For decades now, the Eurovision Song Contest, traditionally held in May since the distant 1956, has been breaking spears. This competition really raises many questions to which there are no answers. Let's try to get a little into the Eurovision kitchen and figure out what's what.
Origins
The song competition arose at a time when the concept of “song” was clear and defined. Popular singers in their country took to the stage, accompanied by symphony orchestra sang their simple songs. The winner of the first Eurovision, held in Lugano, Switzerland, was the Swiss woman Lise Assia. At the dawn of the competition, no one saw any political or any other motive in this, and the second competition, without any scandals or intrigues, was held on next year in Germany, in Frankfurt am Main.
The creation of the song competition was supposed to unite Europe, restored after the devastating war, and contribute to the popularization of television, which was then only at the very beginning of its development. The task was a success: the live broadcast of the Eurovision final is still the most popular non-sports television program in the whole world, and it is watched not only in the countries taking part in the competition, but all over the world, from the States to Australia.
Present tense
The 2000s marked new stage in the history of Eurovision. The rules and performance standards changed; countries began to take part in the competition, which in the minds of an ordinary European have nothing to do with Europe (to be more precise, with the European Union). Numerous complaints from viewers against the leadership of the competition called into question its continued existence. However, the Eurovision cause is still alive and victorious. On one Saturday in May, at least 100 million viewers gather on television screens, and on best years this figure was 600 million. With the development of the Internet and the broadcast of the competition online, more than 70 thousand more web surfers, who are partial to pop music and its variations, were added to the television audience.
Rules
There is no single set of rules that was fixed in 1956 and has not changed throughout the entire period. Some recommendations, for example, the duration of a song no more than 3 minutes, remain, however most of the rules of the competition have changed over time and have nothing in common with the distant competition of 1956, in which only 7 countries took part old Europe, does not have. By 2004, the number of countries wishing to simultaneously take part in Eurovision exceeded 40 (the main requirement for a country is participation in the European Broadcasting Union, which many television companies consider it a matter of honor to join). The Eurovision leadership accepted volitional decision introduce a system of semi-finals, which were broadcast on Thursday, and subsequently even two, spaced on Tuesday and Thursday. This is how “Euroweek” turned out, starting and ending on two consecutive Saturdays in May. Without participating in the semi-finals, participants from the Big Five (the founding countries of Eurovision: Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain and Italy; surprisingly, Switzerland, where the format was invented, are not on this list) and a representative of the host country traditionally advance to Saturday's final. The remaining 20 participants are selected by a collective vote of the jury and viewers in each country.
Contestants
European music is unique: artists who are famous in their own countries are not known anywhere outside their homeland. Therefore, there is no need to expect superstars at Eurovision, with rare exceptions. In 1974 the competition was won by the Swedish ABBA group, which by that time was already at the zenith of world fame. The victory of Canadian citizen Celine Dion, who represented Switzerland in 1988, gave a powerful impetus to the development of the singer’s global career. This is where the striking examples end. Patricia Kaas, super popular in the 1990s, could not rise above 8th place, and the group Blue, whose credits include collaboration with Sir Elton John himself and millions of broken girls’ (and other) hearts, did not enter the top ten at all, stuck in 11th place in 2011 . There were more tragic stories: Dana Int., whose star lit up after winning Eurovision with the mega-action film “Diva”, in 2011 could not even make it to the finals, which put an end to her further career outside of Israel.
Scandals
Not a single competition takes place without scandals. The story of the group t.A.T.u, which stormed Eurovision at a time when their songs were at the top of the British hit parade - the main indicator of the popularity of a particular artist, caused a particular stir. An open secret is the fact that according to the voting results, 2 pseudo-lesbians who sang in Russian became first, but due to technical forgery and due to the reluctance to give Eurovision to Russia, they became only third. Numerous litigation the producer of the group and the bosses of Eurovision did not lead to anything, Eurovision went to Turkey, but there is urban legend, that somewhere far away, in Konstantin Lvovich Ernst’s safe, there is a letter of apology from Svante Stokeselius himself, the main producer of the competition. Nevertheless, Eurovision took place in Russia, but several years later, and it was brought by Dima Bilan, far from the most original artist in our country.
