How Eurovision became the "Olympics for singing"

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How Eurovision became the “Olympics for singing”
How Eurovision became the “Olympics for singing”
How Eurovision became the “Olympics for singing”
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
How Eurovision became the “Olympics for singing”
How Eurovision became the “Olympics for singing”
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Discover the origin of break dancing
See a ballet teacher instructing the dancers
See a ballet teacher instructing the dancers
Understand how music therapy is helping young children in Australian elementary schools to deal with grief, loss and other behavioral and emotional disorders
Understand how music therapy is helping young children in Australian elementary schools to deal with grief, loss and other behavioral and emotional disorders
Watch Sergi Jorda talk about composing music on the computer and his famous invention the ReacTable
Watch Sergi Jorda talk about composing music on the computer and his famous invention the ReacTable
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Know the science behind why the brain gets attracted to music
Observe Polynesian culture through dance performances telling legends of ancient South Seas people and gods
Observe Polynesian culture through dance performances telling legends of ancient South Seas people and gods
Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Article media libraries that feature this video: ABBA, Céline Dion, Michael Flatley, Julio Iglesias, Eurovision Song Contest, Eurovision Song Contest winner
TRANSCRIPT
The Eurovision Song Contest is an international annual music competition held by the European Broadcasting Union. Often known simply as Eurovision, the annual singing contest is held in May and has featured contestants from over 50 countries. The participating countries are each represented by an artist and song chosen by the country’s public broadcasting service. The first Eurovision was held on May 24, 1956, in Lugano, Switzerland. It was heralded as one of the first attempts to televise a live event to a large international audience. Over the course of the next seven decades, the number of participants in the annual competition grew from just seven countries to more than 40. Similar to the Olympics, Eurovision has become an international spectacle, with some political aspects becoming almost as prominent as the music itself. For example, host countries such as Azerbaijan in 2012 have had their human rights records scrutinized and protested, and in 2022 Russia was removed from the contest following its invasion of Ukraine. In the Eurovision finals, the winner is decided by a point system, where each participating country awards their favorite performances a pair of points on a scale of 1 to 12. In addition to a cash prize, the victor wins their country the right to host the next year’s contest. While winning the competition is not guaranteed to bring a musician future success, many Eurovision winners have had their careers launched by the victory. Eurovision winners have included ABBA, Sweden’s representative in 1974, as well as Celine Dion, Switzerland’s representative in 1988.