List of Eurovision Song Contest winners
Fifty-six songs have won the Eurovision Song Contest, an annual competition organised by member countries of the European Broadcasting Union. The Contest, which has been broadcast every year since its debut in 1956, is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. The Contest's winner has been determined using numerous voting techniques throughout its history; centre to these have been the awarding of points to countries by juries or televoters. The country awarded the most points is declared the winner.[1] The first Eurovision Song Contest was not won on points, but by votes (two per country), and only the winner was announced.[2]
There have been fifty-three Contests, with one winner each year except the tied 1969 Contest, which had four. Twenty-five different countries have won the Contest; the most recent addition to this list is Russia, which won the Contest in 2008. Switzerland also won the Contest on their debut—the first Contest, in 1956. The country with the highest number of wins is Ireland, with seven. Portugal is the country with the longest history in the Contest without a win; it made its forty-first appearance at the 2008 Contest. The only person to have won more than once is Johnny Logan, who won the Contest three times for Ireland; once as a singer, in 1980; once as a singer-songwriter, in 1987; and once as a songwriter for Linda Martin, in 1992.
Winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a unique opportunity for the winning artist(s) to capitalise on their success and surrounding publicity by launching or furthering their international career. However, throughout the history of the Contest relatively few names have gone on to be huge international stars. The most notable winning Eurovision artists whose career was directly launched into the spotlight following their win were ABBA, who won the Contest for Sweden in 1974 with their song "Waterloo". ABBA went on to be one of the most successful bands of their time.[3] Another notable winner who subsequently achieved international fame and success was Céline Dion, who won the Contest for Switzerland in 1988 with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi", though her international singing career came some years later and is not generally directly associated to her winning the contest.[4]
Winners
Eleven Eurovision winners (alongside three non-winners) featured at the Congratulations concert in 2005, in which ABBA's "Waterloo" was voted the most popular song of the Contest's first fifty years.[11] The most successful country never to have won the Contest is Malta, having finished second and third twice. The highest number of points scored by a winning country at Eurovision was the 292 points achieved by Finland's Lordi at the 2006 Contest and as a solo performer, the highest was the 280 points scored by Ruslana. The lowest total is the eighteen points scored by the four winning countries in 1969. The largest margin of victory was that of Katrina and The Waves in 1997, who won by 70 points.
The United Kingdom has finished second fifteen times at Eurovision, more than any other country. Since the introduction of the current voting system in 1975, the winner of the Contest has been decided by the final voting nation on ten occasions.[12]
By country
| Wins | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 7 |  Ireland
|
1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 |
| 5 |  France
|
1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1977 |
 Luxembourg
|
1961, 1965, 1972, 1973, 1983 | |
 United Kingdom
|
1967, 1969, 1976, 1981, 1997 | |
| 4 |  Netherlands
|
1957, 1959, 1969, 1975 |
 Sweden
|
1974, 1984, 1991, 1999 | |
| 3 |  Israel
|
1978, 1979, 1998 |
| 2 |  Switzerland
|
1956, 1988 |
 Denmark
|
1963, 2000 | |
 Italy
|
1964, 1990 | |
 Spain
|
1968, 1969 | |
 Norway
|
1985, 1995 | |
| 1 |  Austria
|
1966 |
 Monaco
|
1971 | |
 Germany
|
1982 | |
 Belgium
|
1986 | |
 Yugoslavia
|
1989 | |
 Estonia
|
2001 | |
 Latvia
|
2002 | |
 Turkey
|
2003 | |
 Ukraine
|
2004 | |
 Greece
|
2005 | |
 Finland
|
2006 | |
 Serbia
|
2007 | |
 Russia
|
2008 |
Years in italics indicate joint wins.
By language
Between 1966 and 1973, and again between 1977 and 1998, countries were only permitted to perform in their own language; see the main Eurovision Song Contest article.
| Wins | Language | Years | Countries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | English | 1967, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,[13] 2005, 2006, 2008 | United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Turkey, Ukraine,[13] Greece, Finland, Russia |
| 14 | French | 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1983, 1986, 1988 | Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Belgium |
| 3 | Dutch | 1957, 1959, 1969 | Netherlands |
| Hebrew | 1978, 1979, 1998 | Israel | |
| 2 | Norwegian | 1985, 1995 | Norway |
| Swedish | 1984, 1991 | Sweden | |
| Italian | 1964, 1990 | Italy | |
| German | 1966, 1982 | Austria, Germany | |
| Spanish | 1968, 1969 | Spain | |
| 1 | Danish | 1963 | Denmark |
| Croatian | 1989 | Yugoslavia | |
| Serbian | 2007 | Serbia |
Footnotes
- ^ Extract from the rules for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest. Eurovision.tv. Retrieved on 22 August 2007.
- ^ Eurovision 1956. Eurovision.tv. Retrieved on 24 May 2008.
- ^ BBC News (6 December 2005). ABBA's Bjorn says no to reunion. Retrieved on 15 March 2008.
- ^ Billboard.com. Biography - Celine Dion. Retrieved on 15 March 2008.
- ^ The full results of the 1956 Contest were never released; only the winner is known.
- ^ a b c d Four countries tied for first place at the 1969 Contest. As no tie-break structure was in place, all four were declared joint winners.
- ^ Ireland and France tied for second place in the 1990 Contest.
- ^ Sweden won the 1991 Contest following a tie-break.
- ^ a b c d Since 2004 the Contest has included a televised semi-final. In 2004 this was held on the Wednesday before the final, and since 2005 it has been held on the Thursday of "Eurovision Week".
- ^ a b Since 2008 the Contest has included two semi-finals, held on the Tuesday and Thursday before the final.
- ^ ABBA win 'Eurovision 50th' vote. BBC News (23 October 2005). Retrieved on 22 August2007.
- ^ 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1998, 2002 and 2003.
- ^ a b This song was partially sung in Ukrainian.
References
- Eurovision Song Contest history. Eurovision.tv. Retrieved on 19 August 2007.
- John Kennedy O'Connor (2005). The Eurovision Song Contest 50 Years The Official History. London: Carlton Books Limited. ISBN 1-84442-586-X.
- History. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 19 August 2007.
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