Eurovision Song Contest 2014 – Copenhagen

Read all of the OnEurope coverage from Eurovision 2014

The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 was the 59th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following Emmelie de Forest‘s win at the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden with the song “Only Teardrops“. This was the third time that Denmark hosted the contest, the most recent previous occasion being in 2001. The two semi-finals took place on 6 May and 8 May 2014, and the final on 10 May 2014. The shows were presented by Lise Rønne, Nikolaj Koppel and Pilou Asbæk.

The show organisers from Copenhagen all in all spent 112 million Danish kroner on the contest; three times more than what was expected and were furthermore highly accused of cases of nepotism within the organisation. The host broadcaster, DR, chose the B&W Hallerne as the host venue after considering several bids from cities and venues across Denmark.

Thirty-seven countries participated; this includes the return of Poland after a two-year absence and Portugal after a one-year absence. Overall, there were two fewer countries competing compared to the previous year, making thirty-seven participants, the smallest number since 2006. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Serbia announced their withdrawal from the 2014 Contest. San Marino and Montenegro both qualified for the final for the first time. The winner was Conchita Wurst with the song “Rise Like a Phoenix”, written by Charley Mason, Joey Patulka, Ali Zuckowski, and Julian Maas for Austria. This was Austria’s first win in the competition since 1966. Jokes made about Wurst had sparked controversy, whilst Russia were booed several times during the contest. The Netherlands and Sweden finished second and third respectively with the former achieving their best result since their victory in the 1975 Contest. Armenia finished fourth, which equals their best result to date, while Hungary finished fifth, achieving its best result since its fourth place in 1994. Of the “Big Five”, only Ruth Lorenzo of Spain achieved a place in the top ten.

A new record of 195 million viewers for the Eurovision Song Contest was reported. The official compilation album of the 2014 Contest was released by Universal Music Group on 14 April 2014, and featured all 37 songs from the contest, including the official #JoinUs theme performed during the interval act of the grand final. The host broadcaster, DR, and the EBU won the International TV Award at the Ondas Awards for their production of the contest.

(From Wikipedia)