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Iittle did Marcel Baison of France know what he was starting. Inspired by the success of Italy's San Remo song festival, Baison came up with the idea for a song competition that would bring the nations of Europe closer together in the first decade after World War II. Produced by the then -new European Broadcasting Union, the first Eurovision Song Contest had only seven countries competing when it took place May 24, 1956, in Lugano, Switzerland. More than 40 years later, the annual A8BAEurovìsìon:In '74, The Song contest draws a television audience of 300 million viewers from all over Europe, and more than 30 countries, includ- 25th anniversary ing many from Eastern Europe, are eligible to compete. Contest Met Its In its four -decade history, Eurovision has yielded a num- ber of worldwide hits. The most successful group to ever come out of the contest is Abba, who parlayed its 1974 win "Waterloo" with "Waterloo" into global success. FIRST "VOLARE," THEN "WATERLOO" "At that time, it was the one and only vehicle to reach out- side Sweden," explains Björn Ulvaeus. `Because there was no way anyone in England or America would listen to anything coming from this obscure country. You could send them your tapes, knowing they threw them away immediately. So the only chance was to enter Eurovision with a song, and that had B-r;ghtov such an impact in Europe at that time." Other well -known names have also competed. Celine Dion, Julio Iglesias, Nana Mouskouri, Olivia Newton John and Cliff Richard have all been Eurovision contestants.
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