A few facts you probably didn’t know about the Eurovision Song Contest (in French: Concours Eurovision de la Chanson).

The Eurovision, a European songwriting competition

The first Eurovision Song Contest took place in 1956 in Switzerland and only 7 countries competed in it, France, Luxembourg, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium.
5 different continents now broadcast the contest which has become a global phenomenon.
ABBA are dubbed as the most successful act ever to come out of Eurovision. However the UK actually gave them zero points back in 1974.
In 1969, four countries won the Eurovision. France, the UK, Spain, and the Netherlands all obtained the same score.

Is it still a European competition?

Several countries geographically outside Europe have competed. Israel, Cyprus, and Armenia since 1973, 1981 and 2006 respectively. Morocco in the 1980 competition alone. And Australia made a debut in the 2015 contest. The Aussies have been back every year since.
Norway is the least successful country in the contest. The Norwegians have finished last a massive nine times, most recently in 2001.
Currently only six members of each country can be on stage during a performance but until 1971 it was only three.

What about France?

France is one of the most successful countries in the Eurovision, winning the contest 5 times, coming second 5 times and coming third 7 times.

And the UK?

The UK has also won the Eurovision 5 times. The first win was in 1967 and the last in 1997. This year the UK’s act is TikTok star and singer-songwriter Sam Ryder.
Sweden won the contest in 2012 with the extremely popular track ‘Europhia’ by Loreen. A staggering 18 countries all rewarded her top marks.
In 2020 the Eurovision Song Contest was cancelled for the first time in history due to the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the world.

For French conversation about the Eurovision contact welcome@experiencelanguages.co.uk