Eurovision Song Contest 2006
| File:Sublogo02.jpg | |
| Date | 18 May2006, 20 May2006 |
|---|---|
| Presenters | Maria Menounos, Sakis Rouvas |
| Host Broadcaster | ERT |
| Venue | Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens, Greece |
| Winning Song | To be determined |
| Voting system | Each country awards 1-8, 10, and 12 points to their 10 favourite songs |
| Number of Songs | 24 in final, another 13 DNQ from semi-final |
| Countries Making Debut | Armenia |
| Nul points | To be determined |
| Interval Act | Elena Paparizou & Greek dancers |
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 will be the fifty-first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held at the Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens, Greece. The scheduled dates for the contests are 18 May 2006 for the semi-final and 20 May 2006 for the final. ERT, the host broadcaster of the contest, have already started preparations and are ahead of schedule. The venue for the contest has already been chosen and the stage designs have been finalized.
The official logo of the contest has remained the same from 2004 and 2005 with the country's flag in the heart being changed. The 2006 sub-logo created by the design company Karamela for Greek television is apparently based on the Phaistos Disc which is a popular symbol of ancient Greece. According to ERT, it is "inspired by the wind and the sea, the golden sunlight and the glow of the sand". Following Istanbul's "Under The Same Sky" and Kiev's "Awakening", the slogan for the 2006 show is "Feel The Rhythm" and is apparently tied into Greek tourism's "Feel The Myth" slogan. This theme will also for the basis for the postcards for the 2006 show, which will apparently emphasize Greece's historical significance as well as being a modern tourist destination.
The hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens are popular Greek singer Sakis Rouvas (the Greek representative at Eurovision in 2004) and the Greek-American television presenter and actress, Maria Menounos. In the semi-final, both the hosts will sing the eurovision classic "Love Shine A Light". For one of the intervles, Sakis Rouvas will sing an English version of his Greek hit "Se' exo Erotefti" called "I'm in love with you". Elena Paparizou, who performed the winning song in Kyiv, will return to the Eurovision stage in Athens. Following the examples of Sertab Erener and Ruslana in the last two years, Elena Paparizou will be singing in the interval acts for the final. She will sing "My Number One" and "Mambo". Greek dancers will also be present in the interval acts, as well as other Greek elements. An official CD and DVD will be released and a new introduction is an official fan book released this year, and every year to come with detailed information of every country.
To save time in the Final, the voting process will be changed: points 1-7 will be shown immediately on a live scoreboard. The spokespersons will only announce the countries scoring 8, 10 and 12 points. However, the last three countries to give their votes on the night will present all their points fully as in previous years.
The 2006 contest will see the 1,000th eurovision song entry performed - it will be "Every Song Is A Cry For Love" by Ireland's representative Brian Kennedy in the semi-final.
The qualification rules for 2007 were also changed in advance of the 2006 contest. Only the winner from 2006, and the next highest placed 9 countries, along with the 'Big-4' (France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom) will automatically qualify for the 2007 final. With a capping on the number of participants overall at 40 countries, this means that a total of 30 countries may participate in the 2007 semi-final, bringing the duration of that contest to 3 hours, an equivalent duration to the final.
Commentators
The following people, will be the commentators for each country. They have the job, of translating the language, and also letting the viewers know valuable information.
