History Series / EurovisionSongContest

The contest has run since 1956 -- although 2020's Contest was cancelled due to the [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic coronavirus pandemic]] -- and was quite well-respected in its early years, with established artists such as Music/CliffRichard and Music/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 unity among European nations outside the communist bloc and showcase their varied musical talent. What's interesting to note that this contest is open not just to members of the European Union, nor just European countries, but to ''all'' countries which are active broadcasting members of the [=EBU=] [[note]]strictly speaking, the countries aren't members of the EBU so much as the ''broadcasters'' -- so the United Kingdom does not participate in the Contest per se, it's the BBC who participates. The UK's ITV group are also members, so if the BBC ever tire of the event then ITV could theoretically take up the mantle[[/note]], which also includes UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}, UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}, [[UsefulNotes/GeorgiaEurope Georgia]], UsefulNotes/{{Armenia}} and UsefulNotes/{{Azerbaijan}} (As [[Series/TheGrahamNortonShow Graham Norton]], current commentator for the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom via [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]], said on his show when explaining the premise, "We use 'European' ''very'' loosely."). With the contest taking a credibility dive in TheSeventies, the only acts to become international stars for the next few decades were Music/{{ABBA}}, ''Theatre/{{Riverdance}}''[[note]]Riverdance wasn't participating in the contest but was conceived and debuted as the interval act for Eurovision 1994[[/note]] and Music/CelineDion[[note]]Performers do not have to be citizens of the country they represent, hence how the Canadian diva was able to represent Switzerland[[/note]], though several performers have remained popular in their home countries after entering the show. This has started to change in recent years with many participants remaining internationally active thanks to the rise of digital distribution (and a rise in quality of songs), with 2019 and 2021 winners Music/DuncanLaurence and Music/{{Maneskin}} looking to potentially become the first world-famous artists since ABBA to springboard off the contest.

* RegionalRiff: Frequently. [[TorosYFlamencos Spain]] and Turkey are among the most prolific (ab/)users of the trope.

* BellyDancer: Turkey often combines this with a RegionalRiff. This was codified by Sertab Erener, who brought the country their first and currently only victory in 2003 with a performance that included a full belly dancing routine.

** However, Italy's 2023 entry contained the lyrics "''E ci siamo fottuti ancora una notte''", which means "we messed up" or "we screwed up one more night" (the official translation of Eurovision websites), but while "ci siamo fottuti" can also mean "we fucked" in another context.

** However, Italy's 2023 entry contained the lyrics "''E ci siamo fottuti ancora una notte''" ("And we fucked again one night," although it could also mean "we swindled/robbed each other"). Marco Mengoni sang the unexpurgated lyrics in his performance, and nobody seems to have gotten upset.

* DenserAndWackier: How the contest has changed over time. In the early years, especially those filmed in black and white, it was presented as more classy and serious. Gradually throughout the rest of the 20th century, more humorous, satirical, or otherwise unusual entries and performances would crop up, but in the early 2000s the norm became campy, over-the-top, and often entertainingly trashy, reaching its peak in 2008.
** The 2020s' have been noted as including a lot more gimmicky entries, themes and lyrics that are a lot more out-there, and others that aim to be more unique compared to what was usually seen during the final years of the 2010s, or the 2010s as a whole.

** The 2020s' have been noted as including a lot more gimmicky entries and others that aim to be more unique compared to what was usually seen during the final years of the 2010s'.

* {{Bookends}}: The 2023 final begins and ends with lyrics about songwriting. Austria starts the competition with "Oh my God, you're ''such'' a good writer", while the UK closes it with "Instead I wrote a song".

** San Marino, being a micro-nation, is forced to rely on guest fighters. Perennial Eurovision songwriter Ralph Siegel from Germany has written and composed 5 out of 6 of San Marino's entries between 2012 through 2017. Serial performer Valentina Monetta, whom if she won, would make history in its sleep, recruited American Jimmie Wilson in 2017. The only time San Marino did not recruit Siegel within that period (2016), the singer was from Turkey with Turkish and Greek writers. For 2018, their selection process involved applications from everywhere, almost literally (including Argentina, Philippines and Zimbabwe), with a single local musician from a pool of 7 as well leading to a final of 12 acts singing songs written by Austria's francophone 2016 act, but usually in English or Italian. Malta and Germany were the home countries of the 2 winners. Their 2016 entrant returns for 2019 with a self written tune. And in 2021, they brought Music/FloRida. Neighboring Italy has also provided talent in 2008, 2011, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

There have been a handful of Eurovision spinoffs over the years, most notably including the Junior Eurovision Song Contest (which has been held every autumn since 2003) and the short-lived Eurovision Dance Contest. There have also been attempts at launching foreign versions of the contest, such as an Asian edition that was set to debut in 2018 but got stuck in DevelopmentHell before being cancelled in 2021. The long-teased American version of Eurovision -- titled the American Song Contest -- was eventually set for a 2022 debut on Creator/{{NBC}}, with inaugural participation from all fifty states as well as UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC and five US territories [[note]]UsefulNotes/AmericanSamoa, UsefulNotes/{{Guam}}, UsefulNotes/NorthernMarianaIslands, UsefulNotes/PuertoRico, and UsefulNotes/UnitedStatesVirginIslands[[/note]] and a Canadian version was announced in 2022 and is due to start the following year. Eurovision was previously first broadcast in the United States from 2016 to 2018 on the [[LGBTFanbase LGBT-focused]] cable network Creator/{{LOGO}}, before Creator/{{Netflix}} acquired the US streaming rights for the 2019 and 2020 editions.[[note]]This didn't include live streaming of the contest; both semi-finals and the final are added to the service after it already aired in Europe. The 2020 edition obviously never streamed as part of this deal.[[/note]] Likely in conjunction with the official announcement of ASC, Creator/{{Peacock}} then became the new American streaming home of Eurovision starting with the 2021 edition.[[note]]NBC and Peacock are both subsidiaries of Creator/NBCUniversal.[[/note]]

