Americans React to Eurovision | Her FIRST TIME seeing any of this!

[@seandonohue6793]

Eurovision was in my city (Liverpool, UK) last year on behalf of Ukraine and it was insane the amount of planning and events held in the city. It must have cost an absolute fortune but we had a week of free concerts on the waterfront and tonnes of activities around the city. It was brilliant.

[@seanmcmichael2551]

@seandonohue6793 I came over from Dublin for the Ukrainian/Liverpool final. Totally fantastic time. 'Village' location great, infrastructure great, people great, musical heritage great. Liverpool had it all. Would recommend UK repeating Liverpool (if they win again).

[@robt2778]

Liverpool spent £4M on hosting Eurovision, but it generated £55M for the region. Something in the order of 300 000 people visited the city for competition and the accompanying events (the city has a population just about 500 000)

[@AC-um2mk]

Countries cannot vote for their own song.

[@jules.8443]

I think Steve was referring to the viewers. They wanted their country to win, even though their government wont have wanted it.

[@michellehardman50]

Or as Ulrika Jonsson once add at end of that sentence, at euro vision 1997 “You fooools” and Terry Wogan to remind viewers “you’ve only yourself to blame” 😂

[@Ross-df6ge]

​@@jules.8443Viewers can't vote for their own song either.

[@StewedFishProductions]

@@Ross-df6ge If you DO try to vote for your own country, the vote won't be counted BUT you may still get 'charged' for the call or vote...

[@matsand4719]

@@StewedFishProductions same old

[@williamdfr1715]

It's a song contest. The singer can come from anywhere, it's the song which represents the country

[@stuartlydes-uings4034]

Hence why Celine Dion was allowed to represent Switzerland in 1988. She would go on to win that years contest for the Swiss.

[@cynic7049]

@@stuartlydes-uings4034 Yes, as of today the Swiss have won thrice, the first Eurovision, the latest Eurovision and with Celine Dion.

[@nigelhosier4729]

The contest was originally conceived in the early days of TV to help a post-war europe come together

[@barrypegg3070]

The competition is so popular in Australia the organiser invited them to join. Israel is allowed to compete as members of European Broadcasting Union.

[@artistjoh]

Ultimately all participants have to be members of the European Broadcast Union according to the rules. SBS is a member of the EBU, which is why they were successful in lobbying to get an Australian invitation. They supported their campaign by pointing out Eurovision's popularity in Australia, but they would never have gotten in except for their membership in the EBU.

[@user-ig4ki2hh4x]

Also they paid a lot of money

[@tirex3673]

@@artistjoh​​⁠SBS is only an associated member, and as such has to be invited. Full members have to be in the European Broadcasting area (basically europe + a box around the mediterranean sea).

[@cynic7049]

@@tirex3673 Yes A full member have the right to participate. An associated members are allowed to if they get invited. A non-members are not allowed.

[@VillaFanDan92]

Eurovision is a Song Contest, not a Singing Contest. So as long as the song was written, produced and composed in your country, who actually performs it is considered irrelevant.

[@seanmcmichael2551]

You're right about the emphasis being a SONG contest. So the performer's origin doesn't matter. But even the song doesn't have to be written by the competing country.

[@phueal]

This is so simplistic... The performer actually does matter, and the songs are scored on performance as much as anything else. Not to mention there have been several instances of countries choosing a performer before they had a song for them to sing. The truth is that countries' broadcasters can select a song however they choose, they can send anyone they choose, and voters can judge the songs however they choose. Everyone who tries to impose limits on this like "oh it's about the song, not the singing", or "songs must be composed in your country" are either lying or mistaken, and simply trying to enforce their own made-up standards.

[@KSmeaton1]

Gotta show her the Riverdance EUROVISION interval act now ;)

[@ericakate]

YESSS

[@pezlover1974]

I second this

[@rjjcms1]

I was waiting for that to come up in the video,but surpriingly it didn't.

[@ag4871]

Unless she's just hacked you off in which case show her Madonna.

[@ppppp789]

Theres a Father Ted episode about Ireland constantly winning Eurovision

[@LeopardPrintCherry]

My lovely horse!!! Banger.

[@rjjcms1]

Yes,hilarious.

[@geoffwright3692]

There's little mention of the legendary Buck's Fizz entry for the UK in 1981

[@paulmoore4223]

I was going to say that but I couldn't make my mind up

[@AndrewwarrenAndrew]

or the year when Spain cheated and came first, then were disqualified and it was given to Cliff richard who came 2nd.

[@chrisbodum3621]

@@paulmoore4223 Right

[@janiceturton7756]

The Uk although a big financier of the contest, do treat it as a bit of a joke. A lot tune in the hear the commentary from the late great Terry Wogan and now Graham Norton . They basically takr the P9ss out of it.

[@richieb7692]

Terry was actually banned by three countries from ever commentating on the competition if their country won, because they got upset when he couldn't take their performances seriously.... It was more of a honorary ban, as those countries would never win anyway...

[@carolineskipper6976]

But in a very British loving way!

[@nbartlett6538]

I do wonder if our dismissive attitude to Eurovision was just a coping mechanism since we were so terrible for so long! Funny also how the contest has always been covered in the UK by an Irishman.

[@jonathanpringle8238]

the bbc only psy 350k that is cheap as one episode of eastenders costs 500k +

[@audiocoffee]

I do miss Terry Wogans bone dry commentary. He was on point for the finals every single time and told it like it is. You didn't need to see his face to be able to read what he was thinking. his words painted the scene with a clarity you never knew existed - and by the end, your brain was hardwired to think like him - although, if you did accidentally 'out loud the quiet bit', you'd either get stared at and punched for a comment, or you made someone laugh. 🤣

[@Kate-v9d]

Hi Steve and Lindsay, this is also how "Riverdance" came about. "Riverdance" was the Interval Act and it was such a success that they went global, see link below Thanks as usual for the great upload, love from Ireland xx kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKqaan6BpbZsbpo

[@Jacko_486]

I'll second that

[@Kate-v9d]

@@Jacko_486 Cheers Jacko 😘😘

[@esclad]

It happens every May. The top 10 acts from each Semi-Final qualify for the Grand Final; joining 'The Big 5' and last years winner totalling 26 songs. The song has to be original (no covers), it can't be more than 3 mins long and can be in any language but no more than 6 people can be on stage at any one time. Semi-final 1: 13 May 2025 (2 hours) - Semi-final 2: 15 May 2025 (2 hours) - Grand Final: 17 May 2025 (4 hours). I've been to four contests - 2000/2006/2011 & 2023. The atmosphere is like nothing else I have ever experienced, it's electric 😃The contests are broadcast live on YT.

