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Competing songs must be recently released original tracks of no more than three minutes and thiry seconds in length, and must be performed live on-stage with at least minimal vocal composition (fully instrumental tracks are not permitted). Since 2001, the performance of the song must be delivered via a backing track, although the use of live instruments is permitted to a certain degree, depending on the style of song. The number of persons present on-stage at any given time during a performance, including main performers, backing vocalists and dancers, is limited to eight people, all of whom must be at least 16 years of age. | Competing songs must be recently released original tracks of no more than three minutes and thiry seconds in length, and must be performed live on-stage with at least minimal vocal composition (fully instrumental tracks are not permitted). Since 2001, the performance of the song must be delivered via a backing track, although the use of live instruments is permitted to a certain degree, depending on the style of song. The number of persons present on-stage at any given time during a performance, including main performers, backing vocalists and dancers, is limited to eight people, all of whom must be at least 16 years of age. | ||
Since 2004, there is no restriction on the use of languages by participating countries. From the contest's inception in 1959 until 2003, albeit with a brief relaxation during the 1970's, the EBG required songs to be sung only in official, or regional, languages of the participating country. Despite the end of the language rule restriction, many Euclean countries, as well of many of the new Asterian and Coian participating countries, continue to send songs in their native languages, although there has been a growing trend of countries sending entries partially, or wholly, in {{wp| | Since 2004, there is no restriction on the use of languages by participating countries. From the contest's inception in 1959 until 2003, albeit with a brief relaxation during the 1970's, the EBG required songs to be sung only in official, or regional, languages of the participating country. Despite the end of the language rule restriction, many Euclean countries, as well of many of the new Asterian and Coian participating countries, continue to send songs in their native languages, although there has been a growing trend of countries sending entries partially, or wholly, in {{wp|French language|Gaullican}} or {{wp|English language|Estmerish}}, as two of the most internationally recognisable languages in the world. There is no restriction on the selection of artists by nationality; broadcasters are free to select any artist to represent them, including ones not originally from their territory. Consequentially, a number of artists have represented countries other than their native country over the years. | ||
===Selection=== | ===Selection=== | ||
Revision as of 16:36, 27 December 2023
| Euclovision Song Contest | |
|---|---|
 Logo since 2017 | |
| Also known as | Euclovision ESC |
| Genre | Music competition |
| Created by | Euclean Broadcasters Group |
| Presented by | Various presenters |
| Country of origin | Various participating countries |
| Original language(s) | Estmerish and Gaullican |
| No. of episodes | 65 contests 98 live shows |
| Production | |
| Production location(s) | Various host cities |
| Running time | ~2 hours (semi-finals) ~4 hours (finals) |
| Production company(s) | Euclean Broadcasters Group Various national broadcasters |
| Release | |
| Original release | 6 June 1959 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Euclovision Junior Euclovision Sound Contest |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
The Euclovision Song Contest (Gaullican: Concours Euclovision de la chanson), often referred to as Euclovision, is an annual international song competition organised by the Euclean Broadcasters Group (EBG). Held annually since 1959, it features songs selected by each participating country competing for votes from national juries and public televoting, from which a winner is determined. The live shows are broadcast by each participating national broadcaster, who in turn facilitate the organisation and voting procedures of the contest.
Active member broadcasters of the EBG and invited associated members are eligible to compete in the contest. Initially, participation was limited to Euclean countries, however restrictions were eased in 2004 to allow interested associated members of the EBG from Asterian and Coian countries to apply to enter. Consequentially, more than fifty countries have since participated in the contest at least once. Each participating broadcaster enters one original song, of no more than three minutes and thirty seconds in length, to be performed by an artist or group of no more than eight people aged 16 or over. Voting is conducted through each country via a simultaneous national jury and audience televote, with points being distributed based on these results. The entry with the most points is declared the winner. The contest is organised annually by the EBG and the winning country of the preceding year's contest, with the winning country expected to host the succeeding contest.
