Eurovision arrived in 1956 with a musical competition format that consists of presentations of new songs - one song per participating country - which are evaluated by a commission and also with public participation in the popular vote phase. 

In addition to all European countries, the contest is open to all countries participating in the European Broadcast Union, which includes countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Furthermore, in the 60th edition of Eurovision, Australia entered as a guest country, what would have been a special participation became a permanent seat in the competition. 

One of the oldest competitions in the world

Eurovision is not the oldest musical competition in the world because the Sanremo Festival, which began in 1951, is still going strong in Italy, and is also the festival that defines the Italian participant in Eurovision. 

But how does a contest like this last so long? The European competition is financed annually through a fee paid by each broadcaster responsible for its broadcast around the world. All of this adds up to an investment from the host broadcaster, the host city, revenue from sponsorships, ticket sales and promotional pieces. 

Editions that marked an era

Held annually, with the exception of 2020 due to the pandemic, Eurovision travels to the winning countries, which host the next edition and welcome new names in music. But do you know who has graced the Eurovision stage? Do you want to make any guesses?

Celine Dión, ABBA, Julio Iglesias and Olivia Newton-John are some of the examples of great personalities who have performed at Eurovision. Oh and before you ask yourself “but were they all born in the participating countries?!” The competition rules never required the artist to be born in the country they were representing.

Each country has its own way of selecting the artist participating in Eurovision, a good way to understand how this choice can happen is the film released by Netflix: Eurovision Song Contest: the saga of Sigrit and Lars .

The film was released in 2020, as a way to fill the void left by the canceled edition and shows everything that makes Eurovision what it is, rehearsals and presentations full of pomp and circumstance, lots of singing and special appearances by artists who left their brands such as Conchita Wurst and Netta Barzilai. 

A hit-making machine

After reading some names that have already participated in Eurovision, it is easy to understand that the competition is a great boost for musicians' careers. A good and current example is the band Maneskin , winner of the 2021 edition held in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.

The Italian band won the Eurovision trophy with the song Zitti e Buoni and since then has conquered the world and been successful in trends on TikTok and Instagram. Participating in competitions is part of the band's history, which began its career on The X Factor Italy, where they came in second place. 

The moment is so good for the band that songs from the reality show are climbing the Billboard charts . The cover of Beggin, the winning band's single, went viral and has already received more than 371,000 videos on Instagram reels using the song's audio. And this wasn't the band's only song that went viral, I wanna be your slave has 28,600 videos on the social network.

Have you ever heard any of these songs? Did you know Eurovision? Tell us everything in the comments! Oh and to get you even more in the mood for the music competition, come listen to this playlist with us 😍