Eurovision Song Contest facts for kids
The Eurovision Song Contest is a song contest run by the European Broadcasting Union that started in 1956. Different singers representing countries in Europe compete every year.
Famous past winners include ABBA (representing their native Sweden in 1974), Céline Dion (though Canadian, she represented Switzerland) in 1988, Lordi (Finland, 2006), Loreen (Sweden, 2012).
One of Eurovision's most famous moments was in 1990 when Spain's entry suffered a technical fault at the start of the song but it was soon performed without any further problems.
The latest winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands, achieving his country's fifth win of the contest (and first in 44 years) in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 2019, with his song "Arcade".
The country that had to wait the longest from its first participation to achieve a win was Portugal, which won with the song Amar pelos dois by Salvador Sobral in Kiev, Ukraine, in 2017.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first time the contest was cancelled.
List of winners
| Year | Country | Song | Performer | Article |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 |  Switzerland |
Refrain | Lys Assia | ESC 1956 |
| 1957 |  Netherlands |
Net Als Toen | Corry Brokken | ESC 1957 |
| 1958 |  France |
Dors, Mon Amour | André Claveau | ESC 1958 |
| 1959 | Netherlands |
Een Beetje | Teddy Scholten | ESC 1959 |
| 1960 | France |
Tom Pillibi | Jacqueline Boyer | ESC 1960 |
| 1961 |  Luxembourg |
Nous les amoureux | Jean-Claude Pascal | ESC 1961 |
| 1962 | France |
Un premier amour | Isabelle Aubret | ESC 1962 |
| 1963 |  Denmark |
Dansevise | Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann | ESC 1963 |
| 1964 |  Italy |
Non ho l'età (per amarti) | Gigliola Cinquetti | ESC 1964 |
| 1965 | Luxembourg |
Poupée de cire, poupée de son | France Gall | ESC 1965 |
| 1966 |  Austria |
Merci Chérie | Udo Jürgens | ESC 1966 |
| 1967 |  United Kingdom |
Puppet On A String | Sandie Shaw | ESC 1967 |
| 1968 |  Spain |
La, la, la | Massiel | ESC 1968 |
| 1969 | Spain |
Vivo Cantando | Salomé | ESC 1969 |
| United Kingdom |
Boom Bang-a-Bang | Lulu | ||
| Netherlands |
De Troubadour | Lennie Kuhr | ||
| France |
Un jour, un enfant | Frida Boccara | ||
| 1970 |  Ireland |
All Kinds Of Everything | Dana | ESC 1970 |
| 1971 |  Monaco |
Un banc, un arbre, une rue | Séverine | ESC 1971 |
| 1972 | Luxembourg |
Après Toi | Vicky Leandros | ESC 1972 |
| 1973 | Luxembourg |
Tu Te Reconnaîtras | Anne-Marie David | ESC 1973 |
| 1974 |  Sweden |
Waterloo | ABBA | ESC 1974 |
| 1975 | Netherlands |
Ding-A-Dong | Teach-In | ESC 1975 |
| 1976 | United Kingdom |
Save Your Kisses For Me | Brotherhood of Man | ESC 1976 |
| 1977 | France |
L'Oiseau Et L'Enfant | Marie Myriam | ESC 1977 |
| 1978 |  Israel |
A-Ba-Ni-Bi | Izhar Cohen & Alphabeta | ESC 1978 |
| 1979 | Israel |
Hallelujah | Gali Atari & Milk and Honey | ESC 1979 |
| 1980 | Ireland |
What's Another Year? | Johnny Logan | ESC 1980 |
| 1981 | United Kingdom |
Making Your Mind Up | Bucks Fizz | ESC 1981 |
| 1982 |  Germany |
Ein Bisschen Frieden | Nicole | ESC 1982 |
| 1983 | Luxembourg |
Si la vie est cadeau | Corinne Hermès | ESC 1983 |
| 1984 | Sweden |
Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley | Herreys | ESC 1984 |
| 1985 |  Norway |
La det swinge | Bobbysocks | ESC 1985 |
| 1986 |  Belgium |
J'aime la vie | Sandra Kim | ESC 1986 |
| 1987 | Ireland |
Hold Me Now | Johnny Logan | ESC 1987 |
| 1988 | Switzerland |
Ne partez pas sans moi | Céline Dion | ESC 1988 |
| 1989 |  Yugoslavia |
Rock Me | Riva | ESC 1989 |
| 1990 | Italy |
Insieme: 1992 | Toto Cutugno | ESC 1990 |
| 1991 | Sweden |
