Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

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Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
Congratulation50Yearslogo.png
Dates
Air date22 October 2005
Host
Venue Forum Copenhagen,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Presenter(s)
Musical director Michael Bojesen
Directed byLars Hammer
Executive supervisor
Executive producerJan Frifelt
Host broadcaster EBU, DR
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 1–8, 10, and 12 points to ten songs; the five songs with the most points progressed to a second round of voting, where each country awarded 6–8, 10, and 12 points.
Winning song"Waterloo" by ABBA

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. Hosted by Katrina Leskanich and Renārs Kaupers, the event took place at Forum, in Copenhagen on 22 October 2005. The host was Danish broadcaster DR. Fourteen songs from the contest's first half-century, chosen through an internet poll and by a jury, contested the event. [1]

Contents

Thirty-one EBU-member countries broadcast the concert (although notably France, Italy and the United Kingdom did not) and televoting and juries in these countries decided the winner. [2] A total of 2.5 million votes were cast during the live broadcast. [3] The event was won by Swedish group ABBA, who did not attend, with the song "Waterloo"; the band had originally won the Contest for Sweden in 1974. [4]

To coincide with the event, the EBU released two double album CDs featuring Eurovision songs from the previous fifty years. Two DVDs with original Eurovision performances of these songs were also released. [5]

Organisation

In November 2002, Jürgen Meier-Beer from the Reference Group of the EBU announced plans to organize a special jubilee programme in 2005 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. At the time no host broadcaster was announced, with German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and the Dutch broadcasting organization Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) reportedly as potential hosts. [6]

Change of host broadcaster

In June 2004, the EBU announced that it was to hold a concert to celebrate fifty years of the contest. The event was to be held on 16 October 2005 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England. The BBC was to be the host broadcaster for the concert. [7] The Royal Albert Hall was reportedly unavailable, so in August 2004 the EBU announced that DR would stage the event instead. Eurovision Song Contest supervisor Svante Stockselius said that Denmark's previous experience of hosting Eurovision events (the 2001 Contest and the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003) were influential in the Union's choice. The event was codenamed Extravaganza. [8]

1998 Eurovision winner Dana International, who appeared at the event, later went to suggest that the reason behind the change of host country was also due to the fact that the BBC wanted to present the show "with humour" as though to poke fun at the Contest, an idea that proved to be less popular with the EBU. The BBC ended up not broadcasting the show from Copenhagen, [9] and went on to broadcast their own 50th anniversary programme, Boom Bang-a-Bang: 50 Years of Eurovision, in May 2006. The programme featured archive footage and highlights of past contests, along with a performance of that year's UK entry by Daz Sampson and was hosted by Terry Wogan. [10]

Selection of venue and hosts

Forum Copenhagen, venue for the concert Forum Copenhagen.jpg
Forum Copenhagen, venue for the concert

On 25 October 2004 Copenhagen was confirmed as the host city for the event, which was now scheduled to take place on 22 October 2005. [11] In May 2005 Congratulations was confirmed as the official name of the concert. [12] A month later DR announced that Forum Copenhagen would host the programme. [13] The chosen venue had previously hosted the first edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. [14]

On 9 September 2005, DR announced that Katrina Leskanich and Renārs Kaupers would present the concert. Leskanich was the lead singer of Katrina and The Waves, who won the Contest for the United Kingdom in 1997. Kaupers is the lead singer of Latvian group Brainstorm, who represented Latvia on its debut in the Contest in 2000. [15] Tickets for the event went on sale on 22 August 2005 from 10:00 (CET) and sold out in just over one hour. [16] The event was attended by an audience of 6,000. [17]

Participating songs

Fourteen songs competed in Congratulations. [18] In May 2005, the EBU opened a poll on its website to decide ten songs that would contest the event. [19] Voters chose their two favourite songs from each of five decades: 1956 to 1965, 1966 to 1975, 1976 to 1985, 1986 to 1995 and 1996 to 2005. The remaining four songs would be selected by the EBU's Reference Group. [1]

On 16 June 2005 the fourteen chosen songs were announced, although no indication was given as to which had been chosen online and which by the Reference Group. [20] Eleven of the fourteen songs were Eurovision winners; only "Nel blu, dipinto di blu", "Congratulations" and "Eres tú" (which all finished in the top three at the contest) were not. Two countries, the United Kingdom and Ireland, were represented twice on the list. Johnny Logan, who won the contest twice for Ireland as a singer, had both of his songs featured on the list. [12]

First round

All 31 countries broadcasting the contest voted in the first round. The five songs that are marked in orange qualified to the second and final round.