In March 2019, it was announced that a proposed Eurovision film from Creator/WillFerrell and director David Dobkin (''Film/WeddingCrashers'') was moving forward at Netflix, coinciding with their planned two-year streaming deal in the US. Ferrell, a longtime Eurovision fan himself, previously claimed to have seen every contest since 1999 (when his Swedish wife introduced him to it) and even attended the 2018 competition in Lisbon as preparation for the film. After a brief {{release date change}} because of the COVID-19 pandemic, ''Film/EurovisionSongContestTheStoryOfFireSaga'' was finally released in June 2020. The plot of the film follows unlikely Icelandic duo Fire Saga (Ferrell and Creator/RachelMcAdams) as they beat the odds to represent their country at Eurovision. Shot partly on location during the 2019 edition in Tel Aviv, the film also features Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/DanStevens, and Music/DemiLovato in supporting roles, as well as plentiful cameo appearances from previous Eurovision acts.[[note]]In order of appearance: Salvador Sobral, John Lundvik, Anna Odobescu, Bilal Hassani, Loreen, Jessy Matador, Alexander Rybak, Jamala, Elina Nechayeva, Conchita Wurst, and Netta.[[/note]] Although reactions to the film trended mixed-to-positive, the soundtrack was widely praised and even received a UsefulNotes/{{Grammy|Award}} nomination, with "Husavik" (as performed by Music/MollySanden) specifically being nominated Best Original Song at the [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscars]].

* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: Germany's 2000 and 2009 entries had sparkling outfits, Lithuania's 2010 and 2022 entry features sparkling shorts and sparkling dress respectively, Belgium's 2016 entry had a sparkly jacket, and Australia's 2022 entry also had a beady sparkly mask. Ukraine's 2007 entry (Verka Serduchka) cranks this up to eleven.

** While Portugal still holds this record (53 years between debut and first win), now Malta is the country which has debuted the longest time ago without ever winning: 52 years since their debut in 1971 (although there was a considerable gap, leaving in 1975 and not returning until 1991).
** If we consider effective contest appearances without a win, Cyprus has participated the highest number of times (38) without ever taking home the trophy, though they rose from an 80-1 outsider to narrowly lose to near-neighbour Israel in 2018. Portugal still holds the record in this category, too (48 participations resulting in failure before their first win).

* ForeignRemake:
** In 2005, German comedian, musician and Eurovision veteran Stefan Raab started the "Bundesvision (Federal Vision) Song Contest" featuring contestants representing [[UsefulNotes/TheSixteenLandsOfDeutschland the 16 German states]]. So far, all five winners were already very big in Germany -- three rock and two reggae acts, actually.

** In 2022, the American Song Contest, comprising of all the states, territories and the District of Columbia competing against each other, was launched.
** Also in 2022, versions for both Canada and Latin America were announced.

The contest has run since 1956 - although 2020's Contest was cancelled due to the [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic coronavirus pandemic]] - and was quite well-respected in its early years, with established artists such as Music/CliffRichard and Music/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 unity among European nations outside the communist bloc and showcase their varied musical talent. What's interesting to note that this contest is open not just to members of the European Union, nor just European countries, but to ''all'' countries which are active broadcasting members of the [=EBU=] [[note]]strictly speaking, the countries aren't members of the EBU so much as the ''broadcasters'' - so the United Kingdom does not participate in the Contest per se, it's the BBC who participates. The UK's ITV group are also members, so if the BBC ever tire of the event then ITV could theoretically take up the mantle[[/note]], which also includes UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}, UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}, [[UsefulNotes/GeorgiaEurope Georgia]], UsefulNotes/{{Armenia}} and UsefulNotes/{{Azerbaijan}} (As [[Series/TheGrahamNortonShow Graham Norton]], current commentator for the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom via [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]], said on his show when explaining the premise, "We use 'European' ''very'' loosely."). With the contest taking a credibility dive in TheSeventies, the only acts to become international stars for the next few decades were Music/{{ABBA}}, ''Theatre/{{Riverdance}}''[[note]]Riverdance wasn't participating in the contest but was conceived and debuted as the interval act for Eurovision 1994[[/note]] and Music/CelineDion[[note]]Performers do not have to be citizens of the country they represent, hence how the Canadian diva was able to represent Switzerland[[/note]], though several performers have remained popular in their home countries after entering the show. This has started to change in recent years with many participants remaining internationally active thanks to the rise of digital distribution (and a rise in quality of songs), with 2019 and 2021 winners Music/DuncanLaurence and Music/{{Maneskin}} looking to potentially become the first world-famous artists since ABBA to springboard off the contest.

** 1980 saw an African country - Morocco - take part for the first (and only) time.

* Interval Act: While the panels were deliberating or the phone votes are coming in, an interval act is arranged. Audiences used not to pay much heed to these musicians, dancers, comedians, or prerecorded videos - that is, until in 1994 the Irish hosts gave the world "Riverdance" and launched Michael Flatley's career.

