With a history spanning over 60 years and 1,500 songs, the Eurovision Song Contest was conceived by Marcel Bezençon to test live broadcast technology. Inspired by the Sanremo Music Festival, it debuted in 1956 with just seven countries. Its expansion in the 1990s led to the introduction of semi-finals in 2004 and 2008, reaching a record 43 participating nations.

Ireland holds the record with seven victories, followed by Sweden with six. Conversely, Norway has finished last eleven times, despite having won three times. In 2001, the contest attracted its largest live audience with 38,000 people in Copenhagen. In 2015, for its 60th anniversary, Australia was admitted to participate for the first time. Despite its age, Eurovision remains the most modern television show in the world, attracting over 200 million viewers.