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Eurovision Song Contest Do you know where your favourite songs come from?

Daria Bocicova

Arts & Culture Section Editor


@Eurovision


I've spent all of the love I saved

We were always a losing game

Small-town boy in a big arcade

I got addicted to a losing game.


If the music in your head hasn't started playing upon reading that, you've clearly been living under a rock for the past two years. Arcade by Duncan Lorens, Euphoria by Lareen, Fairytale by Alexander Rybak, Toy by Netta, the list can honestly go on forever, for it is but the tip of the Iceberg that is the Eurovision Song Contest. Speaking of Icebergs, Celine Dion competed for Switzerland in Eurovision 1988 and won with her song Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi. Not impressed yet? Well, what if I told you that ABBA became as popular as it is now due to Eurovision 1974 and the win they brought Sweden with their song Waterloo, which turned the eyes of the world towards them the very next morning. Another winner that made it to your FYP is an Italian band, Mรฅneskin, who brought their home country its third win since the creation of the contest with their song Zitti e Buoni in 2021. Although you are probably more familiar with their relatively recent, I Wanna Be Your Slave. I feel like now I definitely got your attention, and I'm going to use this momentum for a little walk down history lane.


Origins

In 1950, in an effort to unite European countries following the second world war through cross-border television, The European Broadcasting Union or EBU, was created. Five years later, an idea for a pan-European singing contest was conceived at a conference of the European Broadcasting Union in Monaco in 1955, inspired by the Italian Sanremo Festival. It was determined that the very first ever Eurovision Song Contest would be held in the Swiss resort of Lugano the next year. Although several cameras were recording the contest for the very few Europeans who had a telly set at the time, the 1956 Eurovision Song Contest was predominantly a radio programme.


Voting

Over the years, the voting systems utilised in the competition have evolved. While everything started in 1956 with only two judges from each participating country taking part in a secret vote, the current system has been in place since 1975. Each country has to assemble a panel of national judges who then award songs from other countries with points ranging from 1 to 8, then 10 and eventually 12 โ€” with the favourite receiving the now-famous douze points. Traditionally, only an internal jury chose a country's set of votes, but in 1997, five nations experimented with televoting, allowing members of the general public in those countries to vote en masse for their favourite songs. The trial was a success, and all nations were invited to employ televoting if feasible beginning in 1998. Today, while the judges still attribute their points, the public is invited to cast theirs as the hosts communicate with the presenters through broadcasted video calls. When all the juries announce their decisions, the voting stops, and after the final recap, the winner is announced, ranging from least votes acquired to most.


Structure

While initially, Eurovision was a one-day event, the contest has now been separated into three parts. The conclusion of the Cold War in the early 1990s resulted in a surge in participation, with many former Eastern Bloc countries popping up at line up for the first time to participate. This process is still going on, with additional countries entering every day. As a result, the EBU developed the Semi-Final format in 2004, which was expanded to two Semi-Finals for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008. To qualify for the Final, all countries except the 'Big Five' โ€” France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom โ€“ and the host country must be in the top-10 of a Semi-Final. In turn, the contestant or the contestants who will be fighting for the chance to represent their country are chosen months prior, usually through a more minor song contest within each country.


While there is still a month to go until Eurovision, I am already playing some of this year's songs on repeat. Yes, you read that right. The entries are by no means a mystery, and even their official music videos are already at your disposal online. You can listen to all of them if you look up the Eurovision 2022 playlist on the contest's official Spotify account.


Now, I'm gonna go play Give That Wolf a Banana by Subwoolfer a few more times, but you should really take a look at the running orders for the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 Semi-Finals taking place on Tuesday the 10th and Thursday the 12th of May, respectively:


First Semi-Final: Tuesday the 10th of May

  1. ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Albania: Ronela Hajati โ€“ Sekret

  2. ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ป Latvia: Citi Zฤ“ni โ€“ Eat Your Salad

  3. ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡น Lithuania: Monika Liu โ€“ Sentimentai

  4. ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ญ Switzerland: Marius Bear โ€“ Boys Do Cry

  5. ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Slovenia: LPS โ€“ Disko

  6. ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Ukraine: Kalush Orchestra โ€“ Stefania

  7. ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฌ Bulgaria: Intelligent Music Project โ€“ Intention

  8. ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands: S10 โ€“ De Diepte

  9. ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฉ Moldova: Zdob ลŸi Zdub & Fraศ›ii Advahov โ€“ Trenuleศ›ul

  10. ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น Portugal: MARO โ€“ Saudade, Saudade

  11. ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatia: Mia Dimลกiฤ‡ โ€“ Guilty Pleasure

  12. ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Denmark: REDDI โ€“ The Show

  13. ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡น Austria: LUM!X feat. Pia Maria โ€“ Halo

  14. ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ธ Iceland: Systur โ€“ Meรฐ Hรฆkkandi Sรณl

  15. ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ท Greece: Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord โ€“ Die Together

  16. ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway: Subwoolfer โ€“ Give That Wolf A Banana

  17. ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Armenia: Rosa Linn โ€“ Snap


Voting in First Semi-Final:

  • ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท France: Alvan & Ahez โ€“ Fulenn

  • ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น Italy: Mahmood & Blanco โ€“ Brividi


Second Semi-Final: Thursday the 12th of May

  1. ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finland: The Rasmus โ€“ Jezebel

  2. ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Israel: Michael Ben David โ€“ I.M

  3. ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ธ Serbia: Konstrakta โ€“ In Corpore Sano

  4. ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Azerbaijan: Nadir Rustamli โ€“ Fade To Black

  5. ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ช Georgia: Circus Mircus โ€“ Lock Me In

  6. ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡น Malta: Emma Muscat โ€“ I Am What I Am

  7. ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฒ San Marino: Achille Lauro โ€“ Stripper

  8. ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia: Sheldon Riley โ€“ Not The Same

  9. ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡พ Cyprus: Andromache โ€“ Ela

  10. ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ช Ireland: Brooke โ€“ That's Rich

  11. ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฐ North Macedonia: Andrea โ€“ Circles

  12. ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ช Estonia: Stefan โ€“ Hope

  13. ๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡ด Romania: WRS โ€“ Llรกmame

  14. ๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ Poland: Ochman โ€“ River

  15. ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ช Montenegro: Vladana โ€“ Breathe

  16. ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช Belgium: Jรฉrรฉmie Makiese โ€“ Miss You

  17. ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden: Cornelia Jakobs โ€“ Hold Me Closer

  18. ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Czech Republic: We Are Domi โ€“ Lights Off


Voting in Second Semi-Final:

  • ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany: Malik Harris โ€“ Rockstars

  • ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ Spain: Chanel โ€“ SloMo

  • ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง United Kingdom: Sam Ryder โ€“ SPACE MAN

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