[@MLWitteman]

Eurovision is a multi-day event. And each show takes many hours to conclude. It often starts at 9 pm, and finishes at 11 or 12 o’clock. Especially the grand final is quite long, because of the voting process. There are professional judges from each participating country, and the general audience from all around the world can vote through texting and using the Eurovision app.

[@rjjcms1]

Yes,Eurovision takes place every year in about the second or third week of May. There are two evenings in midweek,one for each of the semi-finals. Then the grand final is always on the Saturday evening. It typically starts at about 7 pm UK time and finishes around 10 to 11 pm, so that would be 2 pm - 5 or 6 pm in East Coast US time,or 11 am - 2 or 3 pm in West Coast/Pacific US time. The participating countries are whittled down to a final 26 for the grand final: the host country + the 5 permanent members who don't have to qualify + 10 successful entries from each semi-final. All 26 countries perform their song one by one. When the last song has been performed the telephone voting is opened to the general public. There is a musical interlude of performances featuring several different parts. At the end of the musical interlude the public voting is closed. Shortly after that the voting commences,with the first stage of voting being the jury voting. Each country's jury reveals their votes,by a video link to a celebrity or well-known person from that country who reveals the vote,some being quite straight about it and some a little goofy. Each jury awards 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10 and 12 points to one country of their choosing. The points are added to the leaderboard. Sometimes a clear leader emerges,other races can be closer with an unexpected change in fortunes. For the overwhelming majority of the Eurovision Song Contest's history,the outcome was decided solely by the jury vote,but thius changed a decade or two ago with the introduction of the general public being able to vote. The second and final stage of the voting is the public vote. This is usually very dramatic and exciting. The public vote carries the same weight as the jury vote,as the song voted for the most by a country's citizens gets the coveted Douze Points (12 points),the next most popular 10,then 8,7,6,5,4,3,2 and 1. The country which received the least points from the jury stage has their points from the public vote revealed first,and it then runs in order up to country which was in the lead after the jury vote having their total from the public votes revealed last. Fortunes can shift dramatically during this stage,so countries can suddenl;y shoot up much higher or fall much lower in the race. Everyone will want to avoid being left with the dreaded Nul Points (zero points)! The country which has the most total votes after both the jury and public vote results are completed is the winner,and they then perform their song again.

[@jeanneale9257]

Peace love from England ❤ Its a song contest not a singing contest

[@ag4871]

That's not entirely true. That's what it claims to be but when it comes to televoting there's just no saying what's in people's minds when it comes to picking up the phone or going on the web - performance, staging, politics all play a factor. Even the guidelines for the juries have performance and overall appeal as considerations.

[@NelSunScot]

It started fairly modestly in the 1950s as a way of using music to bring together a Europe that had been ravaged by war. It was one of the first internationally live broadcasts of its kind for television. The public vote was only introduced at he 1998 contest hosted in the UK by the BBC. It is a huge event in Europe often with families and friends gathering to watch it and also those avoiding it at all costs! To put it into perspective, the Eurovision final in 2024 was watched live by 163 million people from 150 countries and the Super Bowl was watched by 124 million. The contest takes place in May every year over the course of a week with Semi-Final 1 on the Tuesday, Semi-Final 2 on the Thursday and the Grand Final on the Saturday. Countries begin announcing their artists and songs usually from January to March so you’re just in time to enjoy the build up to the 2025 contest and to find your local broadcaster/stream to watch it live.

[@jonathanpringle8238]

i am sure at least one year they had viwers over 200million

[@davebyrne1980]

The Eurovision Song Contest is run by the EBU (European Broadcast Union) which is funded by the member countries. By contributing, the national broadcasters can sydicate their content, and it also allows them to access the Eurovision Song Contest. The National broadcasters of countries like Australia & Israel are paying into the EBU, so therefore qualify to participate. The "Big 5" (Germany, Spain, France, Italy & UK) pay the most into the EBU, and automatically qualify direct to the Grand Final, while the remaining countries have to qualify through a Semi-Final

[@jonathanpringle8238]

many people think bbc pay millions, but in reality its only 350k a year. how often can you get access to broadcast 10 hours of peak time live tv for that smal amount.

[@tonys1636]

The 'Big Five' were also the countries that set up the EBU after WWII to enable live radio news reports to be broadcast from Europe without having to use telephone lines back to their countries. Only the UK had TV back then, had been shut down in 1939 as the signals was thought at the time could be used to navigate to London (Alexandra Palace) by the Luftwaffe. The RAF proved it could be done by triangulation by two or more aircraft. The signal range was around 50 miles from the transmitter.

[@MrsLynB]

Sam Ryders song was brilliant. Liverpool hosted for Ukraine & was great for the city. X

[@lisab9734]

In my opinion Sam still one that year.

[@bellshooter]

One of the best UK songs 'Spaceman' by Sam Ryder came 2nd in 2022 to Ukraine. Recognized as the real quality winner by pretty much everyone. Check out the Eurovision video for that.

[@54joevans]

Strangely I don't think most of us cared we came second that year... and then we hosted for Ukraine anyway due to their war ongoing.

[@daveetheridge]

Whether you're a fan of Eurovision or not, it's an event that brings people together - and a huge number of people end up watching it on the night. At the very least, it's just an excuse to throw a party and have a laugh

[@jeanlongsden1696]

the only people who watch it are alphabet people.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

Eurovision makes me cringe and I shall not be watching this video - and have already said my apologies to Steve and Lindsay but I would rather visit the Reptile House at London Zoo and hold a python than watch that or any song contest. Mind you. Good Luck to The UK every entry... Am not unpatriotic... I just like real music like Queen or The Beatles, or Bon Jovi, or Bryan Adams, or Exchange...etc. 👍🌝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿💕🇬🇧🤭🖖

[@CeleWolf]

I never bother with it. Nor do most people I know.