- France - Marie Myriam
- Germany - Thomas Hermanns
- Greece - Giorgos Kapoudzidis & Zeta Makrypoulia
- Ireland - Eimear Quinn
- Netherlands - Cornald Maas
- Spain - Sonia Ferrer
- Switzerland - Jubaira Bachmann
- United Kingdom - Terry Wogan
- Norway - Jostein Pedersen
Individual Entries
Final 20-05-2006
| Country | Language | Artist | Song | Translation | Place | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Switzerland |
English | Six4One | If We All Give A Little | - | - | - |
| 02 |  Member of the Order of Liberty |
English | Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienco & Connect-R | Loca | Crazy | - | - |
| 03 |  Israel |
English, Hebrew | Eddie Butler | Together we are one | - | - | - |
| 04 |  Latvia |
English | Cosmos | I Hear Your Heart | - | - | - |
| 05 |  Norway |
Norwegian | Christine Guldbrandsen | Alvedansen | The Elf Dance | - | - |
| 06 |  Spain |
Spanish | Las Ketchup | Bloody Mary | - | - | - |
| 07 |  Malta |
English | Fabrizio Faniello | I Do | - | - | - |
| 08 |  Germany |
English | Texas Lightning | No No Never | - | - | _ |
| 09 |  Denmark |
English | Sidsel Ben Semmane | Twist Of Love | - | - | - |
| 10 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 11 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 12 |  Romania |
English, Italian | Mihai Trăistariu | Tornerò | I'll Return | - | - |
| 13 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 14 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 15 |  United Kingdom |
English | Daz Sampson | Teenage Life | - | - | - |
| 16 |  Greece |
English | Anna Vissi | Everything | - | - | - |
| 17 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 18 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 19 |  France |
French | Virginie Pouchain | Il était temps | It Was Time | - | - |
| 20 |  Croatia |
Croatian | Severina | Moja štikla | My Stiletto | - | - |
| 21 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 22 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 23 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 24 | SEMI-FINAL | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Semi-Final 18-05-2006
| Country | Language | Artist | Song | Translation | Place | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Armenia |
English | André | Without Your Love | - | - | - |
| 02 |  Bulgaria |
English | Mariana Popova | Let Me Cry | - | - | - |
| 03 |  Slovenia |
English | Anžej Dežan | Mr Nobody | - | - | - |
| 04 |  Andorra |
Catalan | Jenny | Sense tu | Without You | - | - |
| 05 |  Belarus |
English | Polina Smolova | Mum | - | - | - |
| 06 |  Albania |
Albanian | Luiz Ejlli | Zjarr e ftohtë | Fire And Cold | - | - |
| 07 |  Belgium |
English | Kate Ryan | Je t'adore | I Adore You | - | - |
| 08 |  Ireland |
English | Brian Kennedy | Every Song Is A Cry For Love | - | - | - |
| 09 |  Cyprus |
English | Annett Artani | Why Angels Cry | - | - | - |
| 10 |  Monaco |
French | Séverine Ferrer | La coco-dance | The Coco Dance | - | - |
| 11 |  Macedonia |
English, Macedonian | Elena Risteska | Ninanajna | Ninanajna | - | - |
| 12 |  Poland |
English, Polish, Spanish | Ich Troje, Real McCoy | Follow My Heart | - | - | - |
| 13 |  Russia |
English | Dima Bilan | Never Let You Go | - | - | - |
| 14 |  Turkey |
Turkish | Sibel Tüzün | Süper star | Superstar | - | - |
| 15 |  Ukraine |
English | Tina Karol | Show Me Your Love | - | - | - |
| 16 |  Finland |
English | Lordi | Hard Rock Hallelujah | - | - | - |
| 17 |  Netherlands |
English, imaginary | Treble | Amambanda | - | - | - |
| 18 |  Lithuania |
English | LT United | We Are The Winners | - | - | - |
| 19 |  Portugal |
Portuguese, English | Nonstop | Coisas de nada | Meaningless Things | - | - |
| 20 |  Sweden |
English | Carola | Invincible | - | - | - |
| 21 |  Estonia |
English | Sandra Oxenryd | Through My Window | - | - | - |
| 22 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Bosnian | Hari Mata Hari | Lejla | Layla | - | - |
| 23 |  Iceland |
English | Silvia Night | Congratulations | - | - | - |
Other countries
On 18 June 2005, Austrian newspaper Der Kurier reported that the Austrian broadcaster ORF will not be taking part in the 2006 contest. On 5 October 2005 the managing director of Georgia Television & Radio Broadcasting stated that Georgia would not enter the 2006 contest; on 6 October 2005 Ceská Televize announced that the Czech Republic would not participate; and on 9 December 2005 Hungarian broadcaster Magyar TV announced that Hungary would not participate for financial reasons.
Serbia and Montenegro has agreed to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. A scandal in the selection process caused tensions between the Serbian broadcaster, RTS, and the Montenegrin broadcaster, RTCG. Serbia and Montenegro will retain voting rights for the contest. A more detailed accout of the scandal is contained in the Evropesma article. Serbia and Montenegro had officially withdrawn from the competition which left eleven empty spots in the final. In the delegations meeting on 20 March, it was decided that Croatia will fill the empty spot (as they finished 11th in 2005). Serbia and Montenegro will still be able to vote.
See also
External links
- Official Greek Host website
- Official Eurovision Website - Audio and video clips available in the Multimedia Lounge
Unofficial sites, in alphabetic order:
- Dot Eurovision - news site, including a prediction poll
- ESCKaz
- ESC Today - news site, including a prediction poll
- Eurosong.net
- Eurovision Cyprus
- Eurovision en français in french
- Template:Fr icon Eurovision-fr
- EurovisionMadrid
- Eurovision Record Book - includes 2006 voting simulator
- Eurovision-Romania
- Oikotimes - news and gossip
- Detailed Information about the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in Athens
- Euromusic Romania
