Eurovision Song Contest 2006

"Eurovision 2006" redirects here. For the Junior Contest, see Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006.

Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Feel The Rhythm!
Dates
Semi-final	18 May 2006 (2006-05-18)
Final	20 May 2006 (2006-05-20)
Host
Venue	Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens, Greece
Presenter(s)	Maria Menounos Sakis Rouvas
Directed by	Volker Weicker
Executive supervisor	Svante Stockselius
Executive producer	Fotini Yannoulatou
Host broadcaster	Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT)
Opening act	Semi-final: Eurovision medley performed by Greek gods and goddesses; "Love Shine a Light" performed by Sakis Rouvas and Maria Menounos Final: "The Mermaid Song" performed by Foteini Darra accompanied by Greek dancers; "My Number One" performed by Elena Paparizou
Interval act	Semi-final: "I'm In Love With You" performed by Sakis Rouvas; Greek musical and dance pieces (composed by Dimitris Papadimitriou, choreographed by Fokas Evangelinos) Final: "Mambo!" performed by Elena Paparizou; 4000 Years of Greek Song (composed by Dimitris Papadimitriou, choreographed by Fokas Evangelinos)
Participants
Number of entries	37
Debuting countries	Armenia
Returning countries	None
Withdrawing countries	Austria  Hungary  Serbia and Montenegro
Participation map      Participating countries     Did not qualify from the semi final     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2006
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Nul points	None
Winning song	Finland "Hard Rock Hallelujah"
← 2005 Eurovision Song Contest 2007 →

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following Helena Paparizou's win at the 2005 contest in Kiev, Ukraine with the song "My Number One".
Held at the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May (for the semi-final) and 20 May 2006 (for the final), the organising was done by the Greek national broadcaster Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT).

The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah", written by lead singer Mr. Lordi. "Hard Rock Hallelujah" was the first ever hard rock song to win the contest, since Eurovision is normally associated with softer pop music and schlager. This was Finland's first victory in Eurovision after waiting forty-five years. It is also noted that they scored the same amount of points in the semi-final and the grand final.

The hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens were Greek singer Sakis Rouvas, the Greek representative at Eurovision in 2004 and 2009, and the Greek American television presenter and actress, Maria Menounos.^[1] In the semi-final, both the hosts sang Katrina and the Waves' contest-winning "Love Shine A Light". For one of the intervals, Sakis Rouvas sang an English version of his Greek hit "S'eho Erotefthi" called "I'm in love with you". Helena Paparizou, who performed the winning song in Kiev, returned to the Eurovision stage in Athens. Following the examples of Sertab Erener, Ruslana and Marie N in the last three years, she sang twice in the final, "My Number One" in the opening and her current song "Mambo!" in the interval (which was also a smash hit in Greece at the time); Greek dancers were also present in the interval acts, as well as other Greek elements. An official CD and DVD was released and a new introduction was an official fan book released from this year, and every year to come with detailed information of every country.

The 2006 contest also saw the 1,000th song to be performed in the contest, when "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" by Ireland's Brian Kennedy was first sung in the semi-final. Armenia also entered for the first time in the contest.

Contents

• 
  1 Location
  


• 
  2 Format
  
  
  
  • 
    2.1 Visual design
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 Voting
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  3 Participating countries
  
  
  
  • 
    3.1 Semi-final
    
  
  
  • 
    3.2 Final
    
    
    
    • 
      3.2.1 Voting during the final and spokespersons
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  4 Score sheet
  
  
  
  • 
    4.1 Semi-final
    
    
    
    • 
      4.1.1 12 points
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    4.2 Final
    
    
    
    • 
      4.2.1 12 points
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  5 Other Awards
  
  
  
  • 
    5.1 Marcel Bezençon Awards
    
  
  
  • 
    5.2 Barbara Dex Award
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  6 Other countries
  
  
  
  • 
    6.1 Withdrawals
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  7 Ratings
  


• 
  8 Returning artists
  


• 
  9 Broadcasting
  
  
  
  • 
    9.1 International broadcasts
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  10 Commentators
  


• 
  11 Official album
  
  
  
  • 
    11.1 Charts
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  12 References
  


• 
  13 External links
  

Location

Further information on the host city: Athens

Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens - host venue of the 2006 contest.

The venue that was chosen as the host venue was the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, which is located in the Athens Olympic Sports Complex, in the capital city of Greece. Completed in 1995, it was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Format

Visual design

The official logo of the contest remained the same from 2004 and 2005 with the country's flag in the heart being changed. The 2006 sub-logo created by the design company Karamela for Greek television was apparently based on the Phaistos Disc which is a popular symbol of ancient Greece. According to ERT, it was "inspired by the wind and the sea, the golden sunlight and the glow of the sand". Following Istanbul's "Under The Same Sky" and Kiev's "Awakening", the slogan for the 2006 show was "Feel The Rhythm". This theme was also the basis for the postcards for the 2006 show, which emphasized Greece's historical significance as well as being a major modern tourist destination.