[@lisasmith2660]

What makes the Eurovision in the uk for me is the commentary by Graham Norton he makes it fun talking about the weird acts, it's been on tv for so long its something you grow up with, it's like a family tradition to watch it - the good and bad songs 😂

[@deniseadams1703]

No matter how good Graham Norton is no one can be as wonderful as Terry Wogan was.

[@dyread]

@@deniseadams1703 Neither of those is as good as Marty Whelan who at least has respect for the countries participati

[@andybaker2456]

@@deniseadams1703 I was about to say the same thing!

[@MonstehDinosawr]

​@@deniseadams1703 I'm 27 and only ever remember Graham doing it. Terry was for children in need.

[@karenblackadder1183]

​@@MonstehDinosawrWell, I'm 68, and Terry's commentary and ridicule of it's stupidity made it a must watch. Now, I don't know a single person in 4 generations who wastes any time on it.

[@richardk.4503]

Get ready to go down the Eurovision rabbit hole. 😅

[@SarahH-ns6ly]

Eurovision is very popular in Australia. We have a soft spot for fun and quirky pop songs and lots of European immigrants. We contributed the interval act for the 60th anniversary and have been competing ever since. The whole competition is rather long but there are some compilations of the winners and runners-up over the years which should give an idea of the variety of songs in the contest.

[@MINKIN2]

There are two big pieces of media that people and fans of Eurovision like. The first was an episode from the the 90s TV show Father Ted A Song For Europe. This played up how Ireland was on a winning streak in the contest for so long. The other is the 2020 movie Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. A spoof on the contest that starred and created by Will Ferrel in conjunction with the Eurovision Broadcasting Union. Will Ferrel was/is a big fan of the Eurovision and was introduced to it by his Swedish wife. He wanted to make something that would bring awareness to the contest for Americans and got the permission to film on location at the 2019 events with the stage, some previous contestants and audiences used in the filming. It was planned that the movie would debut along side the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, but as the pandemic happened the contest was not held (the only year in its history to not). They decided to release the movie anyway and became 2020s must watch Eurovision for every fan. Neither of these are highly accurate to the contest itself, but they do give a sneak peak to what happens behind the scenes.

[@boblar_creative]

Fire Saga was amazing 😂

[@harbl99]

The Father Ted episode was only a little removed from the truth. Hosting Eurovision was bankrupting RTE (the Irish national broadcaster). IIRC Desmond the Turkey was their 'throw the contest' entry.

[@cobaltmale]

​@@boblar_creative Tho they did fake the host city of Edinburgh (which did host in 1972) as it was filmed in Glasgow

[@tamielizabethallaway2413]

*Hello my Beauties!* 🤩 Eurovision is NUTS! But, us Europeans are nuts, in case you hadn't figured that out yet! 🤪 It used to just be on for one night, but now they split it into two semi finals and the final. The public votes, as well as official panels from each country. Prior to the Eurovision Contest, we have a mini type of round for the UK. It's important to note, that it is a *SONG* contest, not a *SINGING* competition. First songwriters and musicians enter their songs, and we get to vote on which lyrics/music/melody we like best, and which we think best represents us. Then the winning songwriter gets to choose who they want to sing it. And *THAT* is why they can choose anyone to perform it for them. Lots of people started their singing careers doing this, or certainly took their fame internationally, such as Celine Dion. There's many more though besides her. BTW I love ABBA! 😁 We hosted the contest last year, but on behalf of the Ukraine who won it in 2022, and the UK actually came 2nd. It cost about £10 million or so to expand and coordinate the venue, and there were half a million audience viewers attending the contest. There was also a EuroFestival set up and Eurovision Village. Liverpool made about 5x that much in revenue from all the extra tourism. When we scored zero points after Brexit, I think it was because it was all up in the air, and worldwide nobody understood exactly what it meant or would entail...which is not surprising because neither did we! 😳 There were SOOOO many rumours around it also, that some of our own UK idiots, still think it means we left EUROPE! 🙄 Many people were concerned as obviously we have a ton of international workers and students, and they were no longer certain if that meant they'd have to leave. Some thought we voted to leave the E.U, (51% Leave Vs 49% Stay) because we didn't want visitors here or are racist. The vote was so split it caused arguments here. Some Brits working and living abroad experienced a shift in welcomeness towards them, being where they were, if the UK didn't want any of their people etc. It was a big old mess. I still don't think it's entirely sorted out, or not to the degree that it should have been according to what was voted for. If anyone has finally figured it out, please send your answers on a postcard! Thanks! 😂 Our current traitor Prime Minister still has his tongue up E.U politician's arses, and still pushing laws and regulations according to the E.U's, but the least said about him the better. 🤬 Lastly, the winning country hosts the next year, and Lindsay thought that's not much of a prize. Well no in terms of initial outlay, but yes in terms of profit. The Host Country has intervals between song performances, and they use those slots to highlight the very best local produce, heritage sites, and location history. Which broadcasts mini tourism style videos to an ENORMOUS worldwide audience. They also fill the main middle interval, and the vote-counting interval with live performances... Leading me to something I have told you before THAT YOU AND LINDSAY WILL *LOVE!* If you don't love it, there's something wrong with you! 😛 It's from a few years back when Ireland won the contest. It's an Irish dance, singing and music performance and it is INCREDIBLE! The music and singing starts in that typical Celtic, haunting, ethereal sound, sounds like voices from another world in a long ago place, just beautiful. Then the drums start...the energy rises, and the dance begins. The whole performance is literally electric! I beg you to not pause the video whilst watching, let us enjoy the look on your faces. It's only around 7 minutes for the First halfway interval performance, and 5 minutes for the Second performance during vote counting. Please choose a video that says it has BOTH performances live from the Eurovision Song Contest, it's called RIVERDANCE. Once seen, it will stay with you forever so please please please don't pause midway during one of the two parts. Pause and chat between the two of course, just don't interrupt during as I want you to absorb the whole thing. Thank me later. 😉 On that note I shall say bye for now! Sending you 3 lots of love, 😘😘😘 xxxxx

