Eurovision Song Contest 2006

International song competition
Returning countriesNoneNon-returning countries
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of EuropeBelgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Italy in the Eurovision Song ContestNetherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song ContestSpain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Austria in the Eurovision Song ContestFrance in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Morocco in the Eurovision Song ContestCyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Iceland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Croatia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Slovenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Slovakia in the Eurovision Song ContestHungary in the Eurovision Song ContestRomania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Macedonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Latvia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Albania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Bulgaria in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006Armenia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
         Finalist countries     Countries eliminated in the semi-final     Countries that didn't participate but were allowed to vote     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2006
VoteVoting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songsWinning song
2005 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 2007

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the 2005 contest with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), the contest was held at the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, and consisted of a semi-final on 18 May, and a final on 20 May 2006. The two live shows were presented by American television personality Maria Menounos and Greek former contestant Sakis Rouvas.[1]

Thirty-seven countries participated in the contest. Armenia took part for the first time. Meanwhile, Austria, Hungary, and Serbia and Montenegro announced their non-participation in the contest. Serbia and Montenegro had intended to participate, but due to a scandal in the national selection, tensions were caused between the Serbian broadcaster, RTS, and the Montenegrin broadcaster, RTCG. Despite this, the nation did retain voting rights for the contest.

The winner was Finland with the heavy metal-song "Hard Rock Hallelujah", performed by Lordi and written by lead singer Mr. Lordi. This was Finland's first victory in the contest - and first top five placing - in 45 years of participation, the longest time a country had competed without a win at that point. It was also the first ever hard rock song to win the contest, as well as the first band to win since 1997. Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Sweden rounded out the top five. Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved their best result in their Eurovision history. Further down the table, Lithuania also achieved their best result to date, finishing sixth. Of the "Big Four" countries Germany placed the highest, finishing joint fourteenth (with Norway).

The contest saw the 1,000th song performed in the contest, when Ireland's Brian Kennedy performed "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" in the semi-final.

Location

Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens - host venue of the 2006 contest.
Map
Location of host venue (red) and other contest-related sites and events (blue)

The contest took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the 2005 edition. It was the first time Greece hosted the contest.[2] The venue that was chosen as the host venue was the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall (in 2006 it was named as Olympic Indoor Arena), which is located in the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, in the capital city of Greece. Completed in 1995, it was the largest indoor venue used at the 2004 Summer Olympics when hosted gymnastics and the basketball finals and the 2004 Summer Paralympics when hosted the wheelchair basketball.[3]

Bidding phase

class=notpageimage|
Locations of the candidate cities: the chosen host city is marked in blue, while the eliminated cities are marked in red.

When Greece won the 2005 contest, the Head of the Greek Delegation, Fotini Yiannoulatou, said that 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 Olympic Indoor Hall for Athens, Pylea Sports Hall for Thessaloniki and Dimitris Tofalos Arena for Patras.[4][5]

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.[4] 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 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.[6]

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.[7][8]

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.[7]

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 Zappeon on 15 May 2006 at 21:00 EET, followed by the Opening Ceremony.[7]

Participating countries

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 – Participation summaries by country

All participating countries in a Eurovision Song Contest must be active members of the EBU.

It was initially announced on 16 January 2006 that thirty-eight countries would participate in the contest,[9] with Austria opting not to participate due to the bad result at the previous contest[10] and Hungary also deciding not to participate due to financial reasons.[11] Armenia participated for the very first time in the history of the contest.[12]

Serbia and Montenegro announced its withdrawal on 15 March 2006, reducing the participants number from 38 to 37 and leaving a vacancy in the final; however, the country retained their rights to vote in the contest.[13][14]

Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006[15][16][17]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s)
 Albania RTSH Luiz Ejlli "Zjarr e ftohtë" Albanian
 Andorra RTVA Jenny "Sense tu" Catalan
  • Rafael Artesero
  • Joan Antoni Rechi
 Armenia AMPTV André "Without Your Love" English
  • Catherine Bekian
  • Armen Martirosyan
 Belarus BTRC Polina Smolova "Mum" English
  • Andrey Kostiugov
  • Sergey Sukhomlin
 Belgium VRT Kate Ryan "Je t'adore" English
  • Niklas Bergwall
  • Lisa Greene
  • Niclas Kings
  • Kate Ryan
 Bosnia and Herzegovina BHRT Hari Mata Hari "Lejla" Bosnian
 Bulgaria BNT Mariana Popova "Let Me Cry" English
  • Elina Gavrilova
  • Dani Milev
 Croatia HRT Severina "Moja štikla" Croatian
 Cyprus CyBC Annet Artani "Why Angels Cry" English Peter Yiannakis
 Denmark DR Sidsel Ben Semmane "Twist of Love" English Niels Drevsholt
 Estonia ETV Sandra "Through My Window" English
 Finland YLE Lordi "Hard Rock Hallelujah" English Mr Lordi
 France France Télévisions Virginie Pouchain "Il était temps" French Corneille
 Germany NDR[a] Texas Lightning "No No Never" English Jane Comerford
 Greece ERT Anna Vissi "Everything" English
 Iceland RÚV Silvía Night "Congratulations" English
 Ireland RTÉ Brian Kennedy "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" English Brian Kennedy
 Israel IBA Eddie Butler "Together We Are One" Hebrew, English
  • Orly Burg
  • Eddie Butler
  • Osnat Tzavag
 Latvia LTV Vocal Group Cosmos "I Hear Your Heart" English
  • Molly-Ann Leikin
  • Guntars Račs
  • Andris Sējāns
  • Reinis Sējāns
 Lithuania LRT LT United "We Are the Winners" English
 Macedonia MRT Elena Risteska "Ninanajna" (Нинанајна) English, Macedonian
 Malta PBS Fabrizio Faniello "I Do" English
 Monaco TMC Séverine Ferrer "La Coco-Dance" French, Tahitian
  • Iren Bo
  • J. Woodfeel
 Moldova TRM Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko and Connect-R "Loca" English Arsenium
 Netherlands NOS Treble "Amambanda" English, Imaginary Treble
 Norway NRK Christine Guldbrandsen "Alvedansen" Norwegian
 Poland TVP Ich Troje[b] "Follow My Heart" English, Polish, German, Russian
 Portugal RTP Nonstop "Coisas de nada" Portuguese, English
  • José Manuel Afonso
  • Elvis Veiguinha
 Romania TVR Mihai Trăistariu "Tornerò" English, Italian
  • Eduard Cîrcotã
  • Mihaela Deac
  • Cristian Hriscu
 Russia C1R Dima Bilan "Never Let You Go" English
 Slovenia RTVSLO Anžej Dežan "Mr. Nobody" English
  • Matjaž Vlašič
  • Urša Vlašič
 Spain TVE Las Ketchup "Bloody Mary" Spanish Manuel Ruiz Gómez "Queco"
 Sweden SVT Carola "Invincible" English
  Switzerland SRG SSR six4one "If We All Give a Little" English
 Turkey TRT Sibel Tüzün "Süper Star" Turkish[c] Sibel Tüzün
 Ukraine NTU Tina Karol "Show Me Your Love" English
 United Kingdom BBC Daz Sampson "Teenage Life" English

Returning artists

Bold indicates a previous winner.

Lead artists
Artist Country Previous year(s)
Anna Vissi  Greece 1980 (with the Epikouri) and 1982 (for  Cyprus)
Carola  Sweden 1983 and 1991
Eddie Butler  Israel 1999 (as member of Eden)
Fabrizio Faniello  Malta 2001
Ich Troje  Poland 2003
Victor Diawara (member of LT United)  Lithuania 2001 (as member of Skamp)
Backing performers
Artist Country Previous year(s)
Sigríður Beinteinsdóttir  Iceland 1990 (as member of Stjórnin), 1992 (as member of Heart 2 Heart), and 1994

Additionally, Hari Mata Hari were selected to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1999 contest, but their entry was disqualified. Ireland's Brian Kennedy performed in Lumen, the interval act of the 1995 contest.

Host Sakis Rouvas previously represented Greece at the 2004 contest. If No Name had been permitted to represent Serbia and Montenegro, they would have done so for the second consecutive year.

Other countries

Active EBU members

Active EBU member broadcasters in Austria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary confirmed non-participation prior to the announcement of the participants list by the EBU.[19][20][21][22][23] Serbia and Montenegro 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 in November 1, 2005, in King George Hotel in Athens, while it was created by the design company Karamela for Greek television and was apparently based on the Phaistos Disc which is a popular symbol of ancient Greece.[24] According to ERT, it was "inspired by the wind and the sea, the golden sunlight and the glow of the sand".[24] Following Istanbul's "Under The Same Sky" and Kyiv's "Awakening", the slogan for the 2006 show was "Feel The Rhythm". This theme was also the basis for the postcards for the 2006 show, which emphasized Greece's historical significance as well as being a major modern tourist destination.[25]

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.[26]

