contest no. 51
Eurovision 2006: Athens
The 51st Eurovision Song Contest was held on Saturday, 20 May 2006 at O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece. 37 countries took part. Finland won with “Hard Rock Hallelujah” by Lordi, on 292 points.
How would you have voted? Rank all 37 songs from 2006
- Final
- Saturday, 20 May 2006
- Semi-final
- Thursday, 18 May 2006
- Venue
- O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens, Greece
- Host broadcaster
- Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT)
- Presenters
- Maria Menounos, Sakis Rouvas
- Director
- Volker Weicker
- For the EBU
- Svante Stockselius
- Slogan
- Feel the Rhythm
- Entries
- 37 countries
- Debut
- Armenia
- Absent
- Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro
- Voting
- Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
The story
Hard Rock Hallelujah: Finland wins after 45 years
Finland first entered the contest in 1961. In 45 years it had never won, and never once finished in the top five. No country had waited so long.
In Athens it won with a hard rock song.
Athens, not Thessaloniki
Greece’s first contest was held in the Olympic Indoor Hall, where the gymnastics and basketball finals of the 2004 Olympics had been staged. Thessaloniki fought for it, and some Greek politicians argued that Athens had already had its turn in the spotlight. The EBU and Greek television chose the city with the Olympic venues.
The stage was built as a replica of an ancient Greek amphitheatre.
The host who would not sing
Greek television’s first idea was to ask Sakis Rouvas, third in 2004, to represent the country again. He said no. It wanted him involved anyway, and asked him to present instead. His co-host was the Greek-American television presenter Maria Menounos.
They began the final by flying in. At the end of the opening ballet the two of them appeared in the air, hanging from ropes, and were lowered onto the stage.
A country that voted without singing
Thirty-seven countries took part. Armenia entered for the first time and came eighth. Austria stayed away after a bad result, and Hungary for lack of money.
Serbia and Montenegro had every intention of coming. But its national final ended in a scandal, the Serbian and Montenegrin halves of its broadcasting union fell out, and on 15 March it withdrew, leaving an empty place in the final.
It kept its vote. Viewers in Serbia voted in both the semi-final and the final of a contest their own country was not in.
The thousandth song
In the semi-final Ireland’s Brian Kennedy sang “Every Song Is a Cry for Love”. It was the one thousandth song performed at the contest.
Faster voting, in theory
To save time, the scoring was changed. Each country’s points from one to seven now appeared on screen all at once, and the spokesperson read out only the eight, the ten and the twelve.
The Dutch spokesman, Paul de Leeuw, had other ideas. He read out his first seven anyway, and gave the presenter his mobile phone number while he was about it.
There were other glitches. When Cyprus was called, the screen showed Switzerland.
The result
Lordi’s “Hard Rock Hallelujah” finished on 292 points, exactly the score it had won the semi-final with two nights before. Russia’s Dima Bilan was second on 248.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, in third, had its best result ever. So did Lithuania, sixth, with a song called “We Are the Winners”. Malta was last with one point.
Only three countries gave Finland no points at all: Albania, Monaco and Armenia.
The bill
Afterwards Greek television answered accusations that it had wasted taxpayers’ money. The contest, it said, had made a profit. It had cost the broadcaster 5.5 million euros and brought in 7.28 million from sponsors, tickets and its share of international income.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Eurovision Song Contest 2006”, and the EBU records and Greek press reports it cites.
The shows, night by night
What opened each show, and what filled the interval while the votes came in.
-
Thursday, 18 May 2006
Semi-final
23 songs, 10 went through to the final
- opened by
-
- A medley of Eurovision songs sung by a cast dressed as the Greek gods, from “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” to “My Number One”; the hosts added “Love Shine a Light”
- in the interval
-
- Sakis Rouvas the co-host sang “I’m in Love with You”
Every song and who went through ↓ Every vote, country by country →
-
Saturday, 20 May 2006
Final
24 songs
- opened by
-
- A ballet on the birth of Greece followed by last year’s winner, Helena Paparizou, with “My Number One”
- in the interval
-
- Helena Paparizou “Mambo!”