Voting

To save time in the final, the voting time lasted ten minutes and the voting process was changed: points 1-7 were shown immediately on-screen. The spokespersons only announced the countries scoring 8, 10 and 12 points. Despite this being intended to speed proceedings up, there were still problems during voting – EBU imaging over-rode Maria Menounos during a segment in the voting interval and some scoreboards were slow to load. The Dutch spokesperson Paul de Leeuw also caused problems, giving his mobile number to presenter Rouvas during the Dutch results,^[2] and slowing down proceedings, also by announcing the first seven points. Constantinos Christoforou (who also represented Cyprus in 1996, 2002 and 2005) saluted from "Nicosia, the last divided capital in Europe"; during Cyprus' reading, the telecast displayed Switzerland by mistake. This voting process has been criticized because suspense was lost by only reading three votes instead of ten. And for the first time, the display for the Macedonian entry had the title spelled out in its entirety (as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia") instead of being abbreviated as it has been in previous years (as "FYR Macedonia").

Participating countries

Participating countries in a Eurovision Song Contest must be active members of the EBU.

Semi-final

The semi-final was held on 18 May 2006 at 21:00 (CET). 23 countries performed and all 37 participants and Serbia & Montenegro voted.

Shaded countries qualified for the Eurovision Final

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language[3]	Place	Points
01	Armenia	André	"Without Your Love"	English	6	150
02	Bulgaria	Mariana Popova	"Let Me Cry"	English	17	36
03	Slovenia	Anžej Dežan	"Mr Nobody"	English	16	49
04	Andorra	Jenny	"Sense tu"	Catalan	23	8
05	Belarus	Polina Smolova	"Mum"	English	22	10
06	Albania	Luiz Ejlli	"Zjarr e ftohtë"	Albanian	14	58
07	Belgium	Kate Ryan	"Je t'adore"	English	12	69
08	Ireland	Brian Kennedy	"Every Song Is a Cry for Love"	English	9	79
09	Cyprus	Annet Artani	"Why Angels Cry"	English	15	57
10	Monaco	Séverine Ferrer	"La Coco-Dance"	French, Tahitian	21	14
11	Macedonia	Elena Risteska	"Ninanajna" (Нинанајна)	English, Macedonian	10	76
12	Poland	Ich Troje feat. Real McCoy	"Follow My Heart"	English, Polish, German, Russian1	11	70
13	Russia	Dima Bilan	"Never Let You Go"	English	3	217
14	Turkey	Sibel Tüzün	"Süper Star"	Turkish, English	8	91
15	Ukraine	Tina Karol	"Show Me Your Love"	English	7	146
16	Finland	Lordi	"Hard Rock Hallelujah"	English	1	292
17	Netherlands	Treble	"Amambanda"	English, Imaginary	20	22
18	Lithuania	LT United	"We Are the Winners"	English2	5	163
19	Portugal	Nonstop	"Coisas de nada"	Portuguese, English	19	26
20	Sweden	Carola	"Invincible"	English	4	214
21	Estonia	Sandra Oxenryd	"Through My Window"	English	18	28
22	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hari Mata Hari	"Lejla"	Bosnian	2	267
23	Iceland	Silvia Night	"Congratulations"	English	13	62

Notes

1.^ The song also contains phrases in Spanish.

2.^ The song also contains phrases in French.

Final

The finalists were:

• the four automatic qualifiers France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom;


• the top 10 countries from the 2005 final (other than the automatic qualifiers);


• the top 10 countries from the 2006 semi-final.

The final was held on 20 May 2006 at 21:00 (CET) and was won by Finland.

Countries in bold automatically qualified for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 Final.

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language[3]	Place	Points
01	Switzerland	six4one	"If We All Give a Little"	English	16	30
02	Moldova	Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko	"Loca"	English3	20	22
03	Israel	Eddie Butler	"Together We Are One"	Hebrew, English	23	4
04	Latvia	Vocal Group Cosmos	"I Hear Your Heart"	English	16	30
05	Norway	Christine Guldbrandsen	"Alvedansen"	Norwegian	14	36
06	Spain	Las Ketchup	"Un Blodymary"	Spanish	21	18
07	Malta	Fabrizio Faniello	"I Do"	English	24	1
08	Germany	Texas Lightning	"No No Never"	English	15	36
09	Denmark	Sidsel Ben Semmane	"Twist of Love"	English	18	26
10	Russia	Dima Bilan	"Never Let You Go"	English	2	248
11	Macedonia	Elena Risteska	"Ninanajna" (Нинанајна)	English, Macedonian	12	56
12	Romania	Mihai Trăistariu	"Tornerò"	English, Italian	4	172
13	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Hari Mata Hari	"Lejla"	Bosnian	3	229
14	Lithuania	LT United	"We Are the Winners"	English2	6	162
15	United Kingdom	Daz Sampson	"Teenage Life"	English	19	25
16	Greece	Anna Vissi	"Everything"	English	9	128
17	Finland	Lordi	"Hard Rock Hallelujah"	English	1	292
18	Ukraine	Tina Karol	"Show Me Your Love"	English	7	145
19	France	Virginie Pouchain	"Il était temps"	French	22	5
20	Croatia	Severina	"Moja štikla"	Croatian	12	56
21	Ireland	Brian Kennedy	"Every Song Is a Cry for Love"	English	10	93
22	Sweden	Carola	"Invincible"	English	5	170
23	Turkey	Sibel Tüzün	"Süper Star"	Turkish, English	11	91
24	Armenia	André	"Without Your Love"	English	8	129

Notes

3.^ The song also contains words in Spanish.

