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The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 will be the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It will take place for the first time in Portugal, at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, following the country's first victory at the 2017 contest in Kiev with the song "Amar pelos dois", performed by Salvador Sobral. The contest will consist of two semi-finals and a final scheduled to be held on 8, 10 and 12 May 2018. Forty-three countries will participate in the contest, equalling the record of the 2008 and 2011 editions. Russia will return after their withdrawal from the previous edition and for the first time since 2011, no country will be withdrawing from the contest. The theme for the contest, All Aboard!, was unveiled on 7 November 2017. Its visual design features oceanic motifs that allude to Lisbon's location on the Atlantic coast and to the Portuguese seafaring history. Alongside the main emblem, which depicts a stylised seashell, twelve supplemental emblems were designed to symbolise different aspects of a marine ecosystem. The EBU announced on 17 November 2017 that forty-three countries will participate in the contest. Russia will return after they withdrew from the 2017 contest. This equals the highest number of participating countries ever at the Eurovision Song Contest since the 2008 and 2011 editions.

The 2017 Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv, which previously hosted the competition in 2005, as well as the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 and 2013. The right to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest came after Jamala won the 2016 edition in Stockholm with her song 1944. 42 countries competed in the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest including Romania and Portugal returned to the competition after a year's absence. The 2017 contest was a special one for Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom which are celebrating the 60th anniversary of their first participation in 1957. Kyiv was announced as Host City in September 2016 following a competitive city bid process. The decision was made after six candidate cities originally presented their bids to the Organising Committee of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest; Kharkiv, Kherson and Lviv, Kyiv, Dnipro and Odesa. The committee and representatives from the EBU then reviewed and inspected the final city hopefuls and declared Kyiv the winner. The International Exhibition Centre, the venue for the contest, has capacity for up to 11,000 spectators. The winner was Portugal with the song "Amar pelos dois" (Loving For Both of Us), performed by Salvador Sobral and written by his sister Lu?sa Sobral. This was Portugal's first win - and first top five placing - in 53 years of participation, the longest winless run by a country in Eurovision history. It was also the first winning song entirely performed in a country's native language since Serbia's "Molitva" in 2007, and the first winner written in triple metre since Ireland's "The Voice" in 1996. Additionally, this was the second consecutive year in which a returning country won the contest following Ukraine's victory in 2016. The top three countries - Portugal, Bulgaria and Moldova - achieved the highest placing in their Eurovision history, while host country Ukraine received its worst placing to date in a Eurovision final. The 2017 edition also saw the worst results for Serbia, Montenegro, Latvia, Spain and San Marino. The EBU reported that 182 million viewers worldwide watched the contest, 22 million fewer than the 2016 record. The contest featured five representatives who also previously performed as lead vocalists for the same countries. Valentina Monetta, who performed in a duet this time, represented San Marino in three consecutive editions: 2012, 2013, and 2014. The duo of Koit Toome and Laura P?ldvere have both represented Estonia in different years: Toome in 1998 as a solo artist, finishing 12th place with the song "Mere lapsed", and P?ldvere in 2005 as part of Suntribe, finishing 20th in the semi-final with the song "Let's Get Loud". Omar Naber represented Slovenia in 2005, finishing 12th in the semi-final with the song "Stop".The SunStroke Project represented Moldova in 2010 alongside Olia Tira, finishing 22nd with the song "Run Away". The contest also featured the group O'G3NE which previously represented the Netherlands at another Eurovision event, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007, as Lisa, Amy and Shelley, with the song "Adem in, Adem Uit".In addition, the contest featured two lead singers previously participating as backing vocalists for the same countries. Israel's representative Imri Ziv who backed Nadav Guedj in 2015 and Hovi Star in 2016, and Serbia's representative Tijana Bogi?evi? who backed Nina in 2011.

26 countries competed in the final, which was the first to be broadcast on live television in the United States. The Czech Republic managed to qualify for the final for the first time in five attempts since its debut in 2007, while both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the first time ever, the latter being absent from the final for the first time since 2000. In the final, Australia finished second, improving on its debut in 2015, while Bulgaria finished fourth, its best result since its debut and first participation in a final since 2007. Justin Timberlake performed during the interval act of the final. A record-breaking 204 million viewers worldwide watched the contest, beating the 2015 viewing figures by over 5 million. The slogan for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest was Come Together. The theme artwork, inspired by the dandelion, symbolised the power of resistance and resilience but also of regeneration - when the seeds fly away from the dandelion new life is created where they touch down. There was considerable interest in hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden with several cities bidding for the opportunity including previous host cities Malm? and Gothenburg. The Grand Final was broadcast in the United States for the first time. During the Grand Final the points from the juries and televotes were presented separately. Germany finished last for the second year running. Australia won the jury vote and Russia won the televote, however Ukraine scored steadily throughout and received the most points overall. 1944 is the first song in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest to be performed in Crimean Tatar.

The 60th Eurovision Song Contest was held in May 2015 in the capital of Austria, Vienna, the first time Austria has hosted the event since 1967. The right to host the contest came when Conchita Wurst brought home the trophy with her Rise Like A Phoenix from Copenhagen the year before. In order to mark the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, Australia was invited to take part in the Grand Final for the very first time. 27 countries competed in the Grand Final of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, the largest number ever. 10 qualifiers from each of the Semi-Finals, the so-called Big Five as well as hosts Austria and special guest Australia all took to the stage. The voting was tense with the three big favourites, Russia, Sweden and Italy battling it out for victory. Sweden's M?ns Zermel?w took the trophy with his song Heroes meaning that the Eurovision Song Contest would be hosted by Sweden for the second time in three years. There was considerable interest in hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in Austria and three cities were short-listed; Vienna, Innsbruck and Graz. Over 200 million watched the live shows in 2015 Both Germany and Austria scored zero points - Austria became the first host country ever to do so The top two countries were the exact same as the top two in 2012; Sweden and Russia Results from FYR Macedonia and Montenegro were based on full televoting - this did not affect the results This is the sixth time that Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest, only Ireland has won more times; seven in total.

The Grand Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest took place on 10th May 2014. The slogan for the event was #JoinUs which was an attempt by the producers to incorporate social media into the shows. Austria won the 2014 contest with Rise Like A Phoenix, performed by bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst. Immediately after her victory Conchita became a household name. The Netherlands finished in second place with Calm After The Storm performed by The Common Linnets, which became a big hit following the contest. Under new rules, the names of all jury members were announced on the 1st of May. Additionally, the ranking submitted by each individual jury member for all shows were published right after the Final. To increase diversity, music industry professionals could now only take a seat in a national jury if they had not been in the jury during one of the previous two editions of the contest. Valentina Monetta took part for the third consecutive time for San Marino and for the first time, the country qualified for the Final. The 2014 contest was held in a former shipyard, the B&W Hallerne. 37 countries competed in the competition in 2014 195 million viewers tuned in for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. The show was co-hosted by Pilou Asbaek, who had become world-famous in the political drama Borgen.

The 2013 Eurovision Song Contest was in the Malm? Arena in Malm?, Sweden. 26 countries qualified for the Grand Final and took the stage in front of a live audience and millions watching at home. The opening act of the Grand Final started with a Eurovision Song Contest anthem called We Write The Story by Benny and Bj?rn from ABBA and the Swedish worldwide sensation Aviccii. Petra Mede presented the show alone, the first time that there had been a solo presenter since 1995. The slogan for the 2013 competition was We Are One. In the end, after all the excitement and millions of votes, it was Emmelie de Forest who the trophy home for Denmark with her song Only Teardrops. There was a mechanism built into the catwalk of the stage that could elevate the artists however it was only used by Loreen in the interval act and the UK participant and the UK participant, Bonnie Tyler. Ukraine's performance featured Igor Vovkovinskiy who is the tallest person living in the United States. Igor carried Zlata, Ukraine's representative, onto the stage during her performance.

The 2012 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is the furthest East that the contest had ever been held. Baku provided a unique setting for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The slogan for the competition this year was Light Your Fire, which was fitting given that the event was being held in Azerbaijan, the Land of Fire. The United Kingdom sent its oldest ever participant, 76 year old Engelbert Humperdinck, whilst Russia was represented by the Buranovskiye Babushki who had a combined age of more than 500! Sweden's participant Loreen had been the main favourite ever since she appeared in the widely popular Swedish selection show, Melodifestivalen, earlier that year. Her song Euphoria took Europe by storm and Sweden won the 2012 competition by a landslide. The song went on to be a worldwide hit and reached number one in several countries selling more than two million copies. 42 broadcasters took part while initially 43 had signed up. It was the Armenian broadcaster ARMTV which pulled out at the last minute. The ruling champion of the contest, Eldar "Ell" Gasimov also co-hosted the shows in Baku Euphoria received the highest number of 12 points of any entry in the contest's history with eighteen countries giving the song top marks. Rona Nishliu took one of the highest notes in the history of the contest in her entry Suus The world-famous twins, Jedward took part for the second year in a row for Ireland

For the first time since 1983, Germany hosted the Eurovision Song Contest. The 2011 Eurovision Song Contest was held in D?sseldorf following an open selection process. A total of forty-three countries took part in the 2011 contest held in D?sseldorf. The city emerged as the winner of an open selection process which saw several cities compete for the right to host the Eurovision Song Contest. The biggest news of this contest was the return of Italy, after more than ten years. Italy joined France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom to form the so-called Big Five countries that have automatic qualification to the Grand Final. Italy went on to take second place in the Grand Final with the song Madness Of Love by Raphael Gualazzi. One of the most famous German comediennes, Anke Engelke, TV anchor Judith Rakers and all-round showman Stefan Raab hosted the event. Raab had also been part of Lena's winning team in 2010. Azerbaijan's Ell and Nikki triumphed in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. Italy's Raphael Gualazzi finished second and Sweden's Eric Saade finished third. It was the very first victory for Azerbaijan and meant that the contest would go to its most eastern location in the history of the competition the following year. The broadcast of the Grand Final won the Rose d'Or award for Best Live Event. Lena, the winner of the previous year, came back to defend her title with the song Taken By A Stranger. She ended up 10th in the final. The UK was represented by a high-profile act in 2011, Blue. The group finished 11th in the Grand Final with I Can.

