Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Infobox Eurovision
name = Eurovision Song Contest 2006
theme = "Feel The Rhythm"


final = 20 May 2006
semi = 18 May 2006
presenters = Maria Menounos
Sakis Rouvas
host = flagicon|Greece ERT
director = Volker Weicker
venue = OAKA Indoor Hall, Athens, Greece
winner = flag|Finland
nowrap|"Hard Rock Hallelujah"
vote = Each country awards 1-8, 10, and 12 points to their 10 favourite songs
entries = 24 in final, another 13 DNQ from semi-final
debut = flag|Armenia
withdraw = flag|Austria
flag|Hungary
flag|Serbia and Montenegro
null = None
interval = Elena Paparizou
Foteini Darra
Sakis Rouvas
Greek dancers
opening =
con = Eurovision Song Contest
pre = ◄2005
nex = 2007►

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the OAKA Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on the 18 May 2006 (for the semi-final) and 20 May 2006 (for the final). The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi (ERT). The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" with a record 292 points. "Hard Rock Hallelujah" was the first ever hard rock song to win the contest (Eurovision is normally associated with softer pop music and schlager). This was also Finland's (1961 debut) first victory in Eurovision after 45 years of participation.The official logo of the contest remained the same from 2004 and 2005 with the country's flag in the heart being changed. The 2006 sub-logo created by the design company Karamela for Greek television was apparently based on the Phaistos Disc which is a popular symbol of ancient Greece. According to ERT, it was "inspired by the wind and the sea, the golden sunlight and the glow of the sand". Following Istanbul's "Under The Same Sky" and Kiev's "Awakening", the slogan for the 2006 show was "Feel The Rhythm". This theme was also the basis for the postcards for the 2006 show, which emphasized Greece's historical significance as well as being a major modern tourist destination.

The hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens were popular Greek singer Sakis Rouvas (the Greek representative at Eurovision in 2004) and the Greek-American television presenter and actress, Maria Menounos. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/5001448.stm|title=In pictures: Eurovision 2006 |date=2006-05-21|publisher="BBC News"|accessdate=2008-08-09] In the semi-final, both the hosts sang Katrina and the Waves' contest-winning "Love Shine A Light". For one of the intervals, Sakis Rouvas sang an English version of his Greek hit "S'eho Erotefti" called "I'm in love with you". Helena Paparizou, who performed the winning song in Kiev, returned to the Eurovision stage in Athens. Following the examples of Sertab Erener and Ruslana in the last two years, Helena Paparizou sang in the interval acts for the final. She sang "My Number One" and "Mambo!". Greek dancers were also present in the interval acts, as well as other Greek elements. An official CD and DVD was released and a new introduction was an official fan book released from this year, and every year to come with detailed information of every country.

To save time in the final, the voting time lasted ten minutes and the voting process was changed: points 1-7 were shown immediately on-screen. The spokespersons only announced the countries scoring 8, 10 and 12 points. Despite this being intended to speed proceedings up, there were still problems during voting - EBU imaging over-rode Maria Menounos during a segment in the voting interval and some scoreboards were slow to load. The Netherlands' spokesperson Paul de Leeuw also caused problems, giving his mobile number to presenter Rouvas during the Dutch results, and slowing down proceedings, also by announcing the first seven points. Constantinos Christoforou (who also represented Cyprus in 1996, 2002 and 2005) saved the day by making a political, still requisite, statement when saluting from "Nicosia, the last divided capital in Europe". During Cyprus reading, the telecast displayed Switzerland by mistake. This voting process has been criticized because suspense was lost by only reading three votes instead of ten. And for the first time, the display for the Macedonian entry had the title spelled out in it's entirety instead of being abbreviated as it has been in previous years.

The 2006 contest also saw the 1,000th song to be performed in the contest, when "Every Song Is A Cry For Love" by Ireland's Brian Kennedy was first sung in the semi-final. Armenia also entered for the first time in the contest. A number of fans were also shocked by the success of the Lithuanian entry - LT United singing 'We Are The Winners' and the failure of the Belgian entry - 'Je t'adore' by Kate Ryan, to qualify from the Semi-Final.

Score sheet

Televoting was used in all nations except Monaco and Albania. Monaco used a jury has the chances of getting enough votes needed to validify the votes were low. Albania used a jury since there were problems with their televote. In the semi final, Andorra joined Monaco & Albania in using the jury due to insufficient televoting numbers.

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 point in the final:

Other countries

* On June 18 2005, Austrian newspaper "Kurier" reported that the Austrian broadcaster ORF would not be taking part in the 2006 contest.
* On October 5 2005 the managing director of Georgia Television & Radio Broadcasting stated that Georgia would not enter the 2006 contest.
* On October 6 2005 Česká televize announced that the Czech Republic would not participate.
* On December 9 2005 Hungarian broadcaster Magyar TV announced that Hungary would not participate for financial reasons.
* Italy has not taken part in the Contest since 1997.

