8 Things You Need to Know About the Eurovision Song Contest

8 things you need to know about the Eurovision Song Contest!

March 8, 2014  //  By: Maria Solvsteen  //  Featured, GUIDE  //  No Comment

Who would have thought that you could be cultural AND have a good excuse to get drunk at the same time?! If you need a good excuse to get drunk tonight (whether it being on liquor or in love), while enjoying the magnitude of cultural songs, you should tune in tonight on DR1 at 8 pm. But before you do that, there are some facts you need to get straight, because no one wants to abandon their cultural heritage – or be a Eurovision newbie!

1. The 59th Eurovision Song Contest is upon us, and this year it’s Denmark’s turn to host the magnificent show, which will be held in May in Copenhagen.
2. The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the longest-aired television programs in the world.
3. The contest is being hosted by the country whose national contestant won the previous year – thanks to the smash hit “Only Teardrops”, Denmark is hosting in 2014.
4. Each country’s citizens and national judges can vote for the song they like the best although they cannot vote for their own song. The number of votes is then converted into points, which is announced on live television ranging to 12 points.
5. There has been one winner every year since the contest’s beginning except for 1969, where no less than four countries tied in a first place.
6. What might come as a surprising fact is that Ireland is the country that has won the most! In fact, Irish Johnny Logan is the only artist to have ever won three times in the Eurovision Song Contests. One of his winning songs “What’s Another Year” was even featured by Steffen GilMartin in last night’s X Factor show, which had the Eurovision Song Contest as the theme the entire evening.
7. Portugal is the only country in the entire competition that has never ever won and they have actually competed 46 times – is anyone else associating Leo Dicaprio’ s lack of Oscar winning with this bitter feeling?
8. To win the contest is associated with great glory, capitalizing on your career, and as a national pride, at least it used to be. A lot of skepticism has been expressed in relation to the notion of “Winning Eurovision = success”, but some of world’s most recognized artists have actually started their career in the singing games. Most of us probably know that Swedish ABBA won in 1974 with “Waterloo”. But did you know that Céline Dion won on behalf of Switzerland in 1988 with the song “Ne Partez pas Sons Moi”, which in English means “Don’t Leave without Me”?

Now you should be equipped with some knowledgeable skills to impress your friends tonight as the Danish edition airs.

About the Author : Maria Solvsteen

20-year-old Maria is on her second year of BSc International Business and is still struggling with abandoning her dreams of becoming a princess and adhering to the hard-core business world. She grew up in Gentofte surrounded by dancing classes, Disney movies and aesthetic literature, and has consequently developed an interest for words in the writing. Her leisure time is spent with exploring and travelling to new countries, walking her dog and indulging in her addiction to drinking chai-tea with friends.