Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest

In this article, we will delve into the fascinating world of Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest_, exploring its many facets and its relevance in today's society. Throughout history, Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest_ has played a fundamental role in multiple aspects of human life, from its impact on culture and art, to its influence on economics and politics. Through a detailed and exhaustive analysis, we aim to shed light on Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest_ and its importance in the contemporary world, offering new perspectives and approaches to understand its current relevance.

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
Dates
Air date22 October 2005
Host
VenueForum Copenhagen,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Presenter(s)
Executive producerJan Frifelt
DirectorLars Hammer
Musical directorMichael Bojesen
Executive supervisor
Host broadcasterEBU, DR
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 1–8, 10, and 12 points to ten songs; the five songs with the most points progressed to a second round of voting, where each country awarded 6–8, 10, and 12 points.
Winning song"Waterloo" by ABBA

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. Hosted by Katrina Leskanich and Renārs Kaupers, the event took place at Forum, in Copenhagen on 22 October 2005. The host was Danish broadcaster DR. Fourteen songs from the contest's first half-century, chosen through an internet poll and by a jury, contested the event.[1]

Thirty-one EBU-member countries broadcast the concert (although notably France, Italy, and the United Kingdom did not) and televoting and juries in these countries decided the winner.[2] A total of 2.5 million votes were cast during the live broadcast.[3] The event was won by the song "Waterloo" by group ABBA, who did not attend; the act had originally won the contest for Sweden in 1974.[4]

To coincide with the event, the EBU released two double album CDs featuring Eurovision songs from the previous fifty years. Two DVDs with original Eurovision performances of these songs were also released.[5]

Organisation

In November 2002, Jürgen Meier-Beer from the Reference Group of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced plans to organize a special jubilee programme in 2005 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. At the time no host broadcaster was announced, with German broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and the Dutch broadcasting organization Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) reportedly as potential hosts.[6]

Change of host broadcaster

In June 2004, the EBU announced that it was to hold a concert to celebrate fifty years of the contest. The event was to be held on 16 October 2005 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was to be the host broadcaster for the concert.[7] The Royal Albert Hall was reportedly unavailable, so in August 2004 the EBU announced that Denmark's DR would stage the event instead. Eurovision Song Contest supervisor Svante Stockselius said that their previous experience of hosting Eurovision events (the 2001 contest and the first Junior Eurovision in 2003) were influential in the EBU's choice. The event was codenamed Extravaganza.[8]

1998 Eurovision winner Dana International, who appeared at the event, later went to suggest that the reason behind the change of host broadcaster was also due to the fact that the BBC wanted to present the show "with humour" as though to poke fun at the contest, an idea that proved to be less popular with the EBU. The BBC ended up not broadcasting the show from Copenhagen,[9] and went on to broadcast their own 50th anniversary programme, Boom Bang-a-Bang: 50 Years of Eurovision, in May 2006. The programme featured archive footage and highlights of past contests, along with a performance of that year's UK entry by Daz Sampson and was hosted by Terry Wogan.[10]

Selection of venue and hosts

Forum Copenhagen, venue for the concert

On 25 October 2004, Copenhagen was confirmed as the host city for the event, which was now scheduled to take place on 22 October 2005.[11] In May 2005 Congratulations was confirmed as the official name of the concert.[12] A month later DR announced that Forum Copenhagen would host the programme.[13] The chosen venue had previously hosted the first edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.[14]

On 9 September 2005, DR announced that Katrina Leskanich and Renārs Kaupers would present the concert. Leskanich was the lead singer of Katrina and The Waves, who won the contest for the United Kingdom in 1997. Kaupers is the lead singer of Latvian group Brainstorm, who represented Latvia in 2000 as the country's debut in the contest.[15] Tickets for the event went on sale on 22 August 2005 from 10:00 (CET) and sold out in just over one hour.[16] The event was attended by an audience of 6,000.[17]