Voting during the final and spokespersons

The following people were the spokespersons for their countries. A spokesperson delivers the results of national televoting during the final night, awarding points to the entries on behalf of his or her country.^[4] A draw was held to determine each country's voting order. Countries revealed their votes in the following order:

1. 
    Slovenia - Peter Poles
   


2. 
    Andorra - Xavi Palma
   


3. 
    Romania - Andreea Marin Bănică (Presenter of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006)
   


4. 
    Denmark - Jørgen de Mylius
   


5. 
    Latvia - Mārtiņš Freimanis (Latvian singer in the 2003 Contest as part of F.L.Y.)
   


6. 
    Portugal - Cristina Alves
   


7. 
    Sweden - Jovan Radomir
   


8. 
    Finland - Nina Tapio
   


9. 
    Belgium - Yasmine (Hilde Rens)


10. 
     Croatia - Mila Horvat
    


11. 
     Serbia and Montenegro - Jovana Janković (Co-presenter of the 2008 Contest)
    


12. 
     Norway - Ingvild Helljesen
    


13. 
     Estonia - Evelin Samuel (Estonian singer in the 1999 Contest and veteran of several 1990s Eurolauls)
    


14. 
     Ireland - Eimear Quinn (Irish winner of the 1996 Contest)
    


15. 
     Malta - Moira Delia (Presenter of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014)
    


16. 
     Lithuania - Lavija Šurnaitė
    


17. 
     Cyprus - Constantinos Christoforou (Cypriot singer in the 1996, 2002 and 2005 Contests)
    


18. 
     Netherlands - Paul de Leeuw
    


19. 
      Switzerland - Jubaira Bachmann
    


20. 
     Ukraine - Igor Posypaiko
    


21. 
     Russia - Yana Churikova (Commentator of the 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015 contests for Channel One)
    


22. 
     Poland - Maciej Orłoś
    


23. 
     United Kingdom - Fearne Cotton
    


24. 
     Armenia - Gohar Gasparyan (Co-presenter of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2011)
    


25. 
     France - Sophie Jovillard
    


26. 
     Belarus - Corrianna
    


27. 
     Germany - Thomas Hermanns
    


28. 
     Spain - Sonia Ferrer
    


29. 
     Moldova - Svetlana Cocoş
    


30. 
     Bosnia and Herzegovina - Vesna Andree-Zaimović
    


31. 
     Iceland - Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir
    


32. 
     Monaco - Églantine Eméyé
    


33. 
     Israel - Dana Herman
    


34. 
     Albania - Leon Menkshi
    


35. 
     Greece - Alexis Kostalas
    


36. 
     Bulgaria - Dragomir Simeonov
    


37. 
     Macedonia - Martin Vučić (Macedonian singer in the 2005 Contest)
    


38. 
     Turkey - Meltem Yazgan
    

Although Serbia & Montenegro did not compete in the contest, they still regained voting rights due to a scandal that was caused during their National Selection.

Score sheet

Televoting was used in all nations except Monaco and Albania. Monaco used a jury as the chances of getting enough votes needed to validate the votes were low. Albania used a jury since there were problems with their televote. In the semi final, Monaco and Albania used the jury voting due to insufficient televoting numbers. Coincidentally, Albania and Monaco were two of the three countries that did not vote for the winning entry, the third one was Armenia.

Semi-final

		Televoting Results
	Armenia	150			2				3		12								12	12	3	7	12	3	3		12	7	7	12	2				10	3	10	8		10
	Bulgaria	36						1											8								4			5						8	3		6	1
	Slovenia	49								1		6	7				5					2				2		2				7		3	4	7			3
	Andorra	8																												8
	Belarus	10																				1	6								3
	Albania	58	1						2			7		3							10		2		2	1			3			5					7		12	3
	Belgium	69	5	7		3		2	5	3					3	5	7	2	1	7				4			3			2			4	6
	Ireland	79	3			5	4	4	1	4	3		1	6	6		6	4		3	2		1	2	8						1		2	7	5	1
	Cyprus	57			4												4				1	3			7	7		1	2					10		4	12	2
	Monaco	14		3											2									1			8
	F.Y.R.Macedonia	76	8		1							8	10								6					8						10				12		5		8
	Poland	70					3				1			2		7	1	8		2		10	5		1	3	2	4	6	4	4		3		2		2
	Russia	217	4	4	7	1	12	7	7	6	2	3	6	4	10	4	8	12	10	1		12		8		12		12	5		12	4	6		12		5	12	5	4
	Turkey	91			10	6					8			1						10	8						10		8			12			3	6		1	8
	Ukraine	146	2	6	8		6	10		2		2	5		4	3	3	6	6				10	6		10		10		3	10	3	5	2	8		4	3	2	7
	Finland	292	10	10	5	10	8	8	12		10	10	8	8	12	10	10	10	7	6	5	6	8	12	12		5	8	12	10	5	8	12		7		8	7	7	6
	Netherlands	22		2							4							1	3							4							1			2				5
	Lithuania	163	6	5	3	4	10	5	4	8	7	5	3	5	8	12			4	5		5	4	10	10			6	1		6	2	8	4			1	6	4	2
	Portugal	26		12																	7						7
	Sweden	214	7	8	6	12	5	12		10	5	4	4	10	7	8	12	5	2	4	4	4	3	7	6	6		5	4	7	7	6	10	8	6	5		4	1
	Estonia	28				2	7		8	5						1																		5
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	267	12	1	12	8	2	6	10	12	6	12	12	12	1	6	2	3	5	8	12	8	7	5	4	5	6	3	10	1	8		7	12	1	10	6	10	10	12
	Iceland	62				7	1	3	6	7		1	2	7	5	2		7							5		1			6		1		1
	The table is ordered by appearance in the semi-final, then by pre-determined voting order.

