The Best Episodes of Eurovision Song Contest
#1 - The 54th Eurovision Song Contest (Russia)
Season 1 - Episode 54
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. The order is as follows:- 1. Lithuania 2. Israel 3. France 4. Sweden 5. Croatia 6. Portugal 7. Iceland 8. Greece 9. Armenia 10. Russia 11. Azerbaijan 12. Bosnia and Herzegovina 13. Moldova 14. Malta 15. Estonia 16. Denmark 17. Germany 18. Turkey 19. Albania 20. Norway 21. Ukraine 22. Romania 23. The United Kingdom 24. Finland 25. Spain
#2 - The 57th Eurovision Song Contest (Azerbaijan)
Season 1 - Episode 57
Azerbaijan's first try at Eurovision proved to be successful as the country qualified for the final from the first semi-final and came 8th with 132 points in the final evening. Previously, another broadcaster, AzTV, wanted to participate in 2007, but EBU rules did not allow this as AzTV was not an active member of the EBU. AzTV was denied active EBU membership on 18 June 2007, as it was considered too connected to the Azerbaijani government.[1] On 5 July, İTV became a full EBU member,[2] and on October 15 it was given permission to take part by the EBU.[3] Azerbaijan's first Eurovision performance by Elnur and Samir made it in the top ten placed at number 8 with 132 points. In 2009 Azerbaijan achieved an improvement on their 2008 debut, coming third and receiving 207 points with the song "Always", performed by duo AySel & Arash. On 14 May 2011, Azerbaijan won the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with Running Scared song by Ell & Nikki.[4][5] Since the introduction of the semi-finals, Azerbaijan and Italy are the only two countries to place within the top 10 every year that they have competed.
#3 - The 56th Eurovision Song Contest (Germany)
Season 1 - Episode 56
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th annual Eurovision Song Contest and was won by Ell/Nikki performing "Running Scared" for Azerbaijan. The event took place in the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany, following Germany's win in the previous year. The two semi-finals took place on 10 May and 12 May 2011, while the final took place on the evening of 14 May 2011.[2] Forty-three countries participated in the contest,[3] with those returning including Austria, which last participated in 2007; Hungary, which last competed in 2009; and San Marino, which last participated in 2008. Italy also returned to the Contest, marking its first participation since 1997. No country has withdrawn. The runner up was Italy, and Sweden finished in third place. Italy (2nd) and Germany (10th) were the only members of the "Big Five" to make it into the top 10, with the United Kingdom close behind at 11th place. However, out of the 25 countries who made it into the final, the remaining two of the "Big Five", France and Spain, failed to make it into the top half of the leader board coming 15th (82 points) and 23rd (50 points) respectively.
#4 - The 61st Eurovision Song Contest (Stockholm)
Season 1 - Episode 61
Venue: Ericsson Globe, Stockholm, Sweden Twenty-six 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
Directors: Sven Stojanovic
#5 - The 59th Eurovision Song Contest (Denmark)
Season 1 - Episode 59
#6 - The 58th Eurovision Song Contest (Sweden)
Season 1 - Episode 58
#7 - The 55th Eurovision Song Contest (Norway)
Season 1 - Episode 55
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.