DrawYearCountryArtistSongLanguagePlacePoints
01 1968 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Cliff Richard "Congratulations"English8105
02 1980 Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Johnny Logan "What's Another Year"English1274
03 1998 Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Dana International "Diva" Hebrew 1339
04 1973 Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Mocedades "Eres tú" Spanish 1190
05 1982 Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Nicole "Ein bißchen Frieden" German 7106
06 1958 Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Domenico Modugno "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" Italian 2200
07 1974 Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden ABBA "Waterloo"English1331
08 2000 Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Olsen Brothers "Fly on the Wings of Love"English6111
09 1965 Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg France Gall "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" French 1437
10 2003 Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Sertab Erener "Everyway That I Can"English9104
11 1988 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland Celine Dion "Ne partez pas sans moi"French1098
12 1987 Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Johnny Logan"Hold Me Now"English3182
13 1976 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Brotherhood of Man "Save Your Kisses for Me"English5154
14 2005 Flag of Greece.svg  Greece Helena Paparizou "My Number One"English4167

Second round

All 31 countries broadcasting the contest voted in the second round.

DrawYearCountryArtistSongLanguagePlacePoints
01 1958 Flag of Italy.svg  Italy Domenico Modugno "Nel blu, dipinto di blu"Italian2267
02 1974 Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden ABBA "Waterloo"English1329
03 1987 Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Johnny Logan "Hold Me Now"English3262
04 1976 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Brotherhood of Man "Save Your Kisses for Me"English5230
05 2005 Flag of Greece.svg  Greece Helena Paparizou "My Number One"English4245

Scoreboard

Both juries and televoting were used at Congratulations; both having an equal influence over the vote. In the first round of voting, the number of songs was reduced to five. Each country awarded points from one to eight, then ten and finally twelve for their ten most popular songs. Unlike in the Contest proper, viewers were allowed to vote for songs which had represented their country. The top five songs were then subjected to another round of voting, where only six points and above were awarded. The voting was conducted in private, and the results were not announced until after the show. The song with the most points in the second round was the winner. [21]

The full scoreboard is as follows: [22] [23] [ better source needed ]

First round

Voting results in the first round [22]
Total score
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Malta
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
Songs
"Congratulations"1058101586123555103472411275
"What's Another Year"74246541683323664614
"Diva"39313122216234
"Eres tú"9010105310410112631213
"Ein bißchen Frieden"10613233453862771455731384443
"Nel blu, dipinto di blu"200676710587872468768268710810858106
"Waterloo"3311212128121012121271010812128812101212128121212101210812
"Fly on the Wings of Love"111351610612710102728313483
"Poupée de cire, poupée de son"37881213712112
"Everyway That I Can"10421026844371148555253712
"Ne partez pas sans moi"9871321511141031021834421258
"Hold Me Now"18245687771010212541212571025101076621
"Save Your Kisses for Me"15446474823686656571010286662710
"My Number One"1675271241225126435544134112775710567

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded in the first round:

N.ContestantNation(s) giving 12 points
18"Waterloo"Flag of Andorra.svg  Andorra , Flag of Austria.svg  Austria , Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium , Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia , Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark , Flag of Finland.svg  Finland , Flag of Germany.svg  Germany , Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia , Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania , Flag of Monaco.svg  Monaco , Flag of Norway.svg  Norway , Flag of Poland.svg  Poland , Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal , Flag of Russia.svg  Russia , Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg  Serbia and Montenegro , Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia , Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden , Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine
4"My Number One"Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina , Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus , Flag of Greece.svg  Greece , Flag of Romania.svg  Romania
3"Hold Me Now"Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland , Flag of North Macedonia.svg  Macedonia , Flag of Malta.svg  Malta
2"Eres tú"Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands , Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
1"Fly on the Wings of Love"Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland
"Everyway That I Can"Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey
"Ne partez pas sans moi"Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland
"Diva"Flag of Israel.svg  Israel

