Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Location

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Bidding phase

When Greece won the 2005 contest, the Head of the Greek Delegation, Fotini Yiannoulatou, said that the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) was ready to host the event in Athens the next year. However, multiple cities bid to host the 2006 contest, including Thessaloniki and Patras, the second and the third largest city in Greece, respectively. The majors of the three cities (Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras) were said that their cities were ready to host the event. The venues that were rumored for each city were: the Olympic Indoor Hall for Athens, Pylea Sports Hall for Thessaloniki and Dimitris Tofalos Arena for Patras.

A few days after Greece's win, the Greek public broadcaster stated that "ERT intends to hold the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, taking into account EBU's already expressed wish for the event to be combined with the Olympic facilities and amenities that the city of Athens has to offer". Mr. Panaghiotis Psomiadis, the Prefect of Thessaloniki stated the city will fight for the hosting of the contest. As the city of Patras seemed not to be available to host the contest, at the end it was a two-horse race between Athens and Thessaloniki.

Finally, on June 30, 2005, ERT and European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that Athens will be the host city of the 2006 contest, despite the opposition of some Greek politicians, stated that Athens already had its promotion during the 2004 Summer Olympics and that it's "another city's turn now". The joint decision of the EBU and ERT is to host the 51st Eurovision Song Contest in Athens, which has several modern Olympic venues, infrastructure and a proven ability to host events of this size.

Other sites

The Eurovision Village was the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors' area during the events week. There it was possible to watch performances by local artists, as well as the live shows broadcast from the main venue. Located at the Zappeion, it was open from 15 to 21 May 2006.

The EuroClub was the venue for the official after-parties and private performances by contest participants. Unlike the Eurovision Village, access to the EuroClub was restricted to accredited fans, delegates, and press. It was located at Athens Technopolis, an industrial museum and a major cultural venue of the city.

The official "Welcome and Opening Ceremonies" events, where the contestants and their delegations are presented before the accredited press and fans, took place also in Zappeion on 15 May 2006 at 21:00 EET, followed by the Opening Ceremony.

Participants

All participating broadcaters in the Eurovision Song Contest must be active members of the EBU. On 16 January 2006, the EBU announced that the broadcasters from thirty-eight countries would participate in the 2006 contest, with the broadcaster from Austria opting not to participate due to the bad result at the previous contest, and the one from Hungary also deciding not to participate due to financial reasons. Armenia participated for the very first time in the history of the contest.

On 15 March 2006, the participating broadcaster from announced its withdrawal, reducing the participants number from 38 to 37 and leaving a vacancy in the final; however, the country retained its rights to vote in the contest.

Several of the performing artists had previously competed as lead artists representing the same country in past editions: Carola had represented and she won the contest ; Eddie Butler had represented as member of Eden; Fabrizio Faniello had represented ; Ich Troje had represented ; Victor Diawara, member of LT United, had represented as member of Skamp; and Anna Vissi in addition to having represented with the Epikouri, had represented . Sigríður Beinteinsdóttir, who had represented as member of Stjórnin, as member of Heart 2 Heart, and , provided backing vocals for Iceland.

Additionally, Hari Mata Hari were selected to represent , but their entry was disqualified; Ireland's Brian Kennedy performed in Lumen, the interval act of the ; host Sakis Rouvas had represented ; and if No Name had been permitted to represent , they would have done so for the second consecutive year.

Other countries

Active EBU members

Active EBU member broadcasters in , the , , and confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU. withdrew from the contest due to a scandal in the selection process, which caused tensions between the Serbian and Montenegrin broadcasters (RTS and RTCG).

Format

Visual design

The official logo of the contest remained the same from 2004 and 2005 with the country's flag in the heart being changed. The 2006 sub-logo was presented to the public through a press conference that was held on 1 November 2005, at the King George Hotel in Athens, while it was created by the design company Karamela for ERT and was apparently based on the Phaistos Disc which is a popular symbol of ancient Greece. According to ERT, it was "inspired by the wind and the sea, the golden sunlight and the glow of the sand". Following 's "Under The Same Sky" and 's "Awakening", the slogan for 2006 was "Feel The Rhythm". This theme was also the basis for the postcards in 2006, which emphasized Greece's historical significance as well as being a major modern tourist destination.

In addition to the graphic design, there was a theme music for the contest composed by Nikko Patrelakis, which was used in the intros and in-between commercial breaks, as well as besides the participating entries. The theme music package was conducted by Andreas Pylarinos, while the ERT Symphony Orchestra recorded all music used during the show.

