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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Esprit Arena Düsseldorf - Eurovision Song Contest 2011 venue (00:00:30sec)
The 56th Annual Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Dusseldorf, Germany in May 2011. For us in North America, there has never been anything as exciting as this since the British Invasion of The Beatles in the 60s!! Now all of Europe invades the airwaves of North America with its hot, funky saucy, and electrifying sounds! American Idol move over!!
Forty-three countries will be competing for the prestigious award. This year Austria will be returning to the stage after an absence of three years as well as San Marino (which had participated once in 2008) and Hungary (which participated in 2009). Montenegro had applied to enter the Contest in December but subsequently withdrew their application. Slovakia had registered for the competition but later withdrew due to monetary considerations. After some tenuous deliberations, they are back in. Their reason: they were unwilling to pay the penalty fine for late withdrawal. In any event, a public poll held by Slovenska televizia (STV) resulted in an 87.5% positive vote for participation in the annual event!
"The EU is the U.S. ‘s largest competitor and closest ally on the world stage, so it’s a good idea to learn a bit more about what we do. Make sure to clear May 14, 2011 in your calendar. Call your local TV channel or simply watch it online at Eurovision‘s home page."
(excerpt from "Europe United")
Semi-final 1
The first semi-final is scheduled for May 10, 2011 and will take place in Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany. The ten countries which score the highest at this level will qualify for the final. Points are awarded according to a combination of televotes and jury votes from each voting country. Spain and United Kingdom must broadcast and vote in this semi-final.
Semi-final 2
The Big Five
| 11 |  France | Corsica | Amaury Vassili | "Sognu" | Dream | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 |  Italy | Italian, English | Raphael Gualazzi | "Madness of Love" | — |
| 14 |  United Kingdom | English | Blue | "I Can" |
| 16 |  Germany (Host) | English | Lena | "Taken by a Stranger" | — |
| 22 |  Spain | Spanish | Lucía Pérez | "Que me quiten lo bailao" | They Can't Take the Fun Away From Me |
BROADCASTING INFORMATION
GermanyIn Germany, the host broadcaster NDR, will produce the programme for ARD. ProSieben will broadcast the first semi-final. ARD will broadcast the second semi-final and the final.
AustraliaThough Australia is not eligible to enter, Eurovision Song Contest will be broadcast on SBS, a free-to-air television station, as in previous years. Local commentary provided by Julia Zemiro and Sam Pang.
United KingdomThe semi-finals will be broadcast on BBC Three and for the first time in high-definition on BBC HD. The final broadcast will be on BBC One and BBC One HD.
The 2011 Eurovision Song Contest will be transmitted throughout Europe and will be broadcast by the national broadcasting company in each country. The rest of the world won't be left out. We can still watch the Contest online. Just log onto Eurovision TV to watch the stream live! If you experience any difficulty in receiving a transmission, make sure you have installed the Octoshape plug-in!
THE VOTING RULES
The panel of judges consist of the "Big Four" along with the host of the event, Germany, which apparently automatically qualify for the finals! But with the return of Italy, it's now called the "Big Five"! Therefore, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy and Germany all are vying for the finals before the get go. A total of 25 nations will be participating in the finals.
A draw was held on January 17, 2011 to determine the semi-final running orders. Participating countries nations were placed into six categories, or pots, based on voting patterns up to 2010. The names of each country was drawn from each pot to determine which half of the semi-final they would compete in, including the "Big Five".
European viewers from the 43 participating countries have a chance to vote for their favorite artists by making a phone call or sending an SMS. The televoting results and the jury results are merged per country and each result counts for 50%. Spokespersons in all participating countries will announce the results, giving 12 points to the most popular entry, 10 points to the second most popular, then 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points. The country with the highest number of points wins the 55th Eurovision Song Contest! Click here for more details!
The presenters of the event will be Anke Engelke, Judith Rakers, and Stefan Raab.
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| Anke Christina Engelke |
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| Stefan Raab |
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| Judith Rakers in 2009 |
This blog will present a music video every day from now until May 8th. On May 9th I will post the last 3 music videos, my favorites. The choices were difficult to make as all the artists are amazingly talented!
The excitement reaches a peak during the upcoming two semi-finals set for May 10 and May 12, 2011.
The Final is slated for the evening of May 14, 2011 after which the results will be posted on this blog.
Wishing all the artists good luck!!
You are all Fantastic!!
source: Wikipedia
Suggested Links:
Eurovision TV Online
Espritarena
Explaining Eurovision to Americans
Europe United
HOW TO VOTE DURING EUROVISION (Europeans only!)
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