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the semi-final:

N.	Contestant	Voting nation
9	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Croatia, Finland, Monaco, Norway, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey
8	Russia	Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine
6
	Armenia	Belgium, Cyprus, France, Netherlands, Russia, Spain
	Finland	Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom
3	Sweden	Denmark, Malta, Portugal
1
	Albania	Macedonia
	Cyprus	Greece
	Lithuania	Ireland
	Macedonia	Albania
	Portugal	Andorra
	Turkey	Bosnia and Herzegovina

Final

		Televoting Results
	Switzerland	30						1									12		3													4		6	4
	Moldova	22			12			3															3							2							1			1
	Israel	4																									4
	Latvia	30													3	4		8				4	1		2									8
	Norway	36				1	6		2	5												3	7			1		1			3		4	1			2
	Spain	18		12																																6
	Malta	1																																		1
	Germany	36				3	3				1			1		3				3	7				5					5						5
	Denmark	26							8	3				6	1																		8
	Russia	248	4	6	8	2	12	7	7	12	3	7	5	3	10	5	5	12	8	2		12		10	1	12	2	12	6	7	10	6	5		12	4	8	10	8	5
	F.Y.R. Macedonia	56	6									8	8								4					7						8				3		6		6
	Romania	172	5	3		6	2	10	6	6	2	5	4	4	4	6	10	1	10		1	1	4	3	6	4	7	3	5	12	12	2	2		10	2	7	2	2	3
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	229	12		7	8		2	10	10	6	12	12	8		2		4	2	8	12	10	6	4		5	6	4	7	1	5		3	12	2	12	6	7	12	12
	Lithuania	162	3	7		7	10	4	3	8	4	6	3	5	8	12	1		4	6		5	5	8	10			6	1	4	4		10	7	3		4	1	3
	United Kingdom	25		2		4	1					1		2	2	8	3		1					1
	Greece	128		1	10				4	1	10		6				8	3	12	5	5				7	8	5	2	8		1	1				8		12	7	4
	Finland	292	8	10	4	12	8	6	12		8	10	7	12	12	10	7	10	5	7	8	7	8	12	12		8	7	10	10	6	7	12		7		12	5	6	7
	Ukraine	145	2	5	3		5	12	1	2		4	2		5	1	2	7	6	1			10	6		10		10		3	8	5	6	2	6		5	3	5	8
	France	5																								2								3
	Croatia	56	10										10								6								2			12		4					10	2
	Ireland	93	1	4	2	5	4	5	5	4		2		7	6		4	6		4	3	2		2	8	3	1		4				1	10
	Sweden	170	7	8	5	10	7	8		7	5	3	1	10	7	7	6	5			2	6	2	7	4	6	3	5		6	2	3	7	5	5	10			1
	Turkey	91			6						7									12	10				3		12		12			10			1	7	3	4	4
	Armenia	129			1						12							2	7	10		8	12	5			10	8	3	8	7				8		10	8		10
The table is ordered by appearance in the final, then by pre-determined voting order.

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.	Contestant	Voting nation
8	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Monaco, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey
	Finland	Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Sweden, United Kingdom
7	Russia	Armenia, Belarus, Finland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine
3	Turkey	France, Germany, Netherlands
2	Armenia	Belgium, Russia
	Greece	Cyprus, Bulgaria
	Romania	Moldova, Spain
1	Croatia	Bosnia and Herzegovina
	Lithuania	Ireland
	Moldova	Romania
	Spain	Andorra
	Switzerland	Malta
	Ukraine	Portugal

Other Awards

Marcel Bezençon Awards

The Marcel Bezençon Awards were first handed out during the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 in Tallinn, Estonia honoring
the best competing songs in the final. Founded by Christer Björkman (Sweden's representative in the 1992 Eurovision Song Contest and current Head of Delegation for Sweden) and Richard Herrey (member of the Herreys, Eurovision Song Contest 1984 winner from Sweden), the awards are named after the creator of the annual competition, Marcel Bezençon.^[5] The awards are divided into 3 categories; Press Award; Artistic Award; and Composer Award.^[6]

Category	Country	Song	Performer(s)	Composer(s)	Final result	Points
Artists Award (Voted by previous winners)	Sweden	"Invincible"	Carola	Thomas G:son, Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström, Carola	5th	170
Composer Award	Bosnia and Herzegovina	"Lejla"	Hari Mata Hari	Željko Joksimović, Fahrudin Pecikoza, Dejan Ivanović	3rd	229
Press Award	Finland	"Hard Rock Hallelujah"	Lordi	Mr. Lordi	1st	292

Barbara Dex Award

Further information: Barbara Dex Award

The Barbara Dex Award has been annually awarded by the fan website House of Eurovision since 1997, and is a humorous award given to the worst dressed artist each year in the contest. It is named after the Belgian artist, Barbara Dex, who came last in the 1993 contest, in which she wore her own self designed (awful) dress.