Since its inception, the contest has continued to evolve and grow in popularity, and is regularly considered to be the most watched non-sporting televised event in the world, attracting particularly high audience figures in many participating countries. The large audience of the contest makes it a platform for competing artists to grow their careers both domestically and internationally, with a number of globally well-known artists having participated at the contest both before, during, and after their peaks. However, the contest also attracts criticism for its musical and cultural quality, which some see as often being poor in nature. Critiques of the contest have also commented on perceived political elements in various aspects of the event, including in the songs, voting, and the outright organisation of the contest.
The most recent contest was held in St Avelines, Estmere, and was won by the host country. Consequentially, Estmere will host the event again in 2024.
History
Origins
The desire to create a pan-Euclean musical event was born out of the culmination of geopolitical and technological change in the late 1940's and early 1950's, namely the end of the Solarian War, the foundation of the Euclean Community (EC), and the development of television and satellite technology. The Radio Broadcasting Commission of the European Community was founded in 1949, and was succeeded by the Euclean Broadcasting Group (EBG) in 1951. The first simultaneous transmission of a live program across Euclea took place on 5 October 1954. Entitled Euclovision, the broadcast was a live, non-competitive variety show from television studios in Morwall, Estmere, and featured singers, dancers and other variety acts from six different countries: Azmara, Borland, Estmere, Gaullica, Hennehouwe and Werania. Over the following years, the newly-established Euclovision network would relay television transmissions of a number of events to audiences in several EC countries, including the 1955 IFF Coupe du Monde in Estmere.
The development of the transmission network spurred on moves towards regular co-operation between eastern Euclean broadcasters, particularly in an era where the availability of television was still limited, and amidst a battle for cultural influence against the councilist sphere in the west. In 1956, EBG members agreed on plans to work towards the organisation of a regularly-held Euclovision broadcast. Jan-Willem Langevoort, the director of television at Hennish National Broadcasting (HNO), and Abraham Holland, director-general of the Estmerish Broadcasting Service (EBS) put forward the idea of an annual music competition, held between member broadcasters. The concept of a music-based event was deemed to be most suitable as it would be accessible for radio broadcasts in addition to television broadcasts, as many EC countries had only began to provide regular television services, with audience numbers still small. The EBG accepted this proposal in 1957, and began working towards the hosting of the inaugural contest in the autumn of 1958. It was intended to be contested between the broadcasters of the ten member states of the EC, however a number of broadcasters pulled out of the planning for the first contest due to a lack of commitment or interest in the project. At the same time, EBG delegates from the Gaullican broadcaster made the case for the inclusion of Etruria, as a show of Euclean unity and solidarity in the years following the Solarian War and the preceding Great War.
Early years
After technical and bureaucratic delays, the first contest was held on 6 June 1959 from the Koninklijk Theater in Kesselbourg City, Kesselbourg, and hosted by Kesselburgs Omroep Stichting (now Kesselburgs Radio en Televisie). Eight countries ultimately took part: Azmara, Borland, Caldia, Estmere, Etruria, Gaullica, Hennehouwe and Kesselbourg; with the host country winning. The lack of transparency around voting procedures means that the placing of the other entrants remains unknown to this day, and controversy over it led to the introduction of a jury-based voting system at the following contest in 1960, held in Rayenne, Gaullica, which saw the début of Scovern and the last-minute withdrawal of Etruria, owing to the coup d'état that took place two weeks before the contest.
As the 1960's progressed, the contest continued to expand, with new countries making their début appearances year after year. Alsland and Werania first participated in 1961; Blostland in 1963; and Paretia and Soravia in 1964. With the growing availability of television in most Euclean countries by the mid-1960's, Euclovision became a prime television event across the continent. Its popularity spawned the success of a number of entries and artists in its early years, such as "Cantare" by Gianmario Vignali, the Etrurian entry to the 1962 contest; and "Talkin' Bout" by What?, the winning entry of the 1965 contest for Estmere.
