Eurovision is the annual song contest in which broadcasters from dozens of countries each send one act, juries and viewers vote, and a whole continent argues cheerfully about sequins, key changes and who gave points to whom.
It began in 1956 at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland, with just seven countries entering two songs each, and the host nation won with Lys Assia’s Refrain. Its most famous graduates are ABBA, who won for Sweden at the Brighton Dome on 6 April 1974 with Waterloo, while their conductor, Sven-Olof Walldoff, led the orchestra dressed as Napoleon; the interval act that night was The Wombles. The scoreboard has its own records too: Ireland and Sweden share the title of most successful country with seven wins each, a tie completed when Loreen won for the second time in 2023.