[@HarshRao-mp7nq]

So Steve and Lyndsey.. I’m from Near Liverpool.. trust me whilst we didn’t win it cos Ukraine did (for obvious reasons), lpool was alive for that week.. and I mean ALIVE!!! We were proud to host it.. it’s the best party for the 3-4 nights… you have to find a way to stream the show next year and watch it live

[@ag4871]

Sadly, the UK would have come 2nd that year anyway even if you exclude the solidarity televote for Ukraine. It's not as simple as Ukraine 1st, UK 2nd so if you drop Ukraine down then UK gets 1st. I did a deep dive into the detailed televoting which Eurovision put on their website. Although Sam Ryder won the jury vote, Ukraine overtook and Spain came within a few points of overtaking him after the televote was added. The vast majority of countries had UK way down the list in the televote while Spain had a large quantity of 2nd places behind Ukraine. Going from 2nd to 1st gains you 2 extra points. This means if you drop Ukraine down the list there would have been enough first places for Spain to overtake the UK. Sorry, I'm a stats nerd an find this sort of nonsense interesting.

[@timothybird4264]

Awesome is not a word I would use

[@lucyprevo]

Ireland of 2024 was absolutely incredible, one you should definitely check out!

[@susanpearson-creativefibro]

Regarding professional singers being allowed, it is not a singing contest but a song writing one.

[@Iskandar64]

Australia and Israel are associate members of the European Broadcasting Union. Which is part of the reason why. To participate you needs to be EBU members.

[@Emraz]

To someone from the UK hearing any woman saying ABBA is not their cup of tea is crazy. There are so many girls from pre teen to elderly who could tell you their favourite ABBA song. You would have many fans in agreement about ABBA though as even their own country hated them because they are poppy and in the 70s Sweden (their native country) they loved rock/metal.

[@andybaker2456]

Not just girls. Many men love ABBA too, they just might not freely admit it! I had a cousin who absolutely loved ABBA, and he introduced me to a lot of his favourite album tracks, when at the time I was only aware of their chart singles. But it seems he only admitted his love of ABBA to me. He sadly passed away six years ago, and it was only in a recent conversation with his sister and his widow that I found out they had absolutely no idea he was such a big ABBA fan!

[@brigidsingleton1596]

I am a (71yo) English woman (born and raised in SE London) who can and will say quite confidently / truthfully, that ABBA is/ are _not my cup of tea_ either. I _don't_ dislike their songs, but it wouldn't bother me one iota if I never heard any of them ever again.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿💕🇬🇧🖖

[@TheOrlandoTrustfull]

Not everyone has milquetoast taste in music. Lindsey even references Slipknot earlier in the video 😂

[@brigidsingleton1596]

@TheOrlandoTrustfull What the heck is milquetoast taste?!!

[@andybaker2456]

For any Brits looking in who (like me) will likely have no idea what "milquetoast" means, apparently it's this: "A very timid, unassertive, spineless person, esp. one who is easily dominated or intimidated.". Make of that what you will, ABBA fans!

[@leohickey4953]

Entry is open to countries that belong to the European Broadcasting Union, which naturally includes those that are physically within the continent, but also nearby countries that can receive broadcasts from European countries (Israel, Morocco, Armenia, and Azerbaijan have all entered, and other North African and West Asian countries would be eligible). Australia was invited to join in 2015 because of the big audience in that country who watched a delayed broadcast. It has nothing to do with the Commonwealth.

[@darrenuk]

The semi finals take place over a couple of days and the grand final takes place on Saturday night what lasts around 4 hours in the U.K. It is shown on the bbc and iPlayer

[@ag4871]

ABBA had been making music in Sweden for a few years before hand. They attempted to be Sweden's entry in 1973 with 'Ring Ring' but didn't get chosen. In 1974 'Waterloo' won and the rest is history. Cliff Richard was frontman of The Shadows. Also made movies like 'Summer Holiday'. The UK used to submit artists who were previously well known and were relatively successful but in the last couple of decades it's generally been people who had no track record as established artists wouldnt want to be involved. Over the week of Eurovision there are the two semi finals and a heap of rehearsals before the contest itself on the Saturday night. Each one is ticketted seperately.

[@rjjcms1]

Yes,as well as Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton John in the late 60s - early 70s,Lulu,Sandie Shaw,Cilla Black all had a shot at it in the 60s.

[@MattMcQueen1]

It's a song contest - the song writers/composers have to be from the country that is entering, but the singers/performers can be recruited from anywhere in the world. I really like Eurovision - every year there are some really great songs, but also some songs and performances that are funny or bizarre. It's very mixed.

[@williamdfr1715]

Actually the broadcast company makes the rule, but generally the song writers can come from anywhere too. Last year RTL decided that for their return they wanted only Luxembourg residents to enter

[@MattMcQueen1]

@@williamdfr1715 I think you are right. The rules seem to be ever changing.

[@jeanlongsden1696]

"that band from the 80's" "oh you mean KISS" that made me laugh, as KISS started in '73.

[@harbl99]

I was thinking GWAR.

[@ivylasangrienta6093]

This video is a little bit outdated. Sweden's Loreen now has also won it twice. Australia was allowed to enter for the 2015 song contest (the 60th year) because the country are massive fans of the show and outside of Europe it is most watched in Oz. They've been in ever since. The reason Israel is allowed to enter is because they're a member of the European Broadcasting Union. All countries entering must belong to EBU (except for Australia). For obvious reasons Russia (and Belarus) were barred for the last two years and I believe Russia even withdrew from EBU. EDIT: You can't vote for your own country. Every country has their own "professional" jury who vote, and then the general public vote via text message, calling or using an app.

[@samhilton4173]

Ridiculous to ban Russia. The competition is meant to be about coming together, now it's being used as a political tool. I mean, it was always a bit political, but to ban a country because of the political climate is ridiculous.

[@williamdfr1715]

@@samhilton4173 The 'political climate' is why Israel stills gets to enter. Not sure that starting an invasion and a war is simple political climate though...

