Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Feel the Rhythm
Dates
Semi-final	18 May 2006 (2006-05-18)
Final	20 May 2006 (2006-05-20)
Host
Venue	Olympic Indoor Hall Athens, Greece
Presenter(s)	Maria Menounos Sakis Rouvas
Directed by	Volker Weicker
Executive supervisor	Svante Stockselius
Executive producer	Fotini Yannoulatou
Host broadcaster	Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT)
Website	eurovision.tv/event/athens-2006
Participants
Number of entries	37
Number of finalists	24
Debuting countries	Armenia
Returning countries	None
Non-returning countries	Austria  Hungary  Serbia and Montenegro
Participation map      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
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Winning song	Finland "Hard Rock Hallelujah"
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 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.