The Eurovision Song Contest 2004 was the 49th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Istanbul, Turkey, following the country's victory at the 2003 contest with the song "Everyway That I Can" by Sertab Erener. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), the contest was held at the Abdi İpekçi Arena, and, for the first time, consisted of a semi-final on 12 May, and a final on 15 May 2004. The two live shows were presented by Turkish actors Korhan Abay and Meltem Cumbul. It was the first time that Turkey had hosted the contest, 29 years after the country made its debut, and was also the first time since the 1998 contest in Birmingham that it was not hosted in the host country's capital city.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2005 was the 50th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the 2004 contest with the song "Wild Dances" by Ruslana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU), the contest was held at the Palace of Sports, and consisted of a semi-final on 19 May, and a final on 21 May 2005. The two live shows were presented by Ukrainian television presenters Maria Efrosinina and Pavlo Shylko.
Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 62 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests, in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003. Switzerland hosted the first contest in 1956 in Lugano, and won it. Switzerland won the contest again in 1988, with the 1989 contest being held in Lausanne.
Moldova has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 17 times, debuting in 2005. The country's best result is a third-place finish for SunStroke Project in 2017, with their song "Hey, Mamma!".
Thomas Gustafsson, professionally known as Thomas G:son, is a Swedish composer and musician.
Lithuania participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "Love or Leave" written by Julija Ritčik. The song was performed by the band 4Fun. The Lithuanian broadcaster Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) organised the national final "Eurovizijos" dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka in order to select the Lithuanian entry for the 2007 contest in Helsinki, Finland. The national final took place over six weeks and involved three different competitive streams: entries performed by newcomers, semi-established artists and established artists. In the final, eleven artists and songs remained and the winner was selected over two rounds of public voting. In the first round, the top three were selected to qualify to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Love or Leave" performed by 4Fun was selected as the winner with 23,888 votes.
"Liubi, Liubi, I Love You" is a song recorded by Romanian group Todomondo, consisting of Andrei Ștefănescu, Ciro de Luca, Kamara Ghedi, Bogdan Tașcău, Valeriu Răileanu and Vlad Crețu. It was released as a CD single in 2007 by the Romanian Television (TVR) in Romania. The track is multilingual and is performed in six languages: English, Romanian, Spanish, Italian, French and Russian. Tașcău produced the song and co-wrote it with Crețu and Ghedi. Its lyrics deal with the theme of love and European clichés.
The OGAE Second Chance Contest is a visual event which was founded in 1987 and is organised by branches of OGAE, the international fan club of the Eurovision Song Contest. Four nations competed in the first contest which took place in 1987. The competition was previously a non-televised event, but evolved over the years by the usage of video tape and later DVD, YouTube and streaming services.
Jonas Gladnikoff is a Swedish songwriter and music producer. Born in Täby, he began songwriting at an early age. Later in life he moved to Åland in Finland before eventually moving to Stockholm. He has written several songs for singers from across Europe, but is best known for writing entries for the Eurovision Song Contest and for various national pre-selections. He studied songwriting at the Music Production Academy Musikmakarna, graduating in 2006. In 2009 he co-wrote the song that represented Ireland. The song "Et Cetera" was performed by Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy in Moscow, Russia. In the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest he once again co-wrote the Irish entry. The song, "It's for You", was performed by the 1993 Eurovision winning singer Niamh Kavanagh. He also later wrote the 2014 Irish entry "Heartbeat" sung by Can-linn.
Belarus participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Solayoh" written by Marc Paelinck and Martin King. The song was performed by Alyona Lanskaya. The Belarusian entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden was selected through a national final organised by the Belarusian broadcaster National State Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus (BTRC). The national final consisted of ten competing acts participating in a televised production where "Rhythm of Love" performed by Alyona Lanskaya was initially selected as the winner following the combination of votes from a jury panel and public televoting, however the singer opted to withdraw her song and the replacement entry, "Solayoh", was announced on 7 March 2013.
"It's My Life" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Cezar, released as part of a CD single in 2013 through the Romanian Television (TVR). It was solely written and produced by Cristian Faur. Musically, the track has been described as an operatic pop and dubstep song, with the latter genre being predominantly present in the track's bridge. A love song, its instrumentation consists of electronic beats, while Cezar prominently uses his "feminine" falsetto register. Reviewers likened his vocal delivery to the works of Scottish singer Jimmy Somerville and Australian musician Nick Cave.