** A common Eurovision joke is that [[TheThreeCertaintiesInLife There are only three things certain in life: Death, Taxes, and Greece and Cyprus exchanging maximum votes at Eurovision - provided they are able to vote for each other.]][[note]]This was averted in 2016's semifinal - Cyprus' jury only gave Greece ''3'' points. In 2023, Greece (who hadn't qualified for the Final) only awarded four points to Cyprus, causing the arena audience to gasp in shock.[[/note]]
*** Became a Crowning Moment of Funny in 2019 - both when Greece as well as when Cyprus were about to announce which country would get their maximum points, the audience in Tel Aviv already audibly yelled "Cyprus!" and "Greece!" respectively in the background. And they were right both times.

*** Another notable exception: in 1996, Ireland earned their seventh victory. They awarded the UK three points, but in an unusual move (especially considering how well-received the Irish entry was), the UK gave Ireland no points at all. It's especially odd when you see that they awarded Ireland 12 points in the pre-qualifying round. (Odder still, the actual recipient of the UK's 12 points in the final - Cyprus - only received two points from them in the pre-qualifying round. However, this can be explained by the jurors for the qualifying round not being allowed to vote in the final.)

** On the flip side of this, there are also countries who won't give each other the time of day, much less points at Eurovision. The classical example is Greece/Turkey; another that has arisen in recent years is Armenia/Azerbaijan[[note]]those two countries hate each other so much that Armenia pulled out of 2012's Contest - held in Azerbaijan - on security grounds[[/note]] (although, rather surprisingly given the history of the two countries, Turkey and Armenia are not averse to giving each other a few points).

*** Since the '90s this has been the case for the UK with nearly everywhere else, rarely getting many points from most other countries, usually put down to both the physical and cultural distance (votes for Ireland are presumably given because it's explicitly ''not'' the UK). It's a good game to see how long the UK can spend on the left side of the board (if it even gets there). After 2016... well, it's not like the UK hasn't suffered getting ''nil points'' before -- Brits are satisfied as long as they place higher than Germany. (A country that also, notably, gets very few votes. Likely for [[UsefulNotes/{{WW2}} that]][[note]]especially when the year ends in 5 - they finished bottom in 1965 (with 0 points), 1995, 2005 and 2015 (again with 0 points), and finished third-bottom in 1975; they finished second in 1985[[/note]] as well as being perceived as the greatest power in Europe somewhat alienating the rest of the continent.)

** Notable for UsefulNotes/MisplacedNationalism - he blamed the failure of the United Kingdom's HollywoodToneDeaf entry in the 2003 contest on backlash from the Iraq War, in spite of the fact many nations that were seen as being on its side in the intervention fared better, including winners Turkey.

** The "native-language-only" policy was cancelled in 1998 because of a massive streak of winners that were either in English (Ireland winning in 1992, '93, '94 and '96, plus a United Kingdom victory in 1997, with Ireland finishing second) or had as little text as remotely possible (Norway in 1995). Since then, only four winners were not sung in English at all: 2007's "Molitva" from Serbia, 2017's "Amar Pelos Dois" from Portugal, 2021's "Zitti e buoni" from Italy and 2022's "Stefania" from Ukraine (their first solely in Ukrainian - their other two winners were bilingual).

** 2022: Lithuania have their first own-language song since 1999 (save for 2 lines at the end of 2018's), Netherlands their second since 1998 in the main contest, and Iceland their third since 1997. In a surprise repeat of 2011, and in spite of 2 French language songs in the top 3 the previous year, there is no song in French in Torino - France's selection was won by a song in a regional language (Breton, a Celtic language, for the first time since 1996). Ukraine’s sending of an own-language entry for the 2nd successive act (both of whom shared a flautist) was key to their mandate for victory, whilst Italy and Slovenia were the only other songs put forward that were exclusively in a non-English native language, but Albania, Cyprus, Moldova, Portugal, San Marino and Spain have songs with lyrics in the native language and in English (and some in Spanish too for Albania), and Serbia uses Latin alongside their native language.

*** Songs in the UK Selection that January, coincidentally held on the same day as the White House meeting of the UK PM Theresa May and US President Donald Trump, included a song called "I Wish I Loved You More" written by a Swede, and a song by a singer with Italian lineage called "I don't wanna fight". There was also the somewhat apologetic "we're on the same side, we're 'freedom hearts'", written by the Swede who wrote "A Million Voices" 2 years earlier.
*** The UK hosted 20 acts partaking in ESC 2017 (including some from non-EU countries, but a majority from the union), the weekend after A50 was triggered (again this was a coincidence). Lucie duetted with Spain's singer in that gig - earlier that day, a former U.K. Opposition leader made a controversial remark about the Gibraltar dispute. Spain however was the only non-anglophonic nation to give UK televote points, although EU duo Malta and Ireland also gave Lucie a consistent level of televoting points little changed from recent contests (though not jury points - she made a lighthearted and apolitical joke attack about it on Twitter, saying "ooh Ireland - it burns!", and was mocked by Irish fans for it, but she still got 99 jury points, throughout the EU (including Germany, France, and Poland) and beyond, and placed 15th). The televoting points for UK still cleared those of 6 other nations, including Germany, Spain, Israel and Austria, as well as Australia and Denmark.

