Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Since when are they in Europe....

Well folks, it's that time of year again and whether you admit it or not, most of ye will be tuning in to see how Jedward do at some point of the week. Of course we all deny liking it or just say "well i only watch the results"

But every year I hear people give out about countries like Israel or Azerbaijan can take part in the Eurovision. So here's a little lesson on how Eurovision entry works:

Participation in the Eurovision is open to active members of the European Broadcast Union which is a big collective of state broadcasters. To join the EBU your country needs to be:

  • part of the Council of Europe
  • Part of the European Broadcast Area (EBA) 
Confused yet? The EBA is an area defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Here's the complicated definition:
The "European Broadcasting Area" is bounded on the west by the western boundary of Region 1, on the east by the meridian 40° East of Greenwich and on the south by theparallel 30° North so as to include the northern part of Saudi Arabia and that part of those countries bordering the Mediterranean within these limits. In addition, IraqJordanand that part of the territory of Syrian Arab RepublicTurkey and Ukraine lying outside the above limits are included in the European Broadcasting Area
Is that a bit too much? Here's a nice map:
 File:EurovisionParticipants.svg

  Entered at least once
  Never entered, although eligible to do so
  Entry intended, but later withdrew

So that's how it works (We'll leave out the question of what defines Europe). So on Saturday evening when you're "not" watching the Eurovision and someone (who's also "not" watching) asks "Hang on, they're not European") you can show off your new found knowledge - while not actually watching the Eurovision, obviously.


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