Geopolitics
The main reproach against the Eurovision producers is the inability to overcome a geopolitical problem: neighbors vote for neighbors. For example, a Norwegian song consistently receives 12 points from its neighbors - Finland and Sweden, Balkan countries vote for each other, Georgia traditionally ignores the performances of the Russians, and the Azerbaijani jury protests against Armenian artists and vice versa. The result is not a vote for a song, but pan-European fraternization, which only politically independent countries can overcome, and then in rare cases. In many ways, voting determines the country's foreign policy. Dima Bilan was second in his first run only because Russia did not support the deployment of troops to Afghanistan and ended up being an outsider in the political arena of Europe. The trend began to decline after the victory of the same Bilan - the representative of Norway Alexander Rybak won at Eurovision in Russia, the German Lena Mayer-Landrut won in Norway, and what happened in Germany generally shook up the stagnant world of Eurovision: the song contest was won by a duet Eli and Nikki are from Azerbaijan, which many Europeans cannot even find on a map.
Gays and housewives
Traditionally, it is believed that Eurovision is watched only by gays and housewives who have nothing better to do. However, the numbers show that this is not at all the case. Eurovision is popular among all segments of the European population, but not everyone admits it due to the dubious content of the competition. Gays are considered the main fans of Eurovision for the most banal reasons: Euroweek is an extra opportunity to express themselves to the world by holding various kinds of events and parades. In addition, at Eurovision the main rule of most gays is observed: “beautiful-expensive-rich.” The spectacle is truly luxurious, and gays always like it.
Significant Achievements
There are none and they are unlikely to exist. Performing at Eurovision and even winning it is not a guarantee of European popularity. The Eurovision winner does not receive global recognition. He is simply giving his country a chance to show off the technical capabilities of television. Therefore, superstars are not eager to take part in the competition. Secondary artists most often participate in national selections, but despite this, the victory is given to popular artist or a team. From a musical point of view, the competition is nothing interesting; it is worth watching only because of the impressive video sequence. The songs performed are death for a true music lover.
Russia has been taking part in Eurovision since 1994, and our only counted victory is for Dima Bilan in Serbia with the song “Believe me,” allegedly produced by Timbaland. Twice representatives of Russia took second place, twice – third, in other years – from 9th to 17th places, but always reached the finals. The worst result was shown by Philip Kirkorov, who took 17th place with the song “Lullaby for the Volcano” in 1995. However, after this fiasco, Kirkorov “fell ill” with Eurovision, almost every year he produces one of the participants (Ani Lorak, under his leadership, even reached an honorable second place), regularly covers songs performed at the competition, and occasionally records duets with participants “ Eurovision".
Of the former republics of the USSR, Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia have already hosted Eurovision, and now Azerbaijan. Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania and Armenia remain uncovered.
According to legend, the idea to send a participant from the USSR belonged to Mikhail Gorbachev back in the stagnant 80s. A specific candidate was considered - Valery Leontyev. However, something didn’t work out; Valery Leontyev didn’t go anywhere and doesn’t want to remember it.
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The choice of performance language is free and is carried out by the participating television companies, and the maximum duration of the artist’s performance on stage must be 3 minutes. A song from each country is performed once and in a live voice (the music can be recorded on a soundtrack, which must not contain vocals or imitation).
By modern rules Contestants must be over 16 years of age at the time of the competition, and a group of performers from the same country can be represented by a maximum of six participants. A singer can only perform for one country per given year. Animals are not allowed on stage.
The semi-finals traditionally take place on Tuesday and Thursday, and the final of the competition takes place on Saturday. 46 countries - active members of the European Broadcasting Union - take part in the competition. 26 active EBU participants are represented in the final.
After all the songs are performed, the audience votes for the song that they liked the most - except for the performance of representatives of their country. All votes are counted and summed up, then each country transmits the results via satellite.
The best ten songs according to the voting results receive points: for first place - twelve points, for second - ten points, from third to tenth - from eight to one point in descending order. The winner is the country whose performance scores the most points. She gets the right to host the competition next year.
By the way, the host state of Eurovision must develop its own slogan and symbol, which will be added to the main logo. The main rule: they must reflect the spirit of the competition and national characteristics specific country.
Rules music competition Eurovision has changed several times during its existence. The first competition, which took place back in 1956, involved seven countries, each presenting two songs. Later, it was decided to perform one song and exclude the countries that showed the worst results from the competition the following year.