Second round

Voting results in the second round [22]
Total score
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Malta
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
Songs
"Nel blu, dipinto di blu"26710108108761012810778128810668871071010710127
"Waterloo"32912121281010121277121010121010101212121278121012121212812
"Hold Me Now"262671071281088108128661212710106121268868766
"Save Your Kisses for Me"230786666876676121087688810106867866710
"My Number One"245867127127610126867767677761071267108108

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded in the second round:

N.ContestantNation(s) giving 12 points
17"Waterloo"Flag of Andorra.svg  Andorra , Flag of Austria.svg  Austria , Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium , Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark , Flag of Finland.svg  Finland , Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland , Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia , Flag of Monaco.svg  Monaco , Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands , Flag of Norway.svg  Norway , Flag of Poland.svg  Poland , Flag of Russia.svg  Russia , Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia , Flag of Spain.svg  Spain , Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden , Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland , Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine
6"Hold Me Now"Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia , Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland , Flag of North Macedonia.svg  Macedonia , Flag of Malta.svg  Malta , Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal , Flag of Romania.svg  Romania
4"My Number One"Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina , Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus , Flag of Greece.svg  Greece , Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg  Serbia and Montenegro
3"Nel blu, dipinto di blu"Flag of Germany.svg  Germany , Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania , Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey
1"Save Your Kisses for Me"Flag of Israel.svg  Israel

Performances

The show started with the traditional Eurovision "Te Deum" theme followed by a message from Cliff Richard. After a quick montage of all 14 songs, the orchestra began playing "Ding-a-Dong" (Netherlands 1975), with dancers on stage. "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (Israel 1978), "Le dernier qui a parlé..." (France 1991), and "Dschinghis Khan" (Germany 1979) was also played and accompanied by choreography, which was then followed by "Love Shine a Light" (UK 1997) sung by the co-host, Katrina Leskanich, who came out with flag holders of all the countries that have participated in Eurovision up to that point.

Throughout the telecast, a number of highlights segments were presented which showed montages of various Eurovision performances which were either interesting, notable or unorthodox. There were 6 assortments, which were under the categories described by the hosts as 'past winners', 'political, daring, larger than life', 'cute men', 'unforgettable interpretation of dance', 'girlpower' and 'close/narrow second-place finishers'. A number of former Eurovision artists returned to help introduce and present the show, including Carola Häggkvist, Massiel, Dana International, Birthe Wilke, Anne-Marie David, Sandra Kim, Elisabeth Andreassen, Hanne Krogh, Olsen Brothers, Emilija Kokić, Marie Myriam, Sertab Erener, Helena Paparizou, Nicole and Hugo, Cheryl Baker and Lys Assia. Cliff Richard and Nicole gave pre-recorded messages as they were unable to attend.

During the show, there were many presentations by various guest artists during the voting and tallying period. These consisted of the Finnish shouting choir Mieskuoro Huutajat, Riverdance (the 1994 interval act), Ronan Keating (the 1997 co-host), and Johnny Logan, singing his new single "When a Woman Loves a Man", as well as an appearance by the Belgian duo of 1973, Nicole and Hugo.

There were three medleys, consisting of performances of past Eurovision songs. The first consisted of : Dana International, singing "Parlez-vous Francais" (originally performed by Baccara for Luxembourg in Eurovision Song Contest 1978); Carola Haggkvist, singing "Främling" (1983, 3rd place); Alsou, singing "Solo" (2000, 2nd); Fabrizio Faniello, singing "Another Summer Night" (2001, 9th); Marie Myriam, singing "L'amour est bleu" (originally performed by Vicky Leandros for Luxembourg in 1967); Richard Herrey, singing "Let Me Be the One" (originally performed by The Shadows for United Kingdom in 1975); and Thomas Thordarson, singing "Vi maler byen rød" (originally performed by Birthe Kjær for Denmark in 1989).

The second consisted of: Gali Atari, singing "Hallelujah" (1979, winner); Bobbysocks!, singing "La det swinge" (1985, winner); Anne-Marie David, singing "Après toi" (originally sung by Vicky Leandros for Luxembourg in 1972, winner); Lys Assia, singing "Refrain" (1956, winner), Sandra Kim singing "Non ho l'età" (originally sung by Gigliola Cinquetti for Italy in 1964, winner) and Bucks Fizz singing "Making Your Mind Up" (1981, winner).