Participating songs

Fourteen songs competed in Congratulations.[18] In May 2005, the EBU opened a poll on its website to decide ten songs that would contest the event.[19] Voters chose their two favourite songs from each of five decades: 1956 to 1965, 1966 to 1975, 1976 to 1985, 1986 to 1995 and 1996 to 2005. The remaining four songs would be selected by the EBU's Reference Group.[1]

On 16 June 2005 the fourteen chosen songs were announced, although no indication was given as to which had been chosen online and which by the Reference Group.[20] Eleven of the fourteen songs were Eurovision winners; only "Nel blu, dipinto di blu", "Congratulations" and "Eres tú" (which all finished in the top three at the contest) were not. Two countries, the United Kingdom and Ireland, were represented twice on the list. Johnny Logan, who won the contest twice for Ireland as a singer, had both of his songs featured on the list.[12]

First round

All 31 countries broadcasting the contest voted in the first round. The five songs that are marked in orange qualified to the second and final round.

Draw Year Country Artist Song Language Place Points
01 1968  United Kingdom Cliff Richard "Congratulations" English 8 105
02 1980  Ireland Johnny Logan "What's Another Year" English 12 74
03 1998  Israel Dana International "Diva" Hebrew 13 39
04 1973  Spain Mocedades "Eres tú" Spanish 11 90
05 1982  Germany Nicole "Ein bißchen Frieden" German 7 106
06 1958  Italy Domenico Modugno "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" Italian 2 200
07 1974  Sweden ABBA "Waterloo" English 1 331
08 2000  Denmark Olsen Brothers "Fly on the Wings of Love" English 6 111
09 1965  Luxembourg France Gall "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" French 14 37
10 2003  Turkey Sertab Erener "Everyway That I Can" English 9 104
11 1988   Switzerland Celine Dion "Ne partez pas sans moi" French 10 98
12 1987  Ireland Johnny Logan "Hold Me Now" English 3 182
13 1976  United Kingdom Brotherhood of Man "Save Your Kisses for Me" English 5 154
14 2005  Greece Helena Paparizou "My Number One" English 4 167

Second round

All 31 countries broadcasting the contest voted in the second round.

Draw Year Country Artist Song Language Place Points
01 1958  Italy Domenico Modugno "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" Italian 2 267
02 1974  Sweden ABBA "Waterloo" English 1 329
03 1987  Ireland Johnny Logan "Hold Me Now" English 3 262
04 1976  United Kingdom Brotherhood of Man "Save Your Kisses for Me" English 5 230
05 2005  Greece Helena Paparizou "My Number One" English 4 245

Scoreboard

Further information: Voting at the Eurovision Song Contest

Both juries and televoting were used at Congratulations; both having an equal influence over the vote. In the first round of voting, the number of songs was reduced to five. Each country awarded points from one to eight, then ten and finally twelve for their ten most popular songs. Unlike in the Contest proper, viewers were allowed to vote for songs which had represented their country. The top five songs were then subjected to another round of voting, where only six points and above were awarded. The voting was conducted in private, and the results were not announced until after the show. The song with the most points in the second round was the winner.[21]

The full scoreboard is as follows:[22][23][better source needed]