[@leohickey4953]

@10:00 The UK has been criticised by other entrants for *not* having its song sung by established artists from the mid-1970s onwards, despite having a very successful commercial music business. That has also encouraged other countries to avoid voting for the UK entry ("If you guys don't take the contest seriously, why should we vote for you?"). The biggest UK performers simply don't want to risk their reputation by joining in, so recently our song has usually been sung by acts beyond their peak, or by newcomers, or by acts from other countries.

[@williamdfr1715]

Valid point about the quality of recent UK entries, and yet you still read the usual comments about it being because of Iraq, or Brexit. It's because the BBC has no need of a song to pull in viewers, they know they are going to get audience figures thanks to Graham Norton. Choose a song that would be able to place on the UK chart and people will vote for it

[@juliemartin4267]

Israel made its Eurovision debut in 1973. It became eligible after becoming part of the European Broadcasting Union, which is behind the event. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) invited SBS to participate in the contest representing Australia for the first time in 2015, as a guest participant to celebrate the 60th edition of the event.

[@claregale9011]

We don't take it too seriously here, it's nice for your country to win but it's just a good laugh and excuse to have friends round for a Eurovision party . 😊

[@frankgunner8967]

Trust me you do not want to sit through a whole show of the Eurovision contest you'll never be the same again.

[@francisdunne8542]

Australia was invited as part of the 60th anniversary of Eurovision and they just never left. Eurovision was quite popular in Australua. Israel state broadcaster Is a member of the European broadcasting union so can enter. Morocco is also an EBU member and entered once in 1980. Lebenon entered in the 2000s but withdrew

[@andrewobrien6671]

The economic benefit to Liverpool a few years ago was somewhere in the region of £58 million

[@steven54511]

Eurovision has a huge following across the world and generates a lot of money.

[@rebrox6545]

Eurovision is a serious event i can tell you

[@johnf8067]

if you want to react to more eurovision, I'd suggest reacting to the winners of the contest from 1956 to 2024 by a youtube channel called Schlager Lucas. I think it's worth checking that video out

[@Loulizabeth]

There's definitely a compilation video of all the songs and their singers over the years from it's first year up to three present day. It really does give you a real insight into how it's changed over the years in reflecting the music of the time and from being a more serious competition to less so.

[@mybo1142]

The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, attracting hundreds of millions of viewers globally with around 200 million viewers worldwide

[@lisab9734]

As a kid, we always watched Eurovision, as I got older I kind of didn’t watch it anymore. But we have watched it the last few years, it’s ridiculous! We have our own little fun voting game and get some foods from different countries in and make a night of it. 😂

[@ImBigDave79]

In 2003 we FULLY deserved last place. It was most definitely not political, Jemini was a dire entry

[@DeeFourCee]

It’s important to bare in mind is the stadium isn’t the only people who come to watch if. In the host city there entire city is more or less set up to be a huge street party. With screens to watch it set up around the place 18:21 It is hundreds of thousands to millions as Europe has hundreds of millions of people

[@brigidsingleton1596]

*bear (in mind) - _not bare_ *their (city) - _not there_ (Sorry but am a lifelong pedant and cannot bear to see words and names misspelt or mispronounced). 👍🌝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿💕🇬🇧🤔🖖

[@williamdfr1715]

@@brigidsingleton1596 if the person is a native English speaker I would say bravo. If they're not, you have quite a cheek though

[@brigidsingleton1596]

@williamdfr1715 I don't agree with you. As for non English speakers...it will help to improve their English. As for your opinion of me... I couldn't give a flying duck. If you don't like it. Don't read it.

[@DeeFourCee]

@@brigidsingleton1596 i am a native english speaker but I have difficulty writing without using the wrong words. They look right to me at the time.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

@DeeFourCee Then my comment was helpful, surely. I always appreciate being helped if I need it and thank people for their edits. I mean no disrespect.

[@TheOrlandoTrustfull]

The UK could enter The Beatles in their prime next year, and still struggle to get votes 😂

[@1justme]

Yeah, people generally hate us and we don't care. 😂

[@jules.8443]

Has Lyndsey ever seen Riverdance? They weren't an entry into the competition, they were the interim act while we were waiting for the votes to be counted. But they are good. Especially if Michael Flatley & Jean Butler were the leading dancers.

[@juliecowen3641]

Steve you should show her the video of River Dance i bet she would love it.

[@MaterialGurl16]

I'm so glad you reacted to a different Eurovision guide this time around.

[@mskatonic7240]

Eurovision itself takes place over a week - two semis, a dress rehearsal on the Friday, and the final is on the Saturday. Tickets are sought after, but if you're travelling to the city anyway, you might stay all week even if you only got tickets to one event. Of course, most people watch on TV.

[@steven54511]

Back in the day, Eurovision was taken as seriously as cancer but in the last fifteen years or so it's become more of a joke. People dressed in outrageous costumes and singing both political and "comedy" songs have been more prolific. Take it for what it is, a semi serious "song" contest that generates a huge amount of money and coverage for both the promoters and the winners.

[@kellysnowdon7736]

Stephen you should get Lindsey to watch the one where Riverdance was introduced to the world

[@rjjcms1]

1994.

[@vaudevillian7]

There’s a brilliant Father Ted episode about Eurovision that will make more sense in several ways after you’ve watched this

[@MrTrevcarter]

Check out the movie, Eurovision Song Contest with Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams. Absolutely brilliant fun.

[@MrTrevcarter]

Do it TONIGHT. You'll thank me forever and this competition takes place in my beautiful hometown Edinburgh. There's plenty of Eurovision on KZbin. Enjoy.

[@hellsbells8689]

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020). I love that film. In fact I might go and watch it again now. 🎶Ja Ja Ding Dong🎶

[@user-bq9rz9fw5x]

My favourite moment of Eurovision 2021 was when Iceland's juror was revealed to be the very passionate fan of JaJa Ding Dong 😀

[@audiocoffee]

that whole thing about Ireland winning the Eurovision was a bit of a thing - and parodied brilliantly in 'Father Ted' (look up 'my lovely horse') still hilarious even today 🤣

[@pezlover1974]

Australia and Israel can compete because they’re members of the European Broadcasting Union

[@laurareaney4702]

One of my friends did her degree thesis on the political and tactical voting in Eurovision. She was studying Politics and International Relations.

