EuroRegion Song Contest

The EuroRegion Song Contest (EMSC) is a competitive music festival between European regions (and some expections), where every participating region sends a song to compete in the event. At the end, the results are made by a jury and televoting.

History
For the very first edition, the EBU decided to select thirteen regions all over Europe (and one from Australia) to take part in this edition. The most important thing was that the entries were peformed to show the ethnical background of the nation or the people groups. The EBU prefered that the songs were sung in a minority language, but this was not obbligaroty. In this contest, also regions from Australia and the United States are able to take part.

Eve Goodman gave Wales the very first victory in the contest in Leeuwarden. In this first edition was Scotland able to receive enough point to finish at the second place. Tatarstan followed at the third place. The Faroe Islands were internally selected to host the second edition in Tórshavn. Tim Douwsma took the first Frisian victory in the contest. Sápmi finished at the second place.

To decide wich region could host the third edition, the EBU contatcted the Catalan, Tatar and broadcaster from Sápmi. Later on, Catalonia was officially confirmed as host region. In the top three, all possible host regions were able to finish at the top of the board. Tatarstan won, followed by Sápmi, who finihsed at the second place for the second edition in the row. Host Catalonia ended at the third place.

At the end of the third edition, the EBU announced that they were talking with both the Frisian and Welsh broadcaster. Friesland was later on confirmed as host city. Only 12 regions decided to select a representative for this fourth edition. Theater Sneek was the host venue. This venue can host 600 people. Brittany was able to win this edition. This result also was their first result in the top ten. Catalonia and Tatarstan completed the top three. Directly at the beginning of the winner press-conference, the EBU announced that the fifth edition would take place in Kazan, Tatarstan.

In Kazan, 14 regions took part in this edition, two more than the previous edition. Also the most in the history of the contest like in the second edition. The Rusyns debuted and Gamilaraay and the Sorbs returned. Meänmaa withdrew because of the lack of interested singers to represent the region. Vegard Bjørsmo, from Sápmi, won this fifth edition with his song in the Northern Sámi language. It was their first victory. The hosting region finished at the second place followed by Wales.

Sápmi hosted the sixth edition. The region already tried to host the contest in previous editions. Tromsø was choosen to host this edition. Wales was the favorite to win, what they did. Manw scored 112 points and gave the region its second victory. Catalonia and Brittany completed the top three. Sápmi again was choosen to host the contest. The seventh edition took place in Rovaniemi. The debuting region, Corsica, won this edition with 114 points. It was the first time in the history of any EuroMusic event that a debuting region could win in their first particiption, exept of the first edition. Both the Faroe Islands and Wales finished with 103 points. They received from every voting region points, but because the Faroe Islands received more 12 points, they were ranked as second. Ruthenia finished for the second edition in a row at the last place.

Wales hosted the eighth edition. It was their first time as host. However, they tried to host almost all of the previous editions. No top favorite was designated during this edition, so the voting was very diverse. Wales was almost always chasing but when the last region awarded the points, Wales jumped over Scotland with one point. Because of this they were able to celebrate their third victory. The Faroe Islands finished in third place. Once again, Ruthenia could not count on a success and, as in the previous two editions, they finished in last place.

Format
Every country send one song to the contest. At least there are ten regions, and a maximum of 15 regions. After the show, each region awards 12, 10, 8, 7, ... until 1 points for their top ten. The country who gets the most amount of points wins the contest. If two or more regions receive the same number of points, the country that got the highest point will rank higher.

Number of victories and hosting
Different as in the EuroMusic Song Contest, the winning country isn't automaticaly the host of the next edition. Here, the EBU selects a region to host the next edition.

Friesland was the first region who hosted this contest. They were also the first region to host the contest twice. Sápmi however was the first region who hosted the contest in two consecutive editions. Tórshavn was selected by the Faroese broadcaster to host the second edition. Catalonia and Tatarstan hosted the two following editions.

Participating countries
From the beginning of the contest until the most recent edition, 16 regions took part in the contest. Only in the first edition, the EBU sended an invitation to the regions. Regions from Europe, Australia and the United States are able to take part.

Statistics
For more statistics, you can have a look to the following page: Statistics of the EuroRegion Song Contest

Here you can see the top 10 prestations from each region.


 * Table key
 * Withdrawn – Regions who have participated in the past but have withdrawn.