Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest was a television programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to commemorate the Eurovision Song Contest's fiftieth anniversary and to determine the contest's most popular entrant of its fifty years. Hosted by Katrina Leskanich and Renārs Kaupers, the event took place at Forum, in Copenhagen on 22 October 2005. The host was Danish broadcaster DR. Fourteen songs from the contest's first half-century, chosen through an internet poll and by a jury, contested the event.
Thirty-one EBU-member countries broadcast the concert (although notably France, Italy and the United Kingdom did not) and televoting and juries in these countries decided the winner. A total of 2.5 million votes were cast during the live broadcast. The event was won by Swedish group ABBA, who did not attend, with the song "Waterloo"; the band had originally won the contest for Sweden in 1974.
To coincide with the event, the EBU released two double album CDs featuring Eurovision songs from the previous fifty years. Two DVDs with original Eurovision performances of these songs were also released.
Participating songs[]
First round[]
| Rank | Year | Country | EBU member station | Artist(s) | Song | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1974 | Sweden | SR | ABBA | "Waterloo" | 331 |
| 2 | 1958 | Italy | RAI | Domenico Modugno | "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" | 200 |
| 3 | 1987 | Ireland | RTÉ | Johnny Logan | "Hold Me Now" | 182 |
| 4 | 2005 | Greece | ERT | Helena Paparizou | "My Number One" | 167 |
| 5 | 1976 | United Kingdom | BBC | Brotherhood of Man | "Save Your Kisses for Me" | 154 |
| 6 | 2000 | Denmark | DR | Olsen Brothers | "Fly on the Wings of Love" | 111 |
| 7 | 1982 | Germany | ARD/BR | Nicole | "Ein bißchen Frieden" | 106 |
| 8 | 1968 | United Kingdom | BBC | Cliff Richard | "Congratulations" | 105 |
| 9 | 2003 | Turkey | TRT | Sertab Erener | "Everyway That I Can" | 104 |
| 10 | 1988 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Celine Dion | "Ne partez pas sans moi" | 98 |
| 11 | 1973 | Spain | TVE | Mocedades | "Eres tú" | 90 |
| 12 | 1980 | Ireland | RTÉ | Johnny Logan | "What's Another Year" | 74 |
| 13 | 1998 | Israel | IBA | Dana International | "Diva" | 39 |
| 14 | 1965 | Luxembourg | CLT | France Gall | "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" | 37 |
Second round[]
| Rank | Year | Country | EBU member station | Artist(s) | Song | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1974 | Sweden | SR | ABBA | "Waterloo" | 329 |
| 2 | 1958 | Italy | RAI | Domenico Modugno | "Nel blu, dipinto di blu" | 267 |
| 3 | 1987 | Ireland | RTÉ | Johnny Logan | "Hold Me Now" | 262 |
| 4 | 2005 | Greece | ERT | Helena Paparizou | "My Number One" | 245 |
| 5 | 1976 | United Kingdom | BBC | Brotherhood of Man | "Save Your Kisses for Me" | 230 |
Broadcast[]
Voting countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Andorra | ATV | Unknown |
| Austria | ORF 2 | Elisabeth Engstler, Christian Ludwig |
| Belgium (Dutch) | Eén | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | La Une, RTBF Sat | Jean-Pierre Hautier |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | BHT 1 | Unknown |
| Croatia | HRT 1 | |
| Cyprus | RIK | |
| Denmark | DR1 | Nicolai Molbech |
| Finland (Finnish) | YLE TV2 | Jaana Pelkonen, Heikki Seppälä |
| YLE Radio Suomi | Sanna Kojo | |
| Finland (Swedish) | YLE Radio Vega | Hans Johansson |
| Germany | Südwest Fernsehen, WDR Fernsehen | Unknown |
| Greece | NET | Elizabeth Filippouli |
| Iceland | Sjónvarpið, Rás 2 | Unknown |
| Ireland | RTÉ Two | Marty Whelan |
| Israel | IBA | Unknown |
| Latvia | LTV1 | |
| Lithuania | LRT | |
| Macedonia | MRT | |
| Malta | TVM | Tony Micallef |
| Monaco | TMC Monte Carlo | Bernard Montiel, Yves Lecoq |
| Netherlands | Nederland 2 | Willem van Beusekom |
| Norway | NRK1 | Jostein Pedersen |
| Poland | TVP1 | Unknown |
| Portugal | RTP1 | |
| Romania | TVR | |
| Russia | Channel One | |
| Serbia and Montenegro | RTS, RTCG | |
| Slovenia | SLO 1 | Mojca Mavec |
| Spain | La Primera | José María Íñigo, Beatriz Pécker |
| Sweden | SVT1 | Pekka Heino |
| Switzerland (German) | SF 1 | Unknown |
| Switzerland (French) | TSR 1 | Jean-Marc Richard |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI 1 | Unknown |
| Turkey | TRT 1 | |
| Ukraine | Pershyi Natsionalnyi |
Non-voting countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Albania | RTSH | Unknown |
| Armenia | ARMTV | |
| Australia | SBS TV | Marty Whelan |
| Hungary | Petőfi Rádió | Erzsébet Jeney |
| Kosovo | RTK | Unknown |
Broadcast notes[]
- Australia - The show was broadcast on a deferred basis, on 23 October 2005 at 20:30 AEST.
- Austria - The show was broadcast on a deferred basis at 22:10 CET.
- Hungary - The show was broadcast on a deferred basis, on 15 November 2005 at 23:15 CET.
Non-participating countries[]
The following list of countries, which participated in the Eurovision Song Contest at least once, were not involved with the broadcast or voting in the programme:
- Belarus (BTRC)
- Bulgaria (BNT)
- Estonia (ETV)
- France (France Télévisions)
- Italy (RAI)
- Luxembourg (RTL)
- Moldova (TRM)
- Morocco (SNRT)
- Slovakia (STV)
- United Kingdom (BBC)