The 20 acts that qualified through the two Semi-Finals will join the five pre-qualified countries: Norway (the Host Country), France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. Viewers and professional juries in over 40 participating countries will vote. Viewers and professional juries each have a 50 percent stake in the outcome. The professional juries will feature six members in each country. The running order of the represented countries in the FInal will be determined by draw, right after each of the two Semi-Finals. While she had been the main favourite to win for months, still, the victory of Lena for Germany with her song Satellite still came as a total surprise for many. Her simplistic performance gathered votes across Europe and became one of the biggest hits in Europe. She went on to defend her title the year after and managed to earn another a top 10 position with her entry Taken By A Stranger. Spain's entry had to be performed again as the original performance was interrupted by a stage invasion. The Norwegian broadcaster had decided they wanted to take the contest back to the basics and after the contest in 2009, where LEDs were widely used, they used none. The 2010 was produced on a considerably lower budget than the year before. Some delegations, including the UK and Ireland travelled to Oslo by boat after the eruptions of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallaj?kull, which caused widespread disruption to air travel across Europe.

This year there are 42 entries to the Eurovision Song Contest, with San Marino withdrawing due to financial difficulties and Georgia being forced out of the contest as their song breached the rules of the contest, while Slovakia makes a return to the contest after an 11 year absence. The 54th Eurovision Song Contest is being hosted by Moscow, Russia, following Dima Bilan's win for Russia in the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest. The Contest will take place in Moscow's Olympic Indoor Arena. Following the complaints of many broadcasters, the voting system for the contest has been greatly changed. Instead of the general public having the only say, a jury will also cast their votes, counting for 50% of the overall votes. This has been done to crack down on countries simply voting for their neighbours. There will be 25 countries competing in the final, comprising the top ten from the first semi-final, the top ten from the second semi-final, the Big Four (the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain) and the host nation and last year's winner, Russia.

Serbia's debut entry as an independent nation, the ballad "Molitva" by Marija ?erifovi?, won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, receiving 268 points. Serbia became the first country that won with debut entry after Switzerland's win at the first edition. After this, they were the host of the 2008 contest in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. The second Serbian entry, performed in Belgrade was written by past entrant for Serbia as part of Serbia and Montenegro and contest host ?eljko Joksimovi?. The song "Oro", an ethnic ballad, performed by Jelena Toma?evi? came 6th and received 160 points in the overall rankings. In 2009 Serbia selected Marko Kon and Milaan to represent them in the second semi-final on 14 May. The duo failed to qualify for the final for the first time in Serbia's history in the contest. In 2010, Milan Stankovi? was selected to represent the country in the contest with Ovo je Balkan, an upbeat song with ethno elements, and is about a love story set in Belgrade. It qualified for the final and in the end achieved 13th place with 72 points. In 2011 Nina was selected with her 60's inspired song, ?aroban. She was accompanied with three other singers who would be dancing throughout the performance. In the semi-finals She performed 6th and qualified for the final. In the final, she performed 24th and achieved 14th place. The latest entry of Serbia was with ?eljko Joksimovi?. He was representing Serbia in the 2012 in the Azerbaijan, Baku with the song Nije ljubav stvar. On the second semi-finals he took second place, while he finished third in the final, below second-placed Russia and the winner, Sweden. For now, Serbia is one of twelve countries whose representatives have performed all the songs (totally or partially) in an official, regional or national language. The other eleven countries are Portugal, Israel, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland, Andorra, Luxembourg, Morocco and Monaco.

The Final of the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest took place in Helsinki, Finland, at the Hartwall Arena. For the occasion, the venue was referred to as the Helsinki Arena. Czech Republic and Georgia debuted in the Semi-Final, so did Serbia and Montenegro as independent states. Of those countries, only Georgia and Serbia managed to qualify for the Final, together with returning country Hungary. Host Broadcaster YLE adopted True Fantasy as the slogan for this year's contest. The high-tech stage was constructed in the shape of a kantele, a traditional Finnish instrument. The contest's Presenting Partner was TeliaSonera and the International Presenting Partners were Nobel Biocare and the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. The Final opened with Lordi, the monster rock band that brought that contest to Finland. The UK entry was performed by pop group Scooch who dressed as flight attendants. Ukraine sent Verka Serduchka, a drag act, who performed the song Dancing Lasha Tumbai, which finished second. Verka has gone on to become an iconic figure in recent Eurovision history. Serbia, participating as an independent country for the first time, won the contest, closely followed by respectively Ukraine and Russia. The winning song, Molitva, was performed by Marija ?erifovi?, is to date, the only non-English language song to have won the Eurovision Song Contest since the language rules were relaxed in 1999. 2007 was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was produced and broadcast in High Definition. Almost 9 million votes were cast all over Europe, either by telephone or SMS.

With the Eurovision Song Contest already enjoying enormous popularity in Greece, Helena Paparizou's victory in 2005 created the perfect circumstances to organise the show. Under the Greek sun, the 2006 contest took place in Athens! Carola, who won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden in 1991 and finished third in 1983, returned to the contest with her song Invincible, was widely tipped to do well. Another hotly tipped winner was Russian singer Dima Bilan with his song Never Let You Go. German group Texas Lightning did well in at the bookmakers with their refreshing pop-country song No No Never, but the song only managed a disappointing 14th place. Anna Vissi, the Greek pop queen who had already participated in the song contest in 1980 and 1982, had high hopes to win the competition with her dramatic performance of Everything. Not many experts expected the masked hardrockers Lordi to win the trophy. With their Hard Rock Hallelujah and their performance filled with spectacular pyrotechnical effects, the Finns managed to win the contest with 292 points, the highest amount of points ever achieved at that time. Lordi went on to have lots of success with their song which made the top 10 in dozens of European charts. In order to save time only the points 8, 10 and 12 were read out by the national spokespersons. Points 1 to 7 were automatically added to the scoreboard. Nana Mouskouri, who represented Luxembourg in the 1963 contest, appeared on-stage during the Grand Final. The slogan in 2006 was Feel The Rhythm.

The 2005 contest was seen by many as an open competition with fans and pundits divided over which country would win. The 2005 contest saw many previous participants return to the stage. Helena Paparizou, who represented Greece as part of the group Antique, returned to the contest with the song My Number One. Chiara, who finished third for Malta in 1998, returned to the contest as did Constantinos Christoforou who represented Cyprus in 1996 and in 2002 as part of the group One. Annabel Conde, who represented Spain in 1995 was a backing singer for Andorra and Selma who finished second for Iceland in 1999, failed to qualify from the Semi-Final with her song If I Had Your Love. After an unpredictable start to the voting procedure, it soon became clear that Greece, represented by Helena Paparizou with the song My Number One, would win the contest. Malta's Chiara finished one place higher than her previous appearance finishing in second place. The Romanian entry, Let Me Try by Luminita Anghel & Sistem, came third after winning the Semi-Final. The Kyiv contest marked the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. A gala celebrating this milestone was held later in 2005 in Copenhagen. The event, known as Congratulations, saw ABBA's Waterloo crowned the most popular winner of all time. The Swiss entry Cool Vibes was performed by popular Estonian girl group Vanilla Ninja. The entry was composed by David Brandes who was also responsible for the German entry in 2005, Run And Hide. The slogan for 2005 was Awakening, which reflected the political developments in the country at the time.

Ten countries qualified from the Semi-Final: Serbia & Montenegro, Ukraine, Greece, Albania, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Malta, Croatia and FYR Macedonia. Greece sent one of its biggest stars to Istanbul, Sakis Rouvas, who gave an energetic performance of his song Shake It. Similarly Serbia & Montenegro was represented by a singer who was big in the Balkans, ?eljko Joksimovi?. Minutes into the voting it became clear that the winner would come from one of three countries; Ukraine, Greece and Serbia & Montenegro. Ukraine's Ruslana won the contest with Wild Dances. She had been on an extensive promotional tour before the contest and became one of Ukraine's best known artists. A DVD of the contest was released for the first time in 2004. The slogan for the 2004 contest was Under The Same Sky. During the rehearsals Ruslana broke one of the glass panels of the stage with her whip!

A record 26 countries took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Latvian capital Riga. The slogan for 2003 was Rendezvous in Riga. Ukraine made its debut in the competition and sent one of the country's biggest stars, Olexandr Ponomariov. Pop duo t.A.T.u. who only month before the contest had a major worldwide hit with All The Things She Said, represented Russia in Riga. The pair caused mischief during the event week by regularly disrupting the rehearsal schedule and failing to attend press conferences. Turkey won the contest for the first time after one of the closest finishes in the contest for years. Slovenia, the last country to deliver its results, had the casting vote. Belgium finished second with Russia in third place. Sertab Erener won the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Everyway That I Can. At the time Sertab was one of Turkey's biggest stars and recorded duets with stars such as Ricky Martin and Jos? Carreras. Every Way That I Can was a combination of eastern melodies and was reminiscent of the Tarkan and Holly Vallance hit Kiss Kiss. The United Kingdom scored nil points for the first time ever. Cry Baby performed by the duo Jemini finished last. The Belgian song, Sanomi by Urban Trad, was sung in a made-up language. A change in the tie-break rule was introduced which took into account the total number of countries voting for a song rather than counting the amount of top scores.