Country	Song	Performer(s)	Composer(s)
Portugal	"Coisas de nada"	Nonstop	José Manuel Afonso, Elvis Veiguinha

Other countries

Withdrawals

• 
  Austria - On 18 June 2005, Austrian newspaper Kurier reported that the Austrian broadcaster ORF would not be taking part in the 2006 contest.


• 
  Czech Republic - On 6 October 2005 Česká televize announced that the Czech Republic would not participate, however also made its debut Next Year.


• 
  Georgia - On 5 October 2005 the managing director of Georgia Television & Radio Broadcasting stated that Georgia would not enter the 2006 contest, however made its debut next year.


• 
  Hungary - On 9 December 2005 Hungarian broadcaster Magyar TV announced that Hungary would not participate for financial reasons.


• 
  Italy - Italy did not take part in the Contest between 1997 and 2011.


• 
  Serbia and Montenegro - Serbia and Montenegro withdrew from the contest due to a scandal in the selection process, which has caused tensions between the Serbian broadcaster, RTS, and the Montenegrin broadcaster, RTCG. Serbia and Montenegro did retain voting rights for the contest (which is resulted in Macedonia entering the final instead of Poland). Serbia and Montenegro's withdrawal left a vacancy in the final. In the delegations meeting on 20 March, it was decided that Croatia, who finished 11th in the 2005 Contest, would fill the empty spot.

Ratings

After the Contest, EBU officials stated that the overall ratings for the Semi-Final were 35% higher than in 2005, and for the Final had risen by 28%.

In France, average market shares reached 30.3%, up by 8% over the 2005 figure. Other countries that showed a rise in average market shares included Germany with 38% (up from 29%), United Kingdom with 37.5% (up from 36%), Spain with 36% (up from 35%), Ireland with 58% (up from 35%) and Sweden, which reached over 80% compared to 57% the year previously.

Voting revenues had also risen from the Kiev Contest, and the official Eurovision website, www.eurovision.tv, reported visits from over 200 countries and over 98 million page views, compared with 85 million in 2005.

Returning artists

Artist	Country	Previous Year(s)
Anna Vissi	Greece	1980, 1982 (for Cyprus)
Eddie Butler	Israel	1999 (part of Eden)
Viktoras Diawara (part of LT United)	Lithuania	2001 (part of SKAMP)
Fabrizio Faniello	Malta	2001
Ich Troje	Poland	2003
Carola	Sweden	1983, 1991 (winner)

Broadcasting

International broadcasts

Australia 

Although Australia was not itself eligible to enter, the semi-final and final were broadcast on SBS. As is the case each year, they were not however broadcast live due to the difference in Australian time zones. Australia aired the United Kingdom's broadcast, including commentary from Paddy O'Connell and Terry Wogan. Before the broadcasts, viewers were told by an SBS host that the Eurovision Song Contest was one of their most popular programmes. The final rated an estimated 462,000, and was ranked 21st of the broadcaster's top rating programs for the 2005/06 financial year. [4]

Azerbaijan 

Azerbaijan were willing to enter the contest but since AzTV applied for active EBU membership but was denied on June 18, 2007, they missed the contest and had to wait until they were accepted. Another Azerbaijan broadcaster, İctimai, broadcast the contest. It was a passive EBU member, and had broadcast it for the last 2 years. It was the only non-participating broadcaster this year to send its own commentators to the contest.[5]

Italy

Italian television did not enter because RAI, the national broadcaster, is in strong competition with commercial TV stations and they believe that the Eurovision Song Contest would not be a popular show in Italy. They have not broadcast the contest in recent years, although an independent Italian channel for the gay community has shown the show.

  Worldwide 

A live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast worldwide by satellite through Eurovision streams such as Channel One Russia, ERT World, TVE Internacional, TVP Polonia, RTP Internacional and TVR i. The official Eurovision Song Contest website also provided a live stream without commentary using the peer-to-peer transport Octoshape.

Gibraltar

Gibraltar screened only the final.