The final medley was sung by Eimear Quinn, Charlie McGettigan, Jakob Sveistrup and Linda Martin, the Eurovision winners of 1996, 1994 and 1992, and (in Sveistrup's case), the 2005 Danish representative. All four acted as backup singers during the show. They were also joined by the Olsen Brothers for a brief, Eurovision-themed version of their song "Walk Right Back".

Medleys

Opening medley

Winners of Eurovision

Unforgettable performances

Men in Eurovision

Dancing in Eurovision

Women in Eurovision

Eurovision favourites

Eurovision winners medley

Second places

Medley "backing vocals"

Broadcasts

A total of thirty-five countries broadcast the event, but only thirty-one participated in the voting.

Broadcasters and commentators in voting countries [2]
CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Commentator(s)Ref(s)
Flag of Andorra.svg Andorra RTVA ATV
Flag of Austria.svg Austria ORF ORF 2 [lower-alpha 1] Elisabeth Engstler and Christian Ludwig [24] [25]
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium VRT Eén [26] [27]
RTBF La Une , RTBF Sat Jean-Pierre Hautier [26] [28] [29]
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosnia and Herzegovina BHRT BHT 1
Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia HRT HRT 1 [30]
Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg Cyprus RIK
Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark DR DR1 Nicolai Molbech [31] [32]
Flag of Finland.svg Finland YLE YLE TV2 Jaana Pelkonen and Heikki Seppälä  [ fi ] [33]
YLE Radio Suomi Sanna Kojo
YLE Radio Vega Hans Johansson
Flag of Germany.svg Germany ARD Südwest Fernsehen , WDR Fernsehen [25] [29] [34]
Flag of Greece.svg Greece ERT NET Elizabeth Filippouli [35]
Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland RÚV Sjónvarpið [36]
Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland RTÉ RTÉ Two Marty Whelan [37] [38]
Flag of Israel.svg Israel IBA
Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia LTV LTV1 [39]
Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania LRT
Flag of North Macedonia.svg Macedonia MRT
Flag of Malta.svg Malta PBS TVM Tony Micallef [40]
Flag of Monaco.svg Monaco TMC Monte Carlo Bernard Montiel  [ fr ] and Yves Lecoq [29]
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands NPO Nederland 2 Willem van Beusekom [26] [41]
Flag of Norway.svg Norway NRK NRK1 Jostein Pedersen [31]
Flag of Poland.svg Poland TVP TVP1 [42]
Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal RTP RTP1 [43]
Flag of Romania.svg Romania TVR
Flag of Russia.svg Russia Channel One [44]
Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg Serbia and Montenegro RTS
RTCG
Flag of Slovenia.svg Slovenia RTV SLO SLO 1  [ sl ] Mojca Mavec  [ sl ] [30] [45]
Flag of Spain.svg Spain TVE La Primera José María Íñigo and Beatriz Pécker  [ es ] [46]
Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden SVT SVT1 Pekka Heino [31] [47]
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland SRG SSR SF 1 [25] [29] [48]
TSR 1 Jean-Marc Richard
TSI 1
Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey TRT TRT 1 [49]
Flag of Ukraine.svg Ukraine NTU Pershyi Natsionalnyi [50]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-voting countries
CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Commentator(s)Ref(s)
Flag of Albania.svg Albania RTSH [51]
Flag of Armenia.svg Armenia AMPTV [51]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia SBS SBS TV [lower-alpha 2] Marty Whelan [51] [52]
Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary MR Petőfi Rádió  [ hu ] [lower-alpha 3] Erzsébet Jeney  [ hu ] [53]
Flag of the United Nations.svg Kosovo RTK RTK [51]

Viewing figures

Estimated viewership by country (in millions) [54]
CountryViewership
Flag of Austria.svg Austria0.80
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium1 (VRT)
Flag of Cyprus.svg Cyprus0.07
Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark1.42
Flag of Finland.svg Finland0.44
Flag of Germany.svg Germany0.63 (SWR, WDR)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands1.2
Flag of Norway.svg Norway0.97
Flag of Poland.svg Poland3.2
Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal0.85
Flag of Spain.svg Spain2.83
Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden2

Non-participating countries

Countries that have previously competed but were not involved with the broadcast or voting of the contest;