First round

Voting results in the first round[22]
Total score
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Malta
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
Songs
 "Congratulations" 105 8 10 1 5 8 6 1 2 3 5 5 5 10 3 4 7 2 4 1 1 2 7 5
"What's Another Year" 74 2 4 6 5 4 1 6 8 3 3 2 3 6 6 4 6 1 4
"Diva" 39 3 1 3 12 2 2 1 6 2 3 4
"Eres tú" 90 10 10 5 3 10 4 10 1 12 6 3 12 1 3
"Ein bißchen Frieden" 106 1 3 2 3 3 4 5 3 8 6 2 7 7 1 4 5 5 7 3 1 3 8 4 4 4 3
"Nel blu, dipinto di blu" 200 6 7 6 7 10 5 8 7 8 7 2 4 6 8 7 6 8 2 6 8 7 10 8 10 8 5 8 10 6
"Waterloo" 331 12 12 12 8 12 10 12 12 12 7 10 10 8 12 12 8 8 12 10 12 12 12 8 12 12 12 10 12 10 8 12
"Fly on the Wings of Love" 111 3 5 1 6 10 6 12 7 10 10 2 7 2 8 3 1 3 4 8 3
"Poupée de cire, poupée de son" 37 8 8 1 2 1 3 7 1 2 1 1 2
"Everyway That I Can" 104 2 10 2 6 8 4 4 3 7 1 1 4 8 5 5 5 2 5 3 7 12
"Ne partez pas sans moi" 98 7 1 3 2 1 5 1 1 1 4 10 3 10 2 1 8 3 4 4 2 12 5 8
"Hold Me Now" 182 4 5 6 8 7 7 7 10 10 2 12 5 4 12 12 5 7 10 2 5 10 10 7 6 6 2 1
"Save Your Kisses for Me" 154 4 6 4 7 4 8 2 3 6 8 6 6 5 6 5 7 10 10 2 8 6 6 6 2 7 10
"My Number One" 167 5 2 7 12 4 12 2 5 12 6 4 3 5 5 4 4 1 3 4 1 12 7 7 5 7 10 5 6 7

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded in the first round:

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
18 "Waterloo"  Andorra,  Austria,  Belgium,  Croatia,  Denmark,  Finland,  Germany,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Monaco,  Norway,  Poland,  Portugal,  Russia,  Serbia and Montenegro,  Slovenia,  Sweden,  Ukraine
4 "My Number One"  Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Cyprus,  Greece,  Romania
3 "Hold Me Now"  Ireland,  Macedonia,  Malta
2 "Eres tú"  Netherlands,  Spain
1 "Fly on the Wings of Love"  Iceland
"Everyway That I Can"  Turkey
"Ne partez pas sans moi"   Switzerland
"Diva"  Israel

Second round

Voting results in the second round[22]
Total score
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Cyprus
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Greece
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Malta
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
Songs
 "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" 267 10 10 8 10 8 7 6 10 12 8 10 7 7 8 12 8 8 10 6 6 8 8 7 10 7 10 10 7 10 12 7
"Waterloo" 329 12 12 12 8 10 10 12 12 7 7 12 10 10 12 10 10 10 12 12 12 12 7 8 12 10 12 12 12 12 8 12
"Hold Me Now" 262 6 7 10 7 12 8 10 8 8 10 8 12 8 6 6 12 12 7 10 10 6 12 12 6 8 8 6 8 7 6 6
"Save Your Kisses for Me" 230 7 8 6 6 6 6 8 7 6 6 7 6 12 10 8 7 6 8 8 8 10 10 6 8 6 7 8 6 6 7 10
"My Number One" 245 8 6 7 12 7 12 7 6 10 12 6 8 6 7 7 6 7 6 7 7 7 6 10 7 12 6 7 10 8 10 8

12 points

Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points each country awarded in the second round:

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
17 "Waterloo"  Andorra,  Austria,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Finland,  Iceland,  Latvia,  Monaco,  Netherlands,  Norway,  Poland,  Russia,  Slovenia,  Spain,  Sweden,   Switzerland,  Ukraine
6 "Hold Me Now"  Croatia,  Ireland,  Macedonia,  Malta,  Portugal,  Romania
4 "My Number One"  Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Cyprus,  Greece,  Serbia and Montenegro
3 "Nel blu, dipinto di blu"  Germany,  Lithuania,  Turkey
1 "Save Your Kisses for Me"  Israel

Performances

The show started with the traditional Eurovision "Te Deum" theme followed by a message from Cliff Richard. After a quick montage of all 14 songs, the orchestra began playing "Ding-a-Dong" (Netherlands 1975), with dancers on stage. "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (Israel 1978), "Le dernier qui a parlé..." (France 1991), and "Dschinghis Khan" (Germany 1979) was also played and accompanied by choreography, which was then followed by "Love Shine a Light" (United Kingdom 1997) sung by the co-host, Katrina Leskanich, who came out with flag holders of all the countries that have participated in Eurovision up to that point.