*** The next U.K. Song was called "Bigger than Us" and selected ahead of one called "Sweet Lies". "Bigger than Us" made history as the first ever entry whose writer represented another country as a singer in the same year, Swedish entry John Lundvik (UK born). Furthermore, 2015 winner Måns Zelmerlöw has made several jokes mocking the political crisis when presenting UK's selections in 2018 and 2019. However, only Ireland gave the song any televotes in the final despite the fact that, whilst no one (or very few) was expecting him to prevent the UK from ending the decade without a top 10 entry, he was given praise by former winner Måns Zelmerlöw, who presented his selection, and his fellow contestants (many of which he befriended on Insta Q&As) including champion elect Duncan Laurence from the Netherlands, though he later gave the song constructive criticism after it placed last, based on the manner of its selection (pairs of acts singing different versions of a song, which was scrapped ''the following year'') which likely meant it lacked the authenticity of Arcade, part of a top 10 of mostly self-written songs. (The hypothesis of the Brexit debacle and impasse causing the last place was undermined by the fact that Ireland had almost the exact same fortunes in their heat, with no televoting points outside UK, and, in the final, Germany got none at all, when surely those who mock the political debacle sympathise with Ireland and Germany [[note]]The chief risk, and what caused the impasse, was over the sensitivity of a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland - indeed there had been rumours of Ireland sending a Northern Irish ex-XF contestant the day before they chose their insipid choice.[[/note]])

*** Wales took part in the ESC for choirs on its own with the [=S4C=] Welsh broadcaster - the bizarre EBU event taking place in Latvia in the summer was advertised in the ESC 2017 - and finished second. The Welsh later partook in the junior contest in 2018, but placed last, having got no points from jurors, although with a passable public score, placing 2nd last the following year after being last with online votes, and withdrawing from the next 2 editions due to COVID. The EBU says they partake alone or the UK partakes, but both cannot occur at once. The U.K. returned as a United entity to this level in 2022, and placed 5th, winning the online vote, heavily damaging the possibility of Wales ever making a solo return to it. Wales would later return to choir contest in 2019, with Scotland joining them.

*** Also applies to their neighbours Ireland. Whether or not the Brexit debacle has driven them apart politically, the pair, who have had just 6 of their 47 entries between them since the Free Languages make the top 10 (Eamon Toal, Jessica Garlick, Brian Kennedy, Jade Ewen, Jedward's first appearance and Sam Ryder) have had an almost intertwined form. The last places of Sarah [=McTernan=] (Ireland) in heat 2 and Michael Rice (UK) in the final in 2019 seemed like evidence of this as well, but the disaster endings for Lesley Roy for the Irish and James Newman for the British, with songs that had been promising in the eyes of fandoms and predictor juries before the rehearsals underscored their bereft presences, doubled down on this - neither act even contributed to the Live on tape post-contest special!

** Could also apply to The Netherlands, who holds the record for failing to qualify for the final in 8 consecutive years. This was even {{exploited|Trope}} in 2013, when the Dutch had high hopes for their act performed by A-list star Anouk to break this string. Their announcement of reaching the final was saved to the last. The Netherlands did recover well from this negative streak by reaching 9th place in 2013 and even 2nd in 2014, their best placing since their last win in 1975. A few hiccups would happen in the years afterwards - they failed to qualify in 2015 and could only make 18th in 2018 - before winning the Contest in 2019.
** The Polish audience was so accustomed to failing yet another contest[[note]]since the introduction of the semifinals, Poland had only qualified for the final in 2 attempts out of 9. One was already pre-qualified due to different rules at the time, one qualified only due to a jury save and finished joint last in 2008 with Germany and the UK[[/note]], it was a massive surprise for everyone (even for Donatan and Cleo, the year's Polish representatives, themselves!) that in 2014 they actually scored enough points to get to the finals. And "We are Slavic" didn't even come dead last in the finals - actually, the 14th place was one of the best places in the whole history of Polish performances on Eurovision. Poland made 4 finals on the trot afterwards, despite none of their entries in that period being amongst the jury top 10 in their heat, likely due to their large expatriate communities in the EU and common Market after they joined (most egregiously in 2016 when, after being 2nd last with the jury, they were 3rd with the public, placing in the top 3 in many countries with large Polish communities, and getting only a 3rd ever top 10 place in the final), but a failure to qualify in both 2018 and 2019 proved that it only had so much effect (although they finished 10th in the public vote in 2018 and were two points short of qualifying in 2019).

** The Czech Republic followed a similar pattern to Andorra, with four appearances that all failed to qualify for the final between 2007 to 2009[[note]]earning just ten points - none of which were awarded in 2009 - during that period[[/note]] and 2015 onward. After a five-year hiatus, they returned to the competition in 2015, and yet again failed to make it past the semifinals. In 2016, the Czech Republic finally made its way into the final... [[YankTheDogsChain only to be put in the death slot second running-order position, taking next-to-last place once there, and getting no televoting points]]! 2018 got them into the final, although they had nearly had to withdraw as the singer was taken to hospital after doing a backflip in the rehearsal, although he recovered in time for the next set of rehearsals, went on to progress and finished sixth. They eased into the final with 2 of their next 3 acts but both were given very early slots and earned single figure televote scores (just about costing them a top 10 place in 2019, but leading to them being bottom 5 in 2022). In 2021, they failed to get a tele voting point in their heat due to an abysmal live performance putting paid to what was a decent chance of qualifying.
** Portugal is one of the countries that have competed the longest (since 1964) and has never finished in the top 5 before 2017. Between 2010 and 2015, they had never qualified to the grand final. With those marginals, it's one of the biggest [[ButtMonkey Butt Monkeys]] in the contest. In 2017, however, Portugal qualified for the first time in 7 years with a minimalistic own language ballad that ended up winning, with both the jury vote and televote putting them first. When they hosted in 2018, they did a skit mocking how long it took them to win.