Broadcasting

As with the 2005 edition, the shows were broadcast in widescreen 16:9 format. The final was also filmed (but not broadcast) in high-definition, as part of collaboration between host broadcaster ERT and R&D teams of EBU members (including Rai and BBC) to test high-definition television.[27] In 2021, the EBU released the high-definition footage onto their YouTube channel, allowing the public to view it for the first time.[27] The first song contest produced and broadcast in high-definition was the subsequent edition in 2007.[27]

Stage design

The host broadcaster ERT announced that the British company Stage One has been appointed to build the set for the contest. Stage One was designed the sets for the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The broadcaster have announced that the concept will be rich with traditional Greek elements, paying homage to the country's history and culture.[28][29] 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.[30] The stage was a replica of an ancient Greek amphitheatre.[31]

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 euros 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.[32]

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 also represented Cyprus in 1996, 2002 and 2005) 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.[33][34]

Initially, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (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 the Greek Canadian actress, screenwriter, director, and producer Nia Vardalos (known for writing and starring in My Big Fat Greek Wedding), the Greek social entrepreneur and philanthropist Elizabeth Filippouli (later, she founded the Global Thinkers Forum in London), the Greek American actress, producer, and businesswoman Jennifer Aniston (world-known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), for which she earned Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards), all three of them having Greek roots, and the previous edition's winner, Helena Paparizou.[34]

After a lot of speculations, the Greek broadcaster announced on 7 March 2006 that the Greek American entertainment reporter, television personality, professional wrestler, actress, and businesswoman Maria Menounos would be the hostess of the contest. Menounos was starring along with Sean Connery in the movie remake video game James Bond 007: From Russia with love, while in 2002 she joined the NBC show Entertainment Tonight.[35]

Menounos and Rouvas also hosted the allocation draw on March 21, 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.[36][37]

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 21:00 (CET). 23 countries performed and all 37 participants and Serbia and Montenegro voted.

The semi-final opened with a medley of former Eurovision songs performed by Greek gods: "Welcome to the Party" (runner-up at the Ellinikós Telikós 2006) of Anna Vissi performed by Muses, "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" (Italy 1958) of Domenico Modugno performed by Zeus, "L'amour est bleu" (Luxembourg 1967) of Vicky Leandros performed by Poseidon, "Save Your Kisses for Me" (United Kingdom 1976) of Brotherhood of Man performed by Hermes, "Making Your Mind Up" (United Kingdom 1981) of Bucks Fizz performed by Athena, "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (Israel 1978) of Izhar Cohen & The Alphabeta performed by Hephaestus, "Dschinghis Khan" (Germany 1979) of Dschinghis Khan performed by Ares, "Diva" (Israel 1998) of Dana International performed by Aphrodite, "Waterloo" (Sweden 1974) of ABBA performed by Charites, "Wild Dances" (Ukraine 2004) of Ruslana performed by Artemis and "My Number One" (Greece 2005) of Helena Paparizou performed by the ensemble cast of the Greek gods. In addition, the hosts Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas sang the winning song of the 1997 contest, "Love Shine a Light" of Katrina and the Waves, representing the United Kingdom.

The voting lines for the semi-final were opened by Emilia Tsoulfa (gold medalist in Athens 2004 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" from 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.

  Qualifiers
Results of the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006[38]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1  Armenia André "Without Your Love" 150 6
2  Bulgaria Mariana Popova "Let Me Cry" 36 17
3  Slovenia Anžej Dežan "Mr Nobody" 49 16
4  Andorra Jenny "Sense tu" 8 23
5  Belarus Polina Smolova "Mum" 10 22
6  Albania Luiz Ejlli "Zjarr e ftohtë" 58 14
7  Belgium Kate Ryan "Je t'adore" 69 12
8  Ireland Brian Kennedy "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" 79 9
9  Cyprus Annet Artani "Why Angels Cry" 57 15
10  Monaco Séverine Ferrer "La Coco-Dance" 14 21
11  Macedonia Elena Risteska "Ninanajna" 76 10
12  Poland Ich Troje[d] "Follow My Heart" 70 11
13  Russia Dima Bilan "Never Let You Go" 217 3
14  Turkey Sibel Tüzün "Süper Star" 91 8
15  Ukraine Tina Karol "Show Me Your Love" 146 7
16  Finland Lordi "Hard Rock Hallelujah" 292 1
17  Netherlands Treble "Amambanda" 22 20
18  Lithuania LT United "We Are the Winners" 163 5
19  Portugal Nonstop "Coisas de nada" 26 19
20  Sweden Carola "Invincible" 214 4
21  Estonia Sandra "Through My Window" 28 18
22  Bosnia and Herzegovina Hari Mata Hari "Lejla" 267 2
23  Iceland Silvía Night "Congratulations" 62 13

Final

Nana Mouskouri appeared as a guest in the grand final.

