With a La, La, La, a Boom-Bang-A-Bang and a Ring-A-Ding-Ding, it's the Music Machine!

Submitted by BrianHartgen on Fri, 04/27/2018 - 08:26

Hi Everyone

The Eurovision Song Contest is the longest-running annual international TV song competition. It has been held, primarily, among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union. 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 competition's winning entry.

The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty-two 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 in recent years quoted as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally.

Winning the Eurovision Song Contest often provides a short-term boost to the winning artists' career, but rarely results in long-term success. Notable exceptions are ABBA, Bucks Fizz, and Céline Dion. Ireland holds the record for most victories, having won the contest seven times.

This week's Music Machine on Team-FM celebrates all things Eurovision. We'll share Eurovision memories, listen to some of the most well-known and unfamiliar songs, and relive those live performances. Do you remember the time when Nicole sang her song "A Little Peace" in several languages at the conclusion of the 1982 contest? How about when Sandie Shaw's microphone failed to work during her performance of "Puppet On a String" in 1967? We've restored the audio of many of the previous contests to a high quality so you can enjoy them again. If you remember the high points of past contests, do share them!

If you have a favourite song from the contest, do let me know what it is in advance by sending an email to brian@team-fm.com. It is an extremely packed show, so do let me know what the song is to avoid disappointment.

So make up your mind to join me on Saturday at 7 PM in the UK, that's 2 PM US Eastern, as we talk all things Eurovision!

Brian Hartgen