Commentators

• 
   Albania – Leon Menkshi (TVSH)


• 
   Andorra - Meri Picart and Josep Lluís Trabal (RTVA)


• 
   Armenia - Gohar Gasparyan and Phelix Khachatryan (Public Television)


• 
   Austria - Andi Knoll (ORF2)


• 
   Belarus - Denis Kurjan (Belarus 1)


• 
   Belgium - Dutch: André Vermeulen and Bart Peeters (één), Michel Follet and Sven Pichal (Radio 2). French: Jean-Pierre Hautier (La Une),^[7] Patrick Duhamel and Thomas Gunzig (La Première)


• 
   Bosnia and Herzegovina - Dejan Kukrić (BHT1)^[8]
  


• 
   Bulgaria - Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev


• 
   Croatia - Duško Čurlić^[9]
  


• 
   Cyprus - Evi Papamichail and Pampina Themistokleous (semi-final), Evi Papamichail and Vasso Komninou (final) (RIK 1)^[10]
  


• 
   Denmark - Mads Vangsø and Adam Duvå Hall (DR1)^[11]
  


• 
   Estonia - Marko Reikop^[12]
  


• 
   Finland - Finnish: Heikki Paasonen, Jaana Pelkonen and Asko Murtomäki (YLE TV2),^[13] Sanna Kojo and Jorma Hietamäki (YLE Radio Suomi),^[14]Swedish: Thomas Lundin (YLE FST)


• 
   France - Peggy Olmi and Éric Jean-Jean (semi-final, France 4), Michel Drucker, Claudy Siar (final, France 3)^[7] and Alexandre Devoise (final, France Bleu)


• 
   Germany - Peter Urban (Das Erste),^[15] Thomas Mohr (Deutschlandfunk/NDR 2)^[16]
  


• 
   Greece - Giorgos Kapoutzidis and Zeta Makrypoulia (NET)


• 
   Iceland - Sigmar Guðmundsson (Sjónvarpið)^[17]
  


• 
   Ireland - Marty Whelan (RTÉ One),^[18]Larry Gogan (RTÉ Radio 1, final)


• 
   Israel - No commentator


• 
   Latvia - Kārlis Streips


• 
   Lithuania - Darius Užkuraitis


• 
   Macedonia - Karolina Petkovska


• 
   Malta - Eileen Montesin^[19]
  


• 
   Moldova - Vitalie Rotaru


• 
   Monaco - Bernard Montiel and Églantine Eméyé (TMC Monte Carlo)^[20]
  


• 
   Netherlands - Cornald Maas and Paul de Leeuw (Nederland 2),^[21] Ron Stoeltie (Radio 2)


• 
   Norway - Jostein Pedersen (NRK1)^[22]
  


• 
   Poland - Artur Orzech (TVP1)^[23]
  


• 
   Portugal - Eládio Clímaco (RTP1)^[24]
  


• 
   Romania - Andreea Demirgian (TVR1)


• 
   Russia - Yuri Aksyuta and Tatiana Godunova (Channel One)


• 
   Serbia and Montenegro - Serbian: Duška Vučinić-Lučić (RTS1), Montenegrin: Dražen Bauković and Tamara Ivanković (TVCG2)


• 
   Slovenia - Mojca Mavec


• 
   Spain - Beatriz Pécker (TVE1)^[25]
  


• 
   Sweden - Pekka Heino (SVT1),^[26]Carolina Norén and Björn Kjellman (SR P3)^[27]
  


• 
    Switzerland - German: Sandra Studer (SF zwei), French: Jean-Marc Richard and Alain Morisod (TSR 1), Italian: Sandy Altermatt and Claudio Lazzarino (TSI 2)


• 
   Turkey - Bülend Özveren (TRT 1)


• 
   Ukraine - Pavlo Shylko (First National TV Channel)


• 
   United Kingdom - Paddy O'Connell (BBC Three, semi-final), Terry Wogan (BBC One, final) and Ken Bruce (BBC Radio 2, final)

Official album

Eurovision Song Contest: Athens 2006
Compilation album by Eurovision Song Contest
Released	28 April 2006
Genre	Pop
Length	53:38 (CD 1) 56:12 (CD 2)
Label	CMC
Eurovision Song Contest chronology
Eurovision Song Contest: Kyiv 2005 (2005) Eurovision Song Contest: Athens 2006 (2006) Eurovision Song Contest: Helsinki 2007 (2007)

Eurovision Song Contest: Athens 2006 was the official compilation album of the 2006 Contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and released by CMC International on 28 April 2006. The album featured all 37 songs that entered in the 2006 contest, including the semi-finalists that failed to qualify into the grand final.^[28]

CD 1
No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Sense tu" (Andorra)	Jenny	3:00
2.	"Zjarr e ftohtë" (Albania)	Luiz Ejlli	3:10
3.	"Without Your Love" (Armenia)	André	3:01
4.	"Lejla" (Bosnia and Herzegovina)	Hari Mata Hari	3:03
5.	"Je t'adore" (Belgium)	Kate Ryan	3:01
6.	"Let Me Cry" (Bulgaria)	Mariana Popova	2:54
7.	"Mum" (Belarus)	Polina Smolova	2:30
8.	"If We All Give a Little" (Switzerland)	six4one	3:02
9.	"Why Angels Cry" (Cyprus)	Annet Artani	2:58
10.	"No No Never" (Germany)	Texas Lightning	3:00
11.	"Twist of Love" (Denmark)	Sidsel Ben Semmane	3:00
12.	"Through My Window" (Estonia)	Sandra Oxenryd	3:01
13.	"Un Blodymary" (Spain)	Las Ketchup	3:01
14.	"Hard Rock Hallelujah" (Finland)	Lordi	3:01
15.	"Il était temps" (France)	Virginie Pouchain	2:57
16.	"Teenage Life" (United Kingdom)	Daz Sampson	3:03
17.	"Everything" (Greece)	Anna Vissi	3:00
18.	"Moja štikla" (Croatia)	Severina	2:56
Total length:			53:38