[@sarahfoster6765]

Not sure if someone has already written this but the reason Australia & Israel are in the Eurovision contest is because their broadcasters are members of the European broadcasting union which is the organisation that runs the event. ❤️🇬🇧

[@yvonnearmstrong469]

Uk would of won if there wasn't conflict in the Ukraine but i think the Ukraine got the sympathy vote and won sam singing Spaceman was brilliant and he ended up being second to Ukraine

[@karenblackadder1183]

Since the late Sir(honorary title as he was born in Eire) Terry Wogan stopped commentating on the contest, I don't know a single person who wastes their time watching Eurovision. Terry, in his soft Irish brogue and aided by a couple of bottles of Bailey's Irish Cream, would reduce these so called singers and bands to figures of fun. R.I.P Terry. We still miss you. If you want to see Terry in action, look up an interview he did with the then Princess Anne, now The Princess Royal. It shows a great sense of humour from both of them. It is on KZbin Try 'Wogan show. Princess Anne.' That should get you there.

[@terjemullerkarlsen3028]

This is not American Idol. It is about the original song...... Thnot a cover....Get that?

[@Peter-v1x6l]

remember watching it with my mum on our black and white telly when i was a kid we used to have a good laugth watching it🙂

[@birgittae9046]

It is the song and the country that is competing. The singer can be from any country. But it is most common that they are from the county they represent.

[@susanashcroft2674]

I think if you want to see a full Eurovision Song Contest, buckle up as it goes on for hours. Although I think you need to see a full one to get some context. I would suggest Eurovision Song Contest held in Liverpool 2023 on behalf of 2022 winners Ukraine who for obvious reasons couldn't hold it in their country. So the UK stepped in (as we came 2nd with Sam Ryder- Spaceman) and the city of Liverpool IMO did a good job. The city was buzzing, embraced the Ukraine culture and was a success. Just a brief clip of the Flag Parade where each participating country that reaches the final is introduced and on this occasion it was combined with previous Ukrainian entries to the contest. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kGOoZ4Osd8ypqZIsi=_pgIn8JHmbbJNqEG

[@AnneWeaving]

Someone may have mentioned it already, but there’s a hilarious parody song about how to win, performed by a couple of the presenters during the interval. The title is “Love, love, peace, peace love”. Enjoy!

[@jenniferdundon5491]

Ukraine won in 2022 but the Eurovision board decided they could not host it in 2023 due to the war so the UK hosted it in Liverpool on their behalf. Hosting the competition can bring in so many tourists in. In Liverpool lots of Americans came over for it as well people from all over the world it so popular.if you cannot get a ticket, they sell out fast, fan zones are usually set up all over the host city so people can watch live on large screens with lots of other entertainment through the day in these zones.

[@Asa...S]

Here are some videos to check out speaking of people who didn't represent the country where they were born: Eurovision | Not born in countries they represented (Part 1) Eurovision | Not born in countries they represented (Part 2) Eurovision | Not born in countries they represented (Part 3) Eurovision | Not born in countries they represented (Part 4)

[@impyimp9069]

“Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an associated member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It first broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in 1983 and has continued to do so every year since. The contest has attracted a strong viewing audience in Australia. Although Australia is outside the European Broadcasting Area and SBS is not a full member of the EBU, the EBU and Austrian host broadcaster ORF decided to permit an Australian entry to commemorate the 60th contest.”. Basically Australia has been enthusiastic about Eurovision for decades so to celebrate the special 60th anniversary they were allowed to compete, if they’d won they wouldn’t have hosted, the UK or Germany would have hosted for them. And then although it was supposed to be a one-off for the 60th, they have been included every year since. There’s even been some altered maps of Europe distributed that has Australia just off the coast of Spain 😆😆

[@docksider]

Eurovision is huge, the Semi Finals are broadcast over two days and the final takes most of the night. People often host Eurovision parties with people each bringing one dish typical of one of the competing countries. Also sometimes you will get minority languages use, like one French entry was sung in Breton rather than French. In all its great fun.

[@samgeller1967]

It’s all about winning! And whatever it takes to get there, hiring famous singers works

[@JenMaxon]

Eurovision has become a very big event and is very popular. It lasts quite a while. At least in the UK, they have a whole series of competitive events which are televised to work out which song will be put forward before the actual event even gets started. It started post-(WW2)war as a vehicle to promote good will between European countries. It's deeply tacky and daft but a lot of fun and some people watch it avidly from the initial heats through to the finale. I think it's pretty much achieved it's purpose. Every now and again a really good song or act comes out of it. I think someone has said elsewhere that it's a song contest not a singing contest - so the performers can come from wherever.

[@DramaQueenMalena]

Eurovision is a television network of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union). Normally, European countries exchange footage of what is happening. So news channels can report. When there is a big event, a coronation or a big sport event it can be produced by Eurovision. There were and are different shows, the largest is the Eurovision Song Contest. The Council of Europe initiated the EBU in 1950, after WWII. The idea was, that if countries get to know each other, know each others culture, music, languages it would prevent war. The Council of Europe has two main goals: ensure Human Rights and promote peace. There are other measures or institutions, not only the EBU. Interrail is a program where young people can use all the trains in Europe for a very low price. So young people started to visit other countries. Or language learning programs. A lot of programs to protect minorities. That's why the Song Contest is so important for LGBTQ people.

[@slytheringingerwitch]

Back in the day, it was very much homegrown, there were not many entering and the talent was the best they had. Its got weirder as time has passed and not as it was. Australia is allowed to enter, but cannot host, because they were big fans of Eurovision but are not in Europe. Its always been a little political, as in certain countries vote for their neighbours etc etc. Despite many people's view that the UK does badly in it, we have actually won it many times. The top three countries who have won it are, Ireland, and Sweden 7 times. France, Luxembourg, UK, the Netherlands 5 times and Israel 4 times for example.