- “4000 Years of Greek Song” a contemporary ballet with music by Dimitris Papadimitriou, choreographed by Fokas Evangelinos
The final
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Semi-final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finland | Lordi winner! | “Hard Rock Hallelujah” English · Mr Lordi | 292 | 17 | SF · 1st 292 pts |
| 2 | Russia | Dima Bilan | “Never Let You Go” English · Irina Antonyan, Karen Kavaleryan, Alexandr Lunyov | 248 | 10 | SF · 3rd 217 pts |
| 3 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Hari Mata Hari | “Lejla” Bosnian · Dejan Ivanović, Željko Joksimović, Fahrudin Pecikoza | 229 | 13 | SF · 2nd 267 pts |
| 4 | Romania | Mihai Trăistariu | “Tornerò” English, Italian · Eduard Cîrcotã, Mihaela Deac, Cristian Hriscu | 172 | 12 | Straight to the final |
| 5 | Sweden | Carola | “Invincible” English · Thomas G:son, Carola Häggkvist, Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström | 170 | 22 | SF · 4th 214 pts |
| 6 | Lithuania | LT United | “We Are the Winners” English · Viktoras Diawara, Andrius Mamontovas, Saulius Urbonavičius | 162 | 14 | SF · 5th 163 pts |
| 7 | Ukraine | Tina Karol | “Show Me Your Love” English · Tetiana Hryhorivna Liberman, Mikhail Nekrasov, Pavlo Shylko | 145 | 18 | SF · 7th 146 pts |
| 8 | Armenia | André | “Without Your Love” English · Catherine Bekian, Armen Martirosyan | 129 | 24 | SF · 6th 150 pts |
| 9 | Greece | Anna Vissi | “Everything” English · Nikos Karvelas, Anna Vissi | 128 | 16 | Straight to the final |
| 10 | Ireland | Brian Kennedy | “Every Song Is a Cry for Love” English · Brian Kennedy | 93 | 21 | SF · 9th 79 pts |
| 11 | Turkey | Sibel Tüzün | “Süper Star” Turkish · Sibel Tüzün | 91 | 23 | SF · 8th 91 pts |
| 12 | Macedonia | Elena Risteska | “Ninanajna (Нинанајна)” English, Macedonian · Darko Dimitrov, Rade Vrčakovski | 56 | 11 | SF · 10th 76 pts |
| 12 | Croatia | Severina | “Moja štikla” Croatian · Boris Novković, Franjo Valentić, Severina Vučković | 56 | 20 | Straight to the final |
| 14 | Norway | Christine Guldbrandsen | “Alvedansen” Norwegian · Kjetil Fluge, Christine Guldbrandsen, Atle Halstensen | 36 | 5 | Straight to the final |
| 14 | Germany | Texas Lightning | “No No Never” English · Jane Comerford | 36 | 8 | Straight to the final |
| 16 | Switzerland | six4one | “If We All Give a Little” English · Bernd Meinunger, Ralph Siegel | 30 | 1 | Straight to the final |
| 16 | Latvia | Vocal Group Cosmos | “I Hear Your Heart” English · Molly-Ann Leikin, Guntars Račs, Andris Sējāns, Reinis Sējāns | 30 | 4 | Straight to the final |
| 18 | Denmark | Sidsel Ben Semmane | “Twist of Love” English · Niels Drevsholt | 26 | 9 | Straight to the final |
| 19 | United Kingdom | Daz Sampson | “Teenage Life” English · John Matthews, Darren Sampson | 25 | 15 | Straight to the final |
| 20 | Moldova | Arsenium Natalia Gordienko and Connect-R | “Loca” English · Arsenie Todiraș | 22 | 2 | Straight to the final |
| 21 | Spain | Las Ketchup | “Bloody Mary” Spanish · Manuel Ruiz Gómez "Queco" | 18 | 6 | Straight to the final |
| 22 | France | Virginie Pouchain | “Il était temps” French · Cornelius Nyungura | 5 | 19 | Straight to the final |
| 23 | Israel | Eddie Butler | “Together We Are One” Hebrew, English · Orly Burg, Eddie Butler, Osnat Tzavag | 4 | 3 | Straight to the final |
| 24 | Malta | Fabrizio Faniello | “I Do” English · Fabrizio Faniello, Aldo Spiteri | 1 | 7 | Straight to the final |
The semi-final
Every song in the semi-final, in finishing order. 13 songs didn’t reach the final.