Since the beginning of the history of Eurovision, its winners have been determined by the National Jury, but in 1997 the gradual introduction of televoting began, and in 2003, audience choice became the determining factor. In 2004, the competition was divided into semi-finals and finals - so all interested countries could take part and “show themselves”.
In September 2008, changes were made to the rules for summing up the results of the competition, since the system audience voting 2004-2008 called great amount critics. Starting again, not only the audience, but also the professional jury began to evaluate.
The jury consists of five members, including the chairman. Each of his representatives must appoint a backup in case he is unable to attend the event. Jury members must not be employees of the participating broadcasters, but must represent one of the musical professions- presenter, performer, composer, lyricist or music producer. None of them can be involved in the production and performance of the songs of the competition participants. The names of the jury members cannot be revealed until the final.
The jury's votes are used in the semi-final and final calculations, and are also decisive if two or more songs receive the same number of TV viewer votes.
In September 2007, a decision was made: only the host country of the competition and the countries representing the Big Four (UK, Germany, France, Spain) automatically qualify for the Eurovision final - a year later, with Italy returning to the competition after a 13-year absence, The Big Four have become the Big Five. Also in 2007, the tradition of transmitting the Eurovision symbol was established. Belgrade accepted the rights of the host city from Helsinki: the Serbian capital was awarded the iconic Helsinki Insignia, which subsequently began to be transferred to each subsequent Eurovision host. The symbol is made in the form of a key with the inscription Eurovision Song Contest Host City, on which all the years of the competition and all the host cities are engraved.
The organizers of the Eurovision 2010 contest have made changes to the SMS voting procedure. You could cast your vote for your favorite performer throughout the entire competition. Voting began with the beginning of the first song and ended 15 minutes after the final composition was performed. The organizers of the competition considered this procedure more logical. This innovation also made it possible to avoid overloading telephone lines, calls to which were previously available only during the last 15 minutes of the final show.
The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 will be determined by a vote of a professional jury and television viewers in a 50/50 ratio. The same principle will be applied in the semi-finals. The European Broadcasting Union has decided that at the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 the voting of viewers will take place after the end of the performance of all performers.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Illustration copyright EPA Image caption Jamala's victory at Eurovision caused heated debate on the Internet
Russian Internet users were outraged that Sergei Lazarev, who represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest, took third place, although he was the leader according to the results of the audience vote.
This year the competition introduced a new voting system, according to which the votes of national juries and television viewers are counted separately and announced in turn. Based on the results of the jury's voting, Lazarev took .
The decision of the competition judges, as well as victory Ukrainian performer Jamal, caused a strong reaction on social networks. Lazarev's fans called the jury's decision unfair and politicized and brought the hashtag to the top #LAZAREVOURS WINNER.
The results of the competition were criticized not only by spectators, but also by representatives of the Russian authorities.
“Indeed, it is an absolutely politicized situation, some kind of incomprehensible jury, which, contrary to the opinion of television viewers, is making a completely obvious political decision,” said the head of the A Just Russia party, Sergei Mironov.
And the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, suggested performing a song about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the next competition.
“I think at the next competition we should sing about Assad. I give the chorus: Assad bloody, Assad worst. Give me prize, that we can host (Assad is bloody, Assad is the worst. Give me a prize so that we can become the hosts of the next competition)” , - Zakharova wrote on Facebook.
Wherein Ukrainian singer received 10 points from Russian viewers, and Sergey Lazarev - the maximum 12 from viewers from Ukraine.
Before the start of the song competition, the competition organizers argued that the new vote counting system would not only be more objective, but would also allow the intrigue to be maintained until the very end of the ceremony.
Jury or spectators
During the first 20 years of Eurovision's existence, audience voting was not carried out during the competition; decisions were made only by members of the professional jury. Only the number of jury members from each country and the number of points they awarded to the contestants changed.
In 1975, a 12-point scoring system for participants' performances was introduced, which is still in use today. Jury members from one country or another awarded 12 points to the best performer, in their opinion, 10 points for second place, 8 points for third place, 7 points for fourth place, etc. It was forbidden to vote for a representative of one's own country.
