EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 1992

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It was ten years ago this year, on May 9th in Malmo, Sweden that Michael represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Brief History of the Contest:

For those of you who don't know, the Eurovision Song Contest is an annual contest organised by the state run TV stations of European nations to find the best new popular song.

It all began in 1956. Europe was pulling itself from the ashes of World War II, and Television services were opening all over Europe. It was realised that by pooling resources, programmes could be made for sharing over the whole of Europe, this reducing costs.

Technical issues were formidable. There were no satellites, videotape was in its infancy, but landlines were laid to join all the nations of the European Broadcasting Union. The system was called Eurovision. They had joint productions of plays, documentaries, and sports programmes, and devised a programme where countries got together to select the best new popular song. This was the Eurovision Song Contest. The first was held in Switzerland in 1956.

Now 46 years later, Eurovision continues to supply sport and news to the whole of Europe, and beyond, now by satellite, but the only programme still identified with Eurovision is the song contest.

Every member country of the European Broadcasting Union has the right to enter a song. How that song is selected is up to them. Many countries have their own selection programme, where, perhaps telephone votes from the public, select a singer and a new song to go to the next contest.

The main contest's songs are judged by panels of sixteen in each country who give votes for their favourite songs. They are not allowed to vote for their own country.

Listen to the songs that Michael sang, from which One Step Out Of Time was chosen to enter into the Eurovision in 1992 :)  Just click on the song title on the board below.  The general public were given two hours in which to log their telephone votes and as you can see One Step Out Of Time had a clear lead :)  You will notice that this is a lot slower than the version we have come to hear at concerts.