More Than a Song and Dance: A Eurovision Special

A bit of a break from the politics and the banks, this week I'm writing about the Eurovision Song Contest, an annual exhibition and celebration of the surreal, the bizarre, the grammatically dodgy and the occasional talent. An excellent RTÉ programme last week discussed some of the "secret history" of the Eurovision, by focusing not so much on the music, but on the role the Contest played in a cultural war between the West and the Communist block during the Cold War. I'm not going to rehash information that was shown on television last week, but I thought I'd reveal a few things about the Contest you might not know.

Pick a date, any date.

It's a tradition that the Eurovision takes place on a Saturday night, but this only started in 1961. Before that, the Contest took place on whatever evening was convenient for the host broadcaster. The first Contest, in 1956, took place on Thursday, May 24, and was really a radio affair; since most Europeans didn't have television, the emphasis was on radio entertainment, though there was cameras to present it to those who did have television sets. The 1957 and 1958 Contests were on Sundays, March 3 and March 16, respectively, while the 1959 Contest took place on a Wednesday, March 11, and the 1960 Contest was performed on a Tuesday, March 29. The 1961 Contest was on Saturday, March 18, and Saturday night has been the night of broadcast since 1963.

Nunzio Gallo in 1957: his ode to the strings of his
guitar went on a bit too long for the EBU

The rules of the Contest state that no song may be longer than three minutes, because of time constraints. This wasn't always the case, and the 1957 Italian entry, "Corde Della mia Chitarra" ("Strings of My Guitar") lasted five minutes and nine seconds. Although it's a rather nice song, the European Broadcasting Union eventually decided that such lengthy efforts would not be welcomed, and limited the amount of time songs could take.

The United Kingdom has hosted the Contest on eight occasions, despite only winning the Contest five times. Only one has been hosted outside of England, the 1972 edition, which was in Edinburgh. Like the 1960 and 1963 editions, the BBC hosted despite the UK not winning the previous Contest. The BBC became known as a dependable substitute in the event that a winning country was unable to stage the competition because of limited space or funds, but hasn't stepped in as substitute host since 1972, though only one Contest has been held by a country other than the previous winner since, when the Netherlands hosted the 1980 edition after Israel, having won the 1978 and 1979 Contests, revealed that it could not afford to host such a major event for a second consecutive year.

In 1996, as pretty much everyone in Ireland knows, Eimear Quinn won the Contest, Ireland's fourth success in five years and a record seventh overall. Aside from being the last time Ireland won the Contest (probably to the immense relief of the accountants at RTÉ, since that's meant RTÉ hasn't had to host the Eurovision in the last fifteen years), there was a unique political involvement. For the first, and only, time, politicians around Europe sent good luck messages to their country's delegation, which was played immediately before the song. While the likes of Switzerland and Greece sent low-ranking diplomats to help waste time create a spirit of friendship, Taoiseach John Bruton did the honours for Ireland, as can be seen from 1:14 on this video. His voice wished good luck, but his eyes were praying that someone else would win.

Leon's techno effort failed to impress

1996 is also the only time that Germany hasn't appeared in the final. Due to the sheer number of countries that wanted to enter following the end of the Cold War and the break-ups of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the European Broadcasting Union decided to have a qualifying round, which wasn't televised, to whittle the 29 entrants (not including host Norway) down to a more manageable 22. In what could only be described as dubious decision-making, national juries made their call by listening to audio taped performances of the songs, and voting as normal, but without the results being released. Despite being a major contributor to the EBU, Germany was eliminated. Eliminating one of your biggest cash cows probably unnerved the EBU, which decided a few years later to guarantee participation in the final for Germany, as well as the United Kingdom, France and Spain. Italy are also assured passage to the final when the enter; this year is their first appearance in the Contest since 1997.