Spectator voting was first held in 1998, and until 2000, it was based on its results that the Eurovision winner was determined. The jury intervened only in controversial cases when the same number of votes was cast for the same singer.
Since 2001, the rules begin to change again, and the role of jury members in the competition becomes more active. Since 2009, the voting results of the jury and television viewers began to be counted in a 50:50 ratio and announced simultaneously during the live broadcast.
Starting from this year, the voting results of the jury and spectators are calculated separately. During the broadcast, the results of the jury's vote are first announced, and then the presenters announce the pre-calculated results of the audience vote, starting with the country that received the lowest number of points and ending with the country with the highest number of points.
As the organizers note, for last years the winner of Eurovision could have been determined even before the end of the announcement of all the points, when no one could overtake the leader by calculation, but with the current system, the intrigue lasts until the very end.
"Stolen" points and block support
Russia has repeatedly expressed indignation at the Eurovision results. Thus, in 2003, the Russian Channel One officially declared its distrust of the voting results at the competition, calling the performance ratings “incredibly low.” Russian group"TATTOO." from some EU countries.
Also, the Russian side was dissatisfied with the fact that during the competition in Ireland, audience voting in last moment was replaced by a national jury vote.
In 2013, Russian singer Dina Garipova took fifth place in the competition, without receiving a single point from viewers from Azerbaijan, although the head of Azerbaijani Public Television, Jamil Guliyev, claimed that she took second place based on the results of SMS voting. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov then said that 10 points were “stolen” from Russia, and his Azerbaijani colleague Elmar Mammadyarov called this incident a “detective story.”
Representatives of other countries also expressed complaints about the vote counting system. After the victory of Serbian singer Marija Šerifović in 2007, many analysts and journalists stated that a “block system” of voting had been created at Eurovision, according to the results of which representatives of the countries of the former Yugoslavia and the USSR, who support each other, get the maximum points.
British publicist Tim Moore, in an interview with the BBC, even proposed holding two Eurovisions - in the west and in the east of Europe.
Image caption Spanish journalists claimed that the victory of the singer Massiel was organized by Francisco FrancoSometimes accusations of bias among judges are heard decades after the end of the competition: in 2008, Spanish television showed documentary, the authors of which claimed that the victory of singer Massiel in Eurovision 1968 was organized by the country's leader Francisco Franco.
According to the TV channel, Spanish officials bought the votes of jury members.
Experts note that in different European countries with different shapes are enthusiastic about Eurovision. While in Russia the competition is closely followed and its results are closely monitored, in Britain it is not taken seriously.
Russia can turn away from Europe as much as it wants with its cheeses and liberal values, but this does not apply to the large-scale pseudo-musical competition “Eurovision”. In 2015, Polina Gagarina, a veteran of music competitions and winner of the second Star Factory, was sent to the anniversary competition. Although Eurovision today can hardly boast of a truly interesting music program, few remain on the sidelines. During the competition, everyone, from Russia to Iceland, is literally seized with a fever, comparable only to large sports championships. The final will take place tomorrow - in anticipation of it, we’ll figure out why everyone is still crazy about Eurovision and what really stands behind this competition.
Dasha Tatarkova
Where did Eurovision come from?
It was invented after World War II to unite nations experiencing the results tragic event, and concentrate on the joys of peacetime. Eurovision was held for the first time in 1956 according to the idea of the European Broadcasting Union. The festival in San Remo was taken as an example. The competition was held in the company's homeland, Switzerland, 7 countries participated, and the organizing country won.
Since then, the Eurovision Song Contest has become one of the oldest and largest television programs in the world: it has already been watched by more than 100 million people this year, and at its peak the audience of the program reached 600 million viewers. The ideological mission of the organizers - to unite nations - has been fulfilled: the main unity in which the participating countries merge is aggressive rivalry, especially noticeable today, when any sneeze of the participants is immediately spread throughout the Internet.
Eurovision today is spectacular show, somewhere at the intersection of Cirque du Soleil and reality competitions like “The Voice.” This is not yet a Lady Gaga concert, but it seems that everything is going well. suits him. Of course, this was not always the case: at first the competition was very simple, the participants simply went on stage to the microphone and performed very modest and calm numbers by today’s standards; in the end we're talking about about the fifties. Since then, the intensity of the performances has been increasing.
