May 24, 1956

Inspired by the Italian Sanremo Festival, the idea to organise a pan-European musicial competition was born at a meeting of the European Broadcasting Union in Monaco in 1955. It was decided that the first ever Eurovision Song Contest would be hosted the following year in the Swiss resort of Lugano. The 1956 Eurovision Song Contest was primarily a radio show, although some cameras were taping the contest for the few Europeans who had a television set at that time. Lohengrin Filipello hosted the programme, which lasted 1 hour and 40 minutes. The seven participating countries each submitted two entries. The songs of the contest were not to exceed three and a half minutes, and the performers were accompanied by an orchestra of 24 musicians, led by Fernando Paggi.

March 3, 1957

March 12, 1958

March 11, 1959

March 29, 1960

March 18, 1961

March 18, 1962

March 23, 1963

March 21, 1964

March 20, 1965

March 5, 1966

April 8, 1967

April 6, 1968

March 29, 1969

March 21, 1970

April 3, 1971

March 25, 1972

April 7, 1973

April 6, 1974

March 22, 1975

April 3, 1976

May 7, 1977

April 22, 1978

March 31, 1979

April 19, 1980

April 4, 1981

April 24, 1982

April 23, 1983

May 5, 1984

May 4, 1985

Swedish national broadcaster SVT decided to stage the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest in Gothenburg's Scandinavium, the biggest venue to have hosted the show to date.

May 3, 1986

For the first time, Norway had the honour of hosting the 31st Eurovision Song Contest. Just like in Munich three years earlier, 20 countries participated in the contest. The Netherlands and Yugoslavia returned, Italy and Greece withdrew from the from the contest and Iceland made its debut. Iceland had wanted to participate for some years but the small Atlantic island nation had to wait until a satellite connection to Iceland could be established. The 1986 Eurovision Song Contest also marked a historic landmark as the 500th Eurovision song was performed in Bergen - Luxembourg's entry L'Amour De Ma Vie by Canadian-born Sherisse Laurence.

May 9, 1987

April 30, 1988

May 6, 1989

Switzerland hosted the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 but did not host again until 1989. Céline Dion opened the show with a shortened reprise of her winning song from 1988, Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi and also performed her new English language single, Where Does My Heart Beat Now. The song would go on to be her first major hit in the United States.

May 5, 1990

May 4, 1991

May 2, 1992

May 15, 1993

April 30, 1994

May 13, 1995

May 18, 1996

May 3, 1997

May 9, 1998

May 29, 1999

May 13, 2000

13,000 spectators were at the final in the Globen Arena in Stockholm, which was a new record.

May 12, 2001

May 25, 2002

May 24, 2003

May 12, 2004

For the first time ever in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, a Semi-Final was held to ensure that all countries who wanted could participate in the event.

May 19, 2005

May 18, 2006

May 10, 2007

May 20, 2008

May 12, 2009

May 25, 2010

May 10, 2011

May 22, 2012

May 14, 2013

May 6, 2014

May 19, 2015

May 10, 2016

May 9, 2017

May 8, 2018

The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following Salvador Sobral's win at the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine with the song "Amar pelos dois". It was the first time the contest took place in Portugal - 53 years after the Iberian nation made its debut.

May 14, 2019

The Eurovision Song Contest 2019 was the 64th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tel Aviv, Israel.

May 18, 2021

The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 takes place in Rotterdam. The Dutch city was due to host the Contest in 2020 before the event was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

May 10, 2022

After Måneskin won the 2021 contest, Eurovision will return to Italy for the third time.

May 9, 2023

Liverpool is the Host City for the 67th Eurovision Song Contest, this year's hosts are Alesha Dixon, Hannah Waddingham and Julia Sanina joined in the grand final by Graham Norton

May 7, 2024

Malmö was chosen following a strong city bid process that examined facilities at the venue; the ability to accommodate thousands of visiting delegations, crew, fans and journalists; infrastructure; and other criteria.

May 13, 2025

Following Nemo's victory in the 2024 contest, Eurovision returns to its home country for the first time.