Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest (French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson), often shortened to ESC or Eurovision, is the longest-running annual TV song competition, held, primarily, among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1956. The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy.

Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty years, since its inauguration in 1956, and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the USA and China. An exception was made in 2015, when Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the event. In November 2015, the EBU announced that Australia would return in 2016. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet, via the Eurovision website.

Eurovision Song Contest 1966

The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 5 March 1966 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg, following the country's win at the previous 1965 edition. The host venue was Grand Auditorium de RTL in Villa Louvigny. The presenter was Josiane Chen.

The winner was Austria with the song "Merci, Chérie" performed and composed by Udo Jürgens, and written by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger. This would remain Austria's only win in the contest until their second win in 2014. The rule stating that a country could only sing in any of its national languages was originally created in this year, possibly due to the 1965 edition's Swedish entry which was sung in English.

Location

The 1966 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in Luxembourg City. The venue chosen to host the 1966 contest was the Villa Louvigny, which has also hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1962. The building served as the headquarters of Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion, the forerunner of RTL Group. It is located in Municipal Park, in the Ville Haute quarter of the centre of the city.

Eurovision Song Contest 2010

The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th annual Eurovision Song Contest, broadcast from the Telenor Arena in Bærum, Greater Oslo, Norway. Norway gained the rights to host the contest after achieving a record breaking victory in Moscow the previous year. It was the third time Norway had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1986 and 1996. The 2010 winner was Germany with Lena singing "Satellite", written by American Julie Frost and Denmark's John Gordon. It was Germany's first win in twenty-eight years, its second since the Contest's inception, and its first win as a unified country. It was also the first time a "Big Four" country won the contest since the rule's introduction in 2000.

The semi-finals took place on 25 and 27 May 2010 while the final was scheduled for 29 May 2010. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that the voting system used in the semi-finals would change from previous years to balance jury voting with televoting. A return of accompaniment by orchestra was also proposed, but did not happen.

Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Israel participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Israeli entry was selected through an internal selection, organised by the Israeli broadcaster IBA. Izabo represented Israel with the song "Time", which failed to qualify from the first semi-final, achieving 13th place with 33 points.

Possible withdraw

Israel was rumoured to have withdrawn from the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, because the date of the final falls on the same day as Shavuot, an Israeli holiday on the 26th of May. On 7 August 2011, IBA confirmed its participation despite difficulties, because of Azerbaijan's open border with Iran.

Internal selection

IBA planned a new national final with a live final to be held in January or February 2012, but this plan was cancelled in January 2012, because of scheduling problems. On 7 February 2012, IBA announced its internally selected entry, which is "Time", by the band Izabo.

A shortlist of 8 artists were invited by the IBA to submit songs for this year's contest. The following artists are reported to have submitted a song:

Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

Participant

On 14 February 2008, Israel's broadcaster decided to send Boaz Mauda to Belgrade.

Kdam Eurovision 2008

The following songs were sung by Boaz Mauda in two national finals on 25 and 26 February 2008

Although the song Parparim (Butterflies) was widely seen the song that would win, it was Ke'ilu Kan (later renamed "The Fire in Your Eyes") that was voted to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008

At Eurovision

Points Awarded by Israel

See also

References

Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest

Israel has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 38 times since making its debut in 1973. Israel is able to enter the contest as the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) is a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union, which is responsible for the event. Israel has won the contest three times.

Israel's first appearance at the contest in 1973 was successful, with Ilanit finishing fourth. Israel then achieved back to back victories in 1978 and 1979, with wins for Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" and Gali Atari and Milk and Honey, with "Hallelujah". The country's best results in the 1980s were the second-place finishes for Avi Toledano in 1982 and Ofra Haza in 1983. Former winner Izhar Cohen returned to place fifth in 1985. Duo Datz finished third in 1991, before Israel achieved its third victory in 1998, with Dana International and "Diva". Eden then finished fifth in 1999. Israel has hosted the contest twice, in 1979 and 1999, both times in Jerusalem. In 1980, the IBA declined to host the contest for a second successive year for financial reasons. Instead the contest was held in The Hague. As the date set for the 1980 contest conflicted with Yom Hazikaron - Israeli Memorial Day- Israel did not participate. This is the only time that the winning country did not compete the following year. As of 2014, Israel has the record for most participations in the contest without ever coming last, but it has placed second to last in the final three times, in 1986, 1993 and 2006.

Israel (footballer)

Israel David Bascón Gigato (born 16 March 1987 in Utrera, Seville), known simply as Israel, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right midfielder.

Club career

Betis

A product of Real Betis's youth system, Israel made his debut for the first team against Real Sociedad, on 16 March 2005 (nine minutes, 0–1 away loss). During the 2004–05 season he made a further seven La Liga appearances, adding three in the Spanish Cup, where he scored his first goal for the Andalusians, against CD Mirandés.

In the following campaign Israel played again in just eight matches, all but one as a substitute, while also appearing in both European competitions, coming from the bench against Liverpool and R.S.C. Anderlecht in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

During the 2006 off-season, in August, vastly underplayed at Betis due to the presence of Joaquín in his position, Israel spent time at Chelsea on trial after a move to Real Madrid Castilla failed to materialise. His trial was unsuccessful, however, and the player then left for Mérida UD on a loan deal.