Lopez Blogs

Interesting Facts about Eurovision Song Contest

There seems to be no end to oddball entries in Eurovision. A Swiss trio of musicians, Peter, Sue and Marc, almost missed the 1979 competition because they were refused entry into Israel.The border guards were not satisfied with their explanation about why they were bringing in so many hoses, watering cans, bin bags and bottle openers.  Apparently they were props to their performance.  Eventually they were allowed to enter the country, but they finished in 8th place! Not bad! Not bad for gardeners I say!

Roughly 35 million people watch American Idol. Impressed? Don't be!  The Eurovision beats American Idol by a long shot! In 2001, 95 % of the Danish viewing public tuned in - the highest percentage in Europe.  In the last several years, total world viewing has been estimated between 400 and 600 million!!
The largest single audience was 75 million just from the Soviet Union!  Move Over American Idol!!

Iceland participated in Eurovision for the first time in 1980.  They could not apply earlier as they did not meet one of the conditions of entry - that the country be a part of the European Broadcasting Union. Iceland had to wait until a satellite link could be established before it could join in.









Every day until May 8 I will be posting a music video of each one of the semi-finalists of the Eurovision Song Contest. On May 9, I will post the last three (my top favorites), Enjoy the videos!