The finalists were:

The final was held on 20 May 2006 at 21:00 (CET) and was won by Finland. 24 countries performed and all 37 participants and Serbia and Montenegro voted.

The grand final opened with a ballet dance, symbolizing the birth of Greece. 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 covered her winning song, "My Number One".

The voting lines for the final were opened by the Luxembourgish entrant at the 1963 contest, Nana Mouskouri.

The interval act of the final featured Helena Paparizou performed her song "Mambo!", already a 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.

  Winner
Results of the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2006[39]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1   Switzerland six4one "If We All Give a Little" 30 16
2  Moldova Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko and Connect-R "Loca" 22 20
3  Israel Eddie Butler "Together We Are One" 4 23
4  Latvia Vocal Group Cosmos "I Hear Your Heart" 30 16
5  Norway Christine Guldbrandsen "Alvedansen" 36 14
6  Spain Las Ketchup "Bloody Mary" 18 21
7  Malta Fabrizio Faniello "I Do" 1 24
8  Germany Texas Lightning "No No Never" 36 14
9  Denmark Sidsel Ben Semmane "Twist of Love" 26 18
10  Russia Dima Bilan "Never Let You Go" 248 2
11  Macedonia Elena Risteska "Ninanajna" 56 12
12  Romania Mihai Trăistariu "Tornerò" 172 4
13  Bosnia and Herzegovina Hari Mata Hari "Lejla" 229 3
14  Lithuania LT United "We Are the Winners" 162 6
15  United Kingdom Daz Sampson "Teenage Life" 25 19
16  Greece Anna Vissi "Everything" 128 9
17  Finland Lordi "Hard Rock Hallelujah" 292 1
18  Ukraine Tina Karol "Show Me Your Love" 145 7
19  France Virginie Pouchain "Il était temps" 5 22
20  Croatia Severina "Moja štikla" 56 12
21  Ireland Brian Kennedy "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" 93 10
22  Sweden Carola "Invincible" 170 5
23  Turkey Sibel Tüzün "Süper Star" 91 11
24  Armenia André "Without Your Love" 129 8

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.[40] Although Serbia and Montenegro withdrew from the contest, it retained its voting rights.[38] A draw was held to determine each country's voting order. Countries revealed their votes in the following order:

  1.  Slovenia – Peter Poles
  2.  Andorra – Xavi Palma
  3.  Romania – Andreea Marin Bănică
  4.  Denmark – Jørgen de Mylius
  5.  Latvia – Mārtiņš Freimanis
  6.  Portugal – Cristina Alves
  7.  Sweden – Jovan Radomir
  8.  Finland – Nina Tapio
  9.  Belgium – Yasmine
  10.  Croatia – Mila Horvat
  11.  Serbia and Montenegro – Jovana Janković
  12.  Norway – Ingvild Helljesen
  13.  Estonia – Evelin Samuel
  14.  Ireland – Eimear Quinn
  15.  Malta – Moira Delia
  16.  Lithuania – Lavija Šurnaitė [lt]
  17.  Cyprus – Constantinos Christoforou
  18.  Netherlands – Paul de Leeuw
  19.   Switzerland – Jubaira Bachmann [de]
  20.  Ukraine – Igor Posypayko [uk]
  21.  Russia – Yana Churikova
  22.  Poland – Maciej Orłoś [pl]
  23.  United Kingdom – Fearne Cotton
  24.  Armenia – Gohar Gasparyan
  25.  France – Sophie Jovillard [fr]
  26.  Belarus – Corrianna
  27.  Germany – Thomas Hermanns
  28.  Spain – Sonia Ferrer
  29.  Moldova – Svetlana Cocoş
  30.  Bosnia and Herzegovina – Vesna Andree Zaimović
  31.  Iceland – Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir
  32.  Monaco – Églantine Éméyé [fr]
  33.  Israel – Dana Herman [he]
  34.  Albania – Leon Menkshi
  35.  Greece – Alexis Kostalas [el]
  36.  Bulgaria – Dragomir Simeonov
  37.  Macedonia – Martin Vučić
  38.  Turkey – Meltem 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.