  • Flag of Belarus.svg Belarus
  • Flag of Bulgaria.svg Bulgaria
  • Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia
  • Flag of France.svg France [55]
  • Flag of Italy (2003-2006).svg Italy [55]
  • Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg
  • Flag of Moldova.svg Moldova
  • Flag of Morocco.svg Morocco
  • Flag of Slovakia.svg Slovakia
  • Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom [55]

The BBC (UK), RAI (Italy) and France Télévisions chose not to broadcast the event. Søren Therkelsen, the commissioning editor of the event, said he was "disappointed" at the broadcasters' decision not to transmit the show. [55] The BBC chose not to carry the event as it was "too remote" for British audiences. [17]

Official album

Cover art of the official album The Very Best Of The Eurovision Song Contest.jpeg
Cover art of the official album

To coincide with the broadcast of the programme, an official compilation album for the 50th anniversary titled The Very Best of the Eurovision Song Contest (also known as Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest), [56] was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by CMC International on 21 October 2005. [57] The compilation featured over 100 songs, including all Eurovision Song Contest winners from 1956 until 2005 and a selection of all-time favourites, that was divided into 2 separate double CDs: 1956–1980 and 1981–2005. The 22-page booklet includes information about the entries, contestants and venues. [58]

Notes

  1. ↑ Deferred broadcast at 22:10 CET (21:00 UTC) [24]
  2. ↑ Deferred broadcast on 23 October at 20:30 AEST (10:30 UTC) [52]
  3. ↑ Delayed broadcast on 15 November at 23:15 CET (22:15 UTC) [53]

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Cyprus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Ela Ela ", which was written and performed by Constantinos Christoforou. Christoforou was internally selected by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) in November 2004 to represent the nation at the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. His song was selected through a national final, which was organised by CyBC and took place on 1 February 2005. The national final featured four songs performed by Christoforou and resulted in the selection of "Ela Ela " through a combination of public televote and jury deliberation.

Greece won the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, its first Eurovision Song Contest victory. Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) internally selected Helena Paparizou who sang "My Number One" in Kyiv, winning the competition with 230 points. The song is written by Manos Psaltakis, Christos Dantis and Natalia Germanou. "My Number One" was selected through a national final on 2 March 2005, where the public and a professional jury chose it over three other candidate songs.

Serbia and Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Zauvijek moja" written by Milan Perić and Slaven Knezović. The song was performed by the band No Name. The union of public broadcasters of Serbia and Montenegro, Udruženje javnih radija i televizija (UJRT) organised the national final Evropesma-Europjesma 2005 in order to select the Serbian and Montenegrin entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), and the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) each submitted twelve entries from their respective selections Beovizija 2005 and Montevizija 2005 with twenty-four entries in total competing in the national final on 4 March 2005. "Zauvijek moja" performed by No Name was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from an eight-member jury panel and a public televote.

Greece competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, held at the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. The Greek broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) internally selected Sakis Rouvas with the song "Shake It", written by Nikos Terzis and Nektarios Tyrakis, to represent the nation. Prior to Rouvas' selection, the broadcaster had organised a public selection process entitled Eurostar, consisting of live semi-final heats, leading to a three-participant national final to select their entrant. While the event did take place and Apostolos Psichramis was selected as the Greek entrant, the song selection portion did not materialize after the Rouvas announcement and Psichramis instead joined Rouvas as a backing vocalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congratulations (Silvía Night song)</span> 2006 song by Silvia Night

"Congratulations", sometimes known by its Icelandic title of "Til hamingju Ísland", was the Icelandic entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, performed in English by Silvía Night.

Monaco participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Notre planète" written by Philippe Bosco and Patrick Sassier. The song was performed by Maryon, who was internally selected by the Monégasque broadcaster Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC), which returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a twenty-five-year absence, to represent Monaco in the 2004 contest in Istanbul, Turkey. The selection of Maryon and "Notre planète" as the Monégasque entry was announced on 22 February 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurovision Song Contest 2010</span> International song competition

The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the 2009 contest with the song "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), the contest was held at the Telenor Arena, and consisted of two semi-finals on 25 and 27 May, and a final on 29 May 2010, tying with the 1999 edition for the contest hosted the latest. The three live shows were presented by Norwegian television presenters Erik Solbakken and Nadia Hasnaoui and singer Haddy N'jie.

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