With the Eurovision song contest coming up in May 2013 in Malmo, Sweden here are some facts from its past.
- The first Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in Switzerland in 1956 and Switzerland won.
- Although there have only been 53 Eurovision Song Contests, there have been 56 winners. That’s because in 1969 four countries tied for first place.
- Lordi, were a Finnish rock band, they scored the highest points in the competition with 292, singing ‘Hard Rock Hallelujah’.
- Throughout the years there have been 27 female winners but only 7 men.
- Ireland have been the most successful winners, as they have won the competition seven times.
- In 1986 the youngest winner was Sandra Kin from Belgium who was 13 years old, she sang J’aime le Vie.
- Spain’s wining entry in 1968 was La La La La and it used the word ‘La’ 138 times.
- The Eurovision was first broadcast in colour in 1968 from London’s Royal Albert Hall. Where Cliff Richard came second, beaten only by Spain by one point.
- In the 56 years of the competition around 1,100 songs have been performed.
- It’s estimated that around 100 million people tune in each year to watch.
And finally, Bonnie Tyler is to represent the United Kingdom in the 2013 competition, singing ‘Believe in Me’.