Immediately after Estonia won the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest the media began to speculate whether the country would be able to host the competition in 2002, citing a lack of a suitable venue and budgetary concerns. Estonian Television defied the critics though and produced a professional show in Tallinn. 23 countries participated in 2002. Latvia entered the contest after Portugal declined the opportunity to participate. This was a rather peculiar situation, since Latvia ended up winning the whole contest in the end! There was no clear favorite among the 24 countries competing. Sweden, Germany and the host country Estonia were tipped as winners, but it was Marie N (Marija Naumova) who lifted the trophy Marie N had already tried to enter the 2000 and 2001 Eurovision Song Contests, but narrowly missed out both times. Her 2002 entry I Wanna featured several costume changes providing a memorable performance for televoters. Like Estonia's winner the year before, I Wanna was no a success in the European charts. Denmark was one of the favourites to win in 2002 but after a nervous performance from singer Malene the country finished last with just seven points. The rules for the 2002 contest stated that only 22 countries would be able to participate, but the European Broadcasting Union later changed this into 24 countries being allowed into the competition. The 2002 contest was the first to feature a slogan for the event. The theme, Modern Fairytale, reflected how Estonians viewed their recent history. The postcards all featured known fairytales.

23 countries participated in the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest. Bosnia & Herzegovina, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Lithuania and Greece all returned to the contest, replacing the seven countries with the lowest average result in the past five contests: Romania, Switzerland, FYR Macedonia, Finland, Belgium, Austria and Cyprus. The spectator record from the previous year in Stockholm was already broken in 2001 as nearly 35,000 attended the show in the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen. France, Greece and Slovenia were predicted to win this year but Estonia took everyone by surprise by taking the trophy. Tanel Padar and Aruban-born Dave Benton's pop-funk entry Everybody won the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest 21 points ahead of second-placed Denmark. The song did not become a hit in Europe but did provide Estonia with the opportunity to host the contest the following year. The EBU introduced a new rule this year that only the top 15 countries and the so called 'Big Four' (Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and France) could participate in the 2002 contest. The Danish national broadcaster CR had to cope with major challenges including building a roof over the Parken Stadium so that it met the requirements to host the Eurovision Song Contest. The venue is still the largest to host the contest to date. The presenters spoke entirely in rhyming couplets, much to the ridicule of UK commentator Terry Wogan. He later apologised for his comments after the Danish broadcaster complained to the BBC.

24 countries participated in the contest in 2000. Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Lithuania, Romania and Bosnia & Herzegovina were all relegated due to their lower average scores. Greece was initially supposed to take part but withdrew. Latvia made its debut this year with the entry My Star performed by the group Brainstorm, finishing in third position. Estonia finished fourth with Ines' Once In A Lifetime which was the bookmaker's favourite. Internet polls also had the United Kingdom's Nicki French and Linda Wagenmakers from the Netherlands as favourites but these countries only finished 16th and 13th respectively. 13,000 spectators were at the final in the Globen Arena in Stockholm, which was a new record. Swedish broadcaster SVT produced a slick show and provided a new look and feel for the contest as it entered the new millennium. Despite the fact that Denmark's song Fly On The Wings Of Love by the Olsen Brothers climbed in the predicted rankings in the week prior to the final, the Scandinavian country was not a pre-contest favourite. It therefore came as a huge surprise to many when Denmark won. Russia finished second, after the contest the Russian delegation petitioned for the disqualification of the winner because a vocoder had been used during the performance. This was not upheld by the EBU. For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, an official CD was released which included all 24 songs. The CD issued in 1999 did not contain all tracks due to copyright issues. Since 2000, CDs with all entries have been released every year. The Israeli participants caused a stir when members of the group Ping Pong started waving the Syrian flag during their performance. The Netherlands had to use a back-up jury for their votes because of a large fireworks disaster in the city of Enschede, which meant that only half of the song contest was aired live on Dutch television. The 2000 contest was broadcast on the internet for the first time.

In 1999 it was also decided that France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, as the highest-paying European Broadcasting Union members, would automatically be allowed to participate every year, irrespective of their five-year point average. For the first time since the 1970s participants were free to choose which language they performed in. In a controversial move, the orchestra became an optional requirement in 1999 meaning that for the first time in the history of the contest, all entries would perform using a backing track. Latvia intended to take part this year but the country withdrew at a late stage, giving the opportunity to Hungary, but Hungarian TV didn't accept the offer either. As a result, the 23rd spot was given to Portugal. Due to their lower average scores over the previous five contests, Finland, Greece, FYR Macedonia, Romania and Switzerland stayed at home. The Cypriot entry performed by Marlain had been one of the favourites to win the contest but the song received only two points in total. The Croatian entry Maria Magdalena was sanctioned after the contest, as it used synthesized male backing vocals despite the rule stating that all vocals would have to be performed live on stage. Croatia lost 33% of their points, giving it a lower five-year average. Sweden's Charlotte Nilsson won the contest with Take Me To Your Heaven. The song had been seen as rather old-fashioned in Sweden but the audience thought differently.Take Me To Your Heaven won at a time when ABBA were enjoying a revival in the European charts and the similarities in musical style were noted by the media. Sweden beat off strong competition from Iceland which achieved its best ever placing in 1999. When the winner of the 1998 contest, Dana International, was about to hand over the trophy to the winner, she fell down on stage in her stilettos causing a security alert in the hall. At the end of the show all the participating artists gathered on-stage to perform the winning song from 1979, Hallelujah, as a tribute to the victims of the war in the Balkans which was on-going at the time.

25 countries competed in the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest. All countries that were relegated in 1997 Eurovision Song Contest returned and FYR Macedonia entered the contest for the first time. Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Denmark, Russia and Iceland were relegated in 1998 as their 5-year-average points were lower than those of the other countries. Italian broadcaster RAI decided to withdraw from the contest indefinitely. Televoting took place in the majority of participating countries for the first time. Only countries that did not have a fully functional telephone system were still allowed to vote through the national juries. There was a problem with the Spanish televote as Spanish voters had awarded 12 points to Germany, but while announcing the points, the 12 points went to Israel! However, the mistake was quickly unearthed after the show and you have the correct rankings and points on our scoreboard here. It was a taboo-breaking year for the contest which saw the performances of Israeli transsexual Dana International, whereas Germany brought balding singer, Guido Horn to the contest. Dana sang the fitting Diva while Horn climbed all over the stage during his crazy performance. The trophy of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest went to the Dana International from Israel with her winning song Diva. To date she remains the first and only openly transgendered person to have won the Eurovision Song Contest. During the voting process, it quickly became clear that either Israel, the United Kingdom or Malta were going to win, but the FYR Macedonian vote did not give a single point to Malta's Chiara, giving the victory to Israel. The United Kingdom came in second for a record 15th time, and the Netherlands obtained their best result since 1975 - finishing in fourth place. A watermark showing which country was performing appeared on-screen during the performances for the first time. This innovation is still in place today. Presenter Terry Wogan directly addressed the fans of the contest in the audience, the first time that this had happened. Imaani, the UK's representative, was the first ever black singer to represent the country.

Just like in 1993, 1994 and 1995, Ireland hosted the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest. Despite initial discussions that state broadcaster RTE were to team up with the BBC in Northern Ireland, they decided to go it alone. It was fourth time in five years at that the same country had hosted the event, a record that RTE were said to be extremely proud of. 25 countries participated in 1997 and the audio preselection that was in place the year before was replaced with a new system. From 1997 the average results of all countries in the last give song contests would be measured. Israel withdrew voluntarily, and Bosnia & Herzegovina took their place. Belgium, Finland, Romania and Slovakia were all absent in Dublin that year. Televoting was introduced for the first time in 1997 in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Germany and it would be extended to almost all participating countries in the following 1998 contest. It was the year the Eurovision Song Contest tried to appeal to the younger generation. Irish boy band Boyzone were the interval act and their lead singer Ronan Keating co-hosted the evening. The opening sequence included messages from former contest stars, including C?line Dion and Morten Harket, beamed onto a massive video wall. The United Kingdom won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest. Katrina & the Waves scored an unprecedented 227 points with their song Love Shine A Light. The winning song gave the band their biggest hit since Walking on Sunshine. Russia's Alla Pugacheva lived up to the title of her entry Primadonna and was so convinced of victory that she demanded a limousine to pick her up when she arrived at the airport. Icelandic singer Paul Oscar, broke new ground with his performance on a white leather sofa, flanked by four women in leather dominatrix outfits. The song scored will with televoters though; Sweden gave the song 8 points meaning that it ranked third in the national vote and the UK gave 6 points as it came fifth in the popular vote.

