The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC for short; French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1956. Each participating broadcaster submits an original song representing its country to be performed live via the Eurovision and Euroradio networks, and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine a winner.
Inspired by the Italian Sanremo Music Festival held since 1951, the Eurovision Song Contest has been held annually since 1956 (except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), making it the longest-running international music competition on television and one of the world's longest-running television programmes. EBU members and invited associates are eligible to compete; broadcasters from 52 countries have participated at least once. Each participating broadcaster sends an original song of three minutes duration or less to be performed live by a singer, or group of up to six people, aged 16 or older, of its choice; the minimum age will be raised to 18 starting in 2027. Each country awards 1–8, 10, and 12 points to their ten favourite songs, based on the views of an assembled group of music professionals and their viewing public, with the song receiving the most points declared the winner.
The event also features opening and interval acts and guest performances every year; such as Cirque du Soleil, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Mika, Madcon, Rita Ora, and the first performance of Riverdance. Originally consisting of a single event, the contest has expanded as broadcasters from new countries joined (including non-European Israel, Morocco, and Australia), leading to the introduction of relegation procedures in the 1990s, before the creation of semi-finals in the 2000s. Germany has competed more than any other country, having participated in all but one edition, while Ireland and Sweden hold the record for the most victories, with seven wins each.
Traditionally held in the country that won the preceding year's event, the contest provides an opportunity to promote it as a tourist destination, with thousands of attendees each year. Alongside the generic logo of the contest, a unique theme is typically developed for each event. The contest has aired in countries across all continents ranking among the world's most watched non-sporting events every year, with hundreds of millions of viewers globally. It has been also available online via the official website since 2001. Performing at the contest has often provided artists with a local career boost and in some cases long-lasting international success. Several of the best-selling music artists in the world have competed, including ABBA, Céline Dion, Julio Iglesias, Cliff Richard, and Olivia Newton-John. Some of the world's best-selling singles were first performed to an international audience at Eurovision.
The contest has gained popularity for its camp appeal, its span of ethnic and international styles, and its importance to LGBTQ culture, resulting in a large active fanbase and an influence on popular culture. Similar events have been organised by the EBU or created by external organisations. Concerns have been raised regarding political allegiances and rivalries between countries potentially influencing an the results. Controversies have included participating broadcasters withdrawing at a late stage, censorship of broadcast segments by broadcasters, disqualification of contestants, as well as political events impacting participation. It has also been criticised for an abundance of elaborate stage shows at the cost of artistic merit.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) was formed in 1950 among 23 broadcasting organisations. The word "Eurovision" was first used by British journalist George Campey in the Evening Standard in 1951, when he referred to a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) programme being relayed by Dutch television. Following several events broadcast internationally via their Eurovision transmission network in the early 1950s, including the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, an EBU committee, headed by Marcel Bezençon, was formed in January 1955 to investigate new initiatives for cooperation between broadcasters, which approved for further study a European song competition from an idea initially proposed by Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI) manager Sergio Pugliese. The EBU's general assembly agreed to the organising of the song contest in October 1955, under the initial title of the European Grand Prix, and accepted a proposal by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SRG SSR) to host the event in Lugano in the spring of 1956. The Italian Sanremo Music Festival, held since 1951, was used as a basis for the initial planning of the contest, with several amendments and additions given its international nature. The Eurovision Song Contest was developed as a way of putting transnational live television to the test, promoting television, as well as encouraging the production of original songs.
Broadcasters from seven countries participated in the first contest, with each country represented by two songs; the only time in which multiple entries per country were permitted. The winning song was "Refrain", representing the host country Switzerland and performed by Lys Assia. Voting during the first contest was held behind closed doors, with only the winner being announced on stage; the use of a scoreboard and public announcement of the voting, inspired by the BBC's Festival of British Popular Songs, began in 1957. The tradition of the winning broadcaster hosting the following year's contest, which has since become a standard feature of the event, began in 1958. Technological developments have transformed the contest: colour broadcasts began in 1968; and streaming in 2000. Broadcasts in widescreen began in 2005 and in high definition in 2007.
By the 1960s, between 16 and 18 countries were regularly competing each year. Countries from outside the traditional boundaries of Europe began entering the contest, and countries in Western Asia and North Africa started competing in the 1970s and 1980s. Apart from Yugoslavia (a member of the non-aligned movement and not seen as part of the Eastern Bloc at the time) no socialist or communist country ever participated. Only after the end of the Cold War did other countries from Central and Eastern Europe participate for the first time – some of those countries having gained or regained their independence in the course of the breakup of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union. As a consequence, more broadcasters were now applying than could feasibly participate in a one-night-event of reasonable length. Numerous solutions to this problem were tried out over the years. The 1993 contest included a contest called Kvalifikacija za Millstreet which was a pre-qualifying round for seven of these new countries, and from 1994, relegation systems were introduced to manage the number of competing entries, with the poorest performing countries barred from entering the following year's contest. From 2004, the contest expanded to become a multi-programme event, with a semi-final at the 49th contest allowing all interested countries to compete each year; a second semi-final was added to each edition from 2008.
There have been 70 contests as of 2026, making Eurovision the longest-running annual international televised music competition as determined by Guinness World Records. The contest has been listed as one of the longest-running television programmes in the world and among the world's most watched non-sporting events. Broadcasters from a total of 52 countries have taken part in at least one edition, with a record 43 countries participating in a single contest, first in 2008 and subsequently in 2011 and 2018.
Eurovision had been held every year until 2020, when that year's contest was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. No competitive event was able to take place due to uncertainty caused by the spread of the virus in Europe and the various restrictions imposed by the governments of the participating countries. In its place a special broadcast, Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, was produced by the organisers, which honoured the songs and artists that would have competed in 2020 in a non-competitive format.