnically Armenian during a performance.
In 2009, Georgia withdrew due to their lyrics being deemed critical of the Russian president amidst the Russo-Georgian war and the band's refusal to change them.
One of the more significant controversies included Israel and its participation in the contest. The first time that Israel participated was in Luxembourg, not too long after the Munich massacre where 11 Israeli Olympic Athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, resulting in the audience being told to avoid standing during the performance in fear of being shot and increased number of security throughout the duration of the contest.
The most recent political conflict involves Russia and Ukraine and started in 2016 with Ukraine's Eurovision win with the song 1944 performed by Jamala and the lyrics that referenced the deportation of the Tatars from Crimea. Although the Russian delegation heavily protested the song, it was allowed to its historical nature. In the subsequent year, the contest was set to be held in Kyiv, but Ukraine banned the contestant chosen by Russia from entering the country due to her allegedly breaking Ukrainian law by entering Crimea through Russia and not going through Ukraine for her performance there in 2015. This resulted in Russia withdrawing from the contest and EBU threatening to take measures against Ukraine in the future. This year, due to Russia openly attacking Ukraine, it has been excluded from participating in the Eurovision after complaints from numerous other European countries.
The Eurovision is mere days away at the of writing this article, and to be honest, I cannot stop listening to Give That Wolf a Banana by Subwoolfer and Hold me closer by Cornelia Jacobs and suggest anyone who loves good music and exciting performances to tune in this year because we are, as always, in for a treat.
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