For the 1996 contest the European Broadcasting Union replaced the relegation system with an audio preselection. Apart from the host country of Norway, all other potential participants - 29 countries in total - competed in this audio preselection, in which the national juries solely listened to audio tapes with the recordings of the 29 songs. 22 out of the 29 countries plus the host nation Norway were allowed access into the final on 18th May in Oslo. Germany, Israel, Denmark, Hungary, Russia, FYR Macedonia and Romania all failed to qualify. The 1996 contest was groundbreaking in many ways. Host broadcaster NRK introduced virtual reality in the voting and digital filters were applied during some of the performances. Each participant received a good luck message from a representative of their respective country. The seniority of these figures varied from presidents and prime ministers to junior government ministers. The contest was threatened by a conductor's strike after Norwegian TV-station NRK, wanting to save time, said it would cut out the orchestra conductor's appearance. Luckily, the dispute was settled amicably. The show was hosted by Morten Harket, from the group A-ha and Norwegian journalist, Ingvild Bryn. Ireland scored its seventh victory in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song The Voice performed by Eimear Quinn. This was the fourth victory for Ireland in just five years. However, the winner was not the biggest commercial success in record sales this year. The United Kingdom's song Ooh...Aah...Just A Little Bit by Australian Gina G, only reached eighth place in the contest but went on to become a huge international hit and was even nominated for a Grammy Award. The 1996 contest is the only contest where Germany missed out on a place in the final due to the pre-selection round. The contest was re-branded and referred to throughout the broadcast as Eurosong '96 however the name was dropped the following year.

1995 was the first time ever that the Eurovision Song Contest took place in the same city for two years in a row. In 1994, the European Broadcasting Union decreased the number of participants to 23 to make sure that the song contest would not last longer than three hours. All of the five relegated countries from the preceding year - Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Denmark and Belgium - returned to the contest. In contrast, the bottom seven countries of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest were relegated: Lithuania, Estonia, the Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland. Norway scored its second victory with Nocturne performed by the group Secret Garden. The winning song only consisted of 24 words and was inspired by Celtic music. In fact the group's violinist was in fact Irish meaning that it could be considered to be a victory for Ireland as well. Three of the top five countries in 1995 were Scandinavian; Norway won, Sweden came third and Denmark fifth. Germany had its worst placing ever, only the Maltese jury awarded one single point to Stone & Stone's Verliebt In Dich. Since it was the 40th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, the programme started with a three-minute compilation of previous contests. The United Kingdom sent a rap song in 1995, a rapid departure from previous musical styles seen in the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 1994 seven countries joined the Eurovision Song Contest in what was the biggest single expansion in participants since the contest began in 1956. Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia and Slovakia all competed in the 39th Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin. Poland's debut at the Eurovision Song Contest was very successful when their representative Edyta Gorniak finished second with 166 points. The interval act in 1994 was the then unknown Riverdance, an act which combined traditional Irish folk music with modern dance. Riverdance became a global phenomenon, with the exception of participating artists, it is arguably the biggest money-spinner ever created by Eurovision. Lithuania scored zero points with its first ever entry. Never before in the history of the song contest had a country had won three times in a row. The Irish entrants Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan sang Rock 'n Roll Kids, which in the end was 60 points ahead of the runner-up and at 226 points was the highest score ever at a Eurovision Song Contest up to that date. Satellite links were used during the voting sequence rather than telephones meaning that the jury spokespersons could be seen for the first time. During the dress rehearsal the Polish entrant, Edyta Gorniak, performed half of her entry in English which broke the rules. Despite this, she was allowed to compete in the live show. The support in the hall for Bosnia & Herzegovina was so strong that the singer missed his first cue but soon recovered.

The 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Millstreet, a small town in South West Ireland, home to 1500 people, was an ambitious production for national broadcaster RTE. The 1993 contest is to date, the only competition in Ireland that has been held outside of the capital Dublin. The early 1990s were a time of massive change in Europe. These changes were reflected in the Eurovision Song Contest as newly sovereign nations took to the stage. In order to accommodate the growing number of countries eager to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, a pre-selection,Kvalifikacija za Millstreet, took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia ahead of the contest in which seven countries competed. Three countries made their respective debuts; Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. The top two in 1993 was exactly the same as the year before; Ireland in first place, the United Kingdom in second. The Irish entry, In Your Eyes performed by Niamh Kavanagh beat the United Kingdom's Sonia on the very last vote. The idea to stage the Eurovision Song Contest came from local Millstreet businessman Noel C Duggan who offered host broadcaster RTE the venue for free. The Glen Greens Arena, the venue for the 1993 contest, was actually an equestrian centre at the time. To cope with the growing numbers of participating countries, a relegation system was introduced in 1993 meaning that the bottom seven countries would miss out on a place in the contest the following year. However since Italy and Luxembourg withdrew voluntarily, only the bottom five countries missed the 1994 competition.

A new record of participating countries was set in 1992 as the Netherlands returned to the contest and Malta continued to participate. The venue for the show was the Malm?M?ssan, a large exhibition and conference centre. The stage was in the shape of a Viking ship's bow and the floor design was an adaption of the EBU's Eurovision logo. The runner-up in 1984, Linda Martin, won for Ireland this year with the song Why Me? composed - once again - by Johnny Logan who had already won the song contest twice before in 1980 and 1987. Johnny Logan entered the record books as having won the Eurovision Song Contest three times; as a performer in 1980, songwriter and performer in 1987 and songwriter in 1992. The pre-contest favourite was the United Kingdom represented by Michael Ball. When the delegation arrived in Malm? they were greeted with the banner which read 'Welcome Untied Kingdom' Sweden was represented by Christer Bjorkman who finished in 22nd place, one of Sweden's worst placings in the Eurovision Song Contest. He would later go on to mastermind the spectacular revival of Sweden's national selection, Melodifestivalen. The top three songs were all performed in English which led to some delegations complaining that English speaking countries had an unfair advantage. Malta was permitted to sing in English since it is one of the official languages. 1992 marked the last time that Yugoslavia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest.

The 1991 Eurovision Song Contest was supposed to be held in the seaside resort San Remo which is known for its annual festival of Italian music, but host broadcaster RAI moved it to Rome at a very late stage due to ongoing instability in the Balkan region. For the second time since the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, the Netherlands decided to withdraw from the contest due to the country's Remembrance Day. Malta took the open spot which meant that the country was back for the first time since 1975. The contest was presented by Toto Cutugno, who won for Italy the previous year. Toto was joined on stage by Italy's other winner, Gigliola Cinquetti, who won the contest in 1964. For the majority of the show the presenters spoke solely in Italian. At the end of the voting procedure both Sweden and France had 146 points each. The tie-break rule that was introduced in 1989 was therefore put into effect. France and Sweden both had the same amount of 12 points so the amount to 10 points was included. Sweden received more sets of 10 points and so was declared the winner. Carola had already participated in 1983 with the song Fr?mling which finished third. She had already tried to enter the 1990 contest in Zagreb but lost out in the Swedish national heats. In 2006 she participated once again and finished in 5th place with Invincible. Each singer was asked to perform a well-known Italian song as part of their postcard clips. The images chosen for each postcard were said to have reflected the personalities of the performers The backing singer for the UK entry included Kit Rolfe who had performed as part of Belle and the Devotions in 1984, and Hazell Dean who had a number of hits in the 1980s. Dean participated in the UK national selection in 1976 and 1984. The UK representative in 1991, Samantha Janus, went on to have a successful acting career following her Eurovision appearance. The 1991 contest is best remembered as being a chaotic affair and the EBU's Executive Supervisor, Frank Naef, was regularly called upon by the hosts for clarification, especially during the voting.

22 countries participated in the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest, the same line up as in 1989. Many of the songs reflected the wider political developments that were taking place in Europe. The Spanish performance was beset by technical problems. First the backing track failed to play, then it started too early. The delegation's conductor completely lost control and the Spanish duo, Az?car Moreno, left the stage. The second attempt was successful and the duo ended up in fifth place. Eurovision veteran, Serge Gainsbourg, wrote the French entry White And Black Blues performed by Joelle Ursull which finished in second place along with Ireland's song Somewhere in Europe. The well-known Italian singer Toto Cutugno won this year's song contest with the song Insieme: 1992 which was about a united Europe. The postcards featured travelogues of each of the participating countries to mark the European Year of Tourism 1990. The UK sent its youngest ever representative, Emma Booth, who was fifteen at the time of the contest. She was allowed to compete however since she turned 16 in the year of that particular competition. At the end of the voting Toto Cutugno splashed water on his face and hair which caused his hair dye to run. He covered this up with a jacket that he wore for the winning reprise.

Switzerland hosted the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 but did not host again until 1989. C?line Dion opened the show with a shortened reprise of her winning song from 1988, Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi and also performed her new English language single, Where Does My Heart Beat Now. The song would go on to be her first major hit in the United States. True to form, Italy sent its biggest stars to Eurovision. This year it was the turn of Fausto Leali and Anna Oxa who had won the festival of San Remo some weeks prior to the Eurovision Song Contest. Germany and Austria's entries were both written by German pop titan, Dieter Bohlen. Bohlen became famous in Germany in the 1980's as one half of the duo Modern Talking. Since then, he has gone on to have a successful career as one of the country's most successful pop producers and also became a judge in the German version of Pop Idol. The Swiss entry Viver Senza Tei by the group Furbaz was the first entry ever to be sung in Romansch, one of the four official languages of Switzerland. Yugoslavia's win in 1989 came as a surprise to many. Rock Me by the group Riva was performed last on the night and in a year of many ballads the uptempo track stood out. Yugoslavia won the Eurovision Song Contest just in time. By 1989 cracks were beginning to appear in the country and Yugoslavia disintegrated into war in the following years. The French participant, Nathalie P?que, was just 11 years old and Israel's singer, Gili Netanel, was just one year older which led to a change of rules. Performers had to be 16 years old in the year of the contest. The tie-break rule was also adapted; the country with the most 12 points would be declared the winner. If a tie remained then the country with the most 10 points would be declared the winner.