Although for Eurovision it was as if neither rock and roll, nor punk, nor other musical revolutions existed, it absorbed innovations in non-conflict pop music with pleasure. The effectiveness of what was happening on stage changed along with the volume, until eventually the formats familiar to us today were established. Note that the manner of singing in English also did not come immediately, but eventually globalization took its toll.
How to get to Eurovision?
The name is misleading: it seems as if membership in the competition is guaranteed only to countries included in European Union. In fact, this is not so: the competition involves different countries, not geographically tied to Europe. Applications are submitted by TV channels that are members of the European Broadcasting Union, which created the competition. Each country, or rather a television company, can nominate only one participant, having previously conducted its selection at home in a format convenient for it.
Thus, the composition of participants changes from year to year, depending on who decides to apply. However, some members, for example the Vatican, have never taken advantage of such an opportunity, which is a pity - a representative of the Pope would do well to shake up the whole event. Today, Eurovision participants are mainly artists who are familiar with music competitions first-hand, or those who have passed the local selection based on a principle similar to the main competition. This is exactly why winners or participants of reality talent shows like our “Star Factory” often go to represent the country.
After the TV companies have selected their representatives and the song, the semi-finals begin. They were invented quite recently (the first circle appeared in 2004, and the second in 2008), since the number of participants has increased significantly. In previous years, potential competitors for next year were eliminated based on current Eurovision scores and fulfillment of requirements such as broadcasting, so the semi-finals now give many more countries a shot at breaking through to the top. In addition to the contenders fighting for the opportunity to reach the final, Eurovision has its own elite, to whom this right was initially assigned. Since 2000, these have been the “big four”: Great Britain, Germany, France and Spain. In 2010, Italy joined them, and in 2015, Australia also joined as an exception. Plus, a place in the final is always reserved for the winning country of the previous year.
Why is the music at Eurovision so bad?
The songs of the participants are always one hundred percent radio hits. Nowadays, from year to year, they bet either on a cheerful pop melody, or on a soulful ballad, or on local exoticism, at least in the eyes of other countries. Eurovision likes to boast that it gave impetus world famous Celine Dion, ABBA and Julio Iglesias. However, in a crowded music market, becoming a global pop star simply because of winning a competition is becoming more and more difficult every year. Those who try to break the paradigm of plastic songs performed by young and attractive people are much more memorable.
Few people remember just the pop songs that won the different years, but the heavy metal of Lordi, which Finland unexpectedly put up, Conchita Wurst, over whom the whole of Europe quarreled, or the slightly ridiculous but charming “Buranovsky Babushki” are still remembered. 2015 is no exception in this sense. This time Finland is again trying to push the boundaries of the tight competition - they sent the punk band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät, whose participants were diagnosed with developmental delays, and the representative of Poland Monika Kuszynska will be the first to perform at the competition in a wheelchair.
How does voting work?
The votes are divided in half between the audience and the jury. Each country chooses 10 favorite numbers, and then points are distributed depending on the popularity of the track in each country, from 12 to zero. The method of voting has changed over time, at first it was decided solely by the jury, then it was only the audience's choice. Installed since 2009 mixed system: both the audience and a special jury of professionals from each country influence the outcome of the competition. To vote today, you don’t have to call or send an SMS - just download the official Eurovision app. The counting of votes takes place during the out-of-competition final presentation of the organizing country. This year the closing song will be performed by Conchita Wurst.
No matter how much the founders of Eurovision tried to avoid favoritism, since the audience's sympathies began to be converted into numbers, it has become obvious that everyone votes primarily based on geopolitical sympathies. Neighbors vote for neighbors and are deeply offended if someone violates this order. It even has its own memes - just remember the guy with the saxophone, whose performance at Eurovision was turned into into a 10 hour video. Great Britain, which performs very poorly from year to year, is viewed rather condescendingly, despite victories in the distant past, and Russia is treated with caution. The Tolmachev sisters, who performed last year, were booed in public domestic policy country that made waves throughout the world.
Why did Australia become Europe?
In 2015, the competition is being held in Vienna, since last year’s winner was Conchita Wurst, representing Austria. Eurovision 2015 is the 60th, and in honor of the anniversary, the organizers wanted to make some spectacular gesture - they decided to invite Australia to participate, where the show has been popular for many years. The SBS television company, which represented the country at the competition in 2015, has been broadcasting Eurovision for more than thirty years.