Semi-final

Detailed voting results of the semi-final[41][42]
Voting procedure used:
  100% televoting
  100% jury vote
Total score
Slovenia
Andorra
Romania
Denmark
Latvia
Portugal
Sweden
Finland
Belgium
Croatia
Serbia and Montenegro
Norway
Estonia
Ireland
Malta
Lithuania
Cyprus
Netherlands
Switzerland
Ukraine
Russia
Poland
United Kingdom
Armenia
France
Belarus
Germany
Spain
Moldova
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Iceland
Monaco
Israel
Albania
Greece
Bulgaria
Macedonia
Turkey
Contestants
Armenia 150 2 3 12 12 12 3 7 12 3 3 12 7 7 12 2 10 3 10 8 10
Bulgaria 36 1 8 4 5 8 3 6 1
Slovenia 49 1 6 7 5 2 2 2 7 3 4 7 3
Andorra 8 8
Belarus 10 1 6 3
Albania 58 1 2 7 3 10 2 2 1 3 5 7 12 3
Belgium 69 5 7 3 2 5 3 3 5 7 2 1 7 4 3 2 4 6
Ireland 79 3 5 4 4 1 4 3 1 6 6 6 4 3 2 1 2 8 1 2 7 5 1
Cyprus 57 4 4 1 3 7 7 1 2 10 4 12 2
Monaco 14 3 2 1 8
Macedonia 76 8 1 8 10 6 8 10 12 5 8
Poland 70 3 1 2 7 1 8 2 10 5 1 3 2 4 6 4 4 3 2 2
Russia 217 4 4 7 1 12 7 7 6 2 3 6 4 10 4 8 12 10 1 12 8 12 12 5 12 4 6 12 5 12 5 4
Turkey 91 10 6 8 1 10 8 10 8 12 3 6 1 8
Ukraine 146 2 6 8 6 10 2 2 5 4 3 3 6 6 10 6 10 10 3 10 3 5 2 8 4 3 2 7
Finland 292 10 10 5 10 8 8 12 10 10 8 8 12 10 10 10 7 6 5 6 8 12 12 5 8 12 10 5 8 12 7 8 7 7 6
Netherlands 22 2 4 1 3 4 1 2 5
Lithuania 163 6 5 3 4 10 5 4 8 7 5 3 5 8 12 4 5 5 4 10 10 6 1 6 2 8 4 1 6 4 2
Portugal 26 12 7 7
Sweden 214 7 8 6 12 5 12 10 5 4 4 10 7 8 12 5 2 4 4 4 3 7 6 6 5 4 7 7 6 10 8 6 5 4 1
Estonia 28 2 7 8 5 1 5
Bosnia and Herzegovina 267 12 1 12 8 2 6 10 12 6 12 12 12 1 6 2 3 5 8 12 8 7 5 4 5 6 3 10 1 8 7 12 1 10 6 10 10 12
Iceland 62 7 1 3 6 7 1 2 7 5 2 7 5 1 6 1 1

12 points

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

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
9  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia,  Finland,  Monaco,  Norway,  Romania,  Serbia and Montenegro,  Slovenia,   Switzerland,  Turkey
8  Russia  Armenia,  Belarus,  Bulgaria,  Israel,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Moldova,  Ukraine
6  Armenia  Belgium,  Cyprus,  France,  Netherlands,  Russia,  Spain
 Finland  Estonia,  Germany,  Iceland,  Poland,  Sweden,  United Kingdom
3  Sweden  Denmark,  Malta,  Portugal
1  Albania  Macedonia
 Cyprus  Greece
 Lithuania  Ireland
 Macedonia  Albania
 Portugal  Andorra
 Turkey  Bosnia and Herzegovina