Semi-final Thursday, 18 May 2006 · 23 songs, 10 went through
| Place | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Sang | Then |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finland | Lordi | “Hard Rock Hallelujah” English · Mr Lordi | 292 | 16 | Through: 1st in the final |
| 2 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Hari Mata Hari | “Lejla” Bosnian · Dejan Ivanović, Željko Joksimović, Fahrudin Pecikoza | 267 | 22 | Through: 3rd in the final |
| 3 | Russia | Dima Bilan | “Never Let You Go” English · Irina Antonyan, Karen Kavaleryan, Alexandr Lunyov | 217 | 13 | Through: 2nd in the final |
| 4 | Sweden | Carola | “Invincible” English · Thomas G:son, Carola Häggkvist, Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström | 214 | 20 | Through: 5th in the final |
| 5 | Lithuania | LT United | “We Are the Winners” English · Viktoras Diawara, Andrius Mamontovas, Saulius Urbonavičius | 163 | 18 | Through: 6th in the final |
| 6 | Armenia | André | “Without Your Love” English · Catherine Bekian, Armen Martirosyan | 150 | 1 | Through: 8th in the final |
| 7 | Ukraine | Tina Karol | “Show Me Your Love” English · Tetiana Hryhorivna Liberman, Mikhail Nekrasov, Pavlo Shylko | 146 | 15 | Through: 7th in the final |
| 8 | Turkey | Sibel Tüzün | “Süper Star” Turkish · Sibel Tüzün | 91 | 14 | Through: 11th in the final |
| 9 | Ireland | Brian Kennedy | “Every Song Is a Cry for Love” English · Brian Kennedy | 79 | 8 | Through: 10th in the final |
| 10 | Macedonia | Elena Risteska | “Ninanajna (Нинанајна)” English, Macedonian · Darko Dimitrov, Rade Vrčakovski | 76 | 11 | Through: 12th in the final |
| 11 | Poland | Ich Troje | “Follow My Heart” English, Polish, German, Russian · André Franke, Olaf Jeglitza, William Lennox, Michał Wiśniewski | 70 | 12 | Out |
| 12 | Belgium | Kate Ryan | “Je t'adore” English · Niklas Bergwall, Lisa Greene, Niclas Kings, Katrien Verbeeck | 69 | 7 | Out |
| 13 | Iceland | Silvía Night | “Congratulations” English · Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir, Þorvaldur Bjarni Þorvaldsson | 62 | 23 | Out |
| 14 | Albania | Luiz Ejlli | “Zjarr e ftohtë” Albanian · Florian Kondi, Klodian Qafoku | 58 | 6 | Out |
| 15 | Cyprus | Annet Artani | “Why Angels Cry” English · Peter Yiannakis | 57 | 9 | Out |
| 16 | Slovenia | Anžej Dežan | “Mr. Nobody” English · Matjaž Vlašič, Urša Vlašič | 49 | 3 | Out |
| 17 | Bulgaria | Mariana Popova | “Let Me Cry” English · Elina Gavrilova, Dani Milev | 36 | 2 | Out |
| 18 | Estonia | Sandra | “Through My Window” English · Jana Hallas, Alar Kotkas, Ilmar Laisaar, Pearu Paulus | 28 | 21 | Out |
| 19 | Portugal | Nonstop | “Coisas de nada” Portuguese, English · José Manuel Afonso, Elvis Veiguinha | 26 | 19 | Out |
| 20 | Netherlands | Treble | “Amambanda” English, Imaginary · Caroline Hoffman, Niña van Dijk, Djem van Dijk | 22 | 17 | Out |
| 21 | Monaco | Séverine Ferrer | “La Coco-Dance” French, Tahitian · Iren Bo, J. Woodfeel | 14 | 10 | Out |
| 22 | Belarus | Polina Smolova | “Mum” English · Andrey Kostiugov, Sergey Sukhomlin | 10 | 5 | Out |
| 23 | Andorra | Jenny | “Sense tu” Catalan · Rafael Artesero, Joan Antoni Rechi | 8 | 4 | Out |
Who showed it, and who talked over it
The channels that carried the contest in 38 countries, with the commentator where our source names one.
