EUROVISION!

It is my favourite time of the year! I prefer this time of year to even Christmas. The sun is shining, tennis season is just on the horizon (by that I mean the French Open and Wimbledon are coming up) and to kick start the party is the biggest party in the world - Eurovision!

I honestly get sick with excitement every year over Eurovision. I love how camp, kitch, fashionable, accepting, and brilliant the whole thing is. The costumes, make-up, hair, voices, dancers and musicians are all wonderful. It is great to see Europe (and the world) united in this celebration of that great thing that brings us all together...Eurovision.

To anyone who has never watched or would like to watch it for the first time you need some background to understand just how important this competition is. I will also explain some of the rules and some of the scoring.

Basically, 26 countries in Europe (although I will explain this isn't quite the case in a moment) qualify to take part in the final which is (usually) a Saturday in May each year. They all sing a song that has to be sung live and have no recorded backing vocals (although the music can be a track). Each country has a panel and phone vote (you can't vote for your own country) and award 12 points to the song they like the most and it goes down to 1 point. The winning country is the one who has the most points either at the end of the scores coming in or if it is obvious that mathematically from a certain point that no one can beat them.

The contest was agreed in Rome in 1955 to begin broadcasting in Switzerland in 1956. There were seven songs in the first contest. The idea was to unite Europe after WWII and the plan was to do this with music. The UK joined in 1957 because it was already staging its own internal song contest in 1956 (and didn't take part in 1958, instead returning from 1959 onward).

The contest can be entered by any member of the European Broadcasting Union. That includes the countries of Europe and a few that sit on the edge but are union members. Israel is an example of a member that is not European but is an EBU member.

The winner of the contest usually hosts the following year. There have been exceptions in the past for political or financial reasons and in that case the country nominates another EBU member to host on their behalf. Luxembourg once famously handed the show over to the BBC to host in Britain because it didn't want to do it two years in a row despite winning it twice on the trot.

There have been some famous acts in the interval. This is the entertainment that is put on while the votes are being collected and counted. The most famous interval show of all time was Ireland's in 1994. Since then this has been transformed into an international show that travels the world wowing audiences 22 years later. It is amazing. This is what we first saw back then (by the way, after seeing this aged 7 I wanted to be Jean Butler).

Riverdance, Eurovision, 30 April 1994

The interval show is such a big deal that Justin Timberlake is going to be performing his new single there this year. There is a reason for that. For the first year the USA and China will be broadcasting Eurovision live. There are many countries outside of the EBU that also love it and broadcast it. Australia loves it especially and I will explain more about them in a moment.

The format is that every country taking part picks a song. This can be done by a panel or by a telephone vote in your own country, it is up to the member nation. These songs go through to the semi-final where they are broadcast and voted for by other countries to make it through to the final. There are five countries that automatically qualify: Italy, Spain, France, Germany and UK. These are the 'Big Five' and they put the most money into the EBU so earn their place on the contest that way. The 'Big Five' and the winning country from the year before (if not one of the 'Big Five') get through to the final and they are divided into two groups of three and allowed to vote in one semi-final each. The final is then on the Saturday night of the same week following the two semi-finals with 26 countries taking part. All 40+ countries that are members of the EBU vote via telephone and panel and there is a live broadcast to all of the countries in turn to collect the votes. It really is the biggest live broadcast event in the world each year.

In 2015 it was the 60th anniversary of the contest and to celebrate Australia were invited to participate and went through to the final with the 'Big Five' and Austria (who won in 2014 and were hosting in 2015). As stated, Australia has massive viewing figures and broadcasts it live. For them it is early in the morning on the Sunday and they get up early to watch and host huge Eurovision parties. Because of this, and the fact they pay so much to do it, they were invited to celebrate the 60th anniversary. Controversially they have been invited to participate again this year. UK commentator, Graham Norton, thinks this was fine as a one off but is stupid to allow them in again and there is divided opinion on this. The trouble is, their song this year is really good! If they win only an EBU member can host though so they have to nominate.

Dami Im - Sound of Silence, Australia for Eurovision 2016

The positive thing about Eurovision is the message to the world. Created to unite Europe it still has a message of equality, love and inclusion. The demographics are wide but the most common watchers are women and gay men (because we have the best taste us women and gay men). Everything that it symbolises is so positive and brilliant and that is why those groups have taken to it so much. Women and gay men have been fighting for inclusion and acceptance for years and there is still such a long way to go for both groups globally but Eurovision is our message to the world and our party every year (not that we wouldn't encourage anyone else to watch it - we want to party with everyone!).

Eurovision has long been a political thing as well as a social commentary thing. Over recent years Russia has been booed as they have an anti-LGBT stance and have invaded Ukraine and Georgia. The UK has had negative responses (which can't all be down to our bloody awful songs) over things like our joint invasion of Iraq with the USA. Even toward the beginning of the contest's history, in 1978, Jordan cut broadcasting to replace it with a vase of daffodils when it realised Israel was going to win and they even announced the winner as Belgium (who came second that year by the way).

The show is fun, crazy and glamorous and that is why I love it.

Of course there have been some famous artists that made there name there or who were already famous when they took part. This includes, ABBA, Cliff Richard, Bucks Fizz, Brotherhood of Man, Celine Dion, Olivia Newton-John and Lulu.

ABBA - Waterloo, Sweden for Eurovision, 6 April 1974

Celine Dion - Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi, Switzerland for Eurovision, 1988

Olivia Newton-John - Long Live Love, UK for Eurovision, 6 April 1974

Lulu - Boom Bang-a-bang, UK for Eurovision, 1969

There have been some brilliant songs in Eurovision over the years and some terrible ones. These are the ones I really remember from my life and to be honest they are ones I quite like...even Gina G...