The BEST Episodes of Eurovision Song Contest

#1 - The 55th Eurovision Song Contest (Norway)

Season 2010 - Episode 3 - Aired May 29, 2010

The 20 acts that qualified through the two Semi-Finals will join the five pre-qualified countries: Norway (the Host Country), France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. Viewers and professional juries in over 40 participating countries will vote. Viewers and professional juries each have a 50 percent stake in the outcome. The professional juries will feature six members in each country. The running order of the represented countries in the FInal will be determined by draw, right after each of the two Semi-Finals. While she had been the main favourite to win for months, still, the victory of Lena for Germany with her song Satellite still came as a total surprise for many. Her simplistic performance gathered votes across Europe and became one of the biggest hits in Europe. She went on to defend her title the year after and managed to earn another a top 10 position with her entry Taken By A Stranger. Spain’s entry had to be performed again as the original performance was interrupted by a stage invasion. The Norwegian broadcaster had decided they wanted to take the contest back to the basics and after the contest in 2009, where LEDs were widely used, they used none. The 2010 was produced on a considerably lower budget than the year before. Some delegations, including the UK and Ireland travelled to Oslo by boat after the eruptions of the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, which caused widespread disruption to air travel across Europe.

8.00

29 votes

#2 - The 58th Eurovision Song Contest (Sweden)

Season 2013 - Episode 3 - Aired May 18, 2013

The 2013 Eurovision Song Contest was in the Malmö Arena in Malmö, Sweden. 26 countries qualified for the Grand Final and took the stage in front of a live audience and millions watching at home. The opening act of the Grand Final started with a Eurovision Song Contest anthem called We Write The Story by Benny and Björn from ABBA and the Swedish worldwide sensation Aviccii. Petra Mede presented the show alone, the first time that there had been a solo presenter since 1995. The slogan for the 2013 competition was We Are One. In the end, after all the excitement and millions of votes, it was Emmelie de Forest who the trophy home for Denmark with her song Only Teardrops. There was a mechanism built into the catwalk of the stage that could elevate the artists however it was only used by Loreen in the interval act and the UK participant and the UK participant, Bonnie Tyler. Ukraine's performance featured Igor Vovkovinskiy who is the tallest person living in the United States. Igor carried Zlata, Ukraine's representative, onto the stage during her performance.

8.00

29 votes

#3 - The 59th Eurovision Song Contest (Denmark)

Season 2014 - Episode 3 - Aired May 10, 2014

The Grand Final of the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest took place on 10th May 2014. The slogan for the event was #JoinUs which was an attempt by the producers to incorporate social media into the shows. Austria won the 2014 contest with Rise Like A Phoenix, performed by bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst. Immediately after her victory Conchita became a household name. The Netherlands finished in second place with Calm After The Storm performed by The Common Linnets, which became a big hit following the contest. Under new rules, the names of all jury members were announced on the 1st of May. Additionally, the ranking submitted by each individual jury member for all shows were published right after the Final. To increase diversity, music industry professionals could now only take a seat in a national jury if they had not been in the jury during one of the previous two editions of the contest. Valentina Monetta took part for the third consecutive time for San Marino and for the first time, the country qualified for the Final. The 2014 contest was held in a former shipyard, the B&W Hallerne. 37 countries competed in the competition in 2014 195 million viewers tuned in for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. The show was co-hosted by Pilou Asbæk, who had become world-famous in the political drama Borgen.

8.00

58 votes

#4 - The 60th Eurovision Song Contest 1st Semi-Final

Season 2015 - Episode 1 - Aired May 19, 2015

The first Semi-Final of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest with 16 contestants representing Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia and The Netherlands.

