Eurovision Rants

Did You Know... [1] (ALB - CZE)

(We're getting close to 200 reads already since the last post, so I wanted to do something interesting, and still closely tied to Eurovision.
So yay, a mini "did you know?" topic regarding Eurovision as a contest and its major development up untill now. Most of you probably knew about these facts or not know about them, so it will be interesting for both sides. They'll be charted under each country alphabetically, from Albania to United Kingdom.

Oh, also Eurovision launched this little graph with the former Eurovision winners you can quietly complete and see which is your favorite above them all. For me, Secret Garden ended up as the major favorite.)
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Albania:
Despite debuting since 2004 in the contest, they only have 1 top 5 placement, achieved in 2012 with Suus. The song wasn't really received well among eurofans, but yet, it got their best placement to date.
Also it got their first Barbara Dex Award* in the same year.

Andorra:
Andorra is the only country in the entire contest which had never witnessed a final since the semi-finals introduction. Their best place overall was in 2007 - 12th in the semi-final.

Armenia:
Armenia's long set of final streaks was eventually cut in 2011, when they failed to qualify. Furthermore, they were forced by safety reasons not to compete in the 2012 edition due to its turbulent relations with the host country, Azerbaijan.

Australia:
Australia had been broadcasting Eurovision since 1983 and continued to do it ever since. The country's political ties with United Kingdom also allowed several Australian natives to participate in Eurovision on behalf of UK.
Australia eventually participated by its own in 2015.

Austria:
When you think of Austria and Eurovision, you might think of Conchita, right? Well, Conchita's eventual 2014 win is the second top 3 result for this country - the last one being achieved after they won the edition of 1966. Furthermore, Austria is the only host country to have received the famous "nul point" (french for zero points, aka nothing) in 2015.

Azerbaijan:
Azerbaijan is by far the most successful Caucasian nation to date, achieving 5 top 5's. Literally. (5th in 2010, 4th in 2012, 3rd in 2009, 2nd in 2013 and 1st in 2011). It was also the most controversial one at that, due to the allegations of buying votes around that time.

Belarus:
Belarus is basically that country which can't decide at all what to listen at or which song should he listen to more.
They've changed and revamped the songs a lot between 2010-2013 due to multiple reasons (such as strong political message, accusations of stealing votes, or just plain revamping it).
Belgium:
Belgium's only winner, Sandra Kim, is the youngest winner in the history of the contest, winning at just 13 years of age. She chaimed she was 15 during participation, and even so, the title wasn't strapped off.
Also, I asterisk(ed) the Barbara Dex Awards. It's basically an award given to the worst dressed artist in the respective year and instaurated in 1997 - after the Belgian act Barbara Dex (how ironic), which came last overall, but was remembered for the horrible outfit she wore.

Bulgaria:
Bulgaria tends to be an oddity: When they fail, they literally fail in the semi-finals pretty badly.
But when they qualify, they end up top 5 overall. It happened in 2007, 2016 & 2017 to date. Will 2018 be also lucky enough to keep their streak alive? We'll see.

Croatia:
The only Yugoslav winning act was in 1989, by the song "Rock Me". The band, Riva, are a band formed in Croatia. So technically Croatia kind-of won Eurovision too (...not as independent nation, but still pretty notable too.)
As independent nation though, Croatia, between 1996 & 2011, relied on a pop festival named simply Dora. Also their last place in top 10 was in 2001.
(No, not Dora the Explorer, simply Dora. Alright? Alright.)

Cyprus:
Cyprus' best results are three 5th places - in 1982, 1997 & 2004.
The island is often notable for the points exchange with Greece in the semis and final respectively, consistently giving 12 whenever they could, with exceptions, of course.
One of the known exceptions was in 2015, where Greece and Cyprus didn't gave the 12 to the other, but both gave it to Italy.

Czech Republic:
Czech Republic (or Czechia, however you want to say it) had only managed to reach to date into one final. From 2007-2009 they had a long streak of poor placements, which caused them to withdraw.
Since their return in 2015, they only achieved the final in 2016, and ended up second-last overall and getting the first ever 0 points from the televoting in the new voting system.
(in Kebab's language: since their return, they've been pretty mch robbed, 2015 was my favorite overall and 2016 deserved way better than it got. 2017 deserved a lot too, to be honest. Glad to see them back though, I missed them.)