Eurovision Dance Contest

The Eurovision Dance Contest was an international dancing competition that was held for the first time in the United Kingdom on Saturday 1 September 2007.

Not to be confused with Eurovision Young Dancers.
Eurovision Dance Contest
GenreDance contest
Created byRichard Bunn
Presented byGraham Norton
Claudia Winkleman
Country of originList of countries
Original language(s)English and French
No. of episodes2 contests
Production
Running time2 hours
Production company(s)
DistributorEurovision
Release
Picture format576i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Original release1 September 2007 (2007-09-01) –
6 September 2008 (2008-09-06)
Chronology
Related shows
External links
Official website
Production website

The contest was similar in format to the long-running Eurovision Song Contest and was organized by both the Eurovision association and the International DanceSport Federation (IDSF).[1] The IDSF credits the existence of the contest to Richard Bunn of rbi network,[2] Geneva, former EBU controller of sport, who convinced the EBU to create the programme.[3]

Format and general information

The competition consisted of pairs of dancers from each participating country, each pair performing one dance, a freestyle dance in which the cultures of the individual countries could be showcased to the rest of Europe. In addition to being evaluated by a panel of dance experts, the routines were judged by European audiences who cast their vote for their favourite couple via telephone or text messaging to determine winner of the competition. The BBC was "host broadcaster" for the first two contests in 2007 and 2008, the only contests to date.[4]

Contests

2007
Main article: Eurovision Dance Contest 2007
The logo of 2007 Contest features the word Eurovision written in the same way as it is on the Eurovision Song Contest logos without the heart and the silhouette of a dancing couple in front of a star that contains the flag of the host country, the United Kingdom.

Eurovision Dance Contest 2007 was hosted in London, United Kingdom. In EDC 2007 each couple has performed two 1 minute 30 seconds dances: the first dance was a ballroom or Latin dance while the second was a freestyle dance. Professional dance couples were allowed to enter the competition. Finland won the competition.

2008
Main article: Eurovision Dance Contest 2008

Several changes were introduced for Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 which was hosted in Glasgow, United Kingdom. Professional dance couples were no longer allowed, all pairs had to include one professional and one celebrity dancer. Only one, 2 minute dance, was performed by each couple. A professional jury was introduced to the competition having approximate weight of 20% of the outcome, while the remaining 80% came from televoting. Poland won the competition.[5]

2009
Main article: Third Eurovision Dance Contest

The competition was to have been held for a third year, hosted this time in Baku, Azerbaijan, however on May 2009, it was announced the event had been postponed until 2010, due to insufficient broadcasters signing up to the event. The planned 2010 event was ultimately cancelled in January of that year, with the EBU citing "a serious lack of interest" in the contest. The competition has not been held since. Both professional and mixed couples of one amateur and one professional would have been eligible to compete, the same rules that had been in place for the 2007 contest.[5]

Participation
Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Dance Contest
Participation since 2007:
  Entered at least once
  Never entered, although eligible to do so
  Entry intended

When the competition was first planned, the aim was to begin with ten to twelve participating countries and expand in subsequent years. However, the response rate was greater than anticipated and it proved difficult to turn away the additional countries interested in participating in the event. For logistical reasons, a limitation on number of participants was established. In order to ensure the event was a success, the EBU invited participating broadcasters from member countries to take part. In several countries, where the EBU had more than one member, two broadcasters expressed interest. The final decision of which broadcaster would represent those countries was decided by either an internal accord by the two broadcasters, or by a draw, conducted by the EBU.[6]

Sixteen countries; Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the host country the United Kingdom all débuted in the very first Eurovision Dance Contest in 2007. In June 2008, Switzerland announced their withdrawal from the 2008 contest without specifying a reason, while Germany withdrew from the 2008 event the same month, due to comparatively low ratings for the 2007 contest in the country.[7] Spain was originally due to take part in 2008, but withdrew in August 2008 just fifteen days before the event, reportedly due to a scheduling clash with the country competing in a qualifying match for the FIFA World Cup 2010, which was taking place the same evening.[8] Azerbaijan also joined that year.

Belarus intended on competing for the first time in 2009 but the contest was cancelled. Although the 2009 contest never happened Austria, Finland, Lithuania, Sweden and the Netherlands had confirmed they would not compete in the third contest.

Year Country making its début entry
2007
2008
2009
  • Belarus

Hosting

Most of the expense of the contest is covered by commercial sponsors and contributions from the other participating nations. The contest is considered to be a unique opportunity for promoting the host country as a tourist destination. The table below shows a list of cities and venues that have hosted Eurovision Dance Contest, one or more times.

Contests Country City Venue Years
2 United Kingdom London BBC Television Centre 2007
Glasgow Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre 2008

Winners

The contest differs from the Eurovision Song Contest in that the winning country does not automatically become host for the next contest.[6] The Eurovision Dance Contest followed the same host selection process as the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Year Date Host city Winner Dancers Dance style Points Margin Runner-up
2007 1 September London Finland Katja Koukkula and Jussi Väänänen Rumba and Paso Doble 132 11 Ukraine
2008 6 September Glasgow Poland Edyta Herbuś and Marcin Mroczek Rumba, Cha-cha-cha and Jazz Dance 154 33 Russia

Top three placings
Country Total Years won
 Finland 1 0 0 1
 Poland 1 0 0 1
 Ukraine 0 1 1 2
 Russia 0 1 0 1
 Ireland 0 0 1 1

See also

References
  1. "IDSF Presidium announcement". Archived from the original on 2007-06-30. Retrieved 2007-05-10.
  2. rbi network, Richard Bunn, Genève - easyMonitoring
  3. "IDSF President Address of the occasion of IDSF's 50th Anniversary". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  4. Eurovision Dance Contest EBU (Bottom of page) Archived 2007-01-12 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Eurovision Dance Contest 2008 Glasgow Танцевальное Евровидение 2008 Глазго
  6. "FAQ Eurovision Dance Contest - Glasgow 2008". Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  7. https://esckaz.com/edc/2008/news1.htm
  8. https://esckaz.com/edc/2008/spa.htm
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