8.00

29 votes

#5 - The 61st Eurovision Song Contest (Sweden) 2nd Semi-Final

Season 2016 - Episode 2 - Aired May 12, 2016

Join millions of viewers across the world for another spectacular show. 18 countries will compete for 10 places in the Grand Final. The broadcast will be hosted by Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw who are eager to welcome the millions of viewers to Stockholm for tonight's show. The second Semi-Final contenders 1. Latvia: Heartbeat sung bu Justs 2. Poland: Color Of Your Life sung by Michał Szpak 3. Switzerland: The Last Of Our Kind sung by Rykka 4. Israel: Made Of Stars sung by Hovi Star 5. Belarus: Help You Fly sung by IVAN 6. Serbia: Goodbye (Shelter) sung by Sanja Vučić ZAA 7. Ireland: Sunlight sung by Nicky Byrne 8. FYR Macedonia: Dona sung by Kaliopi 9. Lithuania: I've Been Waiting For This Night sung by Donny Montell 10. Australia: Sound Of Silence sung by Dami Im 11. Slovenia: Blue And Red sung by ManuElla 12. Bulgaria: If Love Was A Crime sung by Poli Genova 13. Denmark: Soldiers Of Love sung by Lighthouse X 14. Ukraine: 1944 sung by Jamala 15. Norway: Icebreaker sung by Agnete 16. Georgia: Midnight Gold sung by Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz 17. Albania: Fairytale sung by Eneda Tarifa 18. Belgium: What's The Pressure sung by Laura Tesoro

8.00

29 votes

#6 - The 54th Eurovision Song Contest (Russia)

Season 2009 - Episode 3 - Aired May 16, 2009

This year there are 42 entries to the Eurovision Song Contest, with San Marino withdrawing due to financial difficulties and Georgia being forced out of the contest as their song breached the rules of the contest, while Slovakia makes a return to the contest after an 11 year absence. The 54th Eurovision Song Contest is being hosted by Moscow, Russia, following Dima Bilan's win for Russia in the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest. The Contest will take place in Moscow's Olympic Indoor Arena. Following the complaints of many broadcasters, the voting system for the contest has been greatly changed. Instead of the general public having the only say, a jury will also cast their votes, counting for 50% of the overall votes. This has been done to crack down on countries simply voting for their neighbours. There will be 25 countries competing in the final, comprising the top ten from the first semi-final, the top ten from the second semi-final, the Big Four (the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain) and the host nation and last year's winner, Russia.

7.00

29 votes

#7 - The 56th Eurovision Song Contest (Germany)

Season 2011 - Episode 3 - Aired May 14, 2011

For the first time since 1983, Germany hosted the Eurovision Song Contest. The 2011 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Düsseldorf following an open selection process. A total of forty-three countries took part in the 2011 contest held in Düsseldorf. The city emerged as the winner of an open selection process which saw several cities compete for the right to host the Eurovision Song Contest. The biggest news of this contest was the return of Italy, after more than ten years. Italy joined France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom to form the so-called Big Five countries that have automatic qualification to the Grand Final. Italy went on to take second place in the Grand Final with the song Madness Of Love by Raphael Gualazzi. One of the most famous German comediennes, Anke Engelke, TV anchor Judith Rakers and all-round showman Stefan Raab hosted the event. Raab had also been part of Lena’s winning team in 2010. Azerbaijan's Ell and Nikki triumphed in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest. Italy's Raphael Gualazzi finished second and Sweden's Eric Saade finished third. It was the very first victory for Azerbaijan and meant that the contest would go to its most eastern location in the history of the competition the following year. The broadcast of the Grand Final won the Rose d'Or award for Best Live Event. Lena, the winner of the previous year, came back to defend her title with the song Taken By A Stranger. She ended up 10th in the final. The UK was represented by a high-profile act in 2011, Blue. The group finished 11th in the Grand Final with I Can.