The 1988 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in Dublin for the third time, 21 countries competed for the trophy. Host broadcaster RTE introduced a modern set, at that point the largest in the history of the contest. Two giant video walls and a computerised scoreboard were also unveiled. At the time, it was a ground breaking production and set the standard for future editions of the contest. Denmark was represented the group Hot Eyes who performed in the contest for the third time. Lead singer Kirsten was heavily pregnant at the time and gave birth just three weeks after the contest. The 1988 Eurovision Song Contest is best remembered for one most exciting voting sequences in the history of the contest. Switzerland's entry Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi performed by C?line Dion beat the runner-up, the United Kingdom's Scott Fitzgerald by just a single point. Before the last vote, the UK entry was leading with 136 points to Switzerland's 131. Yugoslavia, the last country to vote, gave six points to Switzerland whilst failing to award any points to the UK entry. Yugoslavia's 12 points went to France after one of the tensest moments ever seen in the Eurovision Song Contest. For C?line Dion, winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest was a turning point in her international career. Whilst she was known in Canada and France before 1988, the Eurovision Song Contest gave her the elevate her career to new heights. Shortly after she won the Eurovision Song Contest she began work on her debut English language album, Unison. The 1988 Eurovision Song Contest also saw another star of the future take to the stage; Lara Fabian who represented Luxembourg. The Belgian-born singer went on to forge a hugely successful career and in 2000 she reached number one on the Billboard charts in the United States with I Will Love Again. Cyprus decided to withdraw as their entry was not in-line with the rules of the contest - it had previously been published. The venue of the 1988 contest was the same as in 1981, but this time RT? managed to create a very special stage that created the illusion of depth, making the stage appear bigger than it actually was. For the first time ever a computerised scoreboard was used instead of the mechanical ones used in previous contests.

Belgium had the honour of hosting the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in the country's history. The highest number of participants ever, 22, entered the contest in 1987. Greece and Italy returned to the contest after a year of absence. The 1986 contest was won by a Walloon entry, but in 1987 the Flemish broadcaster, BRT, was responsible for the Belgian entry. BRT also wanted to co-organise the contest, but the Walloon broadcaster, RTBF decided to organise the event on its own. The presenter of the 3-hour-show was the successful Belgian artist Viktor Laszlo who opened the contest presenting her latest song Breathless. The winner of the 1987 contest was Hold Me Now performed and written by Johnny Logan, who had already won in 1980 with What's Another Year and had written the second-placed song in 1984 Terminal 3 performed in Luxembourg by Linda Martin. Johnny is the only singer to date to win the contest twice as a singer. Germany came second this year with the song Lass die Sonne in dein Herz by the group Wind. For the group, it was the second silver ranking after being the runner up in 1985. The song still ranks as one of the best-known Eurovision hits in Denmark. Italy sent two internationally-known stars to Eurovision this year; Tozzi & Raf. Raf had written the worldwide hit Self Control three years earlier which was both a hit for him and for the cover-version by Laura Branigan. The UK scored its worst placing at the time, 13th, with the song Only The Light performed by Rikki.

For the first time, Norway had the honour of hosting the 31st Eurovision Song Contest. Just like in Munich three years earlier, 20 countries participated in the contest. The Netherlands and Yugoslavia returned, Italy and Greece withdrew from the from the contest and Iceland made its debut. Iceland had wanted to participate for some years but the small Atlantic island nation had to wait until a satellite connection to Iceland could be established. The 1986 Eurovision Song Contest also marked a historic landmark as the 500th Eurovision song was performed in Bergen - Luxembourg's entry L'Amour De Ma Vie by Canadian-born Sherisse Laurence. The presenter of the 1986 Eurovision Song Contest, ?se Kleveland, had already participated as a singer for her home country in 1966 where she was placed 3rd. She had also presented the Norwegian national final in 1980. The winner of the song contest was the 13-year-old Sandra Kim, who sang J'Aime La Vie. She actually had told the producers of the show that she was 15 year old. It was the first win for Belgium, and it meant that all countries that had participated in the very first contest in 1956 had now won at least once. Jazz singer Timna Brauer, the daughter of the famous artist Arik Brauer, came 18th for Austria with Die Zeit Ist Einsam. Yugoslavia's singer, Doris Dragovic, would appear 13 years later in the 1999 Jerusalem edition of the song contest, then singing for Croatia and improving her result: she only came 11th in Norway, but would come 4th in 1999. Bergen is the most northerly host city of the Eurovision Song Contest.

The city of Gothenburg was chosen by the Swedish broadcaster to be host city to the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest. This year, the Netherlands chose to withdraw from the contest because it collided with the country's national Remembrance Day. Yugoslavia also decided to stay home because of a national holiday. Israel and Greece returned to the contest so the number of participants was 19 again, just as in the previous year. The set in Gothenburg's Scandinavium was very modern and bigger than any venue before. Parts of the set would later be re-used for the Swedish national final, Melodifestivalen, in 1987. Norway surprised everyone with their victory this year. The entry La Det Swinge by the duo Bobbysocks, won after a close race with the German entry, F?r Alle by the group Wind. Bobbysocks consisted of the singers Elisabeth Andreasson and Hanne Krogh. Elisabeth had already taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1982 for Sweden where she was one half of the group Chips. Hanne Krogh had represented Norway already in 1971, but only came 17th with her song Lycken Er. The contest was hosted by former participant Lill Lindfors who shocked the audience when her skirt appeared to be ripped off before the voting started. The routine was well-rehearsed, and remains one of the most-remembered highlights in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. Lys Assia, the first ever winner of the Eurovision Song Contest was in the audience in Gothenburg.

After having held the contest last in 1973, Luxembourg played the host for the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest. The total number of participants was 19, one country less than in the preceding year as Greece decided not to enter a song. The contest also clashed with Israel's Remembrance Day, so the country wasn't present in Luxembourg either. Ireland returned to the contest though, finishing second. The Irish song was written by former Eurovision winner, Johnny Logan, under his real name Sean Sherrard. The song Terminal 3 was performed by Linda Martin, who later returned to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992. Sweden unexpectedly won the contest with the song Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley performed by three brothers called Herrey's. The Swedish brothers performed first on the night and won over the juries with their catchy tune, energetic dance routine and their golden boots. The song became a hit in many countries, but is still ridiculed today due to its nonsensical title. The Italian entry I Treni Di Tozeur by Alice and Franco Battiato also became a smash hit in Europe despite the fact that it only came fifth on the night. The host country, Luxembourg, initially had problems finding a suitable venue. RTL decided to hold the contest in the tiny Th??tre Municipal and as a consequence, only VIPs, press and members of each country's delegation were allowed in. The presenter of the show, Desir?e Nosbusch, was only 19 years old when she presented the contest Booing from the audience can be heard after the UK entry had been performed. There are different theories as to why this happened. One explanation is that it was revenge for the actions of some English football fans who had rioted in Luxembourg prior to the contest. Another possible reason was the use of off-stage backing singers which gave the impression that the performers on-stage were miming their vocals.

In 1983 the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Germany for the first time since 1957. The host for the evening was Marlene Charell who presented the show in three languages, German, French and English. Due to the trilingual presentation, the contest lasted more than 3 hours for the first time ever. The total number of participants rose to 20 again as Italy, France and Greece returned. This year marked the first performance of Sweden's Carola H?ggkvist who reached third place and went on to win the contest in 1991 and represented her country again in 2006, coming fifth. Her song Fr?mling became very popular in Sweden, perhaps even more than her winning song from 1991. For France's Guy Bonnet, it was the second time he represented his country. After coming 4th in 1970, he ended up 6th in 1983. For Italian superstar Riccardo Fogli, the 1983 contest ended with disappointment; after winning the prestigious San Remo festival the year before, he only ended up 11th with his song Per Lucia. Luxembourg won the 1983 contest with the dramatic presentation of Si La Vie Est Cadeau by French singer Corinne Herm?s. 1983 is the last time Luxembourg won the Eurovision Song Contest. Unlike the previous winner, Si La Vie Est Cadeau did not set the European charts alight.

Harrogate, the host city of the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, was largely unknown to international viewers, something that was not lost on the BBC. The opening sequence of the show included the question "Where is Harrogate" in the languages of the participating countries. France withdrew from the contest only to return a year later with a different broadcaster. Greece also withdrew from the contest, leaving 18 countries in the competition. Greece was supposed to enter the contest with the song Sarantapente Kopelies performed by Themis Adamantidis but the Greek Minister of Culture Melina Mercouri decided to withdraw the song just two weeks before the contest as was unhappy with it. Germany finally scored its first win in the history of the song contest with its 27th entry. Ein Bi?chen Frieden performed by Nicole, beat the runner-up by 61 points. At the reprise, Nicole sang the song in four languages: German, English, French and Dutch. In Germany over 13 million people watched Nicole's victory on television and her winning song became a hit all over Europe. Finland's entrant, Kojo, also sang about peace. His song - a protest against nuclear bombs - did not do as well as Germany's, however and received no points at all. Belgium's singer, Stella, participated in the contest for the third time. In 1970 she competed for the Netherlands, and in 1977 for Belgium. Her 1982 song Si Tu Aimes Ma Musique was sung fully in French even though Stella hardly spoke the language.

