History of the competition
For the first time the song contest was held in 1956 in Switzerland. Post-war Europe had to be united, people really wanted a holiday. In 1956, singers from seven countries came to Lugano, and Swiss Ass Liss Assiya and her composition "Refrain" won.
Today, participants are countries that are members of the European Broadcasting Union, and singers from the countries of the big four are automatically placed in the final without passing preliminary selections.
Performers can participate in the Eurovision several times (an example of this can serve as our Dima Bilan, who went to the contest twice). It does not matter in what country the singer was born. So Lara Fabian from Belgium acted in 1988 for Luxembourg, and American Katrina Leskane for Great Britain.
Competition statistics show that most often the first place was occupied by singers from Ireland. 7 times they became champions, and of them 3 consecutive years (from 1992 to 1994). Great Britain got 1 place 5 times, however in the prize-winning three it entered 22 times. France and Luxembourg also won 5 times.
Eurovision Song Contest winners of all years
1957 year. The competition was held in Frankfurt am Main. 1 place was taken by the representative of the Netherlands Corrie Brocken with the song "Net Als Toen".
1958 - Hilversum (the Netherlands). The winner is the Frenchman Andre Clave with the song "Dors Mon Amour".
1959. The venue is Cannes. 1st place is occupied by the composition of the Dutch performer "Een Beetje".
1960. The Netherlands gives the right to conduct the Eurovision of Great Britain. The first prize went to the Frenchwoman Jacqueline Boyer for the song "Tom Pillibi".
1961. The contest again comes to Cannes. The victory of the representative of Luxembourg - Jean Claude Pascal ("Nous les amoureux").
1962. At the contest in Luxembourg, the Frenchwoman again wins. Isabelle Aubre performed her song "Un premier amour".
1963. France passes the right to hold the Eurovision Song Contest in London. In the UK, the first place went to the sisters from Denmark Greta and Jurgen Ingmann ("Dansevise").
1964. At Eurovision in Copenhagen, the young Italian Gilola Cinquetti wins and her composition "Non ho l'eta".
1965. In Naples, the prize-winning place belongs to the song of the composer Serge Ginzbour, performed by the representative of Luxembourg Frans Gall.
1966. Victory against the Austrian Udo Yurgens ("Merci Cheri").
1967. At the festival in Vienna, the first place was taken by Great Britain (Sandy Shaw, "Puppet On A String").
1968. The first place was taken by the singer from Spain Massiel with the song "La La La".
1969. Significant competition in Madrid. 1 place was shared by the Netherlands with the song "De troubadour" performed by Lenny Kur, France ("Un Jour, Un Enfant", Frida Boccara), Great Britain ("Boom bang a bang", Lulu) and Spain ("Vivo cantando", Salome) .
1970. With the help of the draw, Amsterdam was chosen as the venue. The Grand Prix was given to the Irishman Dan with the song "All kinds of everything". She walked around Julio Iglesias himself.
1974. At the competition in Brighton (Great Britain), the first place went to the famous ABBA group and the compositions "Waterloo".
1978. At the Eurovision Song Contest in Paris for the first time Israel wins. The song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" performed by Izhar Cohen and the band "Alfabeta".
1982. The song-winner "Ein Bißchen Frieden" singer Nicole (FRG) was translated into 6 languages and became No. 1 in Europe.
1987. In Brussels, the second time the Eurovision wins the Irishman Johnny Logan ("Hold Me Now").
1988. The famous Celine Dion and her composition "Ne partez pas sans moi" brings the victory of Switzerland.
1990. In Zagreb 1 place went to Italian Toto Cutugno, who performed the song "Insieme: 1992".
1994. In the contest for the first time Russia is represented, which was represented by Maria Katz ("Eternal Wanderer"). The victory is again in Ireland (Rock'n roll kids, Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan).
1998. In Bigmingle, the performer from Israel - Dana International ("Diva") won. For the first time, a transsexual got a place.
2000. In Stockholm, the Danes took the first place ("Fly on the wings of love"). However, the compositions of the Russian Alsu "Solo" won the second place.
2003. The first place is Turkish Sertab Erener with the song "Everyway That I Can" and a terrific show, and on the third - scandalously known group "Tatu" ("Do not believe, do not be afraid").
2004. The "Wild Dances" of Ukrainian Ruslana won in Istanbul.
2005. The contest in Kiev was won by the Greek Helena Paparizou ("My Number One").
2006. In Athens, the public was shocked by the Finnish band Lordi with the song Hard Rock Hallelujah. The representative of Russia - Dima Bilan in second place ("Never Let You Go").
2008. Victorious year for Russia: Dima Bilan wins 1st place. During the performance of the song "Believe" on the stage, the Olympic champion in figure skating Evgeni Plushenko and violinist Edwin Marton performed.
2009. In Moscow, 1 place went to Alexander Rybak. Although he played for Norway, he was born in Belarus. Fisher's song "Fairytale" scored a record 357 points.
2014. The 59th Eurovision Song Contest was held in Denmark. The travesty-artist from Austria appeared in the image of a woman with a beard - Conchita Wurst. It was her song "Rise Like a Phoenix" that won the first place. This unusual winner caused fierce controversy among the audience and the jury.
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