Despite the time difference, Australians will vote on equal terms with everyone else. The choice of a local lucky winner for the competition is quite natural. The Australian jury, in accordance with the unspoken tradition of modern times, decided that it was best to entrust such an important task to the winner of the first Australian “Idol” - Guy Sebastian. However, what will happen if Australia wins is not clear. Since it is participating as an exception, the country will not be able to bring the competition home, although, perhaps, Australia simply does not count on winning. Pageant officials have however stated that if Australia emerges as the winner, its broadcaster SBS will have to choose a European country for the next competition, but whether Australia will then still be a participant has not yet been decided.
What is the essence of the competition if not the music?
The Eurovision Song Contest is anything but music event: behind the plastic facade it combines several diverse phenomena, only hiding behind music as a form of existence. At the same time, for ordinary Europeans this is the only vote that, despite all its obvious political overtones, remains exciting and fun. Moreover, other elections may envy his transparency. Countries vote for their neighbors and friends, who are often closer rather than further away, so that the finger-pointing process explains the distribution of political likes in and around Europe.
Eurovision has become a litmus test not only for political ideas, but also for a certain average taste. Not all countries send someone more or less famous in their homeland to the competition, but most radio-friendly tracks talk about what kind of pop music, in the opinion of TV channel producers, is most profitable and will definitely attract attention in their homeland. It is more difficult to judge other countries, but if you remember who Russia sent away, everything falls into place: “Buranovskie Grandmothers” and Dima Bilan talk equally a lot about the preferences of our compatriots.
“Eurovision” has become a competition in a cube: it combines popular reality shows like “Idol”, “The Voice”, “Star Factory”, dance battles and even beauty contests. Titles songs about love, peace and unity - like the lines of answers from contestants fighting for a sparkling tiara. It’s just like in “Miss Congeniality”: the participants dream of “world peace.” The competitiveness of what is happening makes Eurovision something of a sport for everyone. The language of music is universal: to watch it, you don’t need to understand the rules, and to cheer, you don’t need to know the teams or the results of previous selections. It's simple: one country, one participant and a sea of emotions.
Behind all this, the music itself fades into the background. The song lasts three minutes and no more, there is a maximum of six people on stage. The fact that songs and not something else are competing is rather nominal, especially today, when the performance itself plays no less a role. Just remember Alexander Rybak from Norway, who was inspired largely by the fact that he played the violin while gymnasts jumped around him. The diversity of world music exists separately from Eurovision. Here, year after year, they present dance tracks that go straight to the Turkish disco, or power ballads, a kind of pure technical soul for white people.
This is very easy-to-understand music that can be easily broken down into its components: here’s the beat, here’s the verse, here’s the bridge; singer takes clean notes The stronger the voice, the better. Producers treat creating a hit as a matter of honor, in which there is no room for experimentation: the track must hit all the proven criteria. pain points, and nothing else. Perhaps this is precisely why solo performers 28 victories belong to women, and only 7 to men. An impressive ballad just typical of women's repertoire.
When did Russia participate and who represented it?
For political and ideological reasons, at the time the competition appeared, the USSR did not even think about sending anyone to sing for the country. During Gorbachev's reforms, in 1987, the USSR Minister of Education proposed sending Valery Leontyev to Eurovision - to establish contact with the Western capitalist world, but no one supported him. Not all countries of the former Soviet Union they got a place in the competition just as easily as Russia did after the collapse of the Union. Many are still refused participation due to political and economic considerations, fearing that the applicant TV channel will not be able to adequately fund the event on its part.
For the first time, Russia was represented at Eurovision by singer Maria Katz under the pseudonym Judith. After her from us to the competition went the most different participants: at first they tried to rely on local figures like Alla Pugacheva and Philip Kirkorov, but their performances turned out to be among the most disastrous Russian numbers. Since then, Russia has had several refusals to participate, and then several shock hits. Alsou earned second place, Tatu - third. Before winning, Dima Bilan came close to second place in 2006; in 2012, “Buranovskie Babushki” ended up there. The “Silver” group became a prize-winner in 2007, finishing in third place.