Throughout the telecast, a number of highlights segments were presented which showed montages of various Eurovision performances which were either interesting, notable or unorthodox. There were six assortments, which were under the categories described by the hosts as 'past winners', 'political, daring, larger than life', 'cute men', 'unforgettable interpretation of dance', 'girlpower' and 'close/narrow second-place finishers'. A number of former Eurovision artists returned to help introduce and present the show, including Carola Häggkvist, Massiel, Dana International, Birthe Wilke, Anne-Marie David, Sandra Kim, Elisabeth Andreassen, Hanne Krogh, Olsen Brothers, Emilija Kokić, Marie Myriam, Sertab Erener, Helena Paparizou, Nicole and Hugo, Cheryl Baker, and Lys Assia. Cliff Richard and Nicole gave pre-recorded messages as they were unable to attend.

During the show, there were many presentations by various guest artists during the voting and tallying period. These consisted of the Finnish shouting choir Mieskuoro Huutajat, Riverdance (the 1994 interval act), Ronan Keating (the 1997 co-host), and Johnny Logan, singing his new single "When a Woman Loves a Man", as well as an appearance by the Belgian duo of 1973, Nicole and Hugo.

There were three medleys, consisting of live performances of past Eurovision songs. The first consisted of : Dana International, singing "Parlez-vous français ?" (originally performed by Baccara for Luxembourg in 1978, 7th place); Carola Haggkvist, singing "Främling" (Sweden 1983, 3rd); Alsou, singing "Solo" (Russia 2000, 2nd); Fabrizio Faniello, singing "Another Summer Night" (Malta 2001, 9th); Marie Myriam, singing "L'amour est bleu" (originally performed by Vicky Leandros for Luxembourg in 1967, 4th); Richard Herrey, singing "Let Me Be the One" (originally performed by The Shadows for the United Kingdom in 1975, 2nd); and Thomas Thordarson, singing "Vi maler byen rød" (originally performed by Birthe Kjær for Denmark in 1989, 3rd).

The second consisted of: Gali Atari, singing "Hallelujah" (Israel 1979, winner); Bobbysocks!, singing "La det swinge" (Norway 1985, winner); Anne-Marie David, singing "Après toi" (originally sung by Vicky Leandros for Luxembourg in 1972, winner); Lys Assia, singing "Refrain" (Switzerland 1956, winner); Sandra Kim singing "Non ho l'età" (originally sung by Gigliola Cinquetti for Italy in 1964, winner); and Bucks Fizz singing "Making Your Mind Up" (United Kingdom 1981, winner).

The third and final medley consisted of: Eimear Quinn, singing "The Voice" (Ireland 1996, winner); Charlie McGettigan and Jakob Sveistrup, singing "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (originally sung by McGettigan and Paul Harrington for Ireland in 1994, winner); Jakob Sveistrup, singing "Talking to You" (Denmark 2005, 9th); and Linda Martin, singing "Why Me?" (Ireland 1992, winner). All four singers –Quinn, McGettigan, Sveistrup, and Martin– acted as backup singers during the show. They were also joined by the Olsen Brothers for a brief, Eurovision-themed version of their song "Walk Right Back".

Medleys

Opening medley

Winners of Eurovision

Unforgettable performances

Men in Eurovision

Dancing in Eurovision

Women in Eurovision

Eurovision favourites

Eurovision winners medley

Second places

Medley "backing vocals"

Broadcasts

A total of thirty-five countries broadcast the event, but only thirty-one participated in the voting.

