Live stream inside!

Another year has passed and it’s time for another edition of Eurovision Song Contest, the biggest music competition on the planet. 180 to 200 million people watch Eurosong every year.

Eurovision Song Contest is the brainchild of Marcel Bezenc?on of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The contest was based on Italy’s San Remo Music Festival and from the very beginning it was designed to push the limits of live television bradcasting. Eurovision’s main goal was to unite European countries post World War II.

The first Contest was held on May 24th, 1956, when only seven countries participated (each with two songs). That very first contest was won by Lys Assia from Switzerland. With great sadness I have to report that Lys Assia passed away on March 24th, 2018, at the age of 94.

Over the years, more and more countries wanted to participate in the Contest. Eurovision’s biggest expansion happened after the Cold War in the early 1990s, when Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia amd Soviet Union dissolved into smaller countries. Finally, in 2004 the Semi-Final format was introduced by the EBU. In 2008, one Semi-Final expanded to two Semi-Finals. The rules to qualify for the Grand Final are simple: A TOP 10 placing in one of the Semi-Finals. Six countries don’t have to participate in the semifinals and are automatically qualified for the Grand Final: The BIG 5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom) and the host country (this year Portugal). The BIG 5 countries pay the most money to EBU and basically make Eurovision Song Contest happen. The host country also has to make a big investment to prepare the contest.

Eurovision Song Contest took place 62 times (every year since 1956), but has 65 winners. In 1969 four countries (the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and France) topped the scoreboard and were declared winners as there were no rules in place to break the four way tie.

https://youtu.be/jlN3xlfAu0s

Until 1998, each act was supported by a live orchestra and every country brought their own conductor. The removal of the orchestra took away some of the charm, but allowed the competition to modernise and expand. Nowadays, Eurovision entries can be musically very diverse. POP is Eurovision’s main genre, but other genres can be represented as well: EDM, dance, rock, metal, country, folk, RnB, hip-hop, pop opera, etc.

Salvador Sobral brought Eurovision Song Contest to Portugal for the very first time. The Contest will take place in Parque das Nações, a neighbourhood in the east of Lisbon.

You can listen to or buy this year’s songs HERE.

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 – Semi-Final 1 – Previews
Eurovision Song Contest 2018 – Semi-Final 2 – Previews
Eurovision Song Contest 2018 – BIG 5 + HOST Country – Previews

Schedule:
Semi-Final 1 – Tuesday, May 8th, 2018 @ 21.00 CEST, 15.00 EDT, 12.00 PDT
Semi-Final 2 – Thursday, May 10th, 2018 @ 21.00 CEST, 15.00 EDT, 12.00 PDT
Grand Final – Saturday, May 12th, 2018 @ 21.00 CEST, 15.00 EDT, 12.00 PDT

You can watch Eurovision live on YouTube. If you are European, check out the TV guide of your national public broadcaster.

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 – First Semi-Final – Live Stream