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Since the founding of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, 52 countries have participated in it at least once. Of these, 25 at least once won the competition. This song contest is held by the European Broadcasting Union annually. All active members of the union have the right to take part in these competitions. Each year, countries that wish to participate in the contest delegate a performer with a song to the contest to represent their country. National broadcasters (television companies) annually organize the selection of the performer who will represent the country, the voting for the election of the winner of the competition, as well as the competition itself, if it takes place in the country of the broadcaster.
The right of countries to perform at Eurovision is not limited to the geographically European continent , despite the prefix "Euro" in the title of the competition. Several non-European countries are participating in the competition now or have participated in the past. So, Israel and Australia participate in the competition (since 1973 and 2015, respectively), as well as Cyprus , Azerbaijan , Armenia and Georgia (since 1981, 2008, 2006 and 2007, respectively), membership in the European continent is controversial. The competition is attended by Russia and Turkey (since 1994 and 1975, respectively), which are transcontinental countries. Morocco also participated in the 1980 competition . Since 2015, Australia has also been participating in the competition. Some other non-European countries were going to take part in the competition, but for some reason they did not succeed.
The number of countries participating in Eurovision has a tendency to increase. At the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 there were only 7 countries, and in 2017 there were already 42 countries. Record years with 43 participants are 2008 , 2011 and 2018 . Due to the increase in the number of participants in the early 1990s, pre-qualifications and restrictions began to be introduced. In 1993, the first pre-selection was held under the name "Kvalifikacija za Millstreet" in order to identify the three Eastern European countries out of seven that will participate in Eurovision 1993 . After 1993, the rule was introduced that the six worst-performing countries could not participate the following year, but it was not possible to disqualify a country for the second year in a row. In 1996, a rule was introduced that all countries that want to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest must send recordings of songs of their performers to the jury and the jury will have to select the 22 best from them who will take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. Countries that accepted the competition were given the undeniable right to participate in the competition. From 1997 to 2001, a rule was used according to which the countries with the lowest average mark in the last five years did not participate in the competition. In 2001-2003, the 1993-1996 rule was again used.
In 2004, the competition was divided into finals and semi-finals so that all interested countries could take part in the competition. The ten countries that performed best last year, as well as the so-called Big Four (the four countries that make the largest financial contributions to the European Broadcasting Union - France , Germany , Spain and the United Kingdom ) made it to the finals right away, all the others had to go through the semifinals. Five countries were selected from each semi-final. Thus, 24 countries took part in the final. Since 2008, only the Big Four and the host country immediately reached the final, all others had to go through the semi-final stage.
Germany , the Netherlands and the UK participated in almost all Eurovision song contests. Morocco, on the other hand, participated only once.
Content
Members
Below is a table with all countries that participated in the competition at least once. The gray color indicates the countries that temporarily do not participate in the competition, the pink countries that no longer exist. Information in the table as of 2017.
Morocco took part in the competition only once. Luxembourg , which is one of the first seven participants in the competition, has not taken part in it since 1993. Italy was absent from 1997 to 2010 inclusive. Slovakia participated in the competition in 1994, 1996 and 1998. and since then has not participated in the competition, with the exception of a short return for the period 2009-2012. Monaco participated in the competition in 1959-1979, and also does not participate since then, except for a temporary return in 2004-2006. Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro ceased to exist in 1991 and 2006, respectively. Since 2007, Serbia and Montenegro have been participating in the competition as separate countries.
| A country | Year exit | Year the last performances | amount performances | amount victories | National broadcaster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 1956 | 59 | one | VRT ( Netherlands. ) RTBF ( fr. ) | |
| France | 1956 | 60 | five | RTF (1956-1964) ORTF (1965-1974) TF1 (1975-1981) France Télévisions (since 1983) | |
| Germany | 1956 | 61 | 2 | ARD :
| |
| Italy | 1956 | 43 | 2 | RAI | |
| Luxembourg | 1956 | 1993 | 37 | five | CLT |
| Netherlands | 1956 | 58 | four | NTS (1956-1969) NOS (1970-2009) TROS (2010-2013) AVROTROS (since 2014) | |
