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General knowledge · Film, TV & games

The Eurovision Song Contest

First held 24 May 1956

Television — the annual song competition of the European Broadcasting Union

An annual song competition organised by the European Broadcasting Union, first staged at Lugano in Switzerland on 24 May 1956 with seven countries and two songs each. The host is the previous year's winning country, entries must be performed live, and since 2004 semi-finals have whittled the field down to a grand final of about twenty-six. The results are read out country by country, with jury and public votes now announced separately, and the phrase "nul points" has passed into English even though the scores are given in French as "zéro point".

How to spot them

  • ▸Lugano, 24 May 1956 — seven countries, two songs each, won by Lys Assia for the hosts
  • ▸The winner hosts the following year; the 'Big Five' qualify automatically for funding the contest
  • ▸Ireland and Sweden lead with seven wins each; the United Kingdom has five
  • ▸Televoting since 1997, semi-finals since 2004, and juries splitting the vote with the public

Key facts

Lugano, Switzerland, 24 May 1956 — seven countries and two songs each, won by Lys Assia with 'Refrain' (1956)

The first contest; the voting details were never published

Four Swedes in satin at the Brighton Dome singing about Napoleon's defeat (1974)

ABBA's 'Waterloo', the start of their international career

A twenty-year-old Canadian singing for Switzerland, winning by a single point in Dublin (1988)

Céline Dion with 'Ne partez pas sans moi'

Katrina and the Waves with 'Love Shine a Light' — the United Kingdom's fifth and most recent win (1997)

Held in Dublin; the UK has not won since

Salvador Sobral's 'Amar pelos dois' gave Portugal a first victory at the forty-ninth attempt (2017)

The first winning song entirely in Portuguese, and the highest score under the split-vote system at the time

Loreen became the first woman to win twice, eleven years after her first victory (2023)

'Euphoria' in 2012 and 'Tattoo' in 2023, both for Sweden

DARA's 'Bangaranga' took 516 points at the Wiener Stadthalle in May 2026 (2026)

A first win for Bulgaria; the contest was in Vienna because JJ had won for Austria in 2025

Johnny Logan won twice as a singer and wrote a third winner, all for the same country (1980)

'What's Another Year' (1980) and 'Hold Me Now' (1987) for Ireland, and he wrote Linda Martin's 'Why Me?' (1992)

Quick-fire facts

  • •Organised by the European Broadcasting Union; the first contest was at the Teatro Kursaal, Lugano, on 24 May 1956
  • •Switzerland won the first contest with Lys Assia singing 'Refrain'
  • •Ireland and Sweden share the record with seven wins each
  • •Johnny Logan is the only person to have won twice as a performer and also written a winning song
  • •ABBA won at Brighton in 1974 with 'Waterloo'; Céline Dion won for Switzerland in 1988
  • •The 'Big Five' — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom — qualify automatically as the largest financial contributors
  • •Australia has taken part since 2015, invited for the contest's sixtieth anniversary
  • •The United Kingdom's last win was Katrina and the Waves with 'Love Shine a Light' in 1997
  • •Austria won in 2025 with JJ's 'Wasted Love', taking the 2026 contest to Vienna
  • •Bulgaria won for the first time in 2026, with DARA's 'Bangaranga' scoring 516 points

Drill it — 8 cards

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