Tonight, at 21:00, the first Semi-Final of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest takes place. The show will be broadcast live from the Telenor Arena in Oslo, with 17 countries participating.
Did you know …
… the contest once began as a stage for presenting the European ideals of freedom, unity and peace.
… the first Eurovision Song Contest took place on 24 May 1956 in Switzerland.
… since then, the competition has been broadcast every year without interruption.
… the Eurovision Contest is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world.
… stars like ABBA (1974) ,Celine Dion, Cliff Richard and Julio Iglesias thanks its fame to the contest.
…after more than five decades already some 1.100 songs have taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest.
… the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest took place in 2003.
… the 2008 edition saw a record of 43 represented countries, as Azerbaijan and San Marino joined the contest.
… Ireland won 7 times, Luxembourg, France and the UK 5 times, Sweden and Holland won 4 times.
… Johnny Logan won the Eurovision Song Contest 3 times; in 1980, 1987 and 1992.
… in 2001 the largest audience (38.000 people in Copenhagen) ever attented the Eurovision Song Contest.
… the show has been broadcast throughout Europe, but also in Australia, Canada, Egypt, Hong Kong, Jordan, Korea, New Zealand and the United States.
… the most covered Eurovision Song Contest song is Domenico Mudugno’s Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu, also known as Volare. The song has been covered by famous stars such as Frank Sinatra, Cliff Richard, David Bowie and many more
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