| Switzerland | 1956 | 58 | 2 | SRG SSR | |
| Austria | 1957 | 50 | 2 | ORF | |
| Denmark | 1957 | 46 | 3 | DR | |
| Great Britain | 1957 | 60 | five | Bbc | |
| Sweden | 1958 | 57 | 6 | Sveriges Radiotjänst (1958-1979) SVT (since 1980) | |
| Monaco | 1959 | 2006 | 24 | one | Tmc |
| Norway | 1960 | 56 | 3 | NRK | |
| Finland | 1961 | 51 | one | Yle | |
| Spain | 1961 | 57 | 2 | TVE | |
| Yugoslavia | 1961 | 1992 | 27 | one | Jrt |
| Portugal | 1964 | 49 | one | RTP | |
| Ireland | 1965 | 51 | 7 | RTÉ | |
| Malta | 1971 | thirty | 0 | Pbs | |
| Israel | 1971 | 40 | four | IBA | |
| Greece | 1973 | 38 | one | NERIT (2014-2015) ERT (1974-2013, since 2016) | |
| Turkey | 1975 | 2012 | 34 | one | TRT |
| Morocco | 1980 | 1980 | one | 0 | SNRT |
| Cyprus | 1981 | 34 | 0 | Cybc | |
| Iceland | 1986 | thirty | 0 | RÚV | |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1993 | 2016 | nineteen | 0 | Bhrt |
| Croatia | 1993 | 23 | 0 | HRT | |
| Slovenia | 1993 | 23 | 0 | RTV SLO | |
| Estonia | 1994 | 23 | one | Err | |
| Hungary | 1994 | 15 | 0 | MTVA | |
| Lithuania | 1994 | 18 | 0 | Lrt | |
| Poland | 1994 | 20 | 0 | Tvp | |
| Romania | 1994 | 18 | 0 | Tvr | |
| Russia | 1994 | 2016 | 20 | one | Russia-1 (1994, 1996, since 2008) Channel One (since 1995) |
| Slovakia | 1994 | 7 | 0 | STV | |
| North Macedonia | 1998 | 17 | 0 | MRT | |
| Latvia | 2000 | 18 | one | LTV | |
| Ukraine | 2003 | 14 | 2 | NSTU ( UA: First ) | |
| Albania | 2004 | 14 | 0 | Rtsh | |
| Andorra | 2004 | 2009 | 6 | 0 | RTVA |
| Belarus | 2004 | 14 | 0 | Belteleradiocompany | |
| Serbia and Montenegro | 2004 | 2005 | 2 | 0 | UJRT |
| Bulgaria | 2005 | eleven | 0 | BNT | |
| Moldova | 2005 | 13 | 0 | TRM | |
| Armenia | 2006 | eleven | 0 | AMPTV, Shant TV | |
| Czech | 2007 | 6 | 0 | ČT | |
| Georgia | 2007 | ten | 0 | GPB | |
| Montenegro | 2007 | 9 | 0 | Rtcg | |
| Serbia | 2007 | ten | one | Rs | |
| Azerbaijan | 2008 | ten | one | ITV | |
| San marino | 2008 | eight | 0 | SMRTV | |
| Australia | 2015 | 3 | 0 | Sbs |
Members of the European Broadcasting Union who have never participated in Eurovision
These countries are full members of the European Broadcasting Union. They have the right to participate in Eurovision, but for certain reasons they do not:
- Algeria - ENTV, ENRS, TDA
- Egypt - ERTU
- Jordan - JRTV
- Libya - LNC
- Vatican City - Vatican City Radio
Countries that failed to debut
In the past, unsuccessful attempts were made by some countries to participate in Eurovision. In order to take part in Eurovision, the broadcaster must be a member of the European Broadcasting Union and has the right to apply for participation in the competition before a certain end date. Each participating broadcaster pays a contribution that goes to the organization of the contest. If a country decides to refuse to participate in the competition after the end date, it still has to pay a fee, in addition, such a country may be subject to additional sanctions, such as a fine or disqualification.
- China - Chinese television broadcast the 2015 contest , after which the Chinese local television station from Hunan expressed its interest in participating in Eurovision 2016 . The European Broadcasting Union replied that they are open and are always looking for new representatives for each Eurovision song contest. "But later, the European Broadcasting Union objected that China could not participate in Eurovision 2016 as a guest or a full-fledged participant.
- Gibraltar - Beginning in 2006, Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), a national hybrid broadcaster, has been trying to gain membership in the European Broadcasting Union and participate in Eurovision on its own. But the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation cannot get this membership, since Gibraltar is part of the British Overseas Territories .
- Faroe Islands - Since 2010, the Faroe Islands national broadcaster Kringvarp Føroya (KVF) has been trying to gain membership in the European Broadcasting Union and participate in Eurovision on its own. But Kringvarp Føroya does not manage to get this membership, as the Faroe Islands are part of the Kingdom of Denmark .
- Greenland - Since 2011, the Greenland national broadcaster Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa (KNR) has been trying to gain membership in the European Broadcasting Union and participate in Eurovision on its own. But Kalaallit Nunaata Radioa cannot get this membership, as Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark .
- Kazakhstan - On December 18, 2015 it was announced that the Kazakh media company Khabar Agency received associate membership in the European Broadcasting Union, but this is not enough to participate in Eurovision. For Australia alone, which has been an associate member for over 30 years, an exception has been made. Kazakhstan hopes to get full membership in the European Broadcasting Union and take part in Eurovision, as it is a member of many other European associations, including sports (UEFA, FIFA, Hockey League and others)
- Republic of Kosovo - The participation of the Republic of Kosovo formed in 2008 is in doubt. Not all countries of the European Broadcasting Union recognized Kosovo as an independent state, which impedes the participation of this territory.
Notes
Links
- The story - Official Eurovision website
- History by country - Official Eurovision site
- History by year - Official Eurovision Song Contest
- Facts & Trivia - Official Eurovision Site