The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 By The Numbers Written by Samantha Ross on May 2, 2016 | 1 Comment

The Artists

Who’ll be performing (42 nations, up from 40 last year):

• Solo Female (22): Albania, Armenia, Austria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, FYR Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine
• Solo Male (14): Belarus, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania*, Russia, San Marino, Sweden, The Netherlands
• Duets (1): United Kingdom
• Groups and Collaborations (6): Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, Denmark, Georgia, Greece, Montenegro

Montenegro’s Highway (credit: Djordje Zivaljevic)

Artists under the age of 20:

• Austria: Zoë (19)
• Belgium: Laura Tesoro (19)
• Germany: Jamie-Lee Kriewitz (18)
• Sweden: Frans (17)

Artists over the age of 40:

• FYR Macedonia: Kaliopi (49)
• San Marino: Serhat (51)

Who wasn’t born in the country they’ll be representing?

• Australia: Dami Im was born in Incheon, South Korea.
• Bosnia & Herzegovina: Cellist Ana Rucner, who is co-billed with Deen and Dalal, was born in Zagreb, Croatia.
• Greece: A number of the members of Argo, including Vladimiros Sofianides, Christina Lachana, and Ilias Kesides were born in Georgia. Maria Elbrus was born in Russia, and Konstantinos Topouzis is originally from Turkey.
• Moldova: Lidia Isac was born in St. Petersburg, Russia.
• San Marino: Serhat was born in Istanbul, Turkey.
• Switzerland: Rykka was born in Vancouver, Canada.
• Ukraine: Jamala was born in the city of Osh, in what is now Kyrgyzstan.

The Selections

How they were chosen:

• National Final (23): Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania*, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom
• Partial National Final (1): Georgia (internal artist selection, public song choice)
• Internal Selection (18): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Australia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Ireland, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Russia, San Marino, Serbia,
• Other (2):
  • Italy: The winners of San Remo, Stadio, were offered the ticket to Stockholm, but turned it down. Rai internally offered the opportunity to the runner-up.
  • Malta: Following Ira Losco’s win with ‘Chameleon’, the Maltese broadcaster decided to invoke their ability to modify or change their song. The result was ‘Walk on Water’.

The Songs

Songs changed/significantly modified from original winner/announcement/release:

• Albania: ‘Përrallë’ was translated into ‘Fairytale’.
• Israel: The arrangement for ‘Made of Stars’ was revamped heavily following Hovi Star’s win in Israel.
• Malta: Ira Losco’s original winning song, ‘Chameleon’, and nine other potential entries were sent to juries from ten nations to determine Malta’s eventual song for Stockholm, ‘Walk on Water’.
• San Marino: After Serhat’s ‘I Didn’t Know’ was released, the Sammarinese delegation gauged the reaction of the public and decided that the song’s Disco remix would be performed in Stockholm, rather than the more downbeat original arrangement.

What language will the song be performed in?

• English (35): Albania, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania*, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
• Bilingual (5): Bulgaria, France, Italy, Greece, Ukraine
• No English (3): Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia

The History

How many had previously performed in a National Final (not counting their 2016 victory)?

• Albania: Eneda Tarifa
  • FiK 2002 (for ESC 2003), finalist with ‘Qëndroj’
  • FiK 2007 (for ESC 2008), 10th place with ‘E para letër’
• Austria: Zoë
  • 2015: 3rd place with ‘Quel filou’
• Azerbaijan
  • 2012: Quarterfinalist in Milli Seçim Turu.
• Bulgaria: Poli Genova
  • 2005: 9th place with ‘Otkriy me sega’ as a member of “Melody”
  • 2006: 4th place with ‘Love That You Can’t See’, as a member of “Melody”
  • 2009: 2nd place with ‘One Lifetime Is Not Enough’
  • 2011: 1st place with ‘Na Inat’
• Cyprus: Minus One
  • 2015: 3rd place with ‘Shine’

