Eurovision Song Contest 2006
| Eurovision Song Contest 2006 | |
|---|---|
| Feel the Rhythm | |
| Dates and venue | |
| Semi-final |
|
| Final |
|
| Venue | O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall Athens, Greece |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | European Broadcasting Union (EBU) |
| Executive supervisor | Svante Stockselius |
| Production | |
| Host broadcaster | Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) |
| Director | Volker Weicker |
| Executive producer | Fotini Yannoulatou |
| Presenters | |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 37 |
| Number of finalists | 24 |
| Debuting countries | Armenia |
| Non-returning countries | |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs |
| Winning song | |
The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It consisted of a semi-final on 18 May and a final on 20 May 2006, held at the O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece, and presented by Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), who staged the event after winning the 2005 contest for Greece with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Rouvas had also represented Greece in 2004.
Broadcasters from thirty-seven countries participated in the contest. Armenia took part for the first time. Meanwhile, Austria, Hungary, and Serbia and Montenegro announced their non-participation in the contest. Serbian-Montenegrin broadcaster Udruženje javnih radija i televizija (UJRT) had intended to participate, but due to a scandal in its national selection, the tensions between its members, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) and Radio and Television of Montenegro (RTCG), forced its withdrawal. Despite this, they did retain voting rights for the contest.
The winner was Finland with the heavy metal-song "Hard Rock Hallelujah", performed by Lordi and written by lead singer Mr. Lordi. This was Finland's first victory in the contest - and first top five placing - in 45 years of participation, the longest time a country had competed without a win at that point. It was also the first ever hard rock song to win the contest, as well as the first band to win since 1997. Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, and Sweden rounded out the top five. Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved their best result in their Eurovision history. Further down the table, Lithuania also achieved their best result to date, finishing sixth. Of the "Big Four" countries Germany placed the highest, finishing joint fourteenth (with Norway).
The contest saw the 1,000th song performed in the contest, when "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" was performed by Brian Kennedy for Ireland in the semi-final.