For the second time, the Eurovision champion winner, Ireland, was the host for the event which took place in Dublin. In 1981, the total amount of participating countries was 20 once again equalling the record set three years earlier in Paris. Morocco withdrew after their first participation, and Italy decided to stay at home as well because the interest in the country had diminished. Yugoslavia returned to the contest after five years of absence, so did Israel after the county had missed out on one contest. Finally, Cyprus made its Eurovision debut. It was also the first year Egypt's television viewers could follow the contest live on television. The opening sequence of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest showed 'old Ireland' blending into 'modern Ireland'. The sequence ended with a map of Europe on a globe which span round to reveal the Eurovision logo. The United Kingdom's entry, Making Your Mind Up, by the group Bucks Fizz won the 1981 contest after a close race with Germany's entry, Johnny Blue, performed by Lena Valaitis. Bucks Fizz was formed especially for the Eurovision Song Contest and created one of the most memorable moments in Eurovision history when the two guys in the group ripped off the skirts of the two girls, revealing a shorter skirt underneath. Bucks Fizz continued their career all over Europe with many hit songs during the 1980s, like The Land Of Make Believe and My Camera Never Lies.

The Hague was once again the host city for the song contest after both Israel and the United Kingdom declined to stage the contest after Israel declined the opportunity to host the show twice in succession. As a result of these delays, the 1980 contest was hastily arranged and Dutch TV NOS had to re-use most of the stage from 1976, the last time they hosted the contest. NOS picked 19th April as the date for the song contest, but as this was the Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, the defending champion decided not to participate which marked the only time when the winner of one Eurovision Song Contest did not participate in the next. For the first time in the history of the song contest, an African country - Morocco - participated with Samira, a star in the Arabic world. When her entry Bitakat Hob ended up at 18th position with just 7 points altogether, Moroccan TV decided that the country should not participate in the contest again. Turkey returned to the contest after one year's absence and Monaco stayed home which meant that the total amount of participating countries amounted to 19 - just as in 1979. Each country brought along a presenter of its own choice to introduce the song in their native language. Johnny Logan, who would later be called "Mr. Eurovision", secured Ireland's second victory. The Australian-born singer who only became an Irish citizen after he sang for Ireland in the 1980 contest, would later return and win the contest again in 1987. His 1980 victory brought him a number one hit in the UK and numerous television appearances across Europe. What's another year was awarded the maximum 12 points by seven countries, ending up with 143 points in total.

Jerusalem was this year's host city that welcomed 19 different delegations. Turkey withdrew from the contest because it took place in Israel and many Arab countries put pressure on Turkey not to go to Jerusalem. There were lots of familiar faces in 1979. Peter, Sue & Marc returned for Switzerland after representing the country in 1976. Anne-Marie David, the 1973 winner for Luxembourg, represented France, and Anita Skorgan sang again for Norway. The German entry, performed by band Dschinghis Khan also went on to become a hit in several European countries, despite being heavily criticised in Germany itself. The Swiss contestants Peter, Sue & Marc had difficulties getting into the country and had to explain to customs exactly why they needed so many watering cans, hoses, bin bags and bottle openers which were needed for their unique performance on the Jerusalem stage. The Belgian singer Micha Marah was very unhappy with her song Hey Nana as this was selected against her will in the Belgian pre-selection. She refused to record the song and it remains one of the few songs in Eurovision Song Contest that does not have a studio-version. Monaco decided to withdraw from the contest after their singer Laurent Vaguener only reached 16th place. The principality would only return again 25 years later, in 2004. Israel won for the second time in a row with the song Hallelujah which became a Europe-wide hit. Spain was the last country to cast its votes. At that moment Spain was in the lead with 1 point ahead of Israel, but the Spanish 10 points gave Israel its second victory.

For the third time in Eurovision Song Contest history, the event was held in France. After having hosted the two previous contests in Cannes, French Television decided to host it in the capital Paris. A record 20 countries participated in 1978. Denmark returned to the contest after an 11 year absence. Turkey also participated, and no country withdrew from the previous year. For the first time, the show was presented by two people; Denise Fabre and L?on Zitrone. It was the first time contest was broadcast live in Dubai. Israel won the song contest for the first time with the song A-Ba-Ni-Bi by Izhar Cohen & The Alphabeta. The country received five consecutive sets of 12 points. Israel's Head of Delegation, Rivka Michaeli, admitted though that they hadn't been satisfied with Cohen's song. Michaeli said it was only because all the other entries were "so absolutely awful" that Cohen had won the national heats. When it was obvious that Israel would win, the broadcasting company of Jordan stopped the live broadcast claiming they had technical difficulties. A day later they presented the song from Belgium - which came second - as the winning song. Norway did not get a single vote, which was unique for the new voting system, a fate that would be repeated several times in the future. Big European stars participated in the contest this year, despite all achieving only moderate success. Italy's Ricchi & Poveri, only ending up 12th, went on to have a major success in Europe as part of the later wave of Italo-Pop. The popular singer for Germany, Ireen Sheer, also took part for the second time and came 6th beating Spanish disco queens Baccara who sang for Luxembourg.

This 1977 Eurovision Song Contest took place at the Wembley Conference Centre in London. The event was postponed for five weeks because of the fact that the cameramen and technicians were on strike. The song contest was supposed to take place on the 2nd of April, but it did not take place until 7th May. 18 countries took part this year. Sweden returned, and Yugoslavia withdrew from the contest. Tunisia was supposed to participate as well, performing in 4th position, but the country later withdrew its entry. The rule of performing in one's national language was brought back to the song contest although Germany and Belgium were allowed to perform in English because their entries had already been chosen before the rules changed. The German group Silver Convention had been hugely popular all over the world in the mid 70s with songs like Fly Robin Fly and Get Up And Boogie. There were high hopes that their 1977 entry Telegram, would score the first victory for Germany, however the song only ended up in 8th position. Anita Skorgan sang her first entry Casanova for Norway this year. She would return in 1979 and also try several more times to represent her home country, but always lost out in the Norwegian national heats. Austria gave a innovative performance of Boom Boom Boomerang by the group Schmetterlinge. The song was performed with the artists wearing masks on the back of their heads. France won the contest for the fifth, and to date, the last time with the song L'Oiseau Et L'Enfant performed by Marie Myriam. France's victory was a record in Eurovision Song Contest history. The record was equalled by Luxembourg in 1983, and beaten by Ireland in 1994. The United Kingdom entry Rock Bottom by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran came second. It was the 11th consecutive time that a British entry came top 4. At the start of the show presenter Angela Rippon struggled to find the camera and can be seen looking around for the correct one. There were no postcards between each entry in 1977 due to the strike so instead viewers at home were treated to shots of the audience, with some looking more excited than others!

After being host of the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, Sweden withdrew from the contest as Swedish TV thought that the contest had become too commercial. They were also afraid of winning again and having to host the expensive show so soon. Turkey and Malta withdrew as well, but Greece and Austria returned. 18 countries participated in the 1976 song contest altogether. Former Dutch Eurovision Song Contest winner Corry Brokken hosted the contest. The orchestra rules changed this year. For the first time, instrumental playback was allowed if certain passages in the music could not be reproduced by the live orchestra. Most of the countries decided to sing in English hoping that they might earn a better placing with this. The Yugoslav entry was sung by Ambassadori and it marked the last Yugoslav entry for five years - the country would only come back in 1981. Just as the Netherlands did the previous year, the United Kingdom succeeded in winning after performed first in the running order. The UK winner, Save Your Kisses For Me, became a big international hit selling almost six million copies making it one of the most successful winning songs ever. The winning group, Brotherhood of Man, still perform together today. Italy sent the daughter of US actor Tyrone Power to the contest, Romina Power, who sang with her husband, Al Bano; Luxembourg looked abroad again to find its entry. Winning the Luxembourg national final, J?rgen Marcus from Germany beat the equally popular German singer Marianne Rosenberg who then went on to have a big hit with her unsuccessful Eurovision Song Contest song.

In 1975 another voting system was implemented. Juries in every country would give 1 - 12 points to their 10 favourite songs, starting with 12 points to their top favourite, then 10 to the second favourite, 8 to their third favourite, 7 to their fourth favourite and ending with 1 point for their tenth favourite. This formula is still in place today. A record of 19 participating countries took part in the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest. After its debut in the preceding year, Greece withdrew from the contest. On the other hand, Turkey sent its first entry to the song contest and France and Malta returned. Ellen Nikolaysen from Norway performed for the third consecutive year on the Eurovision Song Contest stage which was only preceded in the 1950s by Lys Assia and Corry Brokken and in the 1960s by Udo J?rgens. More recently, San Marino's Valentina Monetta took to the stage in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Portugal's entry was a highly political one. Singer Duarte Mendes dedicated his song to the country's peaceful revolution the previous year. 1975 saw a disappointing result for the German entry Ein Lied Kann Eine Br?cke Sein, which was performed by Joy Fleming. The song ended up 17th with just 15 points altogether, but nowadays it is a big favourite among fans. The winning country, the Netherlands, was also the first entry to be performed in 1975. The group, Teach-In, performed Ding-A-Dong. It was the fourth, and to date, the last time, that the Netherlands won the Eurovision Song Contest. The host of the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, Karin Falck, charmingly presented the show but got confused during the voting at one point, when she exclaimed "How much is 7 in French?".