Final

Detailed voting results of the final[43][44]
Voting procedure used:
  100% televoting
  100% jury vote
Total score
Slovenia
Andorra
Romania
Denmark
Latvia
Portugal
Sweden
Finland
Belgium
Croatia
Serbia and Montenegro
Norway
Estonia
Ireland
Malta
Lithuania
Cyprus
Netherlands
Switzerland
Ukraine
Russia
Poland
United Kingdom
Armenia
France
Belarus
Germany
Spain
Moldova
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Iceland
Monaco
Israel
Albania
Greece
Bulgaria
Macedonia
Turkey
Contestants
Switzerland 30 1 12 3 4 6 4
Moldova 22 12 3 3 2 1 1
Israel 4 4
Latvia 30 3 4 8 4 1 2 8
Norway 36 1 6 2 5 3 7 1 1 3 4 1 2
Spain 18 12 6
Malta 1 1
Germany 36 3 3 1 1 3 3 7 5 5 5
Denmark 26 8 3 6 1 8
Russia 248 4 6 8 2 12 7 7 12 3 7 5 3 10 5 5 12 8 2 12 10 1 12 2 12 6 7 10 6 5 12 4 8 10 8 5
Macedonia 56 6 8 8 4 7 8 3 6 6
Romania 172 5 3 6 2 10 6 6 2 5 4 4 4 6 10 1 10 1 1 4 3 6 4 7 3 5 12 12 2 2 10 2 7 2 2 3
Bosnia and Herzegovina 229 12 7 8 2 10 10 6 12 12 8 2 4 2 8 12 10 6 4 5 6 4 7 1 5 3 12 2 12 6 7 12 12
Lithuania 162 3 7 7 10 4 3 8 4 6 3 5 8 12 1 4 6 5 5 8 10 6 1 4 4 10 7 3 4 1 3
United Kingdom 25 2 4 1 1 2 2 8 3 1 1
Greece 128 1 10 4 1 10 6 8 3 12 5 5 7 8 5 2 8 1 1 8 12 7 4
Finland 292 8 10 4 12 8 6 12 8 10 7 12 12 10 7 10 5 7 8 7 8 12 12 8 7 10 10 6 7 12 7 12 5 6 7
Ukraine 145 2 5 3 5 12 1 2 4 2 5 1 2 7 6 1 10 6 10 10 3 8 5 6 2 6 5 3 5 8
France 5 2 3
Croatia 56 10 10 6 2 12 4 10 2
Ireland 93 1 4 2 5 4 5 5 4 2 7 6 4 6 4 3 2 2 8 3 1 4 1 10
Sweden 170 7 8 5 10 7 8 7 5 3 1 10 7 7 6 5 2 6 2 7 4 6 3 5 6 2 3 7 5 5 10 1
Turkey 91 6 7 12 10 3 12 12 10 1 7 3 4 4
Armenia 129 1 12 2 7 10 8 12 5 10 8 3 8 7 8 10 8 10

12 points

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

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
8  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Albania,  Croatia,  Macedonia,  Monaco,  Serbia and Montenegro,  Slovenia,   Switzerland,  Turkey
 Finland  Denmark,  Estonia,  Greece,  Iceland,  Norway,  Poland,  Sweden,  United Kingdom
7  Russia  Armenia,  Belarus,  Finland,  Israel,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Ukraine
3  Turkey  France,  Germany,  Netherlands
2  Armenia  Belgium,  Russia
 Greece  Bulgaria,  Cyprus
 Romania  Moldova,  Spain
1  Croatia  Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Lithuania  Ireland
 Moldova  Romania
 Spain  Andorra
  Switzerland  Malta
 Ukraine  Portugal

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. These are the broadcasters that have confirmed their broadcasting plans and/or their commentators:

