Twelve Points ... Douze Points ...
Most of the participating countries have finalized their representatives for this year's Eurovision Song Contest (ESC 2006) to be held in Athens this May.
The ESC is an annual, (almost) intra-European singing competition in which the winner is decided through telephone voting. The people of a particular country cannot vote for their own country. For example, suppose in the United Kingdom, the largest number of callers vote for say, France, then France get 12 points. The next highest country get 10, and so on. The country that ends up with the highest total over all countries wins. The winning country gets to host the event the following year.
Since this competition was started with the objective to develop solidairity between Western European countries during the cold war, voting is, more often than not, guided by political, ethnic, and religious affinities. Greece and Cyprus always give each other 12 points. Whereas the UK and Germany aren't known for supporting each other. So also Serbia & Montenegro, and the American puppet state of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The songs that have been presented at the ESC over the years vary from being extremely good to really pathetic. Except ABBA (1974) and Celine Dion (1988), no other winners have made a mark outside Europe.
The countries which are the traditional powerhouses at the ESC are the Republic of Ireland, the UK, France and Sweden. In recent years, Eastern countries like Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Greece and Turkey have won.
Check out this year's entries at : http://www.keithm.utvinternet.ie/Athens2006media.htm
I must warn that except the Irish, Swiss, Polish and Maltese entries, I found all the rest to be annoying.
When I go on the Euro-trip I am planning, I will definitely attend an ESC final.
The ESC is an annual, (almost) intra-European singing competition in which the winner is decided through telephone voting. The people of a particular country cannot vote for their own country. For example, suppose in the United Kingdom, the largest number of callers vote for say, France, then France get 12 points. The next highest country get 10, and so on. The country that ends up with the highest total over all countries wins. The winning country gets to host the event the following year.
Since this competition was started with the objective to develop solidairity between Western European countries during the cold war, voting is, more often than not, guided by political, ethnic, and religious affinities. Greece and Cyprus always give each other 12 points. Whereas the UK and Germany aren't known for supporting each other. So also Serbia & Montenegro, and the American puppet state of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The songs that have been presented at the ESC over the years vary from being extremely good to really pathetic. Except ABBA (1974) and Celine Dion (1988), no other winners have made a mark outside Europe.
The countries which are the traditional powerhouses at the ESC are the Republic of Ireland, the UK, France and Sweden. In recent years, Eastern countries like Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Greece and Turkey have won.
Check out this year's entries at : http://www.keithm.utvinternet.ie/Athens2006media.htm
I must warn that except the Irish, Swiss, Polish and Maltese entries, I found all the rest to be annoying.
When I go on the Euro-trip I am planning, I will definitely attend an ESC final.
posted by The ManU man at 11:05 AM
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