The Eurovision Song Contest 1956 was the debut edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland on Thursday 24 May. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union, the pan-European music competition was an inspiration of the Italian Sanremo Music Festival. Lohengrin Filipello hosted the first contest which lasted approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. Seven countries participated, with each of them performing two songs. Two jury members from all participating countries cast their votes in secret, based on which song was their favourite.
This first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest included several procedures that were not repeated in any subsequent edition: Two songs for each country, secret voting, double voting of one country on behalf of another, optional inclusion of the jury members' own represented country in their voting, only "Grand Prix" title reception for the winner, and a single male presenter to host the show. The other Contests include: One song for each country, scoreboard display, jury panel from each country, disqualification of the juries' own country from their voting, material award, and a single or additional female presenter.
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.
The order is as follows:-
1. Lithuania
2. Israel
3. France
4. Sweden
5. Croatia
6. Portugal
7. Iceland
8. Greece
9. Armenia
10. Russia
11. Azerbaijan
12. Bosnia and Herzegovina
13. Moldova
14. Malta
15. Estonia
16. Denmark
17. Germany
18. Turkey
19. Albania
20. Norway
21. Ukraine
22. Romania
23. The United Kingdom
24. Finland
25. Spain
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.
The 20 acts that qualified through the two Semi-Finals will join the five pre-qualified countries: Norway, France, Germany (the Host Country), 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.
Azerbaijan's first try at Eurovision proved to be successful as the country qualified for the final from the first semi-final and came 8th with 132 points in the final evening. Previously, another broadcaster, AzTV, wanted to participate in 2007, but EBU rules did not allow this as AzTV was not an active member of the EBU. AzTV was denied active EBU membership on 18 June 2007, as it was considered too connected to the Azerbaijani government.[1] On 5 July, İTV became a full EBU member,[2] and on October 15 it was given permission to take part by the EBU.[3] Azerbaijan's first Eurovision performance by Elnur and Samir made it in the top ten placed at number 8 with 132 points. In 2009 Azerbaijan achieved an improvement on their 2008 debut, coming third and receiving 207 points with the song "Always", performed by duo AySel & Arash. On 14 May 2011, Azerbaijan won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with Running Scared song by Ell & Nikki.