Eurovision Song Contest 2008

[parkerman]

Italy haven't taken part for years. It's about time we joined them!

[Abbie]

Italy haven't taken part for years. It's about time we joined them!

I wouldnt what happened to them, and they havent voted either?

[JustJodi]

I think BBC should pull the plug on this, my partner said he remembered when it was about MUSIC and the songs,, me and my friends said it was POPPYCOCK,, it was all about politics,, had nothing to do with music at all.
I love the idea of getting together with the Americans and the Aussies, yea at least these countries would be FAIR, when it comes down to music,, oh yea lets do something like that BBC are you listening

[Abbie]

hehe, we should write to them

[StarsOfCCTV]

There's a group on facebook against it. I've joined it.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2325709619

Here is a link to the petition...http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/p...ing/index.html

[Chloe O'brien]

The Beeb should pull the plug on the UK entering Eurovison, why should decent singers have to suffer for political reasons. If the UK or any other country entered a really bad song then fine don't vote but Andy Abrahams song was quiet good. The UK should withdraw their funding now and let the Eastern countries vote for each other until their hearts content.

[JustJodi]

I agree with u Chloe and with the UK fundings gone they will feel the pinch???

BTW which country originally started EUROVISON ???

[Perdita]

The Contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to such places as Australia, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Vietnam, and the United States, despite the fact that these countries do not compete. Since 2000, the Contest has also been broadcast over the Internet, with more than 74,000 people in almost 140 countries having watched the 2006 edition online.

In the 1950s, as a war-torn Europe rebuilt itself, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)—based in Switzerland—came up with the idea of an international song contest whereby countries would participate in one television programme, to be transmitted simultaneously to all countries of the union. This was conceived during a meeting in Monaco in 1955 by Marcel Bezençon, a Frenchman working for the EBU. The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy, and was also seen as a technological experiment in live television: in those days, it was a very ambitious project to join many countries together in a wide-area international network. Satellite television did not exist, and the so-called Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network. The name "Eurovision" was first used in relation to the EBU's network by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951.

The first Contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956. Seven countries participated—each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in which more than one song per country was performed: since 1957 all contests have allowed one entry per country. The 1956 Contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland.

Britain has won 5 times in the history, 1967 Sandie Shaw with Puppet on a String, 1969 Lulu with Boom Bang A Bang,
1976 Brotherhood of Man with Save Your Kisses For Me, 1981 Bucks Fizz with Making Your Mind Up and 1997 Katrina and the Waves with Love, Shine a Light. Ireland won in 1970 with Dana singing All Kinds of Everything, 1980 Johnny Logan with What's Another Year and Johnny Logan again in 1987 with Hold Me Now.

The programme was first known as the "Eurovision Grand Prix". This "Grand Prix" name was adopted by the Francophone countries, where the contest became known as "Le Grand-Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne". The "Grand Prix" has since been dropped and replaced with "Concours" (contest) in these countries. The Eurovision Network is used to carry many news and sports programmes internationally, among other specialised events organised by the EBU. However, the song contest has by far the highest profile of these programmes, and has long since become synonymous with the name "Eurovision".

[Abbie]

You have to admit, the idea to unite all countires to participate in somehting like this sounds great and was a great idea, its just a shame thngs have changed

[CHARITY]

Well i must say, i think Andy Abrahams song was a bit oldfashioned, the same with swedens entry Charlotte Perrelli. But ooh, i really liked Portugal, she was a great singer and i voted for her so many times, but that really didn`t help.
I Agree that the contest is getting ridicolous, but still it is fun and its only once a year!.....