Eurovision Song Contest - Belgrade 2008

I have just complled the following list of when each country that has ever taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest first entered.

Notes:
1) 1956 to 2003: where more than one country appeared in a given year, they appear in the order they performed in the Contest.

2) The introduction of the semi-finals in 2004 creates a problem. From 2004 onwards new countries are quoted as the first time they appeared in a semi-final, whether or not they qualified to the final, in order of perforamance in the semi-final.

For example, in 2004 Belarus, Andorra, Albania and Serbia-Montenegro performed in that order in the semi-final, and all are listed as having debuted that year. However only Serbia-Montenegro and Albania qualified to the final.

Netherlands 1956
Switzerland 1956
Belgium 1956
Germany 1956
France 1956
Luxembourg 1956
Italy 1956
United Kingdom 1957
Austria 1957
Denmark 1957
Sweden 1958
Monaco 1959
Norway 1960
Spain 1961
Finland 1961
Yugoslavia 1961
Portugal 1964
Ireland 1965
Malta 1971
Israel 1973
Greece 1974
Turkey 1975
Morocco 1980
Cyprus 1981
Iceland 1986
Slovenia 1993
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1993
Croatia 1993
Estonia 1994
Romania 1994
Slovakia 1994
Lithuania 1994
Hungary 1994
Russia 1994
Poland 1994
FYR Macedonia 1998
Latvia 2000
Ukraine 2003
Belarus 2004
Andorra 2004
Albania 2004
Serbia-Montenegro 2004
Moldova 2005
Bulgaria 2005
Armenia 2006
Georgia 2007
Montenegro 2007
Serbia 2007
Czech Republic 2007
San Marino 2008
Azerbaijan 2008

That makes a total of 51 countries that have ever taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest at some point since 1956. Yugoslavia and Serbia-Montenegro no longer exist, so that makes a total of 49 countries that could take part in next year's Eurovision Song Contest, plus any more newcomers.

Ur, what has this got to do with the broadcasting and presentation of Eurovision?

^ Personally I could not be bothered and would rather look a Wikipedia

Of the old-timers, i.e. those who first appeared in the Eurovision Song Contest between 1956 to 1986 inclusive, the following five countries are still waiting for their first win:

Portugal (first entry 1964)
Malta (first entry 1971)
Morocco (first entry 1980)
Cyprus (first entry 1981)
Iceland (first entry 1986)

Now let's move on to the 1990's. Following the break-up of Yugoslavia, the folloiwing three countries debuted in 1993.

Slovenia
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Croatia

All three have yet to achieve their first win

The introduction of the relegation system after the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest enabled seven eastern bloc countries to enter in 1994 Of these, Estonia first won in 2001 and Russia first won in 2008. The remaining five of this batch, listed below, have yet to achieve their first win.

Romania
Slovakia
Lithuania
Hungary
Poland

Then there's FYR Macedonia, who first appeared in a televised Eurovision Song Contest in 1998. That's ten years ago now, and they too are still waiting for their first win.

N.B. FYR Macedonia first tried to enter in 1996, in the non-televised pre-selection on 20/21 March 1996, and were one of 7 countries not to qualify for that year's Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday 18 May 1996. However, 1998 is FYR Macedonia's generally accepted first ever entry.

Tumble Tower, nobody cares.

What the heck is the point you're trying to make here?!

I wanted to show a list of when each country first won, and hence what countries that have been in a long time (10 years or more) still have yet to win.

Three years ago, I bought the 50th anniversary Eurovision Song Contest book. Who else bought that? Anyone who did will be familliar with the "Eurostats" section towards the back of the book. That section includes the following tables:

Shortest Gap Between Wins
Longest Gap Between Wins
Rapid Winners (countries who won within their first five years of competing)
Longest Wait For A First Win
And Still Wating For A First Winner
Still Wating To Win Again

My recent post was effectively an update on the table in that book "And Still Wating For A First Winner". According to the said table in that book, Greece and Finland are still on the "And Still Wating For A First Winner".

Changes to the tables "And Still Wating For A First Winner", "Longest Wait For A First Win" and "Rapid Winners" have occurred in the last four contests.

2005: Greece moved from "And Still Wating For A First Winner" to "Longest Wait For A First Win".
2006: Finland moved from "And Still Wating For A First Winner" to "Longest Wait For A First Win".
2007 Serbia added to the "Rapid Winners" table.
2008 Russia added to the "Longest Wait For A First Win". Having taken 14 years to get their first win (1994 to 2008), it put them between Monaco's 12 years and Sweden's 16 years.