Samanta Poļakova, better known as Samanta Tīna, is a Latvian singer, songwriter and composer.
The 2015 2014–2016 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup were a beach volleyball double-gender event. Teams were split into groups of four, where an elimination bracket determined the 3 teams to advance to the next stage from the sub-zones. The winners of the event qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Georgios Kalpakidis, also known as George Kalpakidis, Gorgi or GK, is a Greek songwriter, former journalist, radio & TV host, best known for having composed the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest entry for Moldova, "Stay" by Anna Odobescu. He started his radio work at the age of 13 and continued his career in the media field until 2015. He made his television debut as a host on Europe One channel, with a show called "Join Me" and also started appearing as a guest host in several projects over the next few years, on other local stations. His breakthrough came in middle 2006, when a new contract brought him to one of the biggest national networks, Macedonia TV. It was during the Eurovision 2006 period in Athens, where he was given the task to cover the event and report daily on live TV. His "ESC '2006" special, entitled "Hard Rock Hallelujah", was noted as one of the shows with the highest ratings of the year.
Switzerland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Apollo" written by Elias Näslin, Nicolas Günthardt and Alessandra Günthardt. The song was performed by the band Timebelle. The Swiss entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine was selected through the national final ESC 2017 – die Entscheidungsshow, organised by the Swiss broadcaster Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Artists that were interested in entering the Swiss national final had the opportunity to apply during a submission period organised by SRG SSR. A total of 21 entries were selected to advance to an "Live Check" round held on 4 December 2016 and involved nineteen experts evaluating the live performances of the 21 entries and selecting six entries to advance to the televised national final. The six finalists performed during the national final on 5 February 2017 where public voting ultimately selected "Apollo" performed by Timebelle as the winner.
The Georgia national football team represents Georgia in association football and is controlled by the Georgian Football Federation (GFF), the governing body of the sport there. It competes as a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which encompasses the countries of Europe. Organised football has been played in the country since the 20th century. Georgia joined UEFA and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) in 1992; the country played two friendlies before joining. In 1990-91, due to succession from the Football Federation of the Soviet Union, football in Georgia was under sanctions from the Soviet federation and international ban. In its inspiration to independence from the Russian dominance, Georgia became the first Soviet republic which football parted with the Soviet football.
The 2008 European Women Sevens Championship was the sixth edition of the European Women's Sevens Championship.
The 2012 European Women Sevens Championship was the tenth edition of the European Women's Sevens Championship.
Will Taylor is a songwriter, composer and music producer based in Leicester, United Kingdom. He studied Music Production and Creative Recording at the University of Brighton, and has gone on to work with platinum-selling artists and songwriters. In recent years he has found chart and radio success across Europe, including a top 20 single with Finnish artist Saara Aalto, and a number one album in Russia with Sergey Lazarev. Other credits include numerous entries into national competitions for the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Lithuania national football team represents Lithuania in association football and is controlled by the Lithuanian Football Federation (LFF), the governing body of the sport in the country.
"Señorita" by Carlos Higes, Spain, (Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022), 6th place
"This Must Be Love" by Ana Mardare (Romania 2012), 13th place
"Meðal Andanna" by Birgitta Haukdal (Iceland 2013), 3rd place
"Hullócsillag" by Mónika Hoffmann (Hungary 2013), eliminated (semi-final)
"I Need a Hero" by Samanta Tina (Latvia 2013), 2nd place
"Runaways" by Boris Covali (Moldova 2013), 2nd place
'It's Not Impossible" by Michael James (Switzerland SRF internet candidates 2014), did not qualify
"My Little Honey Bee" by Dennis Fagerström (Finland 2014), eliminated (semi-final)
"Love Will Take Me Home" by Franklin Calleja (Malta 2014), 7th place
"United" by Rūta Ščiogolevaitė (Lithuania 2016), 3rd place
"Let's Come Together" by NAPOLI (Belarus 2017), Joint 4th place
"Dišem" by Nina Petković (Montenegro 2018), 5th place
"Love Again" by Skrellex (Norway 2023), 7th place