Eurovision Song Contest

Lugano 1956

The first ever Eurovision Song Contest took place in Lugano, Switzerland, at the Teatro Kursaal, on 24th of May 1956.

Frankfurt 1957

The 1957 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany after Switzerland declined to host the contest for a second time.

Hilversum 1958

The Netherlands had the honour of hosting the third Eurovision Song Contest. The 1958 contest took place at the television studios in Hilversum, the 'media capital' of the Netherlands. For the occasion, the venue was decorated with thousands of tulips.

Cannes 1959

The glamorous Mediterranean resort of Cannes, France hosted the 4th Eurovision Song Contest in March 1959.

London 1960

London was the host city of the fifth Eurovision Song Contest despite a Dutch victory in Cannes in 1959.

Cannes 1961

The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 returned to Cannes for the second time in two years. The number of participants began to rise as the Eurovision Song Contest became increasingly popular.

Luxembourg City 1962

The 1962 Eurovision Song Contest was held in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for the first time. France scored another victory with Un premier amour performed by Isabelle Aubret.

London 1963

The 8th Eurovision Song Contest took place in London, despite a French victory in the preceding year. Denmark's first victory would become controversial topic.

Copenhagen 1964

The 1964 Eurovision Song Contest took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Italy scored its first victory with a song performed by 16-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti who had already won the Italian San Remo Festival with her entry Non Ho l’Età.

Naples 1965

The 1965 Eurovision Song Contest took place in Naples and saw Luxembourg win again. The winning entry, performed by France Gall, Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son, is a milestone moment in the history of the show since it is the first time that a pop song won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Luxembourg City 1966

Once again, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg had the honour of staging Europe's most important musical contest and for the first time, a song in German managed to win the trophy.

Vienna 1967

After Udo Jürgens' victory in 1966, Vienna, Austria's capital, was chosen to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967.

London 1968

The thirteenth Eurovision Song Contest which took place in the Royal Albert Hall in London was the first Eurovision Song Contest to be broadcast in colour. The bookmakers were sure of another British victory since Cliff Richard - who had dominated the European charts for several years already - decided to represent his native country.

Madrid 1969

The Spanish capital of Madrid hosted the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest after Massiel won the trophy in London the year before. Austria decided to stay home so the number of participants went down to 16 as no new countries entered.

Amsterdam 1970

The Netherlands hosted the Eurovision Song Contest once again in 1970. The contest took place in the capital, Amsterdam, however only 12 delegations made the trip to the Dutch capital due to what was referred to as "the voting scandal" of the year before.

Dublin 1971

After Dana's victory in 1970, the Eurovision Song Contest moved to the Emerald Isle, Ireland, and the number of participants rose again.

Edinburgh 1972

Host Broadcaster BBC arranged the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest outside London for the first time. The honour of hosting went to the Scottish capital Edinburgh after Monaco, which won the year before, was unable to provide a suitable venue. The contest resulted in two big hits all over the continent: Après Toi by winner Vicky Leandros and Beg, Steal Or Borrow by The New Seekers who ended up in second place.

Luxembourg City 1973

After hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962 and 1966, it was Luxembourg's third occasion to show the best of Europe's music to millions of viewers. The big favourite to win was yet again Cliff Richard representing the United Kingdom, but the host nation Luxembourg took the trophy.

Brighton 1974

For the second time in three years the United Kingdom staged the Eurovision Song Contest without having won the contest in the preceding year. Due to the fact that the broadcaster in Luxembourg, RTL, did not wish to host the event again for financial reasons, the BBC embraced the possibility once more. The 1974 Eurovision Song Contest was held at The Dome, in the seaside resort of Brighton.

Stockholm 1975

The Eurovision Song Contest moved northwards for its 20th anniversary. The 1975 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Stockholm, Sweden on 22nd March.

The Hague 1976

For the third time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Netherlands organised the musical highlight of the year. After having hosted the event in Hilversum and Amsterdam, The Hague was chosen as host city for the 1976 event.

London 1977

The Eurovision Song Contest 1977 was the first contest which was troubled by a strike and was only organised five weeks after the planned date.

