2006 — Lordi - A Brief History of the Eurovision Song Contest

A Brief History of the Eurovision Song Contest

In 1955, the European Broadcasting Union created an international song contest whereby countries, represented by their respective broadcasters, would compete in one television show. The secret to the contest's cross-border mass appeal lies in a curious mixture of camp irony and mild controversy. Read about this year's Serbian winner and take a look at some memorable moments from the past.

A not inconsiderable 292 points sees Finland's Lordi storm to victory for Hard Rock Hallelujah. The Finnish horror rockers not only call the result, "a victory for open-mindedness" (naturally) but end the nation's 39 year quest for Eurovision glory.

Beforehand, in host nation Greece, restaurant and bar owners' union President, Niki Constantinou made a public plea directed to her people not to allow Lordi to perform claiming they were Satanist. Nevertheless, the Greeks awarded them the maximum 12 points. Some would suggest this was a backlash from Greek youth. Nobody would dare declare that the devil — despite supposedly having the best tunes — played a helping hand.