1974 saw the first participation of Greece who sent their national star Marinella. France was to enter the song contest with the entry La Vie A Vingt-cinq Ans by Dani, but the French singer never got the chance to perform though as the French president, Georges Pompidou, died in the week of the contest and France withdrew. The voting system changed once more: 10 jury members in every country each awarded one point to their favourite song. For the first time, a draw of lots was used to decide the order in which countries would give the results of their juries. However, it was the last time this method was used to cast the votes - from 1975 onwards, a new voting system would be implemented where the order of the jury votes followed the order of performance. Sweden won the song contest for the first time with the entry Waterloo, performed by ABBA. The song became a huge international hit and was the starting point of their legendary international career. Over 30 years after it won, Waterloo was even voted the best Eurovision Song Contest song ever at the 50-year anniversary show Congratulations, in Copenhagen in autumn 2005. ABBA had actually tried to enter the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Ring Ring, which later became a hit for them in many European countries - but they only reached the third place in the Swedish national selection. For their 1974 entry, the group hesitated a while before choosing Waterloo as they thought their other option Hasta Ma?ana would be a more suitable song for the contest. However, Hasta Ma?ana was only really sung by only one of the girls, Agnetha F?ltskog, and ABBA wanted a song where all four members could give their vocals to. Some years before she starred in the American movie Grease, the Australian pop singer Olivia Newton-John sang Long Live Love, representing the United Kingdom. Olivia Newton-John actually wanted to sing a different song, but Long Live Love was chosen by a public postal vote. The winner from 1964, Gigliola Cinquetti, returned to the contest and finished second with her song, Si. Katie Boyle presented the contest for the fourth and final time. She holds the record for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest the most times.

For the third time in the 18-year-old history of the Eurovision Song Contest, Luxembourg had the honour of hosting the event with 17 nations present. After ending up in last position two years in a row, Malta decided to withdraw from the contest. Austria decided not to participate either. Instead, a new country joined the song contest, Israel. It was the first non-European country to enter the contest. Israel was allowed to do so because the country was already a member of the European Broadcasting Union. With the Israelis participating, the security control was unusually tight and special security measures were put in place for the Israeli delegation. Another important rule change for the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest was that the participants could choose the language in which they wanted to sing their songs. This rule remained in place until 1976 before being re-introduced in 1999. The Spanish, entry Eres Tu performed by Mocedades was accused of plagiarism. It was suggested by critics that the song was merely a copy of the Yugoslav entry of 1966, Brez Besed performed by Berta Ambroz. No action was taken though and the Spanish entry became a huge international hit, even outselling the winner Tu Te Reconnaitras by Anne-Marie David. Luxembourg became the first country in the history of the competition to win the contest twice in a row. The winning performer, Anne-Marie David, tried her luck again in 1979 when she competed for France and came third. She is one of the few artists who ended up in the top-3 with all appearances in the Eurovision Song Contest. Cliff Richard sang for the United Kingdom for the second time and came in third, one place worse than in 1968; Sweden's Monique Dominique became the first woman to conduct the orchestra. Nurit Hirsch, the female conductor for Israel, followed her a few minutes later.

The BBC stepped in to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972 and chose a venue outside of London for the first time. The contest was broadcast live to Asia for the first time with viewers in Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines, Hong Kong and Thailand, all able to watch the show. It also was the first year that a video wall was used to present song titles and artists. Luxembourg won the song contest for the third time with the entry Apr?s Toi performed by Vicky Leandros. The writer of the winning song, Yves Desca, also wrote the winning song of 1971 by S?verine. It was the first time in the history of the Song Contest that the same songwriter won twice in a row and for two different countries. Greek-born singer Vicky Leandros also took part in the contest for the second time and won for Luxembourg thanks to a well-planned PR campaign. This time she also used her surname, something she had avoided the first time when she participated just as "Vicky" in 1967. The winning song, Apr?s Toi, sold m?llions of copies all over Europe, and Vicky Leandros appeared in TV-shows all over Europe. She would try to enter the Eurovision Song Contest again in 2006, but only came 3rd in the German national final for the contest. The Irish entry Ceol An Ghr? by Sandie Jones was sung in the Irish language and until now, it remains the only song ever to be sung in Irish in the Eurovision Song Contest; Malta took part in the contest for the second time and came last again with Helen & Joseph's L' imhabba.

For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, Ireland hosted the event at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. Compared to 1970, the number of participants rose to 18 as Finland, Norway, Sweden and Portugal all returned to the contest after a year of absence. Malta also made its debut. The contest was broadcast in 29 countries. The rule of performing either as single or duet was abolished: now groups of up to six people were allowed to perform. In this year's Eurovision Song Contest, a new voting system was created: two jury members - one of them had to be younger than 25 - had to award between 1 and 5 points to each song. This created some problems because some juries gave fewer points than others. For example, Luxembourg awarded 43 points altogether compared to France's 107! In theory this meant that jury members could vote tactically, awarding few points and hoping to gain many. The small principality of Monaco won for the first time in 1971 with the song Un Banc, Un Abre, Une Rue by French-born S?verine, who then went on to have a successful career, especially in Germany. Malta's participant Joe Grech ended up in last place; Norwegian singer Hanne Krogh would return to the contest as half of the Eurovision Song Contest winner duo Bobbysocks in 1985. But in 1971, she came only 17th.

There were plenty of host countries to choose from as a result of the four-way tie in 1969; the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France and Spain. Eventually, Amsterdam was chosen to host the fifteenth Eurovision Song Contest by the drawing of lots. For the second year in a row, the number of participants went down. Finland, Norway, Sweden and Portugal were all dissatisfied about the voting in the 1969 contest when 4 countries were declared winners and withdrew from the contest. To ensure that a similar incident did not happen again a tie rule was created. The rule stated that if two or more songs gained the same number of points, each song had to be performed once more. After these performances, the juries (with the exception of the countries that had tied) had to select their favourite song. This had to be done by the showing of hands. If entries still were to tie, both of them would share the first position. Ireland had its first victory in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest with Dana's All Kinds Of Everything. The teenager went on to score a major international hit with her entry. Brazil, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Chile broadcast the contest live by satellite; Of the singers who competed on the stage this year a number were already established performers. Notably, the United Kingdom sent Mary Hopkin while David Alexandre Winter represented Luxembourg; The contest also featured an appearance of the then unknown Julio Iglesias, singing for Spain.

For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, the outcome of the voting resulted in a tie for first place. Four countries gained 18 points each: France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Since there was no solution for this situation, all four countries were declared winners. Luckily, there were four medals available to the four winning singers - the four medals were originally intended for the winning singer and three winning songwriters. The four winners differed a lot from one another: France had a haunting ballad performed by Frida Boccara, the Netherlands sent in Lenny Kuhr with a guitar, Spain and Salom? performed the energetic Vivo Cantando whereas the star from the United Kingdom, Lulu, the uptempo Boom Bang a Bang. However, having four winners caused a lot of criticism from the media and several TV-stations re-considered participating in the following Eurovision Song Contest.

France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom broadcast the 1968 contest in colour despite the fact that very few TV-viewers at home owned a colour TV set. However, colour was here to stay and all song contests since then have been broadcast primarily in colour. Some countries hired foreign singers to sing for them: Germany was represented by Norwegian Wenche Myhre and Austria's entry was performed by Karel Gott from Prague. The 1968 Eurovision Song Contest turned out to have a nailbiting finish when the United Kingdom entry and big favourite Congratulations by Cliff Richard was beaten by just one point by Spain's Massiel. Originally Massiel's song La La La was supposed to be sung by Spanish singer Joan Manuel Serrat who wanted perfom the song in Catalan. At the request of Spanish officials, Juan Manuel was replaced by Massiel who sang the same song in Spanish. The 1968 Eurovision Song Contest was not only broadcast in the participating countries, but also all of Eastern Europe and Tunisia could follow it; For Katie Boyle, it was already her third Eurovision Song Contest as a presenter, but not her last: Mrs. Boyle would return for yet another contest just as the unlucky Cliff Richard would also do!

The 1967 Eurovision Song Contest took place at the Grosser Festsaal der Wiener Hofburg in Vienna. The number of participants went down from 18 to 17 because Denmark chose to withdraw from the contest and would not come back to the contest until 1978. The contest had a very glamorous setting: the stage included three revolving mirrors and a staircase entrance in the middle. The juries had undergone a change as well, as half of the jurors in every national jury had to be less than 30 years old. During the voting the presenter of the show, Erika Vaal, declare the United Kingdom winner of the song contest before the last jury's votes were cast. However, the confusion about the voting would not make any difference: the United Kingdom clearly won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time, nine years after participating for the first time. The winning entrant Sandy Shaw performed her song, Puppet on a String, barefoot. The winning song Puppet On A String won with the largest margin ever witnessed in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest at that time. The song gathered more than twice as many votes as the runner-up, Ireland. But not only the juries were charmed by Sandie Shaw's song, it became a huge success all over Europe and is nowadays remembered as a Eurovision Song Contest classic.

The capital city of Luxembourg was the home of the 11th Eurovision Song Contest. The rules for the contest were changed and national juries could include music experts again. The major change was that a rule was introduced stipulating that songs had to be performed in one of the official languages of the participating country. During the dress rehearsal, the Italian participant Domenico Modugno was not satisfied with the orchestra and left the stage in anger. It was uncertain if he was going to perform during the live show, but he sang his song Dio Come Ti Amo after all. The song later became a huge success in South America for Gigliola Cinquetti, the winner of the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest. The Austrian participant Udo J?rgens participated in the Eurovision Song Contest for the third consecutive time and finally, he managed to score the first ever victory for his native country with the song Merci Cherie. Udo later became one of the most-loved artists in the German-speaking countries. Future song contest hosts Lill Lindfors and ?se Kleveland took part in this contest as singers, finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. In her performance, ?se ignored tradition and was the first woman not to wear a dress in the Eurovision Song Contest; Dutch representative Milly Scott became the first black singer to take part in the contest.