Broadcasting

As with the 2005 edition, the shows were broadcast in widescreen 16:9 format in standard-definition. The shows were also filmed (but not broadcast) in high-definition, as part of a research experiment carried by the EBU, host broadcaster ERT, the Institute for Broadcasting Technology in Munich, the of RAI and the BBC. This was done to test high-definition television and to gather "artistic and scientific knowledge" for future contests, but the HD footage was never intended to be used as part of the original broadcast. The first edition produced and broadcast in high-definition was the in 2007.

On 31 July 2021, the HDTV raw footage of the 2006 contest was broadcast for the first time, as part of the EurovisionAgain series, on the Eurovision YouTube channel.

Stage design

ERT announced that the British company Stage One has been appointed to build the set for the contest. Stage One had designed the sets for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics. The broadcaster have announced that the concept will be rich with traditional Greek elements, paying homage to the country's history and culture. The stage for the contest was designed by Greek stage designer Elias Ledakis. He would go on to design the stage for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The stage was a replica of an ancient Greek amphitheatre.

Postcards

As it was referred, the theme "Feel The Rhythm" was also the basis for the postcards, which emphasized Greece's historical significance as well as being a major modern tourist destination. The postcards filmed between March and April 2006. The host broadcaster ERT spent €3 million on the production of the 37 postcards. Fanis Papathanisiou of ERT said: "An impressive, international tourism campaign is expensive as well. The Eurovision Song Contest is a perfect platform to achieve equal or even better results. That's why it is worth the investment". To decide what to show in the postcards, ERT hold surveys in all participating countries, asking what people associate Greece with.

Voting segment

To save time in the final, the voting time lasted ten minutes and the voting process was changed: points 1–7 were shown immediately on-screen. The spokespersons only announced the countries scoring 8, 10 and 12 points. Despite this being intended to speed proceedings up, there were still problems during voting – EBU imaging over-rode Maria Menounos during a segment in the voting interval and some scoreboards were slow to load. The Dutch spokesperson Paul de Leeuw also caused problems, giving his mobile number to presenter Rouvas during the Dutch results, and slowing down proceedings, also by announcing the first seven points. Constantinos Christoforou (who represented , , and ) saluted from "Nicosia, the last divided capital in Europe"; during Cyprus' reading, the telecast displayed Switzerland by mistake. This voting process has been criticized because suspense was lost by only reading three votes instead of ten. And for the first and only time before the Prespa agreement, the display for the Macedonian entry had the title spelled out in its entirety (as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia") instead of being abbreviated as it has been in previous years (as "FYR Macedonia").

Presenters

After Greece's win, several websites claimed to know that Alexandra Pascalidou would be co-host the 2006 contest, together with the Greek-French journalist and entertainer Nikos Aliagas, but these speculations were untrue.

Initially, ERT asked Sakis Rouvas to represent again Greece in Athens, an offer which he didn't accept. With the Greek broadcaster wanting Rouvas' involvement in the contest, they offered him to be one of the hosts of the contest, where he accepted.

Between the names that were rumored for the female host, included Greek Canadian actress Nia Vardalos, Greek social entrepreneur and philanthropist Elizabeth Filippouli, Greek American actress Jennifer Aniston, and the winner, Helena Paparizou. After a lot of speculations, ERT announced on 7 March 2006 that Greek American television personality Maria Menounos would be the hostess of the contest.

Menounos and Rouvas also hosted the allocation draw on 21 March 2006, in order to determine the running order for the semi-final, the grand final and – for the first time in the history of the contest – the voting order. The "Welcome to the Party" opening ceremony was hosted by actress Zeta Makrypoulia and actor/screenwriter of the show, Giorgos Kapoutzidis, while Ioanna Papanikolopoulou was moderating the press conferences.

Contest overview

Semi-final

The semi-final was held on 18 May 2006 at 22:00 EEST (21:00 CEST). 23 countries performed and all 37 participants and Serbia (as a part of Serbia and Montenegro) voted. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.

The semi-final opened with a medley of former Eurovision songs performed by Greek gods: "Welcome to the Party" by Anna Vissi (runner-up at the **) performed by the Muses, "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" by Domenico Modugno () performed by Zeus, "L'amour est bleu" by Vicky Leandros () performed by Poseidon, "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man () performed by Hermes, "Making Your Mind Up" by Bucks Fizz () performed by Athena, "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen & The Alphabeta () performed by Hephaestus, "Dschinghis Khan" by Dschinghis Khan () performed by Ares, "Diva" by Dana International () performed by Aphrodite, "Waterloo" by ABBA () performed by the Charites, "Wild Dances" by Ruslana () performed by Artemis and "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou () performed by the ensemble cast of the Greek gods. In addition, the hosts Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas sang "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina and the Waves ().