7.00

29 votes

#8 - The 57th Eurovision Song Contest (Azerbaijan)

Season 2012 - Episode 3 - Aired May 26, 2012

The 2012 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is the furthest East that the contest had ever been held. Baku provided a unique setting for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The slogan for the competition this year was Light Your Fire, which was fitting given that the event was being held in Azerbaijan, the Land of Fire. The United Kingdom sent its oldest ever participant, 76 year old Engelbert Humperdinck, whilst Russia was represented by the Buranovskiye Babushki who had a combined age of more than 500! Sweden's participant Loreen had been the main favourite ever since she appeared in the widely popular Swedish selection show, Melodifestivalen, earlier that year. Her song Euphoria took Europe by storm and Sweden won the 2012 competition by a landslide. The song went on to be a worldwide hit and reached number one in several countries selling more than two million copies. 42 broadcasters took part while initially 43 had signed up. It was the Armenian broadcaster ARMTV which pulled out at the last minute. The ruling champion of the contest, Eldar "Ell" Gasimov also co-hosted the shows in Baku Euphoria received the highest number of 12 points of any entry in the contest's history with eighteen countries giving the song top marks. Rona Nishliu took one of the highest notes in the history of the contest in her entry Suus The world-famous twins, Jedward took part for the second year in a row for Ireland

7.00

29 votes

#9 - The 61st Eurovision Song Contest (Sweden)

Season 2016 - Episode 3 - Aired May 14, 2016

26 countries competed in the final, which was the first to be broadcast on live television in the United States. The Czech Republic managed to qualify for the final for the first time in five attempts since its debut in 2007, while both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the first time ever, the latter being absent from the final for the first time since 2000. In the final, Australia finished second, improving on its debut in 2015, while Bulgaria finished fourth, its best result since its debut and first participation in a final since 2007. Justin Timberlake performed during the interval act of the final. A record-breaking 204 million viewers worldwide watched the contest, beating the 2015 viewing figures by over 5 million. The slogan for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest was Come Together. The theme artwork, inspired by the dandelion, symbolised the power of resistance and resilience but also of regeneration – when the seeds fly away from the dandelion new life is created where they touch down. There was considerable interest in hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden with several cities bidding for the opportunity including previous host cities Malmö and Gothenburg. The Grand Final was broadcast in the United States for the first time. During the Grand Final the points from the juries and televotes were presented separately. Germany finished last for the second year running. Australia won the jury vote and Russia won the televote, however Ukraine scored steadily throughout and received the most points overall. 1944 is the first song in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest to be performed in Crimean Tatar.

7.00

29 votes

#10 - The 61st Eurovision Song Contest (Sweden) 1st Semi-Final

Season 2016 - Episode 1 - Aired May 10, 2016

The first Semi-Final contenders 1. Finland: Sing It Away sung by Sandhja 2. Greece: Utopian Land sung by Argo 3. Moldova: Falling Stars sung by Lidia Isac 4. Hungary: Pioneer sung by Freddie 5. Croatia: Lighthouse sung by Nina Kraljić 6. Netherlands: Slow Down sung by Douwe Bob 7. Armenia: LoveWave sung by Iveta Mukuchyan 8. San Marino: I Didn't Know sung by Serhat 9. Russia: You Are The Only One sung by Sergey Lazarev 10. Czech Republic: I Stand sung by Gabriela Gunčíková 11. Cyprus: Alter Ego sung by Minus One 12. Austria: Loin d'ici sung by ZOË 13. Estonia: Play sung by Jüri Pootsmann 14. Azerbaijan: Miracle sung by Samra 15. Montenegro: The Real Thing sung by Highway 16. Iceland: Hear Them Calling sung by Greta Salóme 17. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Ljubav Je sung by Dalal, Deen, Ana & Jala 18. Malta: Walk on Water sung by Ira Losco

7.00

58 votes

#11 - The 59th Eurovision Song Contest 1st Semi-Final

Season 2014 - Episode 1 - Aired May 6, 2014

6.00

29 votes

#12 - The 59th Eurovision Song Contest 2nd Semi-Final

Season 2014 - Episode 2 - Aired May 8, 2014

6.00

29 votes

#13 - The 60th Eurovision Song Contest 2nd Semi-Final

Season 2015 - Episode 2 - Aired May 21, 2015

The second Semi-Final of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest with 17 contestants representing Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

