Europe has a vast variety of cultures and countries, but one annual event unites the continent: The Eurovision Song Contest, a music competition where 36 European countries and Australia each produce a unique song and perform live. This year the contest will be held in Basel, Switzerland on May 17th. In recent years, the Eurovision Song Contest has received international recognition. While many in the United States are unaware of the intricacies of the contest, they may have seen the popular Eurovision movie released in 2020.
The Eurovision movie, starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams, tells the comical story of an Icelandic couple who decide to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. The movie portrays Eurovision as a witty and disorganized competition. However, this is far from the truth. Eurovision is taken extremely seriously and has given rise to global hits such as Waterloo by ABBA, SNAP by Rosa Linn, and Arcade by Duncan Lawrence. Getting the chance to perform at Eurovision is a once in a lifetime opportunity for artists and singers to become a part of musical history.
The Eurovision Song Contest was created by the European Broadcasting Union in 1954 as an experiment in live television and to increase European unity after World War II. The first Eurovision Song Contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland on May 24, 1956. This event was one of the first live televised events to be broadcast to a large international audience. In 1956, Switzerland won the contest with “Refrain” by Lys Assia. Assia’s win at Eurovision boosted her popularity globally in the 1950s. The musical contest continues to give rise to many new singers in the 21st century and is a source of excitement, nationalism, and cultural education throughout Europe. To this day, many people seek out participation in Eurovision as a means of establishing their musical career.
Each country can only grant one person the opportunity to represent their culture and skills, creating a highly competitive selection process. Every country has a unique way of selecting their Eurovision candidate, some countries hosting a separate selection contest and others using an exclusive voting committee. Sweden is known for their pre-eurovision selection contest, Melodifestivalen. Every Saturday for five weeks between February and March, a live episode of Melodifestivalen airs. On the final Saturday, the ultimate winner of the competition is selected and gets to represent Sweden at Eurovision in May. Iceland and Croatia have similar but shorter competitions, merely lasting one week. However, the Netherlands uses a voting committee of musical experts and presenters to select their candidate.
Once selected, the candidates compete in the Eurovision semi-finals. 20 out of 31 countries qualify for the grand finale and six countries have pre-guaranteed spots at the Grand Finale. Spain, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, and the hosting country are all guaranteed a spot at the grand finale due to their financial contributions to the contest. Once the grand finale contestants are finalized, the true competition begins. Fans select their favorite songs, and the most passionate viewers place bets on their country’s singer or the song that grabbed their attention.
According to the current betting odds, Sweden is predicted to win the Eurovision Song Contest 2025. However, this can all change as countries are still creating and releasing their songs. Fans look forward to hearing the new and culturally representative music of each country. Switzerland won last year with “The Code” by NEMO and will be taking on the responsibility of catering to Eurovision fans and hosting yet another year of the Eurovision Song Contest.
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