Broadcasters and commentators in voting countries[2]
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Andorra RTVA ATV
 Austria ORF ORF 2[a] Elisabeth Engstler and Christian Ludwig [24][25]
 Belgium VRT Eén [26][27]
RTBF La Une, RTBF Sat Jean-Pierre Hautier [26][28][29]
 Bosnia and Herzegovina BHRT BHT 1
 Croatia HRT HRT 1 [30]
 Cyprus RIK
 Denmark DR DR1 Nicolai Molbech [31][32]
 Finland YLE YLE TV2 Jaana Pelkonen and Heikki Seppälä [33]
YLE Radio Suomi Sanna Kojo
YLE Radio Vega Hans Johansson
 Germany ARD Südwest Fernsehen, WDR Fernsehen [25][29][34]
 Greece ERT NET Elizabeth Filippouli [35]
 Iceland RÚV Sjónvarpið, Rás 2 [36]
 Ireland RTÉ RTÉ Two Marty Whelan [37][38]
 Israel IBA
 Latvia LTV LTV1 [39]
 Lithuania LRT
 Macedonia MRT
 Malta PBS TVM Tony Micallef [40]
 Monaco TMC Monte Carlo Bernard Montiel and Yves Lecoq [29]
 Netherlands NPO Nederland 2 Willem van Beusekom [26][41]
 Norway NRK NRK1 Jostein Pedersen [31]
 Poland TVP TVP1 [42]
 Portugal RTP RTP1 [43]
 Romania TVR
 Russia Channel One [44]
 Serbia and Montenegro RTS RTS 1 [45]
 Slovenia RTVSLO SLO 1 Mojca Mavec [30][46]
 Spain TVE La Primera José María Íñigo and Beatriz Pécker [47]
 Sweden SVT SVT1 Pekka Heino [31][48]
  Switzerland SRG SSR SF 1 [25][29][49]
TSR 1 Jean-Marc Richard
TSI 1
 Turkey TRT TRT 1 [50]
 Ukraine NTU Pershyi Natsionalnyi [51]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-voting countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Albania RTSH [52]
 Armenia AMPTV [52]
 Australia SBS SBS TV[b] Marty Whelan [52][53]
 Hungary MR Petőfi Rádió[c] Erzsébet Jeney [54]
 Kosovo RTK RTK [52]

Viewing figures

Estimated viewership by country (in millions)[55]
Country Viewership
 Austria 0.80
 Belgium 1 (VRT)
 Cyprus 0.07
 Denmark 1.42
 Finland 0.44
 Germany 0.63 (SWR, WDR)
 Netherlands 1.2
 Norway 0.97
 Poland 3.2
 Portugal 0.85
 Spain 2.83
 Sweden 2

Non-participating countries

Countries that have previously competed but were not involved with the broadcast or voting of the contest;

  •  Belarus
  •  Bulgaria
  •  Estonia
  •  France[56]
  •  Italy[56]
  •  Luxembourg
  •  Moldova
  •  Morocco
  •  Slovakia
  •  United Kingdom[56]

The BBC (UK), RAI (Italy) and France Télévisions chose not to broadcast the event. Søren Therkelsen, the commissioning editor of the event, said he was "disappointed" at the broadcasters' decision not to transmit the show.[56] The BBC chose not to carry the event as it was "too remote" for British audiences.[17]

Official album

Cover art of the official album

To coincide with the broadcast of the programme, an official compilation album for the 50th anniversary titled The Very Best of the Eurovision Song Contest (also known as Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest),[57] was put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by CMC International on 21 October 2005.[58] The compilation featured over 100 songs, including all Eurovision Song Contest winners from 1956 until 2005 and a selection of all-time favourites, that was divided into 2 separate double CDs: 1956–1980 and 1981–2005. The 22-page booklet includes information about the entries, contestants and venues.[59]

Notes

  1. ^ Deferred broadcast at 22:10 CET (21:00 UTC)[24]
  2. ^ Deferred broadcast on 23 October at 20:30 AEST (10:30 UTC)[53]
  3. ^ Delayed broadcast on 15 November at 23:15 CET (22:15 UTC)[54]

