Since 2001, the Mental Health Foundation has been leading Mental Health Awareness Week – bringing the UK together to focus on getting good mental health. This year, the week took place from 12 – 18th May and the theme was community.
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Many of us will have watched the Eurovision Song Contest Final on Saturday night … This year’s contest was hosted by the vibrant city of Basel, following Switzerland’s win last year in Malmö, with Nemo’s song ‘The Code.’
It was the third time that Switzerland has hosted the Eurovision Song Contest – 1956 in Lugano and 1989 in Lausanne.
Background (Official Eurovision Website)
• The Eurovision Song Contest began as a technical experiment in television broadcasting.
• The first Eurovision Song Contest was held on May 24, 1956, and saw seven nations compete: the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Italy. Austria and Denmark wanted to take part but missed the deadline, and the United Kingdom sent their apologies as they were busy with their own contest that year.
• In the first edition, each country submitted two songs.
• The idea for the Eurovision Song Contest came from RAI – The Italian national broadcasting organisation.
• For technical reasons, the first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956 was held in Switzerland due to its geographical centrality.
• In the first few contests, participating artists sang in their native language, but songwriters soon realised that the more universal the lyrics, the more likely the sounds would resonate with juries.
• Rules have changed over the years regarding performing in your country’s native language, inclusion of dance moves and the use of backing track vocals (brought in the reduce the number of delegation members needed to travel during the COVID-19 pandemic).
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