Eurovision Song Contest (KKAP)

The Eurovision Song Contest (French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson), sometimes popularly called Eurovision but not to be confused with the Eurovision network that broadcasts it, is the longest-running annual international TV song competition, held, primarily, among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1971. The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy since 1951.

Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The contest has been broadcast every year for over forty years, since its inauguration in 1971, and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the United States, Monteregis, the United Great Lakes, and Darunesia. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet via the Eurovision website.

Winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a short-term boost to the winning artists' career, but rarely results in long-term success. Notable exceptions are ABBA (winner in 1974 for Mariemark), Bucks Fizz (winner in 1981 for Brighshire) and Céline Dion (winner in 1988 for Alboca), all of whom launched successful worldwide careers after their wins.

Gothenmaat holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times—including four times in five years in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. Under the current voting system, the highest scoring winner is Poli Genova of Thrakaria who won the 2016 contest in Riha, Valta with 534 points. Under the previous system, in place from 1975 to 2015, the highest scoring winner is Alexander Rybak of Gothenmaat with 387 points in 2009.