References

  1. ^ a b Michael Dwyer (20 October 2005). Dearth of the cool. The Age. Retrieved on 26 December 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Participating broadcasters in the 50th anniversary show". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 13 October 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  3. ^ Jeffrey de Hart (25 October 2005). ABBA's "Waterloo" named best Eurovision song. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 26 December 2007.
  4. ^ "Abba win 'Eurovision 50th' vote". BBC News. 23 October 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
  5. ^ Roel Phillips (9 April 2005). 100 Eurovision songs on CD and DVD Archived 29 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 26 December 27.
  6. ^ Sietse Bakker (28 November 2002). "Special programme for 50th Eurovision Song Contest". www.esctoday.com. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  7. ^ Sietse Bakker (18 June 2004). 50th anniversary show to be held in London. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 26 December 2007.
  8. ^ Sietse Bakker (26 August 2004). 50th anniversary show in Denmark. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 26 December 2007.
  9. ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (21 April 2005). "BBC not to show 50th Anniversary show". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  10. ^ "BBC One - Boom Bang a Bang: 50 Years of Eurovision". BBC.
  11. ^ Roel Phillips (25 October 2004). Extravaganza on 22 October in Copenhagen. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 26 December 2007.
  12. ^ a b Sietse Bakker (16 June 2005). The 14 songs for Copenhagen. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 26 December 2007.
  13. ^ Bakker, Sietse (27 June 2005). "'Congratulations': DR 'cannot confirm' start ticket sale". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2003". European Broadcasting Union.
  15. ^ Sietse Bakker (9 September 2005). Congratulations hosted by Katrina and Renars. ESCtoday.com. Retrieved on 26 December 2007.
  16. ^ "Tickets for Congratulations sold out". www.esctoday.com. 22 August 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  17. ^ a b "Abba's 'Waterloo' is voted best song of 50 Eurovision years". Independent. 24 October 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Eurovision 'greats' to do battle". 27 January 2005. Retrieved 5 January 2023 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
  19. ^ "Happy birthday, Eurovision!". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 22 May 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2005.
  20. ^ ""Congratulations" – 14 songs to compete". Eurovision.tv. Archived from the original on 28 August 2005. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  21. ^ "Congratulations Show | Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  22. ^ a b c "Results from the voting (Round 1 and 2)". European Broadcasting Union. 25 October 2005. Archived from the original on 25 October 2005. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  23. ^ "Congratulations Copenhagen 2005". esckaz.com. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  24. ^ a b "TV-Gratulation". Wiener Zeitung (in German). 20 October 2005. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  25. ^ a b c "TV/Radio Samstag". Freiburger Nachrichten (in German). Fribourg, Switzerland. 22 October 2005. p. 10. Retrieved 30 January 2023 – via E-newspaperarchives.ch.
  26. ^ a b c "Televisie – zaterdag". Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant. Goes, Netherlands. 22 October 2005. p. 8. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  27. ^ "Eurovisiesongfestival – Jubileum 50 jaar". VRT. Archived from the original on 8 January 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  28. ^ Lauwens, Jean-François (13 May 2000). "Nouveau triomphe pour " Waterloo " ?". Le Soir (in French). Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023. (subscription required)
  29. ^ a b c d "Samedi 22 octobre". TV8 (in French). Zofingen, Switzerland. 20 October 2005. pp. 17–24. Retrieved 30 January 2023 – via Scriptorium.
  30. ^ a b "TV spored" (PDF). Gorenjski glas (in Slovenian). 18 October 2005. pp. 11–18. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  31. ^ a b c "Radio & TV – lørdag 22. oktober". Ringerikes Blad. Hønefoss, Norway. 22 October 2005. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 28 January 2023 – via National Library of Norway.
