Our questions about ESC !

[Pooya]

A warm greetings to whole of international fans of our lovely Lena !



I make to thread to let you ask your questions about Eurovison song contest .


I myself have many questions .

[LilyHydrangea]

Then write your questions here, we´ll see if we can answer them

[Pooya]

Now I want to ask my first question .



Why do 5 countries are always at final ? " Germany ; U.K ; France ; Spain & Italy " ?


I know ; You are from Germany & Of Course you are really glad that your country is always at

final .

But I think it is against justice .


These countries are most powerful European countries but it cant be a good reason that they are

powerful at Music too .


What is different between " Norway " & " France " ?


I love Norwegian entries for ESC ( like " Fairytale from Rybak " ) more than French songs .


Lets be equitable & don't defend your country blindly ; please .


Although I know that all of you are cultured & nice people . Thats why Germany is a developed

country .


I am looking forward to your responses .


All The Best ;

Your Iranian Friend ; Pooya

[Marc]

Well, I think this rule isn't just. Among the members of the European Broadcasting Union, those from the so-called Big Five countries make the biggest financial contributions. Facing problems of legitimacy in their respective countries when interest in the event is low, they pushed the EBU to adopt this rule. (I don't know any details.)

[Matthias77]

Hi Pooya,

I'm no ESC expert, but I will try to give you some answers:

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Why do 5 countries are always at final ? " Germany ; U.K ; France ; Spain & Italy " ?

It's pretty simple. They pay for it.
These 5 countries, the so called "Big Five", are contributing the biggest amount of money to the ESC. Without their support, it would be tough to finance the show.

After the semi-finals were introduced a few years ago, organizers were afraid, that these countries might leave the ESC if their contestant would'nt make it to the final round.

What is different between " Norway " & " France " ?

I guess it's the number of TV spectators. I don't have any numbers for France or Norway but ...

Germany had more than 14 million viewers this year. That's three times more than the number of norwegian inhabitants (4.8 million). Last year, up to 20 million people in Germany watched the scoring and Lenas victory.

I can fully understand that for people from other countries it seems to be a bit unfair, that the big five are always qualified, no matter how good or bad their song is. But if these countries were not taking part in the final, people would loose their interest in the show. Less viewers = less money from sponsors.

I love Norwegian entries for ESC ( like " Fairytale from Rybak " ) more than French songs .

People from scandinavia really love the ESC. They play a big role in the show. France and especially Italy don't seem to care that much about it. But at the end it seems that money counts more than enthusiasm.

[arthurspooner1]

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Why do 5 countries are always at final ? " Germany ; U.K ; France ; Spain & Italy " ?

Well, there are allways the 5 countries you named in the final, plus last years winner. So in the ESC 2012 the host country Azerbaijan is set for the final too, which makes 6 fixed finalist.

Germany, U.K., France, Spain and Italy are the so called "Big 5" and are allways fixed for the final, because they pay the most amount of money. So to answer your next question what is the difference between Norway and France; its the fee that France pays to the EBU for participating in the ESC. You could divide the fee in equal portions for each country, but many small countrys would withdraw from the ESC then, because they can't affored that.

Here you can find more details about the fee and the "Big 5" topic: http://escdaily.com/articles/8557

So that is the reason why, but it is still questionable if that is fair or not. Its not fair if you consider the ESC as a sports-competition but it is a little bit less unfair if you consider the ESC as an entertaining show with a huge platform.

It is also a chance for small countrys to get in the U.K.or the German music market, which are considerd to be the largest music markets in Europe. So from that perspective it is good the big 5 are in the final, because otherwise the viewing rates and the interesset wouldn't be there in the first place.

[Matthias77]

One fact I forgot to mention:

Every country has the same voting power. The vote of the 31.500 people in San Marino counts as much as the vote of the 80 million people in Germany.

[Pooya]

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Then write your questions here, we´ll see if we can answer them

Thank you s much

[Pooya]

Oh ; Too much responses . Thanks a lot .


I noticed you mentioned 2 facts at your posts : 1 . More money 2 . More audience


But I still don't convince . I think it is unfair .