In 1968, the contest was broadcast live in colour for the first time - a first for any non-sporting event in Euclea.
Growth
21st century
Following the modernisation that the contest's format underwent in the preceding years, Euclovision had become a much larger event as it entered the year 2000. Normalisation of relations between east and west had led to increasing interest in the competition among historically socialist-aligned states, who had historically shied away from the contest due to its commercial and Eastern image. As early as 2000, discussions had also begun between EBG officials and broadcasters from a number of countries in the Asterias and Coius, including the Satavian Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) and Société Radio-Cassier (SRC), over a potential rebrand of the contest to incorporate countries from across the world. In June 2001, the EBG announced tentative plans to replace the Euclovision Song Contest with a "global" song contest from 2003 onwards, in collaboration with the Asterian Broadcasting Group (ABG) and the All-Coian Union of Radio and Television (UCR). These plans faced intense criticism from a number of Euclean broadcasters and governments, as well as fans of the contest. Facing threats of a boycott of the 2002 contest by protesting broadcasters, the EBG climbed down from the plan and proposed a compromise, in which the Euclean-based song contest would remain, which would in turn serve as a qualifying round for the global final contest. This was firmly rejected by most EBG members, as they feared an effective sidelining of a long-running Euclean institution, as well as the potential additional costs of having to send artists and personnel to two separate, large events.
Instead, in March 2003, the EBG announced it would open the Euclovision Song Contest itself to non-Euclean countries for the first time, beginning from the 2004 contest. Asterian and Coian broadcasters who held associate membership of the EBU were required to send a note of interest to participate to the Working Group of the Euclovision Song Contest, who would in turn approve or disapprove of their participation. To accommodate the expected influx of participating countries, a semi-final system was introduced, replacing the previous relegation system that had existed since the late 1980's. This meant that all countries in Euclea would be permitted to compete simultaneously each year, appearing at least in the semi-finals, rather than having to sit out a year in lieu of poor results. The 2004 contest, held in Aalmsted, Azmara, saw the participation of thirty-eight countries – an increase of sixteen from the previous year, including the début of twelve countries from outside Euclea. The first victory for a non-Euclean country came a year later in 2005, with Satavia winning for the first time. Though the winning country is expected to host the following year's contest, the EBG implemented a rule declaring that the contest must be held within Euclea in any case, with any winning non-Euclean broadcaster co-hosting with a Euclean counterpart. As such, the 2006 contest was held in Morwall, Estmere, co-hosted by the EBS and the SBC. The same procedure was carried out the following year after Garambura's first victory, with the 2007 edition taking place in Verlois.
Criticism of the televoting system, in place since 1998, for political and 'bloc' voting patterns, led to changes at the 2009 contest, which introduced a 50-50 jury/televote system for each country's set of points in both the semi-finals and finals, modelled after the voting format in the Hennish pre-selection Het Grote Songfestival.
High definition broadcasting of the event was introduced in 2006, whilst free app voting was introduced in a number of countries at the 2021 contest.
Format and rules
Participation
To participate, a broadcaster must be either a full member of the Euclean Broadcasters Group, or, since 2004, be an associate member of the organisation and obtain permission from the Working Group of the contest to take part. Members of the Euclean Broadcasters Group are primarily public broadcasters of Euclean countries, although it also includes a number of mainstream commercial and minority broadcasters. Membership of the Euclean Broadcasters Group is limited to media organisations based in Euclean countries; whilst broadcasters from Asteria and Coius can obtain associate member status.
Participating countries are obliged to meet all rules and credentials in advance of the contest, and are required to be a 'contribution fee' towards the annual organisation, hosting, and broadcast of the event. This fee differs for broadcasters depending on the size of the country and organisation.
