#throwbackthursday | Countries of the past - part two
Several weeks ago we had a look on 4 countries that participated in the past, but not in 2020. Now we will take a look at the 5 remaining countries.
Turkey:
Turkey Participated 34 times between 1975 and 2012, and they won the contest once, in 2003, when singer Sertab Erener sang her song ‘Everyway that I can’, bringing the 2004 contest to Istanbul. Turkey came close to victory in 1997 and 2010, placing 3rd and 2nd respectively. In 2012 the country made their last appearance with singer Can Bonomo and his song ‘Love Me Back’, placing 7th in the final.
Between their debut in 1975 and their first and only win in 2003, Turkey failed to make much of an impact in Eurovision, and found themselves regularly languishing near the bottom of the scoreboard, only managing to make the top 10 on two occasions - 9th place in 1986 and 3rd place in 1997.
Turkish broadcaster TRT announced in December 2012 that they would not be participating in the 2013 contest due to them not being happy with some of the rules of Eurovision. They have decided to sit out all other contest since then for the same reasons.
Montenegro:
Montenegro has made 11 appearances on the Eurovision stage, between 2007 and 2019, but they took a break for 3 years from 2009 till 2012. However, despite having participated 11 times, they have only made the final twice, in 2014 and 2015.
Their best result was in 2015 when Knez sang his song ‘Adio’ in Vienna, finishing in 13th place with 44 points, followed by Sergej Cetkovic who finished in 19th place in the final with 37 points.
After the 2019 contest, the broadcaster announced they would be withdrawing from the 2020 contest due to financial problems and their poor results in the last years.
Monaco:
Out of Monaco’s 24 participations in the contest, they have won once, come 2nd once and placed 3rd a further three times. Their one and only victory was in 1971, when Séverine sand her song ‘Un Banc, un Arbre, une Rue’. With every participation that Monaco has ever had, the act was always chosen via an internal selection.
Monaco took a break from the contest from 1980 until 2003, and then they made a comeback in 2004. They also participated in 2005 and 2006. With those 3 participations however, they failed to qualify to the final. They withdrew after the 2006 contest, due to their poor results in the contest, and haven’t made a comeback since.
However, the Monegasque broadcaster broadcast the 2007 contest with the hopes of returning in 2008, but in the end, the broadcaster decided against it. They also hinted at another possible return in 2009, but this did not come to fruition.
Fun fact: Jean Jacques, who sang for Monaco in 1969, was the first child to ever take part in Eurovision, when he was just 12 years old.
Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Bosnia and Herzegovina, who debuted at the 1993 contest, have never won Eurovision, but in 2006 they came very close to winning when they placed 3rd with Hari Mata Hari and their song ‘Lejla’.
Between 1993 and 2016 they have only made 19 appearances, and they took a break from 2013 to 2015, as well as sitting out the 1998 and 2000 contests. Between 2008 and 2012, they had a 5 year 100% qualification streak from the semi finals.
Their last appearance was in 2016 with Dalal & Deen Feat. Ana Rucner & Jalal singing ‘Ljubav je’. They just missed out on the final, placing 11th in their Semi-final. Since 2016, they have not yet made an appearance again, mostly due to financial reasons.
Luxembourg:
Luxembourg is one of the 7 countries that first participated in the very first contest in 1956. Between 1956 and 1994, the country participated 37 times, with 5 victories and 2 third places. France Gall brought the country their first of five wins with 'Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son' in 1965, whilst Corinne Hermès brought them their last victory in 1983 with her song ‘Si La Vie Est Cadeau’. Luxembourg has won the contest a total of 5 times, making them one of the countries with the most Eurovision wins behind Sweden and Ireland on 7 wins.
Luxembourg has twice been represented by Greek singers - Nana Mouskouri in 1963 and Vicky Leandros in 1972, who ended up winning with "Après Toi".
Their last appearance in Eurovision was made in 1993, and since then they have not made a comeback due to a lack of interest.
Which of there countries would you like to see back in Eurovision one day?
Let us know in the comments down below!
