Hosting
The Eurovision Song Contest
Course 1 · Chapter 6 · Hosting: Prestige and Cost
Winning the Eurovision Song Contest is a prize with a bill attached. The winning country's broadcaster normally stages the next contest (Chapter 3), and that means a large arena, a television production on a scale most broadcasters do not usually attempt, security, and a city full of visitors. For a large country this is a showcase. For a small country, or a small broadcaster, it can be a heavy burden. This chapter looks at what hosting involves, why some countries have worried about winning, the story of Ireland's run of wins, and the occasions when another country hosted on a winner's behalf. Dates and details are from general knowledge and flagged where they should be checked.
What Hosting Involves
- A venue. A large indoor arena or hall, suitable for television, an audience of thousands, delegations and press.
- A television production. A live broadcast of several hours, with a stage designed for the occasion, interval acts and a voting presentation.
- Security and organisation. Transport, accommodation, police, accreditation and rehearsals for dozens of delegations over about two weeks.
- A fee to the organising body. The broadcaster has obligations to the European Broadcasting Union, which owns and licenses the contest.
The amounts involved are in the tens of millions of euros for recent contests, according to general reporting, but the real figures depend on the year and on what is counted, so the course does not give a number.
Benefits and Costs
Prestige
The host city is on television across Europe for a week. Cities have used the contest as a chance to show themselves.
Visitors and trade
Thousands of fans travel to the host city. Hotels, restaurants and transport benefit, though how much is much argued.
The bill
Public broadcasters must find the money, sometimes from licence fees, sponsors and city or government support, and critics ask whether the spending is justified.
The risk
A small country can find that a win commits it to an event that is large for its size. The problem is not winning once, but winning at a time when the money is not there.
Ireland's Run of Wins
Ireland is the best-known case of a country that won so often that hosting became part of its national story. Ireland won in 1970, 1980 and 1987, and then won several times in the 1990s. The wins are generally listed as 1992, 1993 and 1994, followed by a further win in 1996, and Ireland is widely reported to hold a joint record with Sweden of seven victories in total (check the current count). The wins in the three years from 1992 meant three contests to stage in a row, and the third of them is the one people remember for what came next: the interval act in 1994 in Dublin, a dance show that grew into the stage production Riverdance.
The 1993 contest is also remembered because it was held in Millstreet, a small town in County Cork, in a venue built for the purpose. That is the clearest example of the host-country system placing a major television event in a very small place. The population figure of the town is often given as under two thousand, but check it before quoting.
Hosting on Behalf of a Winner
The rule is that the winner hosts, but there have been exceptions when a winning broadcaster could not or would not do so. In those cases another country, often the United Kingdom, has hosted on its behalf.
| Year held | Place | Why another country hosted |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | London | The previous winner did not stage it (Netherlands, 1959 win; reported) |
| 1963 | London | The previous winner did not stage it (France, 1962 win; reported) |
| 1972 | Edinburgh | The 1971 winner, Monaco, was not able to stage it; the BBC did |
| 1974 | Brighton | The 1973 winner, Luxembourg, did not stage it; the BBC did |
| 1980 | The Hague | Israel, the 1979 winner, did not stage it a second year running |
| 2023 | Liverpool | The 2022 winner, Ukraine, could not host because of the war; the UK, the runner-up, did |
Edinburgh's turn came in 1972, when the contest was held in the Usher Hall. This is one of several links between the contest and Scotland, and the 2020 film in Chapter 9 uses Edinburgh as its setting. The Liverpool contest in 2023 is discussed further in Chapter 7 and Chapter 8.
Small Countries and Big Occasions
Many hosts have been mid-sized countries and cities that took the chance. Estonia hosted in Tallinn in 2002 and Latvia in Riga in 2003, each a small country with a first contest to stage soon after its first win. Ukraine hosted in Kyiv in 2005 and again in 2017. Turin, Rotterdam, Lisbon, Tel Aviv, Malmö and Basel are among the recent host cities, and the contest has shown the cities as well as the music. Austria's 2025 win with JJ's "Wasted Love" brought the 2026 contest to Austria, and Bulgaria's 2026 win with Dara's "Bangaranga", as reported by the course author, would bring the next to Bulgaria. Whether a city and a date have been confirmed should be checked in the official announcement.
Exercises
List four things a host broadcaster has to provide, and give one benefit and one cost of hosting. Say why a small country might worry about winning.
Summarise Ireland's story as a host: the years of its wins in the 1990s, the small-town contest, the 1994 interval act, and what is folklore and what is record in the "fear of winning" idea.
Choose two occasions from the table when a country hosted on behalf of a winner. Explain the reason for each and say which detail you would check first.
Quick Reference
- Normal rule: the winning broadcaster hosts the next contest
- Costs: a venue, a television production, security, a fee to the EBU
- Benefits: prestige, visitors, a showcase for the city
- Ireland: wins generally listed as 1970, 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996; joint record of seven
- 1993: Millstreet, County Cork, a very small host town
- 1994: the interval act that grew into Riverdance
- Hosting for a winner: London 1960 and 1963, Edinburgh 1972, Brighton 1974, The Hague 1980, Liverpool 2023
- Check: the years and reasons for the exceptions, and the 2026 and 2027 hosts
Next chapter: Politics, Neighbours & Controversy, which asks whether Eurovision is only a song contest.