Prior to 1995, there was no limit on the number of participating countries per contest, as the number had remained relatively steady for many years, with around 20-22 entrants taking part annually. However, with the début Tsabara, ex-ASUR states and both former and current socialist countries in the late 1980's and early 1990's, the EBG decided to introduce a relegation system in 1995, in which the bottom three or four countries in the results of the contest would be excluded from the following year's edition, with new and formerly-relegated countries taking their place. This rule change resulted in the exclusion of Estmere and Soravia, two of the contest's largest financial contributors, from the 1997 contest in lieu of poor results in preceding year. Following protests from their respective broadcasters, the EBG implemented what became known as the 'Super Cinq' rule - in which the countries of the five largest-contributing broadcasters to the contest - Estmere, Etruria, Gaullica, Soravia and Werania - automatically qualify for the contest final every year, irrespective of previous results.
Following the decision to allow non-Euclean countries compete for the first time in 2004, the EBG replaced the relegation system format with the introduction of a semi-final, preceding the grand final. With the exception of the 'Super Cinq' countries and the host country, who continue to qualify automatically, all other countries must qualify from the final through the semi-final. The EBG limits each contest to a total of forty-six countries; providing for a maximum of twenty countries in each semi-final, with twenty-six countries appearing in the final (ten qualifiers from each of the two semi-finals + the 'Super Cinq' countries + the host country).
Song and artist eligibility
Competing songs must be recently released original tracks of no more than three minutes and thiry seconds in length, and must be performed live on-stage with at least minimal vocal composition (fully instrumental tracks are not permitted). Since 2001, the performance of the song must be delivered via a backing track, although the use of live instruments is permitted to a certain degree, depending on the style of song. The number of persons present on-stage at any given time during a performance, including main performers, backing vocalists and dancers, is limited to eight people, all of whom must be at least 16 years of age.
Since 2004, there is no restriction on the use of languages by participating countries. From the contest's inception in 1959 until 2003, albeit with a brief relaxation during the 1970's, the EBG required songs to be sung only in official, or regional, languages of the participating country. Despite the end of the language rule restriction, many Euclean countries, as well of many of the new Asterian and Coian participating countries, continue to send songs in their native languages, although there has been a growing trend of countries sending entries partially, or wholly, in Gaullican or Estmerish, as two of the most internationally recognisable languages in the world. There is no restriction on the selection of artists by nationality; broadcasters are free to select any artist to represent them, including ones not originally from their territory. Consequentially, a number of artists have represented countries other than their native country over the years.
Selection
The EBG allows participating broadcasters to select their entry either internally, or via a national selection. An internal selection is where the broadcaster chooses the participating song through a closed-door process, usually with a small expert team within the organisation picking the entry without consultation from the public. A national selection usually takes the form of a televised competition format between artists and songs, with the entry being chosen via a public vote, national jury, or a combination of both. The scale of national selection differs between countries. Hennehouwe's Het Grote Songfestival, and Scovern's Vollingsfest constitute examples of long-running and successful national selections with large television audiences in their respective countries, whilst some countries opt for small-scale selections held in TV studios, with changing formats depending on the year. Following the addition of Asterian and Coian countries, many incorporated their existing national song competitions as selection processes for Euclovision, such as Gapolania.
Broadcasting
Voting
The voting portion of the contest is often the most well-known element of each show, with the choice of voting system and delivery of the results changing numerous times since the 1960's. As of 2023, the voting system used is a form of positional voting, first used in 1978. Each country awards points to the ten highest ranked songs, awarding 12 points to the highest ranked, followed by 10 points, and then 8–1 - no country is able to award points to itself.
Prior to 1999, these votes were attributed solely from a professional jury in each country, with their composition following guidelines by the EBG. In 1999, the EBG introduced a limited form of public voting via SMS and premium phone numbers in a number of countries, with a full-scale rollout across all participating countries in 2000, replacing the jury vote entirely. Following criticism from eastern Euclean broadcasters over perceived political voting between western Euclean, Coian and Asterian countries via televoting, the EBG reintroduced juries for the 2010 contest, where a 50:50 split is applied between the jury and televotes in each country, combining the two to award a single set of points. Since 2021, countries may provide a free voting option to its viewers via the Euclovision mobile app, in addition to existing SMS and call options.
