The Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 is the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It is taking place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the 2021 contest with the  song "Zitti e buoni" by Måneskin. 

Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest is being held at the PalaOlimpico, and consists of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2022. The three live shows are hosted by Italian television presenter Alessandro Cattelan, singer Laura Pausini and Lebanese-British singer Mika.

Origins and history

The Eurovision Song Contest's founding stemmed from a desire to promote cooperation between European countries in the years following the Second World War through cross-border television broadcasts, which gave rise to the founding of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in 1950. The word "Eurovision" was first used by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951, when he referred to a BBC programme being relayed by Dutch television. Following several events broadcast internationally via the Eurovision transmission network in the early 1950s, including the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, an EBU committee, headed by Marcel Bezençon, was formed in January 1955 to investigate new initiatives for cooperation between broadcasters, which approved for further study a European song competition from an idea initially proposed by Sergio Pugliese. The EBU's general assembly agreed to the organising of the song contest in October 1955, under the initial title of the European Grand Prix, and accepted a proposal by the Swiss delegation to host the event in Lugano in the spring of 1956. The Italian Sanremo Music Festival, held since 1951, was used as a basis for the initial planning of the contest, with several amendments and additions given its international nature.

The Netherlands in Eurovision

The Netherlands debuted as one of the original competing countries at the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 and has competed in all but four editions since, missing the contest in 1985, 1991, 1995 and 2002. The nation has been victorious at the competition five times, making them one of the most successful countries in the contest.

The Netherlands has won the contest five times, with Corry Brokken (1957), Teddy Scholten (1959), Lenny Kuhr in a four-way tie (1969), Teach-In (1975) and Duncan Laurence (2019). The country's other top five results are Sandra & Andres fourth (1972), Mouth & MacNeal third (1974), Maggie MacNeal fifth (1980), Marcha fifth (1987), Edsilia Rombley fourth (1998), and second with The Common Linnets (2014). The Netherlands finished last in 1958, 1962, 1963, 1968, and in the semi-final in 2011.

Dutch Eurovision entry S10

The Dutch entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Festival can be heard in the first semi-final in Turin on Tuesday evening, in which 17 countries will battle it out for a place in Saturday’s final. Dutch singer S10 is representing the Netherlands this year, with Dutch language song, De Diepte (the deep). The singer says she has struggled with mental health issues for years and told the Eurovision website that the festival stage is a perfect platform to highlight the range of emotions that artists can bring into their music.

‘A sad song can belong here, also a protest song, a song about being gay, a song about love, a party song,’ she said. ‘I just want to let the audience see a little bit of my soul and let them feel my emotion. I want them to feel my story, and I want them to feel their own story, too.’

Dutch entry S10 qualifies for Eurovision final

Some 2.2 million people in the Netherlands watched Dutch entry S10 qualify for Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest final with her song De Diepte.