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50 free Eurovision Song Contest trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Eurovision Song Contest trivia quiz covers seventy years of the world's longest-running televised music competition, from Lys Assia winning the first contest in Lugano in 1956 to the recent wins for Loreen, Nemo and JJ. It goes far beyond naming winners: expect questions on how the contest was invented, the Sanremo Festival that inspired it, the Charpentier fanfare that opens every broadcast, the year four countries tied for first, why the Big Five skip the semi-finals, which countries have scored nul points most often, and how Australia ended up taking part. There are questions on the acts who went global — ABBA, Céline Dion, Måneskin, Duncan Laurence — the novelty and drama moments (Bucks Fizz's skirts, Lordi's monster masks, Conchita Wurst, Dana International), the records set by Alexander Rybak, Salvador Sobral and Johnny Logan, and the interval act that became Riverdance. No lyrics are quoted, so it is safe for a pub quiz round. Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia and each question carries a citation to the page it came from.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which organisation has run the Eurovision Song Contest since 1956?
The European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has organised the contest since the first edition in 1956; the word 'Eurovision' itself was coined by journalist George Campey in the Evening Standard in 1951.
Q 02Eurovision was modelled on an Italian song competition held since 1951 in which town?
Sanremo
Eurovision was modelled on the Sanremo Music Festival, held in the Ligurian town of Sanremo since 1951; RAI manager Sergio Pugliese proposed a Europe-wide version.
Q 03In which Swiss city was the first Eurovision Song Contest held in 1956?
Lugano
The first contest was staged at the Teatro Kursaal in Lugano on 24 May 1956, hosted by Lohengrin Filipello; Switzerland, the host, won it.
Q 04Who won the very first Eurovision in 1956, singing 'Refrain' for the host country?
Lys Assia
Swiss singer Lys Assia won the 1956 contest with 'Refrain'; the jury vote was held behind closed doors and only the winner was announced.
Q 05How many countries competed in the first contest in 1956?
Seven
Seven countries competed in 1956: Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland, each entering two songs.
Q 06Which two countries were tied on a record seven Eurovision wins each at the end of 2025?
Ireland and Sweden
Ireland and Sweden each had seven wins at the end of 2025, Ireland's between 1970 and 1996 and Sweden's between 1974 and 2023; France, Luxembourg, the UK and the Netherlands had five each.
Q 07Which country has competed in Eurovision more times than any other, missing only one edition?
Germany
Germany has taken part in every contest except 1996, when it was eliminated in an audio pre-qualifying round; it has won twice, with Nicole in 1982 and Lena in 2010.
Q 08The theme played over the EBU ident before every Eurovision broadcast is the prelude to which piece?
Charpentier's Te Deum
The prelude to Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Te Deum, composed around 1690, is the Eurovision network's signature tune and opens every contest broadcast.
Q 09How long may a competing Eurovision song last?
Three minutes or less
Competing songs may last three minutes or less; the limit is written into the contest rules and entries are edited down to fit it.
Q 10What is the maximum number of performers allowed on stage for a Eurovision entry?
Six
Each entry may have at most six performers on stage, a limit introduced in 1971, the first year groups were allowed to compete.
Q 11Under the points system, what is the maximum score one country can award another?
12
The top mark is 12 points, the famous 'douze points', given to each country's favourite entry; the 1–8, 10 and 12 scale has been used since 1975.
Q 12In which year was the contest cancelled for the only time in its history?
2020
The 2020 contest in Rotterdam was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic; a non-competitive special, Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, was broadcast instead.
Q 13Which five countries automatically qualify for the final as the contest's biggest financial contributors?
France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK
Q 21Which winning song holds the record for sales, over six million singles?
'Save Your Kisses for Me' by Brotherhood of Man
'Save Your Kisses for Me', the UK's 1976 winner by Brotherhood of Man, sold over six million singles worldwide; ABBA's 'Waterloo' sold over five million.
Q 22Which is the only Eurovision entry ever to win a Grammy Award?
'Nel blu, dipinto di blu' (Volare)
Domenico Modugno's 'Nel blu, dipinto di blu' (Volare), third for Italy in 1958, won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the first Grammy Awards and topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Q 23Who was the first performer to win Eurovision twice, in 1980 and 1987?
The 'Big Five' of France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK go straight to the final as the EBU's largest funders; the host country also skips the semi-finals.
Q 14Which country qualified for every Eurovision final it entered from 2004 through 2025?
Ukraine
Ukraine won on only its second appearance, in 2004.
Q 15In which year did semi-finals first appear at Eurovision?
2004
A single semi-final was introduced in Istanbul in 2004 and a second was added in 2008; in the 1990s the overflow was handled by relegating the worst-placed countries.
Q 16In which year did four countries tie for first place and were all declared winners?
1969
In 1969 in Madrid, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands and France all finished on 18 points and, with no tie-break rule in place, were declared joint winners.
Q 17Which of these was one of the four joint winners in 1969?
Lulu with 'Boom Bang-a-Bang'
Lulu sang 'Boom Bang-a-Bang' for the UK in Madrid in 1969 and shared first place with Spain, the Netherlands and France; Cliff Richard had finished second for the UK the year before.
Q 18ABBA won Eurovision for Sweden in 1974 in which English seaside town?
Brighton
ABBA won with 'Waterloo' at the Brighton Dome on 6 April 1974; the title uses Napoleon's 1815 defeat as a metaphor for surrendering to love.
Q 19Céline Dion won Eurovision in 1988 representing which country?
Switzerland
Céline Dion represented Switzerland with 'Ne partez pas sans moi' and won in Dublin in 1988 by a single point over the UK's Scott Fitzgerald.
Q 20Which future superstar came fourth for Spain in 1970?
Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias sang 'Gwendolyne' for Spain in Amsterdam in 1970 and finished fourth; Olivia Newton-John also came fourth, for the UK in 1974.
Johnny Logan
Johnny Logan won for Ireland with 'What's Another Year' in 1980 and 'Hold Me Now' in 1987, then wrote Linda Martin's 1992 winner 'Why Me?', giving him three wins in all.
Q 24With which two songs did Sweden's Loreen win Eurovision in 2012 and 2023?
'Euphoria' and 'Tattoo'
'Euphoria' and 'Tattoo' made her the second two-time winner after Johnny Logan, and 'Euphoria' became the most downloaded Eurovision song of its era.
Q 25Which country had finished last a record 12 times by the end of Eurovision 2025?
Norway
Norway shares four 'nul points' finishes with Austria, and has also won three times, most recently with Alexander Rybak in 2009.
Q 26Which country had finished second a record 16 times by the end of Eurovision 2025?
United Kingdom
The UK's five wins came in 1967, 1969, 1976, 1981 and 1997.
Q 27Which is the only country to have won Eurovision three years in a row?
Ireland
Ireland then won again in 1996, four wins in five years.
Q 28Riverdance began life as what at the 1994 contest in Dublin?
The interval act
Riverdance was the interval act at the Point Theatre in Dublin in 1994; the seven-minute piece led by Michael Flatley and Jean Butler grew into a full stage show.
Q 29Which country was the first to win on its debut appearance as an independent nation, in 2007?
Serbia
Serbia won in Helsinki in 2007 with Marija Šerifović's ballad 'Molitva', its first entry after the split from Montenegro in 2006.
Q 30Portugal waited a record 53 years for its first win, which came in 2017 with which singer?
Salvador Sobral
Salvador Sobral won in Kyiv in 2017 with 'Amar pelos dois', written by his sister Luísa; his 758 points set a record winning total.