A number of different voting systems were used before the '12 points' system became established in the late 1970's. Most contests prior to 1978 used a 'one juror, one vote' system, in which each country assembled a panel of ten to twelve jurors, who each cast one vote for their favourite song.
The country which receives the highest number of points is deemed to be the winner. In the event of a tie between two or more countries for first place, a countback of however many countries awarded points for each tied country is applied, with the country having received points from the most countries being awarded victory.
During the finals, the results are presented in a chronological format, with each country's top points being announced by a spokesperson appointed by each national broadcaster, and broadcast via live video link from each country. The results sequence during the semi-finals only reveal the names of the qualifying countries in a random order; the full results are not published until after the final, in order to maintain suspense surrounding the eventual final outcome.
In August 2023, the EBG announced a new voting system, to be employed for the contest in 2024. Each country's jury and public votes will be split and given as separate sets of points, therefore doubling the number of points awarded by each country. This maintains the 50:50 split between juries and televoting, but may result in differing outcomes to the outgoing system.
Editions
History
Participating Countries
Location
Moderators
Rules
Criticism
Euclovision's rule that all songs must feature Euclean languages, including after the Euclean Broadcasters Group opened the contest to non-Euclean nations in 2000, has been criticized by some, most notably the government of Asase Lewa, as a form of Euclocentrism and linguistic imperialism. Mandating the usage of Euclean languages in the contest, the Asalewan government asserts, serves to facilitate the spread of Euclean languages and culture to music and thus mass culture more broadly, thus Eucleanizing non-Euclean cultures. Asase Lewa has, consequently, boycotted Euclovision and encouraged other nations to do so until this rule is lifted.
Pre-selections
Winners
Countries
- Table key
- Active - Countries who are currently participating.
- Withdrawn – Countries who have participated in the past but have withdrawn.
| Country | Debut year | Wins | Broadcaster(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
 Alsland |
1959 | 2 | Aalslânske Omrop Korporaasje |
 Amathia |
1997 | 0 | Euclean Broadcasters Group |
 Caldia |
1959 | 2 | Teilifís Raidió Náisiúnta |
 East Miersa |
1968 | 0 | Telewizja Mierska Ludowa |
| File:Eldmark.png Eldmark | 2012 | 0 | Eldmarsk Broadcasting Services |
| Template:Country data Estmere | 1959 | 4 | Estmerish Broadcasting Service |
 Gapolania |
2021 | 0 | Radiotelevisione Gapolania |
 Gaullica |
1959 | 5 | Euclean Broadcasters Group |
 Hennehouwe |
1959 | 4 | Hennish National Broadcasting |
| File:ImaguaFlag.png Imagua | 2013 | 0 | Imaguan Television Service |
 Kesselbourg |
1959 | 4 | Kesselbuerg Publieke Omroep |
| File:RwizikuruFlag.PNG Rwizikuru | 2020 | 0 | RIS |
 Sainte-Chloé |
2012 | 0 | Sainte-Chloé Communication Service |
 Satavia |
2004 | 1 | Satavian Broadcasting Corporation |
 Soravia[1] |
1964 | 5 | Radiotelevizor Libertas (1964–1983) TVP (1983–1985) Telekom 1 (1985–) |
 United Miersa[2] |
2020 | 0 | Miersa United Together Broadcasting[3] |
 Werania |
2008 | 0 | Euclean Broadcasters Group |
 West Miersa |
1975 | 1 | Telewizja Mierska |
- ↑ Includes winners from the Soravian Federated Republic.
- ↑ Comprised of musicians from both West and East Miersa.
- ↑ Operational name for the collaboration between Telewizja Mierska and TML.