Fångad av en stormvind | Carola | ESC 1991 |
| 1992 | Ireland |
Why Me | Linda Martin | ESC 1992 |
| 1993 | Ireland |
In Your Eyes | Niamh Kavanagh | ESC 1993 |
| 1994 | Ireland |
Rock 'n' Roll Kids | Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan | ESC 1994 |
| 1995 | Norway |
Nocturne | Secret Garden | ESC 1995 |
| 1996 | Ireland |
The Voice | Eimear Quinn | ESC 1996 |
| 1997 | United Kingdom |
Love Shine A Light | Katrina and the Waves | ESC 1997 |
| 1998 | Israel |
Diva | Dana International | ESC 1998 |
| 1999 | Sweden |
Take Me to Your Heaven | Charlotte Nilsson | ESC 1999 |
| 2000 | Denmark |
Fly On The Wings Of Love | Olsen Brothers | ESC 2000 |
| 2001 |  Estonia |
Everybody | Tanel Padar, Dave Benton & 2XL | ESC 2001 |
| 2002 |  Latvia |
I Wanna | Marie N | ESC 2002 |
| 2003 |  Turkey |
Everyway That I Can | Sertab Erener | ESC 2003 |
| 2004 |  Ukraine |
Wild Dances | Ruslana | ESC 2004 |
| 2005 |  Greece |
My Number One | Elena Paparizou | ESC 2005 |
| 2006 |  Finland |
Hard Rock Hallelujah | Lordi | ESC 2006 |
| 2007 |  Serbia |
Molitva | Marija Šerifović | ESC 2007 |
| 2008 |  Russia |
Believe | Dima Bilan | ESC 2008 |
| 2009 | Norway |
Fairytale | Alexander Rybak | ESC 2009 |
| 2010 | Germany |
Satellite | Lena Meyer-Landrut | ESC 2010 |
| 2011 |  Azerbaijan |
Running Scared | Ell and Nikki | ESC 2011 |
| 2012 | Sweden |
Euphoria | Loreen | ESC 2012 |
| 2013 | Denmark |
Only Teardrops | Emmelie de Forest | ESC 2013 |
| 2014 | Austria |
Rise Like a Phoenix | Conchita Wurst | ESC 2014 |
| 2015 | Sweden |
Heroes | Måns Zelmerlöw | ESC 2015 |
| 2016 | Ukraine |
1944 | Jamala | ESC 2016 |
| 2017 |  Portugal |
Amar pelos dois | Salvador Sobral | ESC 2017 |
| 2018 | Israel |
Toy | Netta Barzilai | ESC 2018 |
| 2019 | Netherlands |
Arcade | Duncan Laurence | ESC 2019 |
Junior winners
| Year | Country | Song | Performer | Article |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 |  Croatia |
Ti si moja prva ljubav | Dino Jelusić | JESC 2003 |
| 2004 | Spain |
Antes muerta que sencilla | María Isabel | JESC 2004 |
| 2005 |  Belarus |
My vmeste (Мы вместе) | Ksenia Sitnik | JESC 2005 |
| 2006 | Russia |
Vesenniy Jazz (Весенний джаз) | The Tolmachevy Twins | JESC 2006 |
| 2007 | Belarus |
S druz'yami (С друзьями) | Alexey Zhigalkovich | JESC 2007 |
| 2008 |  Georgia |
Bzz.. | Bzikebi | JESC 2008 |
| 2009 | The Netherlands |
Click Clack | Ralf Mackenbach | JESC 2009 |
| 2010 |  Armenia |
Mama (Մամա) | Vladimir Arzumanyan | JESC 2010 |
| 2011 | Georgia |
Candy Music | CANDY | JESC 2011 |
| 2012 | Ukraine |
Nebo (Небо) | Anastasiya Petryk | JESC 2012 |
| 2013 |  Malta |
The Start | Gaia Cauchi | JESC 2013 |
| 2014 | Italy |
Tu primo grande amore | Vincenzo Cantiello | JESC 2014 |
| 2015 | Malta |
Not my soul | Destiny Chukunyere | JESC 2015 |
| 2016 | Georgia |
Mzeo (მზეო) | Mariam Mamadashvili | JESC 2016 |
| 2017 | Russia |
Wings | Polina Bogusevich | JESC 2017 |
| 2018 |  Poland |
Anyone I Want To Be | Roksana Wegiel | JESC 2018 |
- In 1969 four countries were joint winners as there was no rule for a tie.
Images for kids
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Cities that have hosted the Eurovision Song Contest.
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Opening act in Düsseldorf in 2011
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Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen 2014
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Lena, representing Germany, performing Satellite during a rehearsal in 2010
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Switzerland hosting a press conference at Eurovision 2006.
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Electronic scoreboard, as Johnny Logan announces the Irish votes in 2004
