Eurovision Song Contest 2016

The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May and a final on 14 May 2016, held at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, and presented by Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), which staged the event after winning the 2015 contest for Sweden with the song "Heroes" by Zelmerlöw himself.

Broadcasters from forty-two countries participated in the contest. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Ukraine returned after absences from recent contests, while Australia also continued participating after debuting as a special guest in 2015. Portugal did not enter, largely due to Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP)'s insufficient promotion of its music-based media, while Televiziunea Română (TVR) had planned to participate for Romania, but it was disqualified due to repeated non-payment of debts to the EBU.

The winner was Ukraine with the song "1944", performed and written by Jamala. Australia, Russia, Bulgaria, and host country Sweden rounded out the top five. This was the first time since the introduction of professional jury voting in 2009 that the overall winner won neither the jury vote, which was won by Australia, nor the televote, which was won by Russia, with Ukraine placing second in both. "1944" is the first song containing lyrics in Crimean Tatar to win the contest. The Czech Republic managed to qualify for the final for the first time in five attempts since its debut in 2007, while both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the first time, the latter being absent from the final for the first time since 2000. In the final, Australia's second-place finish was an improvement on its fifth-place finish in 2015, while Bulgaria finished fourth, its best result since its debut and first participation in a final since 2007.

The contest was the first to implement a voting system change since 1975: each country's professional jury points were announced largely as before, while the results of each national televote were combined and announced in reverse order. It was also the first contest to be broadcast on live television in the United States, and the EBU recorded a record-breaking 204 million viewers for the contest, beating the 2015 viewing figures by over 5 million.

Location

Venue

The contest took place in the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, following Sweden's victory at the 2015 contest. The Ericsson Globe has a capacity of approximately 16,000 attendees, and this was the second time the contest has been staged at the venue, after the Eurovision Song Contest 2000.

Bidding phase

Host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) announced on 24 May, the day after winning the 2015 contest, that the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm was their first choice venue. However, other cities and arenas were invited to apply, and those making a bid had approximately three weeks to submit their offer to SVT.

SVT announced on 1 June the conditions under which cities and venues could announce their interest in hosting the contest:

• SVT had to have access to the venue at least 4–6 weeks before the contest to build the stage and rig up lighting and technology.
• A press centre with a specific size had to be made available at the venue.
• A specific number of hotels and hotel rooms had to be made available in the vicinity of the venue.
• The host city had to be near a major airport.

An announcement regarding the venue was expected from SVT by midsummer, with the Ericsson Globe announced as the venue on 8 July.

Key  †  Host venue

Other sites

The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors' area during the events week. There it was possible to watch performances by local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. Located at Kungsträdgården in Stockholm, it was open from 6 to 13 May 2016.

The EuroClub was the venue for the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike the Eurovision Village, access to the EuroClub was restricted to accredited fans, delegates, and press. It was located in a temporary building on the quay next to the water in front of the Royal Palace of Stockholm.

The EBU announced on 14 March 2016 that the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm would host a live event running alongside the final of the contest on 14 May. Eurovision the Party, hosted by Sanna Nielsen, allowed fans to watch the final on a big screen and featured backstage material from the Globe Arena such as Nielsen conducting exclusive interviews and appearing with hosts Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw. The results of the Swedish jury vote was also announced live from the event by Gina Dirawi. A pre-party and after-party was also held and featured performances from former contest winners Carola and Loreen as well as Danny Saucedo, Panetoz and DJ Tim Henri. Executive producer Johan Bernhagen has stated that the event complements existing events being held at the Eurovision Village and the EuroClub, and it is hoped that Eurovision the Party would become an annual event in the host city of the contest.

Participants

Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership capable of receiving the contest via the Eurovision network and broadcasting it live nationwide. The EBU issued an invitation to participate in the contest to all active members and to associate member Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) from Australia.

Participating broadcasters had until 15 September 2015 to submit their applications for participation in the contest, and until 10 October to withdraw their applications without facing financial sanctions. It had been initially announced on 26 November 2015 that 43 countries would participate in the contest, equalling the record number of participants set in 2008 and 2011. However, Romania was disqualified from participation on 22 April 2016, subsequently reducing the number of participating countries to 42.

Four countries returned after absences from recent contests: Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2012, Bulgaria and Croatia since 2013 and Ukraine since 2014. Australia also returned after debuting as a special guest in 2015, but by invitation of the EBU due to the associate membership status of SBS. However, instead of pre-qualifying for the final and voting in all three live shows, as was the case in 2015, Australia entered the second semi-final and voted only in that semi-final and the final. Portugal did not enter, largely due to Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP)'s insufficient promotion of their music-based media, as well as a poorly structured selection process, while Romania was disqualified on 22 April 2016 due to repeated non-payment of debts by Televiziunea Română (TVR) to the EBU.

Returning artists

Seven artists returned after having previously participated in the contest. Deen returned after previously representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2004, finishing ninth in the final with the song "In the Disco". Kaliopi returned after previously representing Macedonia in 2012, finishing 13th in the final with the song "Crno i belo". She was also selected to represent Macedonia in 1996 with "Samo ti", but was eliminated in a non-televised pre-qualifying round. Poli Genova returned after previously representing Bulgaria in 2011, finishing 12th in the second semi-final with the song "Na inat". Ira Losco returned after previously representing Malta in 2002, finishing in second place with the song "7th Wonder". Donny Montell returned after previously representing Lithuania in 2012, finishing 14th in the final with the song "Love Is Blind". Greta Salóme returned after previously representing Iceland in 2012 with Jónsi, finishing 20th in the final with the song "Never Forget". Bojan Jovović returned for Montenegro as part of Highway after previously representing Serbia and Montenegro in 2005 as part of No Name, finishing seventh in the final with the song "Zauvijek moja".

Monica, providing backing vocals for Armenia, had previously represented Armenia in Junior Eurovision 2008. Sahlene, providing backing vocals for Australia, had represented Estonia in 2002. Martina Majerle, providing backing vocals for Croatia, had represented Slovenia in 2009 and provided backing vocals for Croatia in 2003, Montenegro in 2008 and 2014, and Slovenia in 2007, 2011, and 2012.