ESC anno per anno: Nel corso degli anni la formula del concorso si è modificata, anche se i principi di base sono rimasti immutati. I paesi partecipanti presentano le canzoni, eseguite dal vivo in un programma televisivo trasmesso dal network dell’EBU, simultaneamente. Ogni paese partecipante è rappresentato da un’emittente televisiva, di solito, ma non sempre, è la TV pubblica di quel paese. Il programma è organizzato da uno dei paesi partecipanti (di norma il vincitore dell’edizione precedente), e la trasmissione viene mandata in onda dalla sede prescelta (studi televisivi, auditorium e teatri in passato, ora arene) dalla città ospitante. Nel corso di questo programma, dopo che sono state eseguite tutte le canzoni, i paesi procedono a votare per i brani degli altri paesi: ogni nazione non può votare per la propria canzone. Alla fine del programma, viene dichiarata vincitrice la canzone con il maggior numero di punti. Il vincitore riceve, oltre al prestigio di aver vinto, un trofeo. Il paese vincitore è invitato a ospitare l’evento l’anno successivo.

Il programma è sempre aperto da uno o più presentatori, che accolgono gli spettatori. La maggior parte dei paesi ospitanti sceglie di sfruttare l’opportunità loro offerta dall’ospitare un programma con un pubblico internazionale di ampio respiro, ed è quindi comune, fra un brano e l’altro, vedere dei brevi filmati, detti cartoline, in cui vengono mostrate immagini della nazione che ospita il concorso. Tra le esecuzioni delle canzoni e l’annuncio dei voti, c’è sempre un momento di spettacolo, detto Interval Act.

La finale dell’Eurovision Song Contest finale si tiene tradizionalmente un sabato sera di maggio, alle 21.00 CET. Negli anni passati, però, il concorso si è tenuto anche di giovedì (nel 1956) e nei mesi di marzo e aprile.

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Anniversaries: Several anniversary events, and related contests under the “Eurovision Live Events” brand, have been organised by the EBU with member broadcasters. In addition, participating broadcasters have occasionally commissioned special Eurovision programmes for their home audiences, and a number of other imitator contests have been developed outside of the EBU framework, on both a national and international level.

The EBU has held several events to mark selected anniversaries in the contest’s history: ‘Songs of Europe’, held in 1981 to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary, had live performances and video recordings of all Eurovision Song Contest winners up to 1981; ‘Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest’ was organised in 2005 to celebrate the event’s fiftieth anniversary, and featured a contest to determine the most popular song from among 14 selected entries from the contest’s first 50 years; and in 2015 the event’s sixtieth anniversary was marked by ‘Eurovision Song Contest’s Greatest Hits’, a concert of performances by past Eurovision artists and video montages of performances and footage from previous contests. Following the cancellation of the 2020 contest, the EBU subsequently organised a special non-competitive broadcast, ‘Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light’, which provided a showcase for the songs that would have taken part in the competition.

Songs of Europe:  In 1981, a concert television programme was held to commemorate the contest’s twenty-fifth anniversary. The event, entitled Songs of Europe, took place in Mysen, Norway, featuring nearly all the winners of the contest, from 1956 to 1981. It was hosted by Rolf Kirkvaag and Titten Tei.

Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest:  In 2005, the EBU had agreed with the Danish broadcaster, DR, to produce a programme to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. The show, entitled Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest after Cliff Richard’s 1968 entry for the United Kingdom, was held in Copenhagen, and featured a competition among fourteen of the most popular songs from the last 50 years of the contest. A telephone vote was held to determine the most popular Eurovision song of all-time, which was won by the ABBA song “Waterloo” (winner for Sweden in 1974). The event was hosted by the 1997 Contest winner for the United Kingdom, Katrina Leskanich, and Latvia’s representative on its debut at the 2000 Contest, Renārs Kaupers.

Eurovision Song Contest’s Greatest Hits: In 2015, the EBU-UER had decided again to commemorate the contest and agreed with the United Kingdom’s broadcaster, BBC, to produce a show for the 60th anniversary of the contest, after evaluating several proposals from member broadcasters in regards to the anniversary celebration beyond the 2015 Contest in May. The event, entitled Eurovision Song Contest’s Greatest Hits (also known as Eurovision’s Greatest Hits), took place at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London and featured fifteen acts from thirteen countries in the official line-up. Unlike the 50th anniversary show in 2005 which was broadcast live, this event did not feature a competition and was pre-recorded to be televised across Europe and other EBU members on various dates schedule by the respective broadcasters. The event was hosted by the British commentator for Eurovision, Graham Norton, and the host of the 2013 and 2016 Contest, Petra Mede.

Het Grote Songfestivalfeest: Het Grote Songfestivalfeest (in English: the Big Songfestival Party) was a Dutch live televisionconcert programme starring by artists of the Eurovision Song Contest from the past sixty-four years and a pre-event prior to the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest which will be held in Rotterdam. The concert took place on 15 December 2019 at the Ziggo Dome, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Tickets were on sale via Ticketmaster. The concert was produced by PilotStudio in collaboration with the Dutch broadcaster, AVROTROS and will be broadcast on 2020 New Year’s Day. The event was originally planned to be hosted by Dutch Eurovision commentators Cornald Maas and Jan Smit, but the later has withdrawn from his job as the show’s presenter because of an illness and was replaced by one of his Eurovision 2020 co-hosts Edsilia Rombley, who represented the Netherlands in the 1998 and 2007 contest and eventually performed her entries during the concert.

Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light: Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light was a live television programme, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and produced by the Dutch broadcasters NPO, NOS and AVROTROS. It replaced the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was planned to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The show was broadcast live from Hilversum, Netherlands on 16 May 2020 and lasted for approximately two hours. It was hosted by Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley and Jan Smit, who had been chosen to present the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 before its cancellation.

The EBU reported that the show had an audience of 73 million viewers, based on data provided by 38 of the 45 countries that broadcast the programme. In April 2021, the show was nominated for a Rockie Award in the category Comedy & Variety.