CD 2
No.	Title	Artist	Length
1.	"Every Song Is a Cry for Love" (Ireland)	Brian Kennedy	2:59
2.	"Together We Are One" (Israel)	Eddie Butler	3:05
3.	"Congratulations" (Iceland)	Silvia Night	3:01
4.	"We Are the Winners" (Lithuania)	LT United	2:29
5.	"I Hear Your Heart" (Latvia)	Vocal Group Cosmos	3:00
6.	"La Coco-Dance" (Monaco)	Séverine Ferrer	2:59
7.	"Loca" (Moldova)	Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko	2:58
8.	"Ninanajna" (Macedonia)	Elena Risteska	3:00
9.	"I Do" (Malta)	Fabrizio Faniello	2:53
10.	"Amambanda" (Netherlands)	Treble	2:59
11.	"Alvedansen" (Norway)	Christine Guldbrandsen	2:55
12.	"Follow My Heart" (Poland)	Ich Troje feat. Real McCoy	2:58
13.	"Coisas de nada" (Portugal)	Nonstop	2:58
14.	"Tornero" (Romania)	Mihai Trăistariu	3:00
15.	"Never Let You Go" (Russia)	Dima Bilan	3:00
16.	"Invincible" (Sweden)	Carola	3:00
17.	"Mr Nobody" (Slovenia)	Anžej Dežan	3:02
18.	"Süper Star" (Turkey)	Sibel Tüzün	3:01
19.	"Show Me Your Love" (Ukraine)	Tina Karol	2:55
Total length:			56:12

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
German Compilation Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[29]	2

References

1. 
   ^ "In pictures: Eurovision 2006". BBC News. 2006-05-21. Retrieved 2008-08-09..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ "Eurovision Songcontest Dutch tele-votes". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
   


3. 
   ^ ^ab "Eurovision Song Contest 2006". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
   


4. 
   ^ [1] Archived June 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
   


5. 
   ^ "Marcel Bezençon Award - an introduction". Poplight. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
   


6. 
   ^ "Winners of the Marcel Bezençon Awards 2012 | News | Eurovision Song Contest - Baku 2012". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
   


7. 
   ^ ^ab Christian Masson. "2006 - Athènes". Songcontest.free.fr. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
   


8. 
   ^ Royston, Benny (20 December 2006). "Exclusive: Bosnia Herzegovina – Song on 4th March". esctoday.com. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
   


9. 
   ^ "• Pogledaj temu - Prijedlog - Eurosong večer(i) na HRT-u!". Forum.hrt.hr. 2011-03-27. Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
   


10. 
    ^ Savvidis, Christos (OGAE Cyprus)
    


11. 
    ^ "Forside". esconnet.dk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


12. 
    ^ [2] Archived September 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
    


13. 
    ^ "Eurovision 2006 Voting Part 1/3 With Finnish Commentary". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


14. 
    ^ Julkaistu To, 29/04/2010 - 10:19 (2010-04-29). "YLE Radio Suomen kommentaattorit | Euroviisut | yle.fi | Arkistoitu". yle.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


15. 
    ^ "Dr. Peter Urban kommentiert - Düsseldorf 2011". Duesseldorf2011.de. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


16. 
    ^ "Thomas Mohr: Mit Dschinghis Khan im Garten". Eurovision.de. 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
    


17. 
    ^ "Morgunblaðið, 20.05.2006". Timarit.is. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


18. 
    ^ "RTE so lonely after loss of Gerry – Marty". 20 May 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010. He has been providing commentary for Irish viewers since 2000 and maintains great enthusiasm for the much lampooned contest.
    


19. 
    ^ [3] Archived February 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
    


20. 
    ^ Christian Masson. "2005 - Kiev". Songcontest.free.fr. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


21. 
    ^ "Welkom op de site van Eurovision Artists". Eurovisionartists.nl. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


22. 
    ^ "Adresse Athen - NRK". Nrk.no. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


23. 
    ^ "Pliki użytkownika Eurowizja". Chomikuj.pl. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


24. 
    ^ "Comentadores Do ESC - escportugalforum.pt.vu | o forum eurovisivo português". 21595.activeboard.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


25. 
    ^ "FORO FESTIVAL DE EUROVISIÓN • Ver Tema - Uribarri comentarista Eurovision 2010". Eurosongcontest.phpbb3.es. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


26. 
    ^ "Infosajten.com". Infosajten.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
    


27. 
    ^ "Swedes stay at home with Eurovision fever". The Local. 2009-05-16. Archived from the original on 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
    


28. 
    ^ Sietse Bakker (28 April 2006). "Athens 2006 album available in stock now!". esctoday.com. ESCToday. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
    


29. 
    ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 2006". Offiziellecharts.de. GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
    

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eurovision 2006.