-
Andorra
- ATV Meri Picart and Josep Lluís Trabal
-
Belarus
- BTRC Denis Dudinskiy
-
Belgium
- Eén André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters
- Radio 2
- La Une, RTBF Sat Jean-Pierre Hautier
-
Bosnia and Herzegovina
- BHT 1 Dejan Kukrić
-
Croatia
- HRT 2 Duško Ćurlić
-
Denmark
- DR1 Mads Vangsø and Adam Duvå Hall
-
Estonia
- ETV Marko Reikop
- Raadio 2 Mart Juur and Andrus Kivirähk
-
Finland
- YLE TV2 Jaana Pelkonen, Heikki Paasonen and Asko Murtomäki
- YLE FST, YLE Radio Vega Thomas Lundin
- YLE Radio Suomi Sanna Kojo
-
France
- France 4 (semi-final) Peggy Olmi and Éric Jean-Jean
- France 3 (final) Michel Drucker and Claudy Siar
-
Germany
- NDR Fernsehen (semi-final) Peter Urban
- Das Erste (final) Peter Urban
-
Greece
- NET Zeta Makripoulia and Giorgos Kapoutzidis
- Second Programme Maria Kozakou
-
Iceland
- Sjónvarpið Sigmar Guðmundsson
- Rás 1 (semi-final) Sigmar Guðmundsson
- Rás 2 (final) Sigmar Guðmundsson
-
Ireland
- RTÉ Two (semi-final) Marty Whelan
- RTÉ One (final) Marty Whelan
-
Latvia
- LTV1 Kārlis Streips
-
Lithuania
- LRT Darius Užkuraitis
-
Macedonia
- MRT Karolina Petkovska
-
Malta
- TVM
-
Monaco
- TMC Monte Carlo Bernard Montiel and Églantine Éméyé
-
Netherlands
- Nederland 2 (semi-final) Cornald Maas
- Nederland 2 (final) Cornald Maas and Paul de Leeuw
- Radio 2 Hijlco Span, and Eric van Tijn
-
Norway
- NRK1 Jostein Pedersen
- NRK P1 (final)
-
Poland
- TVP1, TVP Polonia Artur Orzech
-
Portugal
- RTP Eládio Clímaco
-
Romania
- TVR 1
-
Russia
- Channel One Yuriy Aksyuta and Tatiana Godunova
-
Slovenia
- SLO 2 (semi-final) Mojca Mavec
- SLO 1 (final) Mojca Mavec
-
Spain
- La 2, TVE Internacional (semi-final) Beatriz Pécker
- La Primera, TVE Internacional (final) Beatriz Pécker
-
Sweden
- SVT1 Pekka Heino
- SR P3 Carolina Norén
-
Switzerland
- SF 2 (semi-final) Sandra Studer
- SF 1 (final) Sandra Studer
- TSR 2 (semi-final) Jean-Marc Richard and Alain Morisod
- TSR 1 (final) Jean-Marc Richard and Alain Morisod
- TSI 2 (semi-final)
- TSI 1 (final)
-
Turkey
- TRT 1 Bülend Özveren
-
Ukraine
- Pershyi Natsionalnyi Pavlo Shylko
-
United Kingdom
- BBC Three (semi-final) Paddy O'Connell
- BBC One, BBC Prime (final) Sir Terry Wogan
- BBC Radio 2 (final) Ken Bruce
Also shown in
-
Australia
- SBS TV (semi-final) Paddy O'Connell
- SBS TV (final) Terry Wogan
-
Austria
- ORF 1 (final) Andi Knoll
-
Azerbaijan
- İTV
-
Czech Republic
- ČT2 (final) Kateřina Kristelová
-
Falkland Islands
- BFBS 1 (final)
-
Gibraltar
- GBC TV (final)
-
Serbia and Montenegro
- RTS 1 Duška Vučinić-Lučić
Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.