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries[16]
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Show(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Albania RTSH All shows
 Andorra RTVA ATV All shows Meri Picart [ca] and Josep Lluís Trabal [45][46]
 Armenia AMPTV All shows
 Belarus BTRC All shows Denis Dudinskiy [ru] [47]
 Belgium VRT Eén All shows André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters [48][49][50]
Radio 2 [50]
RTBF La Une, RTBF Sat Jean-Pierre Hautier [48][49][51][52][53]
 Bosnia and Herzegovina BHRT BHT 1 All shows Dejan Kukrić [54][55][56]
 Bulgaria BNT All shows
 Croatia HRT HRT 2 Semi-final Duško Ćurlić [57][58]
HRT 1 Final
 Cyprus CyBC All shows
 Denmark DR DR1 All shows Mads Vangsø and Adam Duvå Hall [da] [59][60]
 Estonia ETV All shows Marko Reikop [61][62]
ER Raadio 2 Mart Juur and Andrus Kivirähk
 Finland YLE YLE TV2 All shows Jaana Pelkonen, Heikki Paasonen and Asko Murtomäki [fi] [63]
YLE FST, YLE Radio Vega Thomas Lundin [sv]
YLE Radio Suomi Sanna Kojo
 France France Télévisions France 4 Semi-final Peggy Olmi [fr] and Éric Jean-Jean [51][52][64]
France 3 Final Michel Drucker and Claudy Siar [fr]
 Germany ARD NDR Fernsehen Semi-final Peter Urban [65][66]
Das Erste Final
 Greece ERT NET All shows Zeta Makripoulia and Giorgos Kapoutzidis [67][68]
Second Programme Maria Kozakou [69][70]
 Iceland RÚV Sjónvarpið, Rás 2 All shows Sigmar Guðmundsson [is] [71][72]
 Ireland RTÉ RTÉ Two Semi-final Marty Whelan [73][74]
RTÉ One Final
 Israel IBA All shows
 Latvia LTV LTV1 All shows Kārlis Streips [lv] [75][76]
 Lithuania LRT All shows Darius Užkuraitis [77]
 Macedonia MRT All shows Karolina Petkovska [78]
 Malta PBS TVM All shows [79][80][81]
 Moldova TRM Moldova 1 All shows
 Monaco TMC Monte Carlo All shows Bernard Montiel [fr] and Églantine Éméyé [fr] [51][52][82]
 Netherlands NPO Nederland 2 Semi-final Cornald Maas [48][49][83]
Final Cornald Maas and Paul de Leeuw
Radio 2 All shows
 Norway NRK NRK1 All shows Jostein Pedersen [84][85]
NRK P1 Final
 Poland TVP TVP1, TVP Polonia All shows Artur Orzech [86][87]
 Portugal RTP All shows Eládio Clímaco [88]
 Romania TVR Semi-final [89]
TVR 1 Final
 Russia Channel One All shows Yuriy Aksyuta [ru] and Tatiana Godunova [90][91]
 Slovenia RTVSLO SLO 2 [sl] Semi-final Mojca Mavec [sl] [57][92]
SLO 1 [sl] Final
 Spain TVE La 2, TVE Internacional Semi-final Beatriz Pécker [es][f] [93][94][95]
La Primera, TVE Internacional Final
 Sweden SVT SVT1 All shows Pekka Heino [84][85][96]
SR SR P3 Carolina Norén [97]
  Switzerland SRG SSR SF 2 Semi-final Sandra Studer [65][98][99]
SF 1 Final
TSR 2 Semi-final Jean-Marc Richard and Alain Morisod [51][52]
TSR 1 Final
TSI 2 Semi-final
TSI 1 Final
 Turkey TRT TRT 1 All shows Bülend Özveren [100][101][102]
 Ukraine NTU Pershyi Natsionalnyi All shows Pavlo Shylko [103][104][105]
 United Kingdom BBC BBC Three Semi-final Paddy O'Connell [106]
BBC One, BBC Prime Final Sir Terry Wogan [52][107]
BBC Radio 2 Ken Bruce [108]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Show(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Australia SBS SBS TV[g] Semi-final Paddy O'Connell [109]
Final Terry Wogan
 Austria ORF ORF 1 Final Andi Knoll [65][110]
 Azerbaijan İTV [111]
 Czech Republic ČT ČT2[h] Final Kateřina Kristelová [cz] [112][113]
 Gibraltar GBC GBC TV Final [114]
 Serbia and Montenegro RTS All shows Duška Vučinić-Lučić [14][115]
RTCG

International broadcasts

  •  Australia – Although Australia was not itself eligible to enter, the semi-final and final were broadcast on SBS, and took commentary from the BBC broadcast. As is the case each year, they were not however broadcast live due to the difference in Australian time zones. The final rated an estimated 462,000, and was ranked 21st of the broadcaster's top rating programs for the 2005/06 financial year.[116]
  •  Azerbaijan – Azerbaijan were willing to enter the contest but since AzTV applied for active EBU membership but was denied on June 18, 2007, they missed the contest and had to wait until they were accepted. Another Azerbaijan broadcaster, İctimai, broadcast the contest. It was a passive EBU member, and had broadcast it for the last 2 years. It was the only non-participating broadcaster this year to send its own commentators to the contest.[111]
  •  Gibraltar – Gibraltar screened only the final on GBC.[114]
  •  Italy – Italy did not enter because RAI, the national broadcaster, is in strong competition with commercial TV stations and they believed that the Eurovision Song Contest would not be a popular show in Italy. They had not broadcast the contest in recent years, although an independent Italian channel for the gay community had shown it in 2003.[117] Italy eventually rejoined in 2011, and has since enjoyed an upturn in fortunes.

Ratings

After the contest, EBU officials stated that the overall ratings for the semi-final were 35% higher than in 2005, and for the Final had risen by 28%.[118]

In France, average market shares reached 30.3%, up by 8% over the 2005 figure. Other countries that showed a rise in average market shares included Germany with 38% (up from 29%), United Kingdom with 37.5% (up from 36%), Spain with 36% (up from 35%), Ireland with 58% (up from 35%) and Sweden, which reached over 80% compared to 57% the year previously.[118]

Voting revenues had also risen from the Kyiv contest, and the official Eurovision website, www.eurovision.tv, reported visits from over 200 countries and over 98 million page views, compared with 85 million in 2005.