Paris 1978

After having won in London in 1977, French Television organised the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest in Paris on 22nd April.

Jerusalem 1979

The 24th Eurovision Song Contest was held outside the geographical area of Europe for the first time. Jerusalem played the proud host of the annual event in 1979.

The Hague 1980

Israeli TV declined the opportunity to host the 1980 Song Contest again after Israel won in Jerusalem in 1979. After much discussion, it was decided that the contest would be arranged by Dutch TV NOS in The Hague.

Dublin 1981

Ireland's capital Dublin hosted the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest after Johnny Logan won the contest in the preceding year with What's Another Year. Bucks Fizz won the 1981 contest for the United Kingdom with the song Making Your Mind Up.

Harrogate 1982

The BBC surprised everyone when they decided that the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest would be held in the northern city of Harrogate.

Munich 1983

After trying to win for many years, German broadcaster ARD finally hosted the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest in Munich.

Luxembourg City 1984

Luxembourg hosted the contest for the 4th last time after Corinne Hermès' victory the year before.

Gothenburg 1985

Swedish national broadcaster SVT decided to stage the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest in Gothenburg's Scandinavium, the biggest venue to have hosted the show to date.

Bergen 1986

The Norwegian city of Bergen had the honour of hosting the 1986 Eurovision Song Contest which saw Belgium score its first and to date, only victory with Sandra Kim's J'Aime La Vie.

Brussels 1987

The 1987 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Brussels, Belgium. Viktor Laszlo was the host of the 32nd edution of the competition which was won by Ireland.

Dublin 1988

The 1988 Eurovision Song Contest is best remembered for one of the most thrilling voting moments in the history of the competition and for launching a legend; Céline Dion.

Lausanne 1989

Following Céline Dion's victory the preceding year in Dublin, Switzerland staged the Eurovision Song Contest in Lausanne. 22 countries participated in the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest.

Zagreb 1990

The 1990 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Zagreb following Yugoslavia's win the previous year. As communism fell in Europe, many of the songs reflected the wider political context.

Rome 1991

The 1991 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Rome, Italy and saw France and Sweden tie for first place at the end of the voting.

Malmö 1992

After having hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm and Gothenburg before, Swedish broadcaster SVT opted to host the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden's third largest city, Malmö.

Millstreet 1993

The tiny town of Millstreet in Ireland was the centre of Europe when it hosted the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest.

Dublin 1994

After winning the contest on home ground in Millstreet in 1993, the contest was staged at the Point Theatre in Dublin. Ireland set two new records for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994; they won the contest for a 6th time and won for the third time in a row.

Dublin 1995

For a record third year in a row Ireland hosted the 40th Eurovision Song Contest which was held again in the Point Theatre in Dublin.

Oslo 1996

The 1996 Eurovision Song Contest moved to a new destination, after it had been in Ireland for the three preceding years. Norway's capital Oslo had the honour of hosting the contest for the first time.

Dublin 1997

Dublin's Point Theatre was - yet again - the venue for the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest. To date it is the last contest that has been held in Ireland. For the first ever the public had a say in the outcome of the competition.

Birmingham 1998

The 1998 Eurovision Song Contest from Birmingham culminated in one of the most thrilling voting sequences for years and reminded us that Europe is a more open-minded place than we might have thought.

Jerusalem 1999

The 1999 Eurovision Song Contest took place in Jerusalem for the first time since 1979. Free language rules were introduced meaning that participating countries could choose which language they performed in.

Stockholm 2000

In May 2000 the Eurovision Song Contest returned to Stockholm for the first time since 1975. The spectacular show took place in the Globen Arena with a record-breaking 13,000 in attendance.

Copenhagen 2001

A record-breaking 35,000 spectators attended the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest in the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, the largest venue to date.

Tallinn 2002

The 2002 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in the Estonian capital Tallinn. It was the first time that one of the new-entrant countries staged the Eurovision Song Contest.

Riga 2003

Latvia hosted the competition in 2003 following Marie N's victory in Tallinn the previous year.

Istanbul 2004

After having successfully hosted the first ever Eurovision Song Contest Semi-Final, Istanbul held its breath for the 2004 Final.

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