  32. ^ Bygbjerg, Søren (13 May 2012). "Molbech vil tages med bukserne nede" (in Danish). DR. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  33. ^ "Eurovision laulukilpailut 50 vuotta: Äänestysnumerot ja -ohjeet tiiviissä paketissa". YLE (in Finnish). 20 October 2005. Archived from the original on 8 January 2006. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  34. ^ Klier, Marcus (28 September 2005). "Congratulations to be screened in Germany". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  35. ^ Tzempelikou, MaryLou (12 October 2005). "Γιορτάζοντας τη Eurovision με την Ελισάβετ" (in Greek). ERT. Archived from the original on 22 December 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  36. ^ "Útvarp/Sjónvarp – laugardagur 22. október 2005". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Reykjavík, Iceland. 21 May 2005. p. 74. Retrieved 31 January 2023 – via Timarit.is.
  37. ^ "Congratulations: 50th Anniversary of Eurovision" (Press release). RTÉ. 22 October 2005. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  38. ^ "Saturday 22 October". The Irish Times Magazine. 22 October 2005. p. 36. Retrieved 30 January 2005. (subscription required)
  39. ^ "Sestdien Eirovīzija svin 50. dzimšanas dienu !" (in Latvian). LTV. Archived from the original on 21 October 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  40. ^ Cilia, Tanja (29 October 2005). "Touch of crass". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  41. ^ Bakker, Sietse (23 May 2006). "Willem van Beusekom (59) passed away". ESCToday. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  42. ^ "50 lat Konkursu Piosenki Eurowizji" (in Polish). TVP. Archived from the original on 20 December 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  43. ^ "Gala dos 50 anos da Eurovisão na RTP1". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 22 October 2005. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  44. ^ "Telenedelya: Programmy peredach s 17 po 24 oktyabrya" Теленеделя: Программы передач с 17 по 23 октября (PDF). Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). pp. 11–14, 19–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  45. ^ "TV program – Subota". Borba (in Serbian). Belgrade, Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro. 22–23 October 2005. p. 6. Retrieved 10 June 2024 – via Pretraživa digitalna biblioteka.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  46. ^ "EMA 2011: Od mladih talentov do popularnih slovenskih skupin - Pomurec.com". Pomurec (in Slovenian). 25 February 2011. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  47. ^ "TV – sábado, 22 octubre 2005". La Vanguardia: Vivir (in Spanish). 22 October 2005. p. 8. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  48. ^ Hörnemark, Bengt (22 October 2005). "Ett uppbåd av schlagerstjärnor". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 7 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  49. ^ "Samedi 22 octobre". L'Illustré (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland. 19 October 2005. pp. 104–105. Retrieved 30 January 2023 – via Scriptorium.
  50. ^ "TV Programları". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 22 October 2005. p. 16. Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  51. ^ "Subota, 22 zhovtnya" Субота, 22 жовтня. Nove Zhyttia (in Ukrainian). 15 November 2005. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  52. ^ a b c d "EBU – 43rd TV committee". European Broadcasting Union. 17 November 2005. Archived from the original on 7 August 2007.
  53. ^ a b "TV Guide Torres News: Friday 21 – Thursday 27 October". Torres News. Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia. 19 October 2005. p. 11. Retrieved 29 January 2023 – via Trove.
  54. ^ a b "Magyar Rádió – kedd november 15" [Hungarian Radio - Tuesday, November 15.]. RTV részletes (in Hungarian). 14 November 2005. p. 14. Retrieved 31 January 2023 – via MTVA Archívum.
  55. ^ Klier, Marcus (25 October 2005). "Good viewing ratings for 'Congratulations'". ESCToday.com. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  56. ^ a b c d Sietse Bakker (19 August 2005). Therkelsen "disappointed" in British and French TV. Retrieved on 26 December 2007.
  57. ^ "Various - The Very Best Of The Eurovision Song Contest". Discogs.
  58. ^ "Release "Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest: All The Winners + Favourites 1981-2005" by Various Artists - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  59. ^ "Various - Congratulations: 50 Years Of The Eurovision Song Contest (All The Winners + Favourites 1956 1980)". Discogs. Retrieved 22 September 2018.