Michael Terence Aspel is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as Crackerjack, Aspel & Company, Give Us a Clue, This is Your Life, Strange but True? and Antiques Roadshow.
Belgium has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 63 times since making its debut as one of seven countries at the first contest in 1956. The only countries with more appearances are Germany (65), France (64) and the United Kingdom (64). Belgium have been absent only three times in total, in 1994, 1997 and 2001, due to low scores in the previous contests that relegated them from the contest. Belgium has won the contest once, in 1986.
Germany has officially participated in every Eurovision Song Contest since its inaugural edition in 1956, except in 1996 when its entry did not qualify past the audio-only pre-selection round, and consequently was not seen in the broadcast final and does not count as one of Germany's 65 appearances. No other country has been represented as many times. Along with France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, Germany is one of the "Big Five" countries that are automatically prequalified for the final, due to being the largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The final is broadcast in Germany on ARD's flagship channel, Das Erste.
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.
The United Kingdom first participated in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest at the inaugural 2003 edition which took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. ITV, a member organisation of the United Kingdom Independent Broadcasting (UKIB) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), was responsible for the selection process of their participation from 2003 to 2005. The United Kingdom used a national selection format, broadcasting a show entitled Junior Eurovision Song Contest: The British Final, for their participation at the contests. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2003 contest was Tom Morley with the song "My Song For The World", which finished in third place out of sixteen participating entries, achieving a score of one hundred and eighteen points. United Kingdom withdrew from competing after the 2005 contest, but returned to the contest in 2022 in Yerevan, Armenia, with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) replacing ITV as the country's broadcaster.
Martin 'Marty' Whelan is an Irish radio and television personality currently working for Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). His early television credits included the game shows Millionaire and Fame and Fortune, and the weekday afternoon show, Open House.
Slovakia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest seven times, debuting in 1994. It had attempted to debut in 1993, but did not pass through the qualifying round. In the first three finals that Slovakia participated in, it placed no better than 18th, which it achieved in 1996. Because of its poor results, Slovakia was relegated in 1995 and 1997, and eventually withdrew in 1999. The country returned in 2009, although they withdrew again within four years, having failed to qualify for the final every year since their return.
Belgium competed in every Junior Eurovision Song Contest before withdrawing 2013. The country's best result was in 2009, when Laura Omloop came 4th with "Zo verliefd". Belgium's worst result was in 2007, with Trust coming 15th with "Anders".
Denmark has competed in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest three times. Danish broadcaster DR hosted the first Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, having developed the contest's predecessor MGP Nordic.
Sweden has participated at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest eleven times since its inception in 2003. Two broadcasters have been responsible for Sweden's entries at Junior Eurovision – from 2003 to 2005, Sveriges Television (SVT) was responsible, before withdrawing with other Nordic broadcasters. From 2006 to 2009, commercial broadcaster TV4 was responsible for Sweden's entry at the Junior Eurovision.
Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Disappear" written by Remee, Thomas Troelsen and Hanne Sørvaag. The song was performed by No Angels. The German entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia, was selected through the national final Wer singt für Deutschland?, organised by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The national final took place on 6 March 2008 and featured five competing acts with the winner being selected through two rounds of public voting. "Disappear" performed by No Angels was selected as the German entry for Belgrade after gaining 50.5% of the vote in the second round.
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Zauvijek volim te" written by Grigor Koprov and Ognen Nedelkovski. The song was performed by Stefan Filipović. The Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) organised the national final MontenegroSong 2008 in order to select the Montenegrin representative for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia. Six artists competed in the national final on 27 January 2008 where public televoting selected Stefan Filipović as the winner with 3,325 votes. His song, "Zauvijek volim te", was internally selected and presented to the public in a television special on 8 March 2008.
Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall is a large concert hall and convention center in Zagreb, Croatia. It is named after Vatroslav Lisinski, a 19th-century Croatian composer. The building has a big hall with 1,841 seats and a small hall with 305 seats. A large lobby doubles as an exhibition area.
The United Kingdom has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 64 times. It first took part in the second contest in 1957 and has entered every year since 1959. Along with Sweden and the Netherlands, the UK is one of only three countries with Eurovision victories in four different decades. It is one of the "Big Five" countries, along with France, Germany, Italy and Spain, that are automatically prequalified for the final each year as they are the biggest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The British national broadcaster, the BBC, broadcasts the event and has, on multiple occasions, organised different national selection processes to choose the British entry. The United Kingdom has won the Eurovision Song Contest five times, and has finished as runner-up on a record sixteen occasions. The UK has hosted the contest a record eight times, four times in London and once each in Edinburgh (1972), Brighton (1974), Harrogate (1982) and Birmingham (1998), and will host the contest for a ninth time in 2023 in Liverpool.
Germany participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 with the song "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" written by Alex Christensen and Steffen Häfelinger. The song was performed by Alex Swings Oscar Sings!. The German entry for the 2009 contest in Moscow, Russia was internally selected by the German broadcaster ARD in collaboration with Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). The announcement of "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" as the German entry occurred on 9 February 2009 and the presentation of the song occurred during the Echo Awards on 21 February 2009.
José Luis Uribarri Grenouillou was a Spanish television presenter and director for TVE. He was the Spanish commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest on 18 occasions between 1969 and 2010. He was widely known as La voz de Eurovisión in Spain.
José María Íñigo Gómez was a Spanish journalist, radio and television presenter, and stage and screen actor.
Stermann & Grissemann are an Austrian German comedy duo comprising Dirk Stermann and Christoph Grissemann.
Croatia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Lighthouse" written by Andreas Grass and Nikola Paryla. The song was performed by Nina Kraljić. Croatia returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a two-year absence following their withdrawal in 2014 due to financial limitations and poor results at the contest. Nina Kraljić was selected internally by the Croatian broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) on 24 February 2016 to represent Croatia at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Her song "Lighthouse" was presented to the public on 9 March 2016 during a special radio programme broadcast on the HR 2 station.
Croatia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "My Friend" written by Jacques Houdek, Tony Roberth Malm, Siniša Reljić, Arjana Kunštek, Ines Prajo and Fabrizio Laucella. The song was performed by Jacques Houdek, who was selected internally by the Croatian broadcaster Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) on 17 February 2017 to represent Croatia at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. His song "My Friend" was presented to the public on 2 March 2017 during the radio programme Svijet diskografije broadcast on the HR 2 station.