Serbia and Montenegro withdrew from the contest due to a scandal in the selection process, which has caused tensions between the Serbian broadcaster, RTS, and the Montenegrin broadcaster, RTCG. Serbia and Montenegro did retain voting rights for the contest.

Serbia and Montenegro's withdrawal left a vacancy in the final. In the delegations meeting on March 20, it was decided that Croatia, who finished 11th in the 2005 Contest, would fill the empty spot.

The other EBU countries that did not participate were Slovakia, Luxembourg, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Libya and San Marino. Liechtenstein was not able to participate as it does not have a national television or radio service and therefore is not a member of the EBU.

Ratings

After the Contest, EBU officials that the overall ratings for the Semi-Final were 35% higher than in 2005, and for the Final had risen by 28%.

In France, average market shares reached 30.3%, up by 8% over the 2005 figure. Other countries that showed a rise in average market shares included Germany with 38% (up from 29%), United Kingdom with 37.5% (up from 36%), Spain with 36% (up from 35%), Ireland with 58% (up from 35%) and Sweden, which reached over 80% compared to 57% the year previously.

Voting revenues had also risen from the Kiev Contest, and the official Eurovision website, www.eurovision.tv, reported visits from over 200 countries and over 98 million page views, compared with 85 million in 2005.

Noteworthy occurances and records

"From the Final"
*Finland waited 44 years since their debut in 1961 to achieve their first victory. The Finns have been waiting since 1977 for their fourth set of 12 points; this year they finally achieved one again - in fact, they received eight.
*Sweden's Carola obtained 170 points without getting any 12-pointers and reached 5th place.
*Though Turkey was the fourth country with the most 12s (received from France, Germany and Netherlands), the entry by Sibel Tüzün only reached 11th place with 91 points.
*Lithuania waited 12 years to receive their first 12 points. This was finally realised by votes from Ireland.
*Runner-up Russia and 4th placed Romania were voted for by 35 countries, more than winner Finland, who received votes from 34 countries.
*The United Kingdom placed 19th, receiving points from 10 countries, while FYR Macedonia (12th), Croatia (13th) and Denmark (18th) were voted for by 9, 8 and only 5 countries respectively.
*It is noticed that Turkey received 91 points both in the semi final and the final, while FYR Macedonia received 76 points in the semi final and 56 points in the final.Though if the country also received 76 points in the final it would still have been placed 12th.
*As at the conclusion of the 2006 contest, Greece holds the record for the most successful run in the Eurovision Song Contest since its shake-up in 2004. It is the only country that has not yet been relegated to the semi-final (excluding the Big 4), after having attained places in the top 10 since then (third in 2004, first in 2005, ninth in 2006).
*Despite having withdrawn from the 2006 contest, Serbia and Montenegro retained their voting rights. During the announcement of their votes, spokesperson Jovana Janković said "So, as you know, we don't have a song for you this year, but we promise that next year we will give you the best one." Her promise was fulfilled when Marija Šerifović of Serbia won the contest the following year. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54kQ9OJDKC0]

Non-participating regions where the contest was broadcast

;flagicon|Australia Australia : Although Australia is not itself eligible to enter, the semi-final and final were broadcast on SBS. As is the case each year, they were not however broadcast live due to the difference in Australian time zones. Australia aired the United Kingdom's broadcast, including commentary from Paddy O'Connell and Terry Wogan. Before the broadcasts, viewers were told by an SBS host that the Eurovision Song Contest was one of their most popular programmes. The final rated an estimated 462,000, and was ranked 21st of the broadcasters top rating programs for the 2005/06 financial year. [http://www20.sbs.com.au/sbscorporate/media/documents/842201_tv_and_online.pdf] ; flagicon|Azerbaijan Azerbaijan : Azerbaijan were willing to enter the contest but since AzTV applied for active EBU membership but was denied on 18 June 2007, they missed the contest and have to wait until they're accepted. Another Azerbaijan broadcaster, OTV, broadcast the contest. It is a passive EBU member, and has broadcast it for the last 2 years. It was the only non-participating broadcaster this year to send its own commentators to the contest. [http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/8730] ; flagicon|Italy Italy: Italian television did not enter because RAI, the national broadcaster, is in strong competition with commercial TV stations and they believe that the Eurovision Song Contest would not be a popular show in Italy. They have not broadcast the contest in recent years, although an independent Italian channel for the gay community has shown the show.; flagicon|World Worldwide : A live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast worldwide by satellite through Eurovision streams such as Channel One Russia, ERT World, TVE Internacional, TVP Polonia, RTP Internacional and TVR i. The [http://www.Eurovision.tv/ official Eurovision Song Contest website] also provided a live stream without commentary using the peer to peer transport Octoshape. ; Possible broadcasts : Japan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname and Vietnam may have broadcast as well, as they have also broadcast the contest in the past. While Liechtenstein has no television broadcaster of its own, Liechtensteiners could watch the contest on Swiss, Austrian or German television. ; flagicon|Gibraltar Gibraltar: Gibraltar screened only the final.; flagicon|Kosovo Kosovo: The Serbian autonomous province of Kosovo, broadcast the contest live on RTK.