** Germany looks like they might be after this status - they finished last with 0 points in 2015[[note]]along with Austria - Germany was placed bottom due to tie-breaking rules preferring the song performed earlier[[/note]], last (but with points) in 2016 and second-last in 2017. They did manage to turn it around in 2018: a new selection process led to a strong pick in Michael Schulte's TearJerker "You Let Me Walk Alone," bringing them to a proud fourth place (and, beyond that, it was the first time Germany got ''douze points'' from anyone - four times, in fact - since their 2010 win). This lasted precisely one year: in 2019, they finished second-bottom and got nil points from the public vote, which occurred AGAIN in 2021 despite their song going all-out (in 2020, they would've sent a very promising song, but it didn't convince live and they looked elsewhere for the next contest). They finished bottom yet AGAIN in 2022, with 6 points - however, unlike the last two occasions, it would be the juries, not the public, that blanked them. They finished bottom once again in 2023, although they got points from both sets of points this time, for the first time since 2018.

* {{Curse}}: While nations performing later in the contest tends to have a better chance of winning, as most viewers remember the song more when it’s time to vote, a nation having to perform 2nd in the final running order is known to be a kiss of death to one's chances of winning the contest. Not only that nobody has won performing there, it has produced the most last place finishes and many pre-contest favorites have found themselves bombing in the scorecard from having to perform 2nd. Notable victims to the curse include Vicky Leandros (1967), Ronnie Tober (1968) [[note]]He finished joint ''last'' [[/note]], Olivia Newton-John (1974), Matia Bazaar (1979), Gili & Galit (1989) and Gina G (1996). The producers, who have decided the running order since 2013, usually put a song with little chance of winning - usually a simple ballad which fares poorly - in this slot, after opening with an upbeat song.

--->'''Graham''': ''(about Greece receiving a lot of points in 2012)'' The Greek finance minister has just died a little inside.

--->'''Luuk''': ''(about one of the spokesmen)'' Look at that guy's fat chin!

--->'''af Sillén''': As you might have noticed, Ukraine isn't part of ESC this year. [[CrossesTheLineTwice Anyway, here's Russia with a song about peace.]]

** Samanta Tina would also finally get to perform in the Contest on her ninth attempt - having tried to represent Lithuania twice and Latvia six times before getting her chance in 2021. She was due to compete for Latvia in 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic caused it to be cancelled. LTV would send her again in 2021, but she finished bottom of her semifinal. Time will tell if she decides to make a tenth attempt.
* DiscretionShot: Between each song (to give the TV audience something to look at while the set is being changed), the next act is prefaced with a brief onscreen presentation, referred to as a "postcard". (Whilst an integral part of the contest nowadays, they wore introduced in 1970 to pad the show out - the previous year's four-way tie caused four countries to withdraw.) Usually it shows montages of either the artists or sights from the host country. Recent examples have included;
** Belgrade 2008: Performers dancing in the colours of the country's flag, whilst a short letter is written in the country's language - except for Belgium (written in the same constructed language as its song) and Serbia (which was "Welcome to Belgrade" or "Welcome to Serbia" in various languages).
** Moscow 2009: Ksenia Sukhinova, 2008 Miss World, wearing a hat containing miniature images of famous sights of the country, with her dress patterned after its flag's colours. It finished with a word or phrase in Russian - transliterated into the Latin alphabet - and its English meaning.

** Rotterdam 2020: Would have followed the same theme as the previous 2, but based around the ordinary people that the contestants mingle with. Spain, whose act - selected as far back as the previous October - would get immediate first refusal following the show's annulment, had filmed a postcard, but other acts cancelling their shoots due to the escalating crisis, and laws their nations sometimes imposed as regards this, made it untenable.

** Liverpool 2023: The postcards would start with a landmark in Ukraine, then the United Kingdom and finishing up with a landmark in the country about to perform - all three being linked to one another, like town halls or cathedrals - with the performer taking part in an activity of their choice.

** 1991 - Wherein France and Sweden finished level on points, with Sweden winning by getting more sets of 10 points (they had tied on the first tie-breaker, as both got the same number of 12pts).[[note]]Had the current rules been used then - the first tie-breaker is how many countries voted for it - France would have won.[[/note]]

** The Melodifestivalen-inspired voting system in place from 2016 – each jury announces in turn, then total televote points are added in reverse order of the standings after the jury voting – is deliberately designed to prevent runaway winners and heighten the drama of the results portion of the show (working incredibly well each time). In 2019, it was adjusted to be done in ascending jury vote order, ie, Spain and the Israeli hosts, the jury's bottom 2, would get televotes first, and Netherlands, North Macedonia (a nation who had never before made the top 10) and Sweden, would be the last to be read out. It was even more effective, and the title was won by just 26 points - in fact, the top 3 had less than 20 televotes between them.

