United by Music

After earning its second Eurovision victory in three years, Dutch broadcaster NTS declined to stage the contest again, having done so in 1958. As the United Kingdom had finished second the previous year, hosting rights were passed to the BBC, who hosted the fifth Eurovision Song Contest on Tuesday 29 th March 1960 at the Royal Festival Hall in London. All eleven participating countries from the 1959 contest returned, and were joined by Luxembourg, returning after an absence of one year and Norway, appearing at the contest for the first time, bringing the number of entries to a record thirteen. The contest was presented by Katie Boyle (though she used the name Catherine Boyle at this point in time), marking her first of what would become four Eurovision appearances. Katie presents the show in English, which was helpful for me! For the first time, I was also able to find a video of the contest with English commentary. David Jacobs provided commentary for the BBC, and this was also bro...

Before you read this post about Eurovision 2026, I encourage you to have a look at my statement on this year’s contest. All of a sudden, the line-up for the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is complete! After another crazy couple of weeks of national finals and internal selections, we now have our full cohort for Vienna and can finally start listening to the songs on repeat for the next couple of months. Before things get even busier in the world of Eurovision, let’s remind ourselves of everything that’s happened recently. Firstly, to Romania , where national final Selecția națională was held to choose the country’s first Eurovision act since 2023. Twelve acts competed, including 2022 Romanian representative Wrs, and the results were determined entirely by a panel of seven jurors. In the end, Alexandra Căpitănescu won her country’s ticket to Austria, where she will perform “Choke Me” in May. She will be hoping to bring Romania to the Eurovision final for the first time since 2022...

The Eurovision Song Contest 1959 was staged in France by host broadcaster RTF. After winning the contest the previous year, France was given right of first refusal to host the event, and elected to do so in Cannes, with the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès being chosen as the venue. The contest was held on Wednesday 11 th March. Eleven countries participated, with Monaco making its debut appearance at the contest, and the United Kingdom returning after its absence in 1958. For the first time, Luxembourg was not represented at Eurovision, after broadcaster CLT rejected the proposed entry without enough time to select a replacement. The stage included three revolving platforms, which were all partitioned into segments like a revolving door, with various scenic backdrops to represent the participating countries. Our presenter for the evening is the iconic Jacqueline Joubert, who does a much better job of managing proceedings than Hannie last year, and presents the show entirely in...

Before you read this post about Eurovision 2026, I encourage you to have a look at my statement on this year’s contest. As we enter the month of March, the Eurovision news is still coming in thick and fast, with more and more countries choosing their representatives for this year’s contest in Vienna. Let’s have a look back at everything that has happened over the last fortnight. Firstly, the United Kingdom surprised many Eurovision fans, including myself, by announcing its artist seemingly out of the blue on a random Tuesday morning. The BBC has selected YouTuber and indie musician Look Mum No Computer (real name Sam Battle) to represent the country in May, with his song to be released in due course. This is certainly a more left-field decision than we are used to seeing from the UK, and a lot of fans had definitely been wishing for a more ‘alternative’ entry, so hopefully the song itself will not disappoint. Look Mum No Computer will represent the UK in Vienna. Also holdi...

Despite winning the competition in 1957, the Netherlands did not automatically earn the right to host the third edition of the Eurovision Song Contest the following year. At the time, convention stated that broadcasters would take turns to stage the event. The EBU’s preferred choice was for the BBC to host the contest in the United Kingdom, however, disagreements with unions meant that this could not go ahead. After other broadcasters also declined the opportunity, Dutch broadcaster NTS did eventually receive hosting rights, and this established the Eurovision tradition of the contest being hosted in the previous year’s winning country. The contest was held on Wednesday (!) 12 th March, at the AVRO Studios in Hilversum.   The set consisted of a small stage, with an interchangeable background that could be removed to show the scoreboard during the voting, and the orchestra seated stage right. No significant rule changes were brought in following the 1957 contest, though the tim...

Before you read this post about Eurovision 2026, I encourage you to have a look at my statement on this year’s contest. The 2026 national final season is in full swing, with new Eurovision songs being selected left, right and centre. After a busy ‘Super Saturday’, which this weekend extended to Sunday as well, we now have 12 of our 35 entries for this year’s contest in Vienna, so I think it’s time to recap all the Eurovision news from the last couple of weeks. Firstly, let’s go to Ukraine , where the national final Vidbir was held last Saturday. It is a true testament to the Ukrainian spirit that the country has continued to organise a show every year since the Russian invasion, with the 2023 edition of Vidbir even being held in an underground metro station. This year, the contestants included Eurovision alumni Monokate (the solo project of Go_A’s Kateryna Pavlenko) and Jerry Heil; however, in the end, the clear winner was Lel é ka with the song “Ridnym” . She won the public vo...