• Iceland: Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir
  • 2012:
    • 1st place with ‘Mundu eftir mér’, eventually translated into ‘Never Forget’.
    • Finalist with ‘Aldrei sleppir mér’, together with Heiða & Guðrún Árný, although she withdrew from song before the Final in order to focus on her other song, eventual winner ‘Mundu eftir mér’.
• Lithuania: Donny Montell
  • 2009:
    • 2nd place with ‘Remember Last Time’
    • Semifinalist with ‘Dainų daina’, a duet with Rosita Čivilytė
  • 2010: ‘Running Fast’, disqualified due to early release
  • 2011:
    • 5th place with ‘Let Me’
    • 10th place with ‘Best Friends’, a duet with Sasha Song
  • 2012: 1st place with ‘Love is Blind’

• Malta: Ira Losco
  • 2000:
    • 6th place with ‘Shine’
    • 7th place with ‘Falling in Love’
  • 2001:
    • 2nd place with ‘Spellbound’
    • 4th place with ‘Don’t Give Up’
    • 9th place with ‘Deep Inside My Heart’
    • 11th place with ‘We’ll Ride the Wind’
  • 2002:
    • 1st place with ‘7th Wonder’
    • 3rd place with ‘One Step Away’
  • 2016: ‘That’s Why I Love You’, semifinalist
• Macedonia: Kaliopi
  • 1996: 1st place with ‘Samo Ti’
  • 2006: 6th place with ‘Silna’
  • 2009: 2nd place with ‘Rum Dum Dum’, in a duet with Naum Petreski.

• Moldova: Lidia Isac
  • 2013: 12th place with ‘Celebrate’ as a member of “Glam Girls”
  • 2014: 9th place in the semifinal with ‘You Believed in Me’ as a member of “Glam Girls”
  • 2015:
    • 14th place with ‘I Can’t Breathe’ as a soloist
    • 14th place with ‘Magia’ as a member of “Glam Girls”
  • 2016: Attempting to represent Switzerland with ‘Citizens of the World’, Lidia failed to progress from the online submission platform.
• Norway: Agnete Johnsen
  • 2011: 2nd place with ‘Dance Tonight’, as a member of “The Blacksheeps”
• Romania: Ovidiu Anton*
  • 2010: 13th place with ‘Running Out of Time’ as a member of “Pasager”
  • 2012: 5th place with ‘I Walk Alone’
  • 2013: 11th place with ‘Run Away With Me’
  • 2015: 3rd place with ‘Still Alive’
• Russia: Sergey Lazarev
  • 2008: 4th place with ‘Flyer”
• Slovenia: ManuElla
  • 2012: 4th place in Misija Evrovizija
• Ukraine: Jamala
  • 2011: 3rd place with ‘Smile’

How many had taken part in non-Eurovision-affiliated TV talent shows?

• Armenia: Iveta Mukuchyan participated in the 2010 series of Hay Superstar, coming in 5th place, and then participated on The Voice of Germany before being knocked out in the first live round.
• Australia: Dami Im was the winner of the fifth series of The X Factor – Australia.
• Azerbaijan: Samra Rahimli was a quarterfinalist in the 4th series of O Ses Türkiye (which was eventually won by 2008 and 2015 Eurovision alum Elnur Hüseynov). A year later, she made it to the finals of the first series of Səs Azərbaycan.
• Belarus: Ivan, under his birth name Alexander Ivanov, took part in the 2015 series of Glavnaya Stsena, which is the Russian edition of The X Factor. He came in second place.
• Belgium: Laura Tesoro was the runner-up on the 2014 series of The Voice van Vlaanderen, where she was mentored by Eurovision 1991 alum Koen Wauters of Clouseau.
• Croatia: In 2009, Nina Kraljić came in 10th place on Supertalent, the local edition of the “Got Talent” series. Last year, she won the first edition of The Voice – Najljepši glas Hrvatske while under the guidance of 2002 and 2011 Croatian National Finalist Jacques Houdek.