[@catherinewhite8819]

Many people have Eurovision evenings, they bet with matchsticks, have sweepstakes etc. Fuelled with alcohol they can be hilarious

[@neilredrup7663]

The off key duo had a different key track played into their ears. The uk has never taken it seriously. Our commentary is very tongue in cheek. It was started for similar reasons to the common market. Bringing cultures together and harmony. Since the break up of the soviet union and yugoslavia many many more countries take part and political voting is ridiculous these days. Many newer countries take it very seriously and dislike the fact the uk doesn't have star acts and our lighthearted commentary.

[@patriciaperrin8757]

Try watching a YT video of Riverdance, the interval act at the 1994 Eurovision in Dublin, Ireland. It launched the huge Riverdance worldwide phenomenon and is still great to watch even after 30 years.

[@carolineskipper6976]

I think Steve already watched that a while ago.

[@Joseph13163]

@@carolineskipper6976 They would be better off watching a bit from the show

[@stuartjamesanderson9656]

Australia was invited to join back in 2015 I think, mainly because Australians live Eurovision and it's really popular there. They've done well in it and they've had the invitation extended in the years since.

[@CaroleEvans93436]

This year's winner was Swiss 'Nemo' who is non-binary. The staging, song and performance was amazing ! I recommend watching the grand final performance and then the audience's view (also on KZbin) - the cameramen and assistants worked so hard!

[@johnwilletts3984]

It’s a song contest not a singer contest. The song writers are the people who win or loose.

[@johnwilliamson523]

the music is written in each country

[@UnknownUser-rb9pd]

If the US wants to take the Eurovision song contest I think you should take it....PLEASE!

[@jonathanpringle8238]

they got their chance 2 years ago, it was loosley based on official version but was pretty much a failure

[@susanashcroft2674]

@@jonathanpringle8238 Yes they did it for one year and it was US states competing against each other. I think as much as they tried to emulate Eurovision's format, it just didn't work as Eurovision is unique and nothing compares to it.

[@jamez974]

The Eurovision song contest is not a song contest it's a political popularity , punishment exercise.

[@furnessborn]

Actually the UK hold the record in the song contest for the most second places of 16 over the years. Not so much recently but 2022 Sam Ryder was 2nd behind Ukraine.

[@CarolWoosey-ck2rg]

They only won it because of the war- pathetic

[@carolineskipper6976]

Australia and Israel were invited to join in Eurovision, because historically they had TV channels that bought and broadcast the competition (and therefore already helped to fund it). The important thing to remember is that the competition is for the 'best' origingal SONG not artist - so a country can choose for their song to be sung by a non-national - as did Canadian Celine Dion for Switzerland, and Australian Olivia Newton John for the UK. These are outliers, of course, and usually the performers are from the country they represent. The grand finale is basically a huge party night! My favourite entries are usually the east european quirky mix of traditional folk muisc and modern pop. I think the way a song is chosen varies from country to country (and over the years|). The UK typically runs a pre-competition contest where the public votes for their favourite of about half a dozen possible entries. The two semi finals are broadcast on TV in the week of the contest, followed by the grand finale on a third night. Nowadays, each country has a judging panel who allocate points to each entry (or maybe their top 10?). There are also phone and internet votes by the public in every participating country. The panel results are shown first, with the public votes added second to find the winner. The 'Prize' is really the honour, and the opportunitites for Europewide exposure following the win.

[@gbulmer]

Small nitpick: Israel joined the European Broadcasting Union in the 1950s becoming eligible to enter Eurovision. Israel didn't actually start to compete until the early '70s. Best Wishes. ☮

[@pamelsims2068]

It doesn't matter WHO the performer is ... or where they are from..... it is not a singer contest.... it is the SONG ... written by someone from that country.... which is being judged.

[@chrisbamber2762]

eurovision is now a 3 day event in may with the first 2 days being the semi finals and the third the grand final (usually the final go on for about 4 hours). since the video was first posted sweden have equalled irelands record. starting from this year there is now three parts to the voting theres the proffesional jury in eacgh country awarding points between 1 and 12, a public voting system that offers the same points system (you cant vote for your own country) and an nternational public vote open to countires that are not competing but have broadcasting rights (includes the us) next years edition is to be held in switzerland. there is also a juniour version as well for under 14's. for a song to count it must have not been commercially relased and no more than 3 minutes long

[@petersheppard6085]

Check out the comedy show "Father Ted" set in Ireland, where they set out to lose at a singing contest, loosely based on Eurovision

[@gbulmer]

"My Lovely Horse" 😂

[@paulguise698]

@@gbulmer This is a travesty, It was the same note over and over again

[@ppppp789]

@@gbulmer running through the field

[@petersheppard6085]

@@gbulmer Oh Yeah....."Let's DO this Mother...!!" LOL

[@gbulmer]

@@petersheppard6085 😀😆

[@productjoe4069]