* DueToTheDead: In January 2016, BBC's previous ESC commentator Radio/TerryWogan passed away. Graham Norton toasted to him that year at the start of the 9th song, saying that Sir Terry (who was famous for getting progressively more drunk during his commentary) "would never start drinking before song no. 9.", which a draw in March that year revealed would be hosts Sweden. He did the same in 2017 (for seeming favourites Italy), 2018 (for the UK's entry - before it was ruined), 2019 (Sweden again), 2021 (the United Kingdom again), 2022 (Italy again) and 2023 (eventual winners Sweden).
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Lugano 1956 was mostly broadcast for TV ''and'' radio, though mostly for radio [[TechnologyMarchesOn as television was an expensive luxury back in the mid-50's]] and had 7 countries ([[WhatCouldHaveBeen there were more planned]], but they didn't get the paperwork done in time) providing two songs each, [[LeaveTheCameraRunning presumably to pad it out]]. There was one winner - Switzerland, who didn't win again until Music/CelineDion gave them a hand - and everyone else came "second", with the point allocation being secret. Also, one song was just some guy whistling to a band. [[invoked]]

** The country that has participated the longest without any win is Portugal, which made its debut in 1964 and never finished in the top five... until 2017, when it finally won for the first time ever - the same day Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the two little shepherds from Fátima were canonized (the Pope even came to Portugal) and Benfica won their first tetra (i.e. four consecutive national football championships). It's like the stars just lined up!

** In 2005, German comedian, musician and Eurovision veteran Stefan Raab started the "Bundesvision (Federal Vision) Song Contest" featuring contestants representing [[UsefulNotes/TheSixteenLandsOfDeutschland the 16 German states]]. So far, all five winners were already very big in Germany - three rock and two reggae acts, actually.

** Speaking of 2021, the year featured two notable incidents back to back in the final: Germany's song featured references to "wiggling middle fingers" and had a giant peace sign onstage - with an arm in the index finger that she frequently put down; making a middle finger; Finland, immediately after, referred to "put your middle fingers up" and painted their middle fingers red.

** The Spaniards have not sung in English, with just five exceptions: in 1968 - in which Spain won the contest - when, during the reprise of "La, La, La", Massiel sang the second chorus in English; in 2014, Ruth Lorenzo sang the bilingual Spanish and English "Dancing in the Rain;" in 2016, Barei was the first Spanish entrant to perform a song fully in English; Manel Navarro in 2017 sang "Do It for Your Lover" in bilingual form, and in 2022 Chanel sang the bilingual "SloMo". Each time that English has been featured in Spain's entry, the Real Academia Española (the Royal Spanish Academy) has voiced its public objection.

** Israel lasted a long time before sending an entry entirely in English. While several entries only included minimal Hebrew, there were at least a few English phrases in most of the Israeli songs from about 1992 onward. Their first entry entirely in English was "Golden Boy" in 2015, which compensated for the lack of Hebrew by referencing the city of Tel Aviv and performing with a very Middle Eastern sound. This ultimately worked - Israel finished 9th, their entries in 2016 and 2017 both qualified, and 2018 (which included exactly one line in Hebrew) brought them their fourth victory.
** On the flip side, Belarus have only sent one entry in their native language (which still was presented with an English title, "Story of My Life"), though would have had another - referred to by its own language title but a complete outsider - if 2020 was not cancelled, and Azerbaijan have sent zero. In fact, when the Bulgarian act in 2012 included a few phrases in Azerbaijani in her multi-lingual song, it was the first and only time the language appeared at Eurovision. And the contest was ''in'' Azerbaijan that year! (For what it's worth, Bulgaria didn't qualify and the English-language Azeri song finished in fourth place.)

** Albania's 2012 fifth-placer Rona Nishliu hails from Kosovo, but its recognition issues currently prevents it from participating in the contest, so it is not uncommon and justifiable for Kosovars to be represented by Albania in international events. The same happened in 2017 with Lindita Halimi and in 2023 with Albina Kelmendi. Neither Azerbaijan - despite the common cultural Muslim religion - or Ukraine recognises Kosovo, and Ukraine's football team hosted Kosovo in Poland rather than Ukraine itself the previous autumn, although both have normal and strong relations with Albania.
** Armenia's Genealogy (16th-place, Vienna 2015) is essentially a MultinationalTeam, representing the worldwide Armenian diaspora: Inga Arshakyan (Armenia), Mary-Jean O'Doherty Basmadjian (Australia), Vahe Tilbian (Ethiopia), Essaï Altounian (France), Stephanie Topalian (Japan) and Tamar Kaprelian (USA).

** Monaco's tiny population - about 38,400 in 2016 - means that most of their performers came from neighbouring France.

** Estonia and France in the lost 2020 contest, and also Croatia and Cyprus in the eyes of many fans in that year. Estonia's Uku Suviste was confirmed for the 2021 after defending his honour in the national selection. Croatia, Cyprus and France, however, sent entirely new acts to the 2021 contest - all of them ladies.

* PoesLaw: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n--JnAwirk&feature=related Dustin the Turkey]], singing a deliberately terrible dance song about how terrible Eurovision has gotten and how Ireland have gone from being the group-to-beat to being also-rans. It might have gone over a little better if the lyrics had been a little more coherent and had Dustin had a less annoying voice. Most people thought it was simply a shit song - as many commentators only half-jokingly noted, it's not like Dustin was significantly ''worse'' than a lot of actual Eurovision performances.