5.00

29 votes

#14 - The 54th Eurovision Song Contest 1st Semi-Final

Season 2009 - Episode 1 - Aired May 12, 2009

This year there are 42 entries to the Eurovision Song Contest, with San Marino withdrawing due to financial difficulties and Georgia being forced out of the contest as their song breached the rules of the contest, while Slovakia makes a return to the contest after an 11 year absence. The 54th Eurovision Song Contest is being hosted by Moscow, Russia, following Dima Bilan's win for Russia in the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest. The Contest will take place in Moscow's Olympic Indoor Arena. There will be 18 countries competing in the first semi-final, and they will be competing in the following order; 1. Montenegro 2. Czech Republic 3. Belgium 4. Belarus 5. Sweden 6. Armenia 7. Andorra 8. Switzerland 9. Turkey 10. Israel 11. Bulgaria 12. Iceland 13. FYR Macedonia 14. Romania 15. Finland 16. Portugal 17. Malta 18. Bosnia and Herzegovina The top nine countries, as voted by the public, will advance to the final, while a tenth country, as voted by the jury, will also advance.

0.00

0 votes

#15 - The 54th Eurovision Song Contest 2nd Semi-Final

Season 2009 - Episode 2 - Aired May 14, 2009

This year there are 42 entries to the Eurovision Song Contest, with San Marino withdrawing due to financial difficulties and Georgia being forced out of the contest as their song breached the rules of the contest, while Slovakia makes a return to the contest after an 11 year absence. The 54th Eurovision Song Contest is being hosted by Moscow, Russia, following Dima Bilan's win for Russia in the 53rd Eurovision Song Contest. The Contest will take place in Moscow's Olympic Indoor Arena. There will be 18 countries competing in the second semi-final, and they will be competing in the following order; 1. Croatia 2. Ireland 3. Latvia 4. Serbia 5. Poland 6. Norway 7. Cyprus 8. Slovakia 9. Denmark 10. Slovenia 11. Hungary 12. Azerbaijan 13. Greece 14. Lithuania 15. Moldova 16. Albania 17. Ukraine 18. Estonia 19. The Netherlands The top nine countries, as voted by the public, will advance to the final, while a tenth country, as voted by the jury, will also advance.

0.00

0 votes

#16 - The 55th Eurovision Song Contest 1st Semi-Final

Season 2010 - Episode 1 - Aired May 25, 2010

Artists from some 15-20 countries will compete in the first Semi-Final, as ten spots for the Final are at stake. Viewers and professional juries each have a 50 percent stake in the outcome. The professional juries will feature six members in each country. The 10 qualified acts will be announced in random order, and to raise the excitement the ranking and other voting results will not be announced until right after the Final.

0.00

0 votes

#17 - The 55th Eurovision Song Contest 2nd Semi-Final

Season 2010 - Episode 2 - Aired May 27, 2010

Artists from some 15-20 countries will compete in the first Semi-Final, as ten spots for the Final are at stake. Viewers and professional juries each have a 50 percent stake in the outcome. The professional juries will feature six members in each country. The 10 qualified acts will be announced in random order, and to raise the excitement the ranking and other voting results will not be announced until right after the Final.

0.00

0 votes

#18 - The 56th Eurovision Song Contest 1st Semi-Final

Season 2011 - Episode 1 - Aired May 10, 2011

Artists from some 15-20 countries will compete in the first Semi-Final, as ten spots for the Final are at stake. Viewers and professional juries each have a 50 percent stake in the outcome. The professional juries will feature six members in each country. The 10 qualified acts will be announced in random order, and to raise the excitement the ranking and other voting results will not be announced until right after the Final.

0.00

0 votes

#19 - The 56th Eurovision Song Contest 2nd Semi-Final

Season 2011 - Episode 2 - Aired May 12, 2011

Artists from some 15-20 countries will compete in the first Semi-Final, as ten spots for the Final are at stake. Viewers and professional juries each have a 50 percent stake in the outcome. The professional juries will feature six members in each country. The 10 qualified acts will be announced in random order, and to raise the excitement the ranking and other voting results will not be announced until right after the Final.

