Eurovision song contest

During a meeting in Monaco in 1955, EBU Director Marcel Bezençon launched the idea of uniting Europe in a broadcast. The Swiss national public broadcaster was proposed to organize the first Grand Prix, which took place on 24th of May, 1956, in Lugano. Seven countries took part in the first edition, Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Italy, with each country presenting two songs, which only happened in 1956. It was the second Swiss song of the evening, Refrain by Lys Assia that became the first ever winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest in now held each May under the sponsorship of the European Broadcasting Union. It’s a world-class television production of a competition between songs representing the respective countries of the participating EBU Members. Only Active Members of the EBU are eligible to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest grew more glamorous and exciting in the 1960s as more countries became involved. It also saw technical improvements this decade. With the 1968 contest being the first to be produced and broadcast in color by the BBC, despite the fact that very few TV viewers across Europe owned color TV sets.
The growing competition between participants led to the record-breaking four winners in 1969 when France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom all got 18 points. Since there was no answer for this circumstance, all four countries were declared winners. However, having four winners brought a lot of negative feedback from the media and several TV stations reconsidered participating in the following Eurovision Song Contest. Only 12 delegations decided to take part in 1970 due to the "voting scandal" from the previous year.
The voting frameworks used in the Contest have changed as the years passed. The advanced framework has been set up since 1975. Countries award a set of points from 1 to 8, then 10 and finally 12 to other songs in the competition — with the favorite song being awarded 12.

For the first time in its history, a televised Semi- Final was introduced in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest.

In 2005, Europe celebrated the 50th anniversary of its favorite TV show. During a spectacular live show from Copenhagen, 14 of the contest's evergreens competed for the title of best Eurovision Song Contest entry of all times. ABBA’s Waterloo is chosen as best Eurovision Song Contest song from the past 50 years.

As the popularity of the show raised and many countries joined the contest, three years later, in 2008, a second Semi-Final was added to the format. In 2009, 124 million people watched the three live shows on television. In 2011, over 105 million people tuned in for the shows.
Many celebrities have started and developed their career with the help of Eurovision. More superstars were launched at the Eurovision Song Contest in the 1980s. For Céline Dion, winning the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest was just another step on her way to becoming a worldwide superstar.
Germany has participated in the contest competition the most: 59 times. Ireland was unbelievably successful – winning  four times in total, including three times in a row - 1992, 1993, 1994 and then also in 1996.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2015 will be the 60th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. The contest will take place in Vienna, Austria, following Conchita Wurst's victory in the 2014 contest with the song "Rise Like a Phoenix".