** Italy's 2021 entry -- "Zitti e buoni", by Måneskin -- originally included the lyrics "vi conviene toccarvi i coglioni" (you better grab your balls - an Italian phrase roughly equivalent to "you better touch wood") and "non sa di che cazzo parla" (they don't know what the fuck they're talking about), which got changed respectively to "vi conviene non fare più errori" (you better stop making mistakes) and "non sa di che '''cosa''' parla" (they don't know what they're talking about) to comply with Eurovision's rules on profanity. However, after securing their win, singer Damiano David dropped the filter and sang the original lyric during their encore.

* ReallySeventeenYearsOld: Belgium in 1986 sent Sandra Kim, at the tender age of 13.5 years old. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnQ9424lxlo She pretended to be 14]]. And, of course, won it![[note]]Starting from 1990 a rule was implemented stating that contestants have to be at least 16 on the day of their first live performance, ensuring that Kim remains the youngest ever winner as long as the rule remains in place - which is very likely, since nowadays performers in Kim's then-age range participate in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.[[/note]]

* TheRunnerUpTakesItAll: Since the change in the voting procedure in 2016 - which saw each country get two sets of points to award, one by a panel of judges, the other by the public - this has happened twice:

*** 2023 had Sweden send Loreen for a second time, and she ended up winning. The runner-up, a brightly colored, GenreBusting, acid trip - "Cha Cha Cha" by Käärijä of Finland - won the televote by a huge margin (133 points) over Sweden and is widely regarded by many Eurovision fans to be "the true winner" that year.

** Same thing in Poland. Every single year their reason for not getting to the finals was that "Nobody likes us in Europe". After which, hundreds of declarations that "we won't send a contestant next year" can be heard. But they do send them anyway. Averted somehow in 2014 - this time they blamed their score on the judges who gave them a lot less points that the viewers (if only the viewers' points counted, Poland would have a 5th place instead of 14th!) and on Conchita Wurst who stole their spotlight with the help of her beard, PimpedOutDress and way better song than "We are Slavic". One political party even announced that (if they were to be elected, of course) they would have a plan to change the Eurovision voting system so Poland won't be cheated out by the judges ever again (although the following 3 entries also got bad jury scores once in the final, notably 2016). They said exactly the same words before 2009, when only viewers' votes were taken into account and Polish songs were always getting low (or very low) scores. And again, it was because of "politics".

** Parodied in an episode of the defining Irish comedy show, ''Series/FatherTed'', where Ireland deliberately had Ted and Dougal represent Ireland in the Eurovision with their terrible song "My Lovely Horse", in order to save on the costs of having to host it again (the episode itself having been aired in 1996, just after Ireland had won three consecutive contests).

** To a lesser extent, this also applies to the Czech Republic: their first three entries between 2007 and 2009 gained a total of ten points - the last entry of which scored nil points - before withdrawing from the Contest. They returned in 2015 with slightly better fortunes before finally qualifying in 2016 (although they finished second last). They failed to qualify again in 2017 before their massive improvement in results: 2018 saw then finish third in the semifinal before sixth in the final. (There were some doubts about him even performing - he injured his back performing a backflip in the first dress rehearsal and was temporarily unable to walk. He then performed a frontflip in the final.) They then qualified again the following year, finishing second in the semifinal and 11th in the final. While 2021 saw another non-qualification, they were back in the finals in 2022 (finishing 22nd) and 2023 (earning their second Top 10 placement).

** ''Everything'' in 2001 - except the songs and voting - was done in ''rhyming couplets''.

** This was inverted in 2016 after several countries complained that Australia's entry broke this rule by mentioning [=FaceTime=], the Apple telephone product. The EBU rejected the complaint, saying that the lyrics presented it as two words - i.e. "face time" - rather than one.

* CircassianBeauty: Azerbaijan seems to have favored of attractive female contestants, particularly since its debut, Azerbaijan has had Aysel Teymurzadeh (third, Moscow 2009), Safura Alizadeh (fifth, Oslo 2010), Nigar Jamal (winner, Düsseldorf 2011), Sabina Babayeva (fourth, Baku 2012), Dilara Kazimova (twenty-second, Copenhagen 2014), Samra Rahimli (seventeenth, Stockholm 2016), Diana Hajiyeva (fourteenth, Kyiv 2017), Aysel Mammadova (semifinalist, Lisbon 2018) and Samira Efendi (twentieth, Rotterdam 2020/2021). Georgian Sopho (twelfth, Helsinki 2007), Sofia Nizharadze (ninth, Oslo 2010), Nina Sublatti (eleventh, Vienna 2015), Tamara Gachechiladze (semifinalist, Kyiv 2017) and Armenian Sirusho (fourth, Belgrade 2008), Eva Rivas (seventh, Oslo 2010), Emmy (semifinalist, Düsseldorf 2011), Iveta Mukuchyan (seventh, Stockholm 2016), Artsvik (eighteenth, Kyiv 2017), Rosa Linn (twentieth, but future TikTok sensation, Turin 2022), and Brunette (fourteenth, Liverpool 2023) also count as well.