Italy and its national broadcaster RAI hosted this year's contest for the first time. 18 countries took part, at that point, the number of participants ever. After a year of absence, Sweden returned to the competition and Ireland debuted. Belgium, Germany, Finland and Spain all scored nul points while Luxembourg won for the second time with the highly controversial Poup?e De Cire, Poup?e De Son sung by teenager France Gall. The song went on to become a massive hit in almost all European countries and had a major impact on the type of songs entered into the contest in the following years. Swedish participant Ingvar Wixell performed his song -originally called Annorst?des Vals - in English instead of Swedish while all the other participants sang in their native languages. This incident led to a rule change meaning that all participants would have to perform their songs in their respective national languages. For the first time, the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast not only by the European Broadcasting Union, but also by Intervision, its Eastern European counterpart.

The 1964 Eurovision Song Contest took place in the famous Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen. The event became highly politicised with demands that right-wing dictatorships in Spain and Portugal should be excluded from the contest. There was even some trouble during the contest as just before the Belgian entry, a man entered the stage holding a banner saying "Boycott Franco and Salazar". He was quickly removed from the stage. As in the three previous contests, 16 countries participated in the competition. Portugal made its debut whilst Sweden chose not to enter. Germany, Portugal and Switzerland each scored zero points for the first time. In the case of Portugal, it was the first time in the history of the contest that a newcomer did not receive any points at all. Italy celebrated its first victory with the song Non Ho l'Et?, performed by 16-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti. Gigliola would also take part in 1974 and would become the host of Eurovision Song Contest of 1991, together with Toto Cutugno. As with the first ever contest in 1956, there is no known recording of the show. This is said to be as a result of a fire at the studios of Danish broadcaster DR in the 1970s and the fact that none of the other broadcasters recorded the entire show. A short recording of the winning reprise survives as does the audio recording of the contest.

The honour of hosting this year's song contest was handed over by the French to the United Kingdom. The main reason was that France did not want to host the song contest so soon after hosting it twice in Cannes in 1959 and 1961. Big international stars took part in this year's competition, like Esther Ofarim for Switzerland, Nana Mouskouri for Luxembourg and Francoise Hardy for Monaco. Host Broadcaster BBC tried a different approach for the presentation of the Eurovision Song Contest. All songs were performed in one studio, but the audience was located in another. Each song had its own unique staging, and the change of set was done very quickly. As a result of this, rumours began that the performances were pre-recorded which later turned out to be untrue. The Norwegian head of jury was still busy adding up the individual votes of the 20 jury members when called in by the presenter Katie Boyle. Struck by panic, the Norwegian jury secretary gave an intermediate result, reading the points very quickly and in the wrong order. In accordance with the rules, Mrs. Boyle told the TV audience that she would come back to the Norwegian jury after all the other countries had voted. When the final result came in from the Norwegian jury, they were decisively different from the intermediate ones and gave the victory to Norway's Nordic neighbour Denmark in a close race with Switzerland. Dansevise performed by Grethe and J?rgen Ingmann gave Denmark it's first victory in the Eurovision Song Contest. Dansevise became the first winning Eurovision Song Contest entry to be performed by a duo and also the first Scandinavian winner.

After the victory in Cannes in 1961, Luxembourg was the host of the seventh Eurovision Song Contest. The stage was decorated with twinkling stars, but unfortunately they could not be seen for parts of the evening because there were some problems with the lights in the big auditorium of the Villa Louvigny. The number of participants of this year's contest remained stable at 16 with no new countries entering. However, there was a change in the voting system: the national juries - which still consisted of 10 people - had to attribute 3, 2 and 1 points to their three favourite songs. France managed to win the Eurovision Song Contest for the third time with a dramatic performance by Isabelle Aubret who won by a landslide: Aubret collected 26 points altogether, outclassing Monaco's entry Dis Rien by 13 points! The German entry Zwei Kleine Italiener by Conny Froboess went on to be an enormous commercial success in lots of European countries despite a rather moderate 6th place; Belgian Fud Leclerc took part for the fourth time in the history of the song contest, but came last with no points at all.

Just like in 1959, the Palais des Festivals was the venue of this year's contest. The presenter of the show was Jacqueline Joubert, who already did this task in 1959. The stage used for the show was much bigger than in previous years, and it was magnificently decorated with flowers. The number of participants of this year's song contest rose to 16 as Spain, Yugoslavia and Finland all made their respective debuts. For the first time, the contest took place on a Saturday night which would come to be the contest's home. Luxembourg had its first of 5 victories in 1961 with the song Nous Les Amoureux performed by Jean-Claude Pascal. Critics called the song a lullaby, but Jean-Claude Pascal was awarded 31 points in total, with the UK entry finishing second for the third year running. Germany's entry Einmal Sehen Wir Uns Wieder was performed by Lale Andersen who shot to fame two decades earlier with her rendition of Lili Marleen. However, Mrs. Andersen only managed to score 3 points and 13th place.

The capital of the United Kingdom, London, provided the setting for the fifth Eurovision Song Contest. This was despite the fact that the Netherlands actually won the Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes the year before with Een Beetje, performed by Teddy Scholten. Following the victory the Dutch national broadcaster did not want to host the contest again so the honour went to the UK which had finished second the year before. The winning song Tom Pillibi, performed by Jacqueline Boyer, provided France with a second victory in the Eurovision Song Contest. The number of participants of this year's song contest grew to 13 as Norway made its debut with one of the country's leading jazz singers, Nora Brockstedt; Luxembourg decided to return to the contest after a year of absence with a song fully in Luxembourgish, performed by Camillo Felgen who later started a successful career as radio and TV presenter; The Dutch singer Rudi Carrell also became a famous TV personality in parts of Europe despite a disappointing 12th place with Wat Een Geluk; The entry from Austria, Du Hast Mich So Fasziniert by Henry Winter was written by famous operetta composer Robert Stolz who was already 80 years old in 1960, but the song only ended up in 7th place.

The Eurovision Song Contest of 1959 welcomed the small principality of Monaco. Moreover, the United Kingdom re-entered the contest after one year of absence, and Luxembourg decided not to participate. A new rule was introduced to this fourth Eurovision Song Contest; musical experts were no longer allowed in the national juries, but other than that, the same voting system as in 1957 and 1958 was used. The Netherlands won the contest for the second time with the song Een Beetje performed by Teddy Scholten. The lyrics of the song were written by Willy van Hemert, who also wrote the winning song of 1957. Domenico Modugno returned again for Italy, this time finishing in 6th place. For the first and the last time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, the top three songs were reprised at the end of the show.

The Dutch entry Net Als Toen by Corry Brokken had brought the first victory to the Netherlands in Frankfurt am Main the previous year and Dutch TV was the proud host in 1958. It was the first time that the winning country from the previous year had hosted the contest. Despite ending third, the Italian entry Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu, better known under the title Volare, performed by Domenico Modugno, became a worldwide hit and to date. It is one of the most successful songs in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. Domenico even managed to reach the No.1 spot in the US-American Billboard Charts with his song and was also awarded three Grammies. Sweden entered the contest for the first time with one of their biggest stars, Alice Babs, but it was not enough to stop France from winning the trophy with the song Dors, Mon Amour, performed by Andr? Claveau.

The 1957 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted by the Hessischer Rundfunk on behalf of Deutsches Fernsehen ARD. Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom entered the contest for the first time, joining the other seven participating countries from the previous year. Despite the fact that an increasing number of Europeans had access to television, the contest was still mainly a radio programme at this time. In a change to the contest the year before, duos were allowed into the competition. Danish duo Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler shocked the audience with their passionate on-screen kiss, the longest in the history of the contest. Germany's entry, performed by Margot Hielscher featured a telephone during the performance, the first gimmick to appear at the Eurovision Song Contest. For the first time the Netherlands won the contest with the song Net Als Toen, performed by Corry Brokken who also represented her country in Lugano the year before.

The first ever Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano, Switzerland, at the Teatro Kursaal, on 24th of May 1956. Inspired by the Italian Sanremo Festival, the idea to organise a pan-European musicial competition was born at a meeting of the European Broadcasting Union in Monaco in 1955. It was decided that the first ever Eurovision Song Contest would be hosted the following year in the Swiss resort of Lugano. The 1956 Eurovision Song Contest was primarily a radio show, although some cameras were taping the contest for the few Europeans who had a television set at that time. Lohengrin Filipello hosted the programme, which lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes. The seven participating countries each submitted two entries. The songs of the contest were not to exceed three and a half minutes, and the performers were accompanied by an orchestra of 24 musicians, led by Fernando Paggi. The winning song, as announced by the head of the jury, was Refrain, performed by Lys Assia from Switzerland. Lys Assia is the only Swiss contestant to have ever won the Eurovision Song Contest, as Switzerland's other winner, C?line Dion, is French-Canadian. The broadcasters from Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom missed the deadline for participating in the first ever Eurovision Song Contest and only appeared one year later. Only solo artists were allowed to enter the contest. Groups were initially banned - a rule which would only be abolished in the 1970s; All participating countries sent two jury members to Lugano in order to vote secretly on the songs. The jury members from Luxembourg could not make it to Lugano, so the EBU allowed Swiss nationals to vote on their behalf. The juries were allowed to vote for whatever country they wished to, including their own; The scores of the voting have never been made public, leaving room for lots of speculation. Attempts to reconstruct the voting by interviewing jury members over the past five decades did not lead to any reliable outcome.

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