For the first (but maybe not last) time, Switzerland is hosting after winning (since they hosted the first contest back in 1956, they couldn’t have won before that). Cyprus is back, 22 countries, you all know the drill. Let’s dive right in.
Well well well, we’re off to Dublin yet again (we should get used to this city, we’ll be visiting it many times in the coming years). This time around, we’re joined by just 21 countries as the Cypriot entry was disqualified for being released prior to the deadline (and there’s a funny anecdote to go with it, which I’ll talk about when we get to the Israeli entry).
Belgium’s long-overdue win finally came and we’re off to Brussels, joined by the record-high 22 countries, since both Italy and Greece came back. Famously, this is the first time a previous winner won again, so let’s see if it was deserved (I already have an opinion about that, but maybe it’ll change)
Norway! They won it, they’re hosting it, in Bergen though, not in Oslo, we’ll have to wait for exactly a decade to visit Oslo. We’re getting our last debuting country until communism decides to finally stop existing - Iceland. Yugoslavia and Netherlands return as well, though Greece and Italy depart, which leaves us with 20 countries this year (and we’ll never have fewer than 20 countries from here on out).
Welcome to one of the most 80s contests. We’re joined by 19 countries for the final time, as every year after this one will have at least 20 participants. Israel and Greece came back, though Yugoslavia and the Netherlands withdrew.
And here we have the last time the contest has been hosted in Luxembourg (up to this point, who knows what the future will bring). Sadly, this year brings a couple withdrawals (Grece and Israel), but Ireland is back, so we’re now at 19 participants. So let’s dive into the 19 songs waiting for us in this contest.
Is it Germany time? It’s Germany time! Germany finally won it the previous year, so we’re off to Munich. We’re even rejoined by France (under a new broadcaster, TF1 decided they don’t give a damn about Eurovision), as well as Greece and Italy, yay. Sadly, Ireland withdrew due to strikes, which is the only time they withdrew willingly (they’ll also be relegated once, but more on that later). This, as usual, leaves us with 20 countries, which means 20 songs to get through.
Welcome to Harrogate, one of the most random Eurovision host places. France left this year because Eurovision was a “monument to insanity” (I love pointing that out to people who go on about the good old days and such) as well as Greece, who thought their entry was too “low-quality”. This leaves us with 18 countries in the contest since nobody joined or rejoined.
It’s back to Dublin for 1981, exactly one decade after the show was last held here (in 1971, if you don’t remember). Morocco left after their trial participation last year, but so did Italy since Eurovision just isn’t that popular there. On the other hand, Yugoslavia and Israel returned and we got a new debut from Cyprus. This means we have a total of 20 participants, tying the previous record, but not breaking it.
For the first time in Eurovision history, welcome to a contest that doesn’t have an entry by the previous winner. Israel refused to host due to financial issues, then Eurovision was scheduled during a holiday, which meant they withdrew entirely. Instead, it’s back to The Hague for round two. We have a very special appearance from Morocco this year, as well as a Turkish return. Monaco withdrew for good though, which leaves us with 19 total participants.