• 
  Eurovision portal
  

• 
  Official Eurovision Website – Audio and video clips available in the Multimedia Lounge
  


• Eurovision Record Book

Articles related to the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

v t e Eurovision Song Contest 2006 Countries Final (by final results) Finland (winner) Russia Bosnia and Herzegovina Romania Sweden Lithuania Ukraine Armenia Greece Ireland Turkey Macedonia Croatia Germany Norway Switzerland Latvia Denmark United Kingdom Moldova Spain France Israel Malta Semi-final only (in alphabetical order) Albania Andorra Belarus Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Estonia Iceland Monaco Netherlands Poland Portugal Slovenia Withdrawn Serbia and Montenegro Artists Final (by final results) Lordi Dima Bilan Hari Mata Hari Mihai Trăistariu Carola LT United Tina Karol André Anna Vissi Brian Kennedy Sibel Tüzün Elena Risteska Severina Christine Guldbrandsen Texas Lightning six4one Vocal Group Cosmos Sidsel Ben Semmane Daz Sampson Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko & Connect-R Las Ketchup Virginie Pouchain Eddie Butler Fabrizio Faniello Semi-final only (in alphabetical order) Annet Artani Anžej Dežan Ich Troje feat. Real McCoy Jenny Kate Ryan Luiz Ejlli Mariana Popova Nonstop Polina Smolova Sandra Oxenryd Séverine Ferrer Silvia Night Treble Withdrawn No Name Songs Final (by final results) "Hard Rock Hallelujah" "Never Let You Go" "Lejla" "Tornerò" "Invincible" "We Are the Winners" "Show Me Your Love" "Without Your Love" "Everything" "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" "Süper Star" "Ninanajna" "Moja štikla" "Alvedansen" "No No Never" "I Hear Your Heart" "If We All Give A Little" "Twist of Love" "Teenage Life" "Loca" "Un Blodymary" "Il était temps" "Together We Are One" "I Do" Semi-final only (in alphabetical order) "Amambanda" "Coisas de nada" "Congratulations" "Follow My Heart" "Je t'adore" "La Coco-Dance" "Let Me Cry" "Mr Nobody" "Mum" "Sense tu" "Through My Window" "Why Angels Cry" "Zjarr e ftohtë" Withdrawn "Moja ljubavi" "Vous, c'est nous" (Note: "Withdrawn" refers to entries that withdrew after applying to enter) v t e Eurovision Song Contest Entries History Host cities Languages Presenters Rules Voting Winners Winners discography Contests 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Countries Active Albania Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Ukraine United Kingdom Inactive Andorra Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Luxembourg Monaco Morocco Slovakia Turkey Former Lebanon Serbia and Montenegro Yugoslavia Relations Armenia–Azerbaijan Russia–Ukraine National selections Current Albania Armenia Belarus Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Hungary Iceland Israel Italy Latvia Lithuania Malta Moldova Montenegro Norway Poland Portugal Romania Serbia Slovenia Spain Sweden Ukraine United Kingdom Former Austria Azerbaijan Belgium Bosnia & Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Estonia Finland Greece Ellinikós Telikós Eurosong - A MAD Show Ireland The Late Late Show You're a Star Israel Latvia Eirodziesma Dziesma Lithuania Macedonia Malta Malta Song for Europe Malta Eurovision Song Contest Montenegro Netherlands Serbia and Montenegro Spain Switzerland Concours Eurovision Die Grosse Entscheidungsshow United Kingdom Yugoslavia Other awards Marcel Bezençon Awards OGAE OGAE Video Contest OGAE Second Chance Contest Barbara Dex Award Television and concerts Eurovision Song Contest Previews Songs of Europe Kvalifikacija za Millstreet Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest Best of Eurovision Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits Category Portal v t e Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits Represented years Chronological order 1968 1969 1973 1976 1980 1982 1984 1985 1987 1992 1998 2000 2001 2002 2006 2008 2012 2013 2014 Represented countries Alphabetical order Austria Denmark Finland France Germany Ireland Israel Luxembourg Norway Russia Spain Sweden United Kingdom Represented artists Alphabetical order Anne-Marie David Bobbysocks! Brotherhood of Man Conchita Wurst Dana International Dima Bilan Emmelie de Forest Herreys Johnny Logan Lordi Loreen Natasha St-Pier Nicole Olsen Brothers Rosa López Represented songs Alphabetical order "Believe / Never Let You Go" (medley) "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" "Diva" "Ein bißchen Frieden" "Euphoria" "Fly on the Wings of Love" "Hard Rock Hallelujah" "Je n'ai que mon âme" "La, la, la / Vivo cantando / Eres tú / Europe's Living a Celebration" (medley) "La det swinge" "Only Teardrops" "Rise Like a Phoenix" "Save Your Kisses for Me" "Tu te reconnaîtras" "What's Another Year / Why Me? / Hold Me Now" (medley) (Note: "Withdrawn" refers to entries that withdrew after applying to enter)

Coordinates: 37°58′N 23°43′E / 37.967°N 23.717°E / 37.967; 23.717

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