Commentators

*Andorra - Meri Picart & Josep Lluis Trabal
*Austria - Andi Knoll
*Belgium - André Vermeulen & Bart Peeters (Dutch) Jean-Pierre Hautier (French)
*Bosnia and Herzegovina - Dejan Kukrić
*Croatia - Duško Čurlić
*Cyprus - Evi Papamichael
*Denmark - Mads Vangsø & Adam Duvå Hall
*Estonia - Marko Reikop
*Finland - Heikki Paasonen & Jaana Pelkonen & Asko Murtomäki (Finnish) Thomas Lundin (Swedish)
*France - Michel Drucker & Claudy Siar
*Germany - Peter Urban
*Greece - Giorgos Kapoutzidis & Zeta Makrypoulia
*Iceland - Sigmar Guðmundsson
*Ireland - Marty Whelan
*Latvia - Kārlis Streips
*Lithuania - Darius Užkuraitis
*Macedonia - Karolina Petkovska
*Malta - Eileen Montesin
*Monaco - Bernard Montiel & Églantine Eméyé
*Netherlands - Cornald Maas & Paul de Leeuw
*Norway - Jostein Pedersen
*Poland - Artur Orzech
*Portugal - Eládio Clímaco
*Romania - Andreea Demirgian
*Russia - Yuri Aksyuta & Tatiana Godunova
*Serbia - Duška Vučinić-Lučić
*Slovenia - Mojca Mavec
*Spain - Beatriz Pecker
*Sweden - Pekka Heino
*Switzerland - Sandra Studer (German), Jean-Marc Richard & Alain Morisod (French)
*Turkey - Bülent Özveren
*Ukraine - Pavlo Shylko (DJ Pasha)
*United Kingdom - Paddy O'Connell (semi-final) & Terry Wogan (final) (BBC TV), Ken Bruce (BBC Radio 2)

pokespersons

The following people were the spokespersons for their countries. A spokesperson delivers the results of national televoting during the final night, awarding points to the entries on behalf of his or her country. [http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/6200]
*Albania - Leon Menkshi
*Andorra - Xavi Palma
*Armenia - Gohar Gasparyan
*Belarus - Corrianna
*Belgium - Yasmine
*Bosnia and Herzegovina - Vesna Andree Zaimović
*Bulgaria - Dragomir Simeonov
*Croatia - Barbara Kolar
*Cyprus - Constantinos Christoforou (Cypriot singer in the 1996, 2002 and 2005 Contests)
*Denmark - Jørgen de Mylius
*Estonia - Evelin Samuel (Estonian singer in the 1999 Contest and veteran of several 1990s Eurolauls)
*Finland - Nina Tapio
*France - Sophie Jovillard
*Germany - Thomas Hermanns
*Greece - Alexis Kostalas
*Iceland - Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir
*Ireland - Eimear Quinn (Irish singer in the 1996 Contest, which she won)
*Israel - Dana Herman
*Latvia - Mārtiņš Freimanis (Latvian singer in the 2003 Contest as part of F.L.Y.)
*Lithuania - Lavija Šurnaitė
*Macedonia - Martin Vučić (Macedonian singer in the 2005 Contest)
*Malta - Moira Delia
*Monaco - Églantine Eméyé
*Moldova - Svetlana Cocosh
*Netherlands - Paul de Leeuw
*Norway - Ingvild Helljesen
*Poland - Maciej Orłoś
*Portugal - Cristina Alves
*Romania - Andreea Marin Bănică
*Russia - Yana Churikova
*Serbia and Montenegro - Jovana Janković (Host for the 2008 Contest)
*Slovenia - Peter Poles
*Spain - Sonia Ferrer
*Sweden - Jovan Radomir
*Switzerland - Jubaira Bachmann
*Turkey - Meltem Yazgan
*Ukraine - Igor Posypaiko
*United Kingdom - Fearne Cotton

References

* [http://eurovision.tummiweb.com/main.html?page=voting Eurovision Record Book]

Map

* Green = participating countries
* Red = countries which took part in the semi-final but did not progress to the final
* Yellow = countries that have participated in the past but didn't this year

External links

* [http://www.eurovisionathens.gr/ Official Greek Host website]
* [http://www.eurovision.tv Official Eurovision Website] - Audio and video clips available in the Multimedia Lounge