Few points of clarification: * The Eurovision Song Contest is meant to be (everyone else say it with me) a songwriting contest. This means that it is the song being judged rather than the performer. In practice though, the scoring criteria for the judges (and most of the votes from the public) do include a lot of performance aspects. This feeds into the looser connection between country and performer. Really, given how the music industry has always worked, what matters is what that industry can commission (homegrown or otherwise) * Eurovision is run by the European Broadcasters Union (EBU). This is one of the bodies (delegated to by the International Telecommunications Union) that regulates how radio/microwave spectrum is allocated globally. Israel is in Eurovision because they’re within the catchment area the EBU is responsible for, so their state broadcaster belongs to it * Australia isn’t a full EBU member, but rather an associate member. Apart from their regulatory role, the EBU also provides a range of outside broadcast services to its members especially in sport. In fact, that’s how Eurovision got its name: Eurovision was the name of the packaged TV channel that it first aired on. The main channel the EBU makes today is EuroSport. Australia has lots of people interested in European sports. Rather than sending outside broadcast teams around the planet, they buy a lot of coverage from the EBU becoming an associate member. Other associate members include Canada and, surprisingly, the US. Australia got invited to participate in the 60th year because Eurovision broadcasts have long been very popular there. They sort of hung around afterwards, but since their initial multi year deal elapsed, they now must be invited formally each year (associates don’t have automatic participation rights) * The event lasts a week, with two televised semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday and then the final on the Saturday. There are also jury finals and dress rehearsals you can buy tickets for. Most people only go to see one show in the venue and watch the others from one of the public viewing areas or just a bar. The whole city usually gets transformed for the event, with a Eurovision village, and lots of unofficial events too. It’s basically a week long party and plenty of people show up without a ticket to any show. The main attendances by nationality are usually the host nation, followed by the UK, then Ireland, then Germany with a smattering of superfans from other countries (although all nations are sufficiently represented). This year, UK attendees outnumbered the host nation. It’s a more… theatrical version of an international football tournament crowd. The best show to attend in person is the Jury Final on the Friday (IMO). You get the full performances, but can leave straight afterwards and get an early night before the intensity of the final on Saturday (from experience, doing the dress rehearsal on Saturday is exhausting as you’re all go for 18+ hours, and the actual final is expensive in terms of drinks as you are stuck in the venue for 5-6 hours) * Eurovision is the most watched regular non-sport event in the world, with a quarter billion live viewers each year. This includes a lot of Europeans of course, but there are sizeable audiences in many countries outside (even those without colonial ties, such as China). The logistics for this sort of broadcast are immense, requiring a random town in some country to host a crowd of hundreds of thousands with less than 12 months notice (usually less than 9, due to host city bidding processes). Sometimes it works (like Vienna in 2015, or Liverpool in 2023). Sometimes it doesn’t (like Turin in 2022). The EBU provides a lot of technical support, but not always enough or in the right way and the host broadcaster is ultimately in charge (except, controversially, this year where the EBU took more direct control and messed everything up) * Politics is much less of a factor than people think. A friend did their PhD on this topic, and he found that there was little evidence of statistically significant political biases in the voting. Most of the variance is better explained by cultural similarities (you’re more likely to like a song that’s more similar to ones that you already know), basic song quality, and some diaspora voting (expat communities in other countries who can vote for their home nation). Best to file it under ‘obvious but wrong/popular myths’. I myself thought it was more significant beforehand I’m not a Eurovision mega fan, although I am a member of the official UK fan organisation and have been to multiple Eurovisions in person (2014, 2015, 2016, 2022). There are many who go to every year, and can recognise and name every entry since the 1950s. I’m more casual than that (been watching since the mid 90s). Others here probably have a lot more insight to give!

[@productjoe4069]

Judging deserves its own comment. I’ll describe the current system, as it is most relevant. It changes (a little or a lot) fairly regularly although not every year. Each country votes in two different ways. There is a professional ‘jury’ vote, where the votes are cast by a group of alleged music industry professionals selected by that country’s national broadcaster. There is also the public televote, made by the general public choosing the songs they like. Both the jury and the public votes are used to rank all the songs (except their own country’s entry!) from top to bottom separately. The country that gets the most votes is awarded 12 points, then 10, then 8 down to 1. The remaining songs get 0 from that country (this process is repeated separately for both the jury and the televote). A song that’s consistently in 13th place among all countries’ juries and all countries’ televotes will get zero (‘null’) points. There are five people on each jury. Each phone number can vote up to 20 times. There is usually a bit of a split in the jury and televote because they’re both looking at different things (the jury often prefers technical or artistic aspects, while the televote often prefers spectacle and performance), but also because they’re watching different shows. For logistical reasons, the jury votes are based on a show the night before. Any country participating in that year’s competition (whether or not they make it to the final) is eligible to vote. There is also a ‘rest of the world’ vote as part of the televote for everyone else. Your vote doesn’t count for much though as the whole rest of world vote is used to produce a single ranking with a single set of points from 12 to 1 like any single country’s televote. For drama, the jury votes are announced first, going country by country declaring their jury’s picks. The order they give their scores is chosen to maximise the uncertainty about who is winning. After the jury votes, the televote is announced but this time going in order by point receiver rather than point giver. They start with the country that got the lowest number of points from the jury and then advance up. They simply say the total number of points received across all voting countries. This usually makes it almost impossible to figure out who is actually going to win until the very end (in the old way of announcing results they combined the jury and televote and did it in one shot, which meant you often knew the winner five or more countries before the end). The winning song is the one with the highest total of points. Since there are 30-40 participating countries each year, a theoretical maximum score is around 800 points (12 from each country except themselves, twice).

[@gloryguyful]

Eurovision was started by a TV station named eurovision as baseball was sponsered by a newspaper The World hence the World series. It was mainly European countries up to modern times but nothing ever said it was only open to European countries.

[@jillybrooke29]

We always have a very British very sarcastic commentator in the background so we Brits have a laugh at other countries expense 😂

[@Joseph13163]

No you have irish sarcastic commentators

[@gbulmer]

@@Joseph13163 👍👍

[@jillybrooke29]

@@Joseph13163 Oh yes

[@dathang]

Peacock TV has been running it here live for the last few years.

[@leohickey4953]

As the voiceover briefly mentioned, the voting format has changed over time, but these days, in the final, there are two rounds of voting: one from a panel of music professionals from each country, and another based on a count of public votes (by phone, app, etc.). You're not allowed to vote for your own country's act. Voting in the two semi-final shows is slightly more complicated, but is basically similar.

[@RobertHogg-u8w]

This competition brings family’s together to watch it and we pick a few to try and find the winner and see if any get it right ❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@Jo-likes-to]

For the most part, the acts that do represent their countries are either from there or have heritage from there. Flo Rida, Céline Dion and Olivia Newton John were just the odd exceptions

[@rebeccat94]

I'm pretty sure Olivia Newton John was either born in the UK or one parent is British... something like that.

[@Jo-likes-to]

@@rebeccat94 ah ok which will make sense why she represented the UK then. I thought she was full Australian.

[@rebeccat94]

@@Jo-likes-to Yeah! I just wiki'd it. - Welsh father, born in England, then family emigrated to Aus.. So a bit like the BeeGees - we both claim them.

[@noplace3571]

If you’re looking for a full contest to react to, 2021 hosted by the Netherlands is definitely up there. The acts were amazing, and the public voting was all over the place. Four countries (including the host nation) got 0 points in the public vote one after the other. It’s the only show I wish I could go back and watch again for the first time 😂