The voting lines for the semi-final were opened by Emilia Tsoulfa (2004 Summer Olympics gold medalist at 470 class sailing representing Greece) and Dimosthenis Tampakos (Greek gymnast and Olympic gold medalist).

The interval act of the semi-final began with the English cover of the song "S'eho Erotefthi", performed as "I'm In Love With You" by the host Sakis Rouvas. A folkloric ballet composed by Dimitris Papadimitriou and choreographed by Fokas Evangelinos followed, using traditional Greek music and dances, with the pan flute as a conducting element.

Final

The finalists were:

• the four automatic qualifiers , , , and the ;
• the top 10 countries from the 2005 final (other than the automatic qualifiers);
• the top 10 countries from the 2006 semi-final.

The final was held on 20 May 2006 at 22:00 EEST (21:00 CEST). and was won by Finland. 24 countries performed and all 37 participants and Serbia (as a part of Serbia and Montenegro) voted.

The grand final opened with a ballet dance, symbolizing the birth of Greece. The Greek singer Foteini Darra performed "The Mermaid Song" (also known as "The Song of Life"), while the dancers and the sets mimicked the creative elements (the sea, the wind, the sun). At the end of the ballet, the presenters appeared in the air, suspended from ropes. They landed on the stage and greeted the audience. They immediately introduced the previous year's winner, Helena Paparizou, who performed her winning song, "My Number One".

The voting lines for the final were opened by the Greek singer Nana Mouskouri, who represented .

The interval act of the final featured Helena Paparizou performed her song "Mambo!", already a smash hit in Greece, and a contemporary ballet composed by Dimitris Papadimitriou and choreographed by Fokas Evangelinos entitled 4000 Years of Greek Song and which traced the history of the musical culture of the host country.

Finland won with 292 points. Russia came second with 248 points, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania, Sweden, Lithuania, Ukraine, Armenia, Greece and Ireland completing the top ten. Moldova, Spain, France, Israel and Malta occupied the bottom five positions.

Spokespersons

The following people were the spokespersons for their countries. A spokesperson delivers the results of national televoting during the final night, awarding points to the entries on behalf of his or her country. Although Serbia and Montenegro withdrew from the contest, it retained its voting rights. A draw was held to determine each country's voting order. Countries revealed their votes in the following order:

1. SloveniaPeter Poles
2. AndorraXavi Palma
3. RomaniaAndreea Marin Bănică
4. DenmarkJørgen de Mylius
5. LatviaMārtiņš Freimanis
6. PortugalCristina Alves
7. SwedenJovan Radomir
8. FinlandNina Tapio
9. BelgiumYasmine
10. CroatiaMila Horvat
11. Serbia and MontenegroJovana Janković
12. NorwayIngvild Helljesen
13. EstoniaEvelin Samuel
14. IrelandEimear Quinn
15. MaltaMoira Delia
16. Lithuania
17. CyprusConstantinos Christoforou
18. NetherlandsPaul de Leeuw
19. Switzerland
20. Ukraine
21. RussiaYana Churikova
22. Poland
23. United KingdomFearne Cotton
24. ArmeniaGohar Gasparyan
25. France
26. BelarusCorrianna
27. GermanyThomas Hermanns
28. SpainSonia Ferrer
29. MoldovaSvetlana Cocoş
30. Bosnia and HerzegovinaVesna Andree Zaimović
31. IcelandRagnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir
32. Monaco
33. Israel
34. AlbaniaLeon Menkshi
35. Greece
36. BulgariaDragomir Simeonov
37. North MacedoniaMartin Vučić
38. TurkeyMeltem Ersan Yazgan

Detailed voting results

Televoting was used in all nations except Monaco and Albania. Monaco used a jury as the chances of getting enough votes needed to validate the votes were low. Albania used a jury since there were problems with their televote. In the semi-final, Monaco and Albania used the jury voting due to insufficient televoting numbers. Coincidentally, Albania and Monaco were two of the three countries that did not vote for the winning entry, the third one was Armenia.

Serbia had been allowed to vote in the two shows, despite not competing, and despite not being an independent country, but a part of Serbia and Montenegro.

Semi-final

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the semi-final:

Final

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

Broadcasts

All participating broadcasters may choose to have on-site or remote commentators providing an insight about the show to their local audience and, while they must broadcast at least the semi-final they are voting in and the final, most broadcasters air all three shows with different programming plans. Similarly, some non-participating broadcasters may still want to air the contest. The tables below show known data regarding the broadcasts: