Eurovision Spins Off Many Other Contests

As I said in my most recent tableau article, the Eurovision Song Contest has become a huge phenomenon across the pond, with audiences spanning anywhere from 100-600 million worldwide. Any show that popular is bound to have spinoffs, which Eurovision does.

The Junior Eurovision Song Contest was held starting in 2003. The contest is held in a similar format to the traditional Eurovision and showcases performers between the ages of 10 and 15. The roster of participating countries tends to change radically every year. The most recent contest was held in Cyprus on November 22, 2008 with 15 participating countries. Georgia's duo of Bzikibi claimed the win with their song "Bzzz..."



The Eurovision Dance Contest was first held in 2007. Each dance team features one professional dancer and one non-professional dancer, often a celebrity (Sound familiar? It's actually inspired by a similar British TV show). Each country is allowed one two-minute dance, and 20% of their score comes from a professional jury while 80% comes from fan televoting. 14 countries participated in the 2008 version of the contest, and Edyta Herbuś & Marcin Mroczek of Poland claimed the win.



Eurovision fever has even caught on in Asia. The European Broadcasting Union recently announced it was selling the format of the contest to an Asian company, which will hold a similar contest there. The first contest is tenatively scheduled for November 2009, and the rumor is that Singapore will host the contest. It will feature 15 competing countries. You can check out the details here.

Post written by J.P. Stroman.