Russia's overall score, considering its recent participation and even one victory, is very good. In the overall ranking we are in 16th place, second only to oldest members competition. Russia has become a Eurovision winner six times, taking one of the first three places; Dima Bilan brought the competition to his homeland once - in 2008. It is indicative how the political climate within a country influences who is chosen to represent the entertainment industry. In very recent 2009, Russia was represented by Anastasia Prikhodko, who sang in Russian and Ukrainian - unfortunately, such friendship of peoples is now difficult to imagine on the stage of the official TV channel. But if last year they sent the extremely positive Tolmachev sisters, this time they decided to loosen their grip a little. Polina Gagarina allows herself to take a selfie with Conchita Wurst and, despite the rather mediocre song, she does not lose her charisma and gives her all on stage.
Who made it to the finals and who can win?
This year's semi-finals included 33 countries. After the selections, 20 winners will compete for the title of winner, as well as 5 sponsoring countries, Germany, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, France, as well as Australia, plus the host country - Austria. The final finalists were revealed tonight after the second semi-final. Countries also received serial numbers performances: Polina Gagarina will sing third from the end.
Chances Russian singer rated as one of the highest in the competition. Around Eurovision, as around any competition, there has long been a huge betting industry and a pool of bookers offers similar estimates of the likely outcome. So far, according to one estimate, Gagarin is in second place, losing the championship to Sweden; according to another, our chances of winning are still less, somewhere around 10 to 1, after Estonia, Sweden and Australia.
What are the rules for the Eurovision Song Contest?
Editor's responseSisters Tolmachevs represented Russia at Eurovision 2014. At the final of the competition, held in Copenhagen on May 10, Anastasia and Maria performed the song “Shine”. One of the authors of the composition was Philip Kirkorov.
AiF.ru talks about how the winner of the show is chosen.
About the origins of Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest was first held in Switzerland in 1956 as an alternative Italian festival in San Remo (this festival dates back to 1951, with short interruptions it is held annually until the present day). So, the organizers of the new competition decided that only representatives of countries belonging to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) can participate in it, so it is not entirely correct to call Eurovision a competition exclusively European countries, because representatives of Israel, Cyprus, Egypt and other countries that geographically belong to other parts of the world also participate in it.
The Tolmachev sisters will represent Russia at Eurovision. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
General rules of the competition
Throughout its history, the Eurovision rules have changed only a few times, last time The changes affected the principle of voting for your favorite song. Key aspects The current version of the rules is as follows:
Because of large quantity For participants, the competition takes place in several stages: first, the semi-finals, which must be passed by representatives of all countries except the country hosting the competition, as well as the “Big Five” founding countries of Eurovision - Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Italy.
Representatives of those countries that took first to tenth places in the semi-finals are allowed into the finals of the competition. A total of 26 countries are represented in the finals of the competition - 20 semi-final leaders, five members of the Big Five and a representative of the host country.
The Eurovision 2014 final will be held in B&W Halls, essentially an industrial building. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
Viewer voting rules
It is not always clear exactly how points are distributed between participants. It's actually not that complicated.
Voting takes place in each country that sent its participant to the competition. Based on the voting results, the number of votes cast for a particular song is calculated. The song that received the most votes gets 12 points - and this is the maximum score. The second most voted song gets 10 points, the third gets 8 points. Next, songs in descending order receive 7, 6, 5 - and so on up to one point each.
Until 1997, voting took place only among a specially selected national jury. However, it was decided to conduct an experiment and allow TV viewers to vote for their favorite composition. Thus, since 1998, televoting was introduced in all countries using SMS messages or phone calls, and all of them were paid. From now on, the national jury did not participate in the distribution of points, but played the role of “insurance” so that if a technical failure occurred in any country, it would assign points to the contestants independently. After the end of voting, each country is invited to announce the results in turn.
Due to the large number of participating countries, only the highest scores are announced (12, 10 and 8 points), and viewers see the distribution of the remaining points on the interactive scoreboard.
If it happens that several participants receive the same number of points in the final or semi-final of the competition, then the winner is determined based on the results only popular vote: The song that receives more points from TV viewers becomes the winner.
If in this case the winner is not identified, then they look at the jury’s assessments - the song that was rated higher by the jury members from all countries becomes the winner.
