Once a year, Europeans come together in a flurry of flags, spangles and disco beats to compete for the continent’s pop crown at the Eurovision Song Contest.
The coronavirus pandemic canceled the contest in 2020 for the first time in six decades. But now it’s back. On Saturday, performers from 26 countries will vie for Eurovision victory during a live televised final in the Dutch city of Rotterdam.
The prize is glory for the winning nation, though rarely mega-stardom for the winning act. A few international stars have emerged from Eurovision’s sequined ranks, including Swedish pop titans ABBA — victors in 1974 with “Waterloo” — and Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest for Switzerland.
Others have sunk without a trace — hello, Britain’s 2007 budget airline-themed novelty act Scooch — or saw their musical fame peak with Eurovision success, such as Irish singer Dana, who won as a teenager in 1970, or British pop quartet Buck’s Fizz, who took the prize in 1981.
Launched in 1956 to foster unity after World War II, Eurovision evolved over the years from a bland ballad-fest to a campy, feelgood extravaganza. It has grown from seven countries to include more than 40, including non-European nations such as Israel and far-away Australia.
But despite its peace-through-pop ethos, the song contest has not escaped entanglement in geopolitics.
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