*** 2018 and 2019 provide [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagging]]. Respective runners up Fuego by Eleni Foureira and Soldi by Mahmood (both well known acts) are better regarded by the fandom and more successful in Europe, but their respective conquerors Toy by Netta and Arcade by Duncan Laurence (both of whom were largely or totally unknown pre victory) both became TikTok viral and therefore got more streams in the longer term.
*** 20th placing Nu Folk ballad Snap by Rosa Linn, which was Armenia’s 2022 entry, earned a major TikTok viral success to become one of the most streamed entries ever, this in a year when both the winner (albeit because of their circumstances) and runner up (already well known via the video sharing site) also had clear success.

** Parodied in an episode of the defining Irish comedy show, ''Series/FatherTed'', where Ireland deliberately had Ted and Dougal represent Ireland in the Eurovision with their terrible song "My Lovely Horse", in order to save on the costs of having to host it again (the episode itself having been aired during the 90's, when Ireland won the contest more frequently.

* SceneryPorn: There is ''a lot'' of gratuitous tourism adverts for the host country.

* OverlyLongGag: Mr. Lordi returned to present Finland's votes on the 2012 edition. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npQ8LpV2jG0 And then this happened]].

** Sakis Rouvas represented Greece twice in 2004 and 2009, both of his entries are so fanservicey.

** In terms of subtext and allusion, Cannes 1961 winner "Nous les amoureux" by Jean-Claude Pascal for Luxembourg takes the proverbial cake. At first glance, the lyrics may refer to any couple facing judgment or discrimination since the subjects are not gendered. It wasn't until decades later that Pascal confirmed the song was about a homosexual relationship.

** Greece has had Mando (seventeenth, Riga 2003), Music/HelenaPaparizou (winner, Kyiv 2005), Anna Vissi (ninth, Athens 2006), Kalomira Sarantis (third, Belgrade 2008), Eleftheria Eleftheriou (seventeenth, Baku 2012), Dimitra "Demy" Papadea (nineteenth, Kyiv 2017), Gianna Terzi (semifinalist, Lisbon 2018), Katerina Duska (twenty-first, Tel Aviv 2019), Stefania Liberakakis (entrant, Rotterdam 2020 and 10th, Rotterdam 2021), and Athena Manoukian (who attempted to represent Greece at Junior level in 2008, to no avail), representing her ethnic homeland of Armenia, became the would-be sex symbol of the cancelled 2020 edition in Rotterdam.
** Cyprus has had British-born Lisa Andreas (fifth, Istanbul 2004), Evridiki (semifinalist, Helsinki 2007), Greek-born Ivi Adamou (sixteenth, Baku 2012), Albanian-born Music/EleniFoureira (runner-up, Lisbon 2018) and Georgian-born Tamta Goduadze (thirteenth, Tel Aviv 2019).

* GorgeousGreek: Greece and Cyprus had sent so many MsFanservice contestants, particularly since the turn of the millennium. Greece has had Music/HelenaPaparizou (winner, Kyiv 2005), Kalomira Sarantis (third, Belgrade 2008), Eleftheria Eleftheriou (seventeenth, Baku 2012), Dimitra "Demy" Papadea (nineteenth, Kyiv 2017), Gianna Terzi (semifinalist, Lisbon 2018), Katerina Duska (twenty-first, Tel Aviv 2019), and Stefania Liberakakis (entrant, Rotterdam 2020 and 10th, Rotterdam 2021); Cyprus had British-born Lisa Andreas (fifth, Istanbul 2004), Greek-born Ivi Adamou (sixteenth, Baku 2012), Albanian-born Music/EleniFoureira (runner-up, Lisbon 2018) and Georgian-born Tamta Goduadze (thirteenth, Tel Aviv 2019); and Athena Manoukian (who attempted to represent Greece at Junior level in 2008, to no avail), representing her ethnic homeland of Armenia, became the would-be sex symbol of the cancelled 2020 edition in Rotterdam. MrFanservice contestants also abound, including Greece's Sakis Rouvas (third, Istanbul 2004; seventh, Moscow 2009), Cyprus's would-be 2020 entrant Sandro Nicholas, a German-American of Greek descent (who was not given the right to represent Cyprus in 2021), and Andrew Lambrou, an Australian of Greek-Cypriot parentage (twelfth, Liverpool 2023).

* DenserAndWackier: How the contest changed over time. In the early years, it was mostly classy and serious, but starting in the early 2000s it became campy, over-the-top, and often entertainingly trashy, reaching its peak in 2008.

* CircassianBeauty: Azerbaijan seems to have favored of attractive female contestants, particularly since its debut, Azerbaijan has had Aysel Teymurzadeh (third, Moscow 2009), Safura Alizadeh (fifth, Oslo 2010), Nigar Jamal (winner, Düsseldorf 2011), Sabina Babayeva (fourth, Baku 2012), Dilara Kazimova (twenty-second, Copenhagen 2014), Samra Rahimli (seventeenth, Stockholm 2016), Diana Hajiyeva (fourteenth, Kyiv 2017), Aysel Mammadova (semifinalist, Lisbon 2018) and Samira Efendi (twentieth, Rotterdam 2020/2021). Georgian Sofia Nizharadze (ninth, Oslo 2010), Nina Sublatti (eleventh, Vienna 2015), Tamara Gachechiladze (semifinalist, Kyiv 2017) and Armenian Sirusho (fourth, Belgrade 2008), Eva Rivas (seventh, Oslo 2010), Emmy (semifinalist, Düsseldorf 2011), Iveta Mukuchyan (seventh, Stockholm 2016), Rosa Linn (twentieth, but future TikTok sensation, Turin 2022) also count as well.