High-definition broadcast

Large parts of the final were filmed in high-definition to gather "artistic and scientific knowledge" for future contests, but the footage was never intended to be used as part of the original broadcast and was filmed as part of a research experiment carried by those including the EBU, host broadcaster ERT, the Institute for Broadcasting Technology in Munich, the research and development laboratories [it] of RAI and the BBC. The footage was broadcast for the first time, as part of EurovisionAgain, on Eurovision's YouTube channel on 31 July 2021.[119]

Aftermath

ERT's net income from the Eurovision event amounted to 7,280,000 euros, while the cost of the entire event reached 5,500,000 euros, said on Thursday in a press conference the president of ERT, Christos Panagopoulos and the authorized consultant George Chouliaras, who stated: "The allegations about the waste of money of the Greek taxpayer do not apply. The Greek people did not pay a penny for the event. It was a commercial and profitable event and the money we spent was donor money".[118][120]

According to G. Chouliaras, the revenues that ERT had from the event were 3,630,000 euros from national sponsors, 2,200,000 euros from tickets and 1,450,000 euros from the share of international sponsors, advertising revenues outside sponsorships, sms, etc.[118][120]

Regarding the costs paid by ERT for the event together with the EBU, it amounted to a total of 9 million euros, of which 5.5 million euros were paid by ERT and 3.5 million euros by the EBU. These costs include the costs for the television production, the production of the artistic program, the technical production, the payment of contributions, the organization of the competition and any other direct costs related to the organization of Eurovision 2006. It is also noted that EOT paid for the production of 47 commercials and their promotion during the semifinals and the final 3.5 million euros.[118][120]

Spectacles and rewards

The president of ERT, Christos Panagopoulos, clarified, however, that the total cost does not include the shows that started in February for the advertising support of the event, for which he estimated that their cost will not exceed 1 million euros. He stated that in essence the net profit of ERT amounts to 745,000 euros, which will be allocated for other cultural events.[118]

It was also clarified that ERT did not pay anything to Anna Vissi, nor to Nikos Karvelas, as well as did not pay for the dress of Anna Vissi. Chouliaras stressed that all the participants of the event were paid at market prices and in particular Zeta Makrypoulia and Giorgos Kapoutzidis received 8-10 thousand euros per month for their four-month employment, Sakis Rouvas 50,000 euros and Maria Menounos 45,000 euros.[118][120]

It was also clarified that the costs of the "promotour" of Anna Vissi are included in the total cost and that from these the transfers were covered by Olympic Airlines and the hotels, the cost of which amounted to 150,000 euros, by the sponsors.[118]

Regarding the future, Giorgos Chouliaras noted that "ERT should have a dynamic participation in the next Eurovision Song Contests and not devalue the institution, since it is a television product watched by 3.5 million Greeks".[118]

Other awards

In addition to the main winner's trophy, the Marcel Bezençon Awards and the Barbara Dex Award were contested during the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest.

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Marcel Bezençon Awards, organised since 2002 by Sweden's then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman, and 1984 winner Richard Herrey, honours songs in the contest's final.[121] The awards are divided into three categories: Artistic Award which was voted by previous winners of the contest, Composer Award, and Press Award.[122]

Category Country Song Performer(s) Composer(s)
Artistic Award  Sweden "Invincible" Carola
Composer Award  Bosnia and Herzegovina "Lejla" Hari Mata Hari
Press Award  Finland "Hard Rock Hallelujah" Lordi Mr. Lordi

Barbara Dex Award

The Barbara Dex Award was a humorous fan award given to the worst dressed artist each year. Named after Belgium's representative who came last in the 1993 contest, wearing her self-designed dress, the award was handed by the fansite House of Eurovision from 1997 to 2016 and by the fansite songfestival.be from 2017 to 2021.

Country Performer(s)
 Portugal Nonstop

Official album

Cover art of the official album

Eurovision Song Contest: Athens 2006 was the official compilation album of the 2006 contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by CMC International on 28 April 2006. The album featured all 37 songs that entered in the 2006 contest, including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify into the grand final.[123]

Charts

Chart (2006) Peak
position
German Compilation Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[124] 2

Notes

  1. ^ On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD[18]
  2. ^ Performance contains uncredited live vocals from O-Jay
  3. ^ The song was performed entirely in Turkish in the semi-final, and with an English chorus in the final.
  4. ^ Performance contains uncredited live vocals from O-Jay
  5. ^ Following Serbia and Montenegro's withdrawal, Croatia took its place as an automatic qualifier.
  6. ^ The Spanish commentary in the final featured guest appearances from Massiel, Salomé, Karina, Betty Missiego, Azúcar Moreno and Son de Sol.[93]
  7. ^ Deferred broadcast of the semi-final on 19 May at 20:30 AEST (10:30 UTC) and the final on 21 May at 19:30 AEST (09:30 UTC)[109]
  8. ^ Delayed broadcast in a shortened format on 29 April 2007 at 02:00 CEST (00:00 UTC).[112][113]

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