Some more facts and trivia about ESC
The logotype for ESC 2013, created by the design bureau Happy F&B
- ESC was started in 1956 by EBU, the European Broadcasting Union.
- The first contest was held in Lugano, Switzerland, with 7 participating countries.
- Over the years, Ireland is in the lead with 7 winnings, followed by Sweden, Great Britain and Luxembourg, all of these with 5 winnings.
- The participants 2013 are Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lituania, Makedonia, Malta, Moldavia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine.
- Portugal, Poland, Slovakia and Turkey are not competing 2013; their reasons vary from financial reasons to feelings of not being fairly treated. Also Greece’s participation is uncertain, not affording the registration fee.
- Cyprus first declined participation 2013 but changed their mind when its citizens objected.
- Each country has its own procedures for how to select its entry; some countries have already decided, but ESC rules stipulate that competing entries may not be played or performed prior to the ESC main event. Unfortunately, this means that the Melodifestivalen shows will not be available on the web (svtplay.se) until the overall winner has been decided.
- More facts and trivia can be found at http://www.eurovision.tv/page/malmo-2013 (English) and https://www.facebook.com/svtmelodifestivalen (Swedish)
Now I hear you say ”Wow! I didn’t know that there are so many countries in Europe! But, but, Azerbaijan? Is that really part of Europe?” Aaah, no… yes. Most of Azerbaijan is part of Asia, but a small strip is considered to be in Europe. But EBU has a liberal view on Europe’s borders: Morocco is definitely located in Africa but has participated several times, and neither does Israel belong to Europe at all, but has in fact won ESC 3 times.
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