• Cyprus: Minus One’s lead singer, Francois Micheletto, was recently a contestant on France’s The Voice: la plus belle voix.
• Czech Republic: Back in 2011, Gabriela Gunčíková was the runner-up on the second series of Česko Slovenská SuperStar.
• Estonia: Jüri Pootsmann was the winner of last year’s edition of Eesti otsib superstaari. He is the sixth Estonian Eurovision entrant in seven years to have been a participant on the show.
• France: In 2006, Amir appeared on the fourth season of Israel’s Kokhav Nolad, where he was eliminated after the 4th round of competition. Eight years later, he returned to France and came in third place on The Voice: la plus belle voix.
• Germany: Jamie-Lee Kriewitz was the winner of the fifth season of The Voice of Germany.
• Hungary: Freddie came in fourth place overall in Hungary’s first series of Rising Star.
• Italy: Francesca Michielin won the fifth season of Italy’s edition of X Factor back in 2012.
• Lithuania: Donny Montell came in 12th place overall during the 2011 New Wave Festival, held in Jūrmala, Latvia.
• Moldova: Lidia Isac came in 14th place in the 2014 edition of New Wave.
• Montenegro: Highway took part in the second series of X Factor Adria, where they came in 4th place.
• The Netherlands: Douwe Bob won the first series of De beste singer-songwriter van Nederland.
• Norway: As a member of The BlackSheeps, Agnete won MGP Nordic 2008 with the Sami-Norwegian pop-rock song ‘Oro jaska, beana’.

• Poland: Michał Szpak was the runner up on Poland’s first series of X Factor.
• Russia: As a member of the pop duo Smash!!, Sergey Lazarev won the 2002 edition of New Wave.
• Slovenia: In 2006, ManuElla appeared on the local talent show Bitka talentov, and later auditioned for Germany’s Das Supertalent.
• Ukraine: Jamala was the winner of 2009’s edition of the New Wave festival in Jūrmala, Latvia. Later she won the 2012 series “Stars in Opera”, the local version of “Popstar to Operastar”.
• United Kingdom: Joe Woolford and Jake Shakeshaft were both contestants on the fourth series of The Voice UK. Shakeshaft was eliminated in the Knockout Rounds, while Woolford was eliminated in Week Two of the live rounds.

How many have previous involvement with Eurovision?

• Bosnia & Herzegovina: Deen
  • 2004, 9th place in the Final with ‘In the Disco’
• Bulgaria: Poli Genova
  • 2011, 12th place in the Semifinal with ‘Na Inat’
• FYR Macedonia: Kaliopi
  • 1996, eliminated at prequalifying with ‘Samo Ti’
  • 2012, 13th place in the Final with ‘Crno i Belo’
• Iceland: Greta Salóme Stefánsdóttir
  • 2012, 20th place in the Final with ‘Never Forget’
• Ireland: Nicky Byrne
  • Vote announcer 2013-2015
• Lithuania: Donny Montell
  • 2012: 14th place in the Final with ‘Love is Blind’
• Malta: Ira Losco
  • 2002, 2nd place in the Final with ‘Seventh Wonder’
• Montenegro: Bojan Jovović
  • 2005, as a member of No Name for Serbia & Montenegro, 7th place in the Final with ‘Zauvjek Moja’

How many have previous involvement with Junior Eurovision?

• Bulgaria: Poli Genova
  • 2015, Junior Eurovision hostess

The Songwriters

How many songs this year were written (at least partially) by the performer?

• Armenia
• Austria
• Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Greece
• Iceland
• Ireland
• FYR Macedonia
• Malta
• Montenegro
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• Romania*
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Ukraine

How many of this year’s entries include a songwriter who had previously taken part at Eurovision as a singer (including returning artists)?

• Bulgaria: ‘If Love Was A Crime’, co-written by Poli Genova (Bulgaria 2011)
• Estonia: ‘Play’, co-written and composed by Stig Rästa (Estonia 2015)
• Iceland: ‘Hear Them Calling’, written and composed by Greta Salóme (Iceland 2012)
• Latvia: ‘Heartbeat’, written and composed by Aminata Savadogo (Latvia 2015)
• Macedonia: ‘Dona’, written by Kaliopi (Macedonia 2012)
• Malta: ‘Walk on Water’, co-written and composed by Ira Losco (Malta 2002)
• Russia: ‘You Are The Only One’, co-composed by Philipp Korkorov (Russia 1995)

How many songs this year include at least one Swedish songwriter on their roster?

• Azerbaijan
• Bulgaria
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Lithuania
• Malta
• Moldova
• Norway
• Sweden

* – On April 22nd, it was announced that the EBU would be revoking member services to Romanian broadcaster TVR, due to a lack of payment to the organization. This effectively forced the disqualification of Romania’s entry, “Moment of Silence” by Ovidiu Anton. However, to honor the hard work done by Ovidiu and his team, their efforts were included in this article.