On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest, we looked back and looked for some highlights in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. The competition, which began in 1956, served up quite a few evergreen tunes during its time that we still sing to ourselves today. Here are some Eurovision highlights.
1965
In 1965, when Russia's Alexei Leonov became the first man to walk in open space, when Britain said goodbye to Winston Churchill and when the United States experienced its biggest blackout in history, Eurovision finally crossed over into the waters of pop music . The victory went to the 17-year-old France Gall, to the French, who that year with the composition “Poupée de cire, poupée de son” represented Luxembourg. The song sold more than half a million copies in France alone, and was recorded in German, Italian and Japanese.
1969
In 1969, we stepped on the moon for the first time. The first supersonic plane flew, and in the USA the gathered hippies spread peace and love. The Eurovision Song Contest was hosted by Madrid, where there is a Spanish artist Salvador Dali designed the stage and made the evening extremely surreal. The host of the evening, Salome, was dressed in a porcelain dress that weighed 14 kilograms. But no one expected that Eurovision would have that year four winners. Great Britain, the Netherlands, France and Spain shared the victory. Today, the rule states that there can only be one winner of the Eurovision Song Contest.
1974
The year 1974 was marked by the Portuguese "Carnation Revolution", Richard Nixon resigned as US President, and Lucy was found in Ethiopia 3 million years after her death. This was the year Eurovision gave birth to a pop phenomenon. They were winners ABBA. Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid conquered Europe with their powerful contemporary songs and glamorous costumes. A song "Waterloo" reached the top 10 in twenty countries, and ABBA became one of the best-selling artists of all time. In 2005, the song Waterloo was voted the best Eurovision song of all time.
1980 and 1987
In 1980, movie star Ronald Reagan became president of the United States, John Lennon was shot to death in New York and Eurovision saw for the first time the only singer to win the contest twice. The evening in 1980 belonged To Johnny Logan, to the Australian-born Irishman who gave Ireland their first victory. His song "What's Another Year" became a big hit all over Europe. Seven years later Johnny Logans song "Hold Me Now" Ireland's second win and remains the only contestant to have won the Eurovision Song Contest twice. In 1992, he added another victory to his laurels - the winner, the Irish singer Linda Martin, wrote the song "Why Me".
1988
In 1988, members of the Jamaican bobsled team celebrated their first year as Olympic heroes, pyramids arrived at the Louvre in Paris, and Eurovision launched a music legend. The Eurovision Song Contest was hosted by Ireland, which is rather tasteless hi-tech scene presented by 21 contestants who competed this year. Switzerland was represented this year by a then unknown artist Celine Dion with a song "No partez pas sans moi", who beat Great Britain by just one point in 1988 and became not only the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, but also a global star. Céline Dion has sold more than 200 million records worldwide and remains one of the best-selling female musicians in the world.
READ MORE: Eurovision 2015: Slovenia in the company of the countries with the most chances to win
1993 and 1994
In 1993 and 1994, dinosaurs rose from the dead in Jurassic Park, Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, the English Channel was opened, which connects Great Britain and France, and Eurovision welcomed the eastern part of Europe and Slovenia, where we 1993 represented 1X Band with a song "Silent Rainy Day". The winner of Eurovision 1993 was Ireland with a song "In Your Eyes". In 1994, the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Dublin, where the Riverdance dancers inspired Europe and thus gained a reputation that is still successfully marketed all over the world. And the winner? For the third year in a row, Ireland won with a song "Rock 'n' Roll Kids".
2004
In 2004, the Olympic Games returned to Athens, the American filmmaker Michael Moore won the Palme d'Or, the streets of Ukraine were flooded with orange in protest, and the tsunami in the Indian Ocean destroyed Thailand. And this was the year when Eurovision plowed the fallow. A new logo was created and the heart of Eurovision was born. The competition was hosted by Turkey and for the first time in the history of Eurovision they introduced a semi-final night. This year, Ukraine stole the show with a singer Ruslana and a song "Wild Dances". Slovenia was represented this year by a duo Platinum and a song "Stay Forever".
2009
In 2009, Usain Bolt set a new world record in the 100 meters, we lost the King of Pop Michael Jackson, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize and it was the year Eurovision served up the highest points total in the history of the competition, which reached the year Alexander Rybak – is a Norwegian musician with a song "Fairytale" scored as many as 387 points out of 492 possible. In 2009, they represented Slovenia at the Eurovision Song Contest Quartissimo feat. Martin with a song "Love Symphony".
2012
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy ravaged New York, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated sixty years of reign on the British throne, and Eurovision moved to Azerbaijan. The easternmost host of the competition, Baku, built the Crystal Hall for the occasion and the competition also focused on human rights in the country. 42 countries competed, and this time Sweden and the singer took the crown Loreen, which song "Euphoria" became a huge hit around the world, reaching number one in eighteen countries and reaching the top ten in sixteen countries. She represented Slovenia this year Eva Boto with a song "I believe".
2014
In 2014, Germany won the soccer world cup, a European spacecraft landed on a comet for the first time, George Clooney finally breathed his last yes and Eurovision offered one of the biggest icons. Copenhagen hosted the contest for the third time, where 37 countries competed for the title of Eurovision Song Contest. But the competition this year belonged to a bearded lady from Austria, Conchita Wurst and hers "Rise Like a Phoenix", which elicited a huge ovation from the audience. Europe accepted Conchita and thus left a huge stamp of diversity on Eurovision. After her victory, Conchita was invited to perform for members of the European Parliament in Brussels and to meet with the Secretary General of the United Nations in Vienna. She represented Slovenia at Eurovision this year Tinker Kovač with a song "Round and Round".