0.00

0 votes

#20 - The 53rd Eurovision Song Contest (Serbia)

Season 2008 - Episode 3 - Aired May 24, 2008

Serbia's debut entry as an independent nation, the ballad "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović, won the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, receiving 268 points. Serbia became the first country that won with debut entry after Switzerland's win at the first edition. After this, they were the host of the 2008 contest in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. The second Serbian entry, performed in Belgrade was written by past entrant for Serbia as part of Serbia and Montenegro and contest host Željko Joksimović. The song "Oro", an ethnic ballad, performed by Jelena Tomašević came 6th and received 160 points in the overall rankings. In 2009 Serbia selected Marko Kon and Milaan to represent them in the second semi-final on 14 May. The duo failed to qualify for the final for the first time in Serbia's history in the contest. In 2010, Milan Stanković was selected to represent the country in the contest with Ovo je Balkan, an upbeat song with ethno elements, and is about a love story set in Belgrade. It qualified for the final and in the end achieved 13th place with 72 points. In 2011 Nina was selected with her 60's inspired song, Čaroban. She was accompanied with three other singers who would be dancing throughout the performance. In the semi-finals She performed 6th and qualified for the final. In the final, she performed 24th and achieved 14th place. The latest entry of Serbia was with Željko Joksimović. He was representing Serbia in the 2012 in the Azerbaijan, Baku with the song Nije ljubav stvar. On the second semi-finals he took second place, while he finished third in the final, below second-placed Russia and the winner, Sweden. For now, Serbia is one of twelve countries whose representatives have performed all the songs (totally or partially) in an official, regional or national language. The other eleven countries are Portugal, Israel, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Ireland, Andorra, Luxembourg, Morocco and Monaco.

0.00

0 votes

#21 - The 52nd Eurovision Song Contest (Finland)

Season 2007 - Episode 2 - Aired May 12, 2007

The Final of the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest took place in Helsinki, Finland, at the Hartwall Arena. For the occasion, the venue was referred to as the Helsinki Arena. Czech Republic and Georgia debuted in the Semi-Final, so did Serbia and Montenegro as independent states. Of those countries, only Georgia and Serbia managed to qualify for the Final, together with returning country Hungary. Host Broadcaster YLE adopted True Fantasy as the slogan for this year's contest. The high-tech stage was constructed in the shape of a kantele, a traditional Finnish instrument. The contest's Presenting Partner was TeliaSonera and the International Presenting Partners were Nobel Biocare and the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. The Final opened with Lordi, the monster rock band that brought that contest to Finland. The UK entry was performed by pop group Scooch who dressed as flight attendants. Ukraine sent Verka Serduchka, a drag act, who performed the song Dancing Lasha Tumbai, which finished second. Verka has gone on to become an iconic figure in recent Eurovision history. Serbia, participating as an independent country for the first time, won the contest, closely followed by respectively Ukraine and Russia. The winning song, Molitva, was performed by Marija Šerifović, is to date, the only non-English language song to have won the Eurovision Song Contest since the language rules were relaxed in 1999. 2007 was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was produced and broadcast in High Definition. Almost 9 million votes were cast all over Europe, either by telephone or SMS.

0.00

0 votes

#22 - The 53rd Eurovision Song Contest 1st Semi-Final

Season 2008 - Episode 1 - Aired May 20, 2008

0.00

0 votes

#23 - The 53rd Eurovision Song Contest 2nd Semi-Final

Season 2008 - Episode 2 - Aired May 22, 2008

0.00

0 votes

#24 - The 52nd Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final

Season 2007 - Episode 1 - Aired May 10, 2007

0.00

0 votes

#25 - The 51st Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final

Season 2006 - Episode 1 - Aired May 18, 2006

0.00

0 votes