Do you now understand why I posted my lists?

Well i can see Georgia doing well in the next Eurovision.

Although I would rather look at Wikipedia, I disagree with your information.

Serbia & Montenegro technically debuted in 1992 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), which re-named itself to Serbia & Montenegro in 2003. It did not re-enter until 2004, which by then its name had changed to the State Union of Serbia & Montenegro, although it was the same country with the same borders and constitution.

Its predecessor, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY; which consisted of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, FYR Macedonia) made its last entry in 1991.

SFRY and FRY were not one and the same.
FRY and Serbia & Montenegro were the same country.

I fail to see how this is related to this thread, however!

This matter has been hotly debated over on the following discussion pages of Wikipedia
Talk:Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest
Talk:Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest

According to the page
Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest, Serbia and Montenegro first entered in 2004, and had a total of two entries (2004 and 2005). Member station RTS, RTCG.

Now look at Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest. This lists all the entries from 1961 to 1992. Yes the 1992 entry, "Ljubim te pesmama" sung by Extra Nena, which went under the name "Yugoslavia" is on that list. Member station JRT.

Let's now move away from Wikipedia, and look at the Eurovision web site, which surely is the official source for the history of the Contest. The following pages are from the History By Country section.

Yugoslavia. This lists all entries from 1961 to 1992, not 1961 to 1991.
Serbia & Montenegro. This shows Serbia & Montenegro as having participated in 2004, 2005 and 2006 (though they withdrew in 2006).

So the 1992 Yugoslavia entry "Ljubim Te Pesmama" by Extra Nena appears there under Yugoslavia, not Serbia & Montenegro. I think that's the official source to go by.

I think it's generally accepted that the 1992 Yugoslavia entry was regarded as Yugoslavia's last ever entry, on the grounds that it went under the name Yugoslavia (just like 1961 to 1991), and the broadcaster was JRT (just like 1961 to 1991).

The book "The Complete Eurovision Song Contest Companion 1999" (ISBN 1-86205-243-3) lists each country's entries in the back of the book. The list for Yugoslavia includes the 1992 entry. As someone on one of the Wiki discussion pages about this matter said, at that time the 1992 entry was said to be Yugoslavia's last entry, and NOT Serbia & Montenegro's first entry, as there wasn't a country with the name Serbia and Montenegro at the time.


Well it's now three months since the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, so rather than let this thread die why not use it as a place to discuss Eurovision Song Contests in general, including past entries compared to today, and when each country first entered, etc.

Wikipedia is not a source. I edit the encyclopedia myself, yet I would never use it to verify facts.

As far as I'm concerned, and correctly in political terms, FR Yugoslavia (non Communist) and Serbia & Montenegro are one and the same. It doesn't matter what perception you take on it, nobody is right and nobody is wrong. You could consider the 1992 entry the first of Serbia & Montenegro, or you could consider it the last of The Yugoslavias' (plural). But politically, the country of FR Yugoslavia that existed in 1992 was the same entity that changed its name to Serbia & Montenegro in 2003, and was dissolved in 2006, with the legal successor being Serbia.

If the Eurovision.tv source had been politically accurate, SFR Yugoslavia should have competed 1961-1991, and FR Yugoslavia AKA Serbia & Montenegro competed in 1992, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Well I pointed to the discussion pages of each article.



The thing is though, Eurovision.tv lists the countries as follows:
Yugoslaviafirst entry 1961, last entry 1992 (NOT 1991).
Serbia & Montenegrofirst entry 2004 (NOT 1992), last entry 2006 (withdrawn that year).
Serbiafirst entry 2007

If you scroll to the very bottom of the page, you'll see the EBU/UER logo and copyright notice "Copyright EBU 2004-2008 All rights reserved.". Therefore Eurovision.tv is the official Eurovision web site of the European Broadcasting Union, and must be the official source for details of past Eurovision Song Contests. Surely as far as the EBU are concerned, the 1992 Yugoslavia entry was Yugoslavia's last ever entry, even if the geographical area represented was smaller than 1961-1991, whereas Serbia & Montenegro's first ever entry was 2004.

Serbia first entered as an independent country in 2007, and won that very same year, making them the first ever country to win with its very first song entered. I say that because in the very first contest, Switzerland won with its second song of the night, not its first.

If the Eurovision.tv "History by country" had been politically correct, as you put it, what should the year ranges have been for:

1) SFR Yugoslavia
2) FR Yugoslavia
3) Serbia & Montenegro
4) Serbia