Festivali Evropian i Këngës 2006

Logoja Zyrtare e festivalit mbeti e njëjta që nga 2004 dhe 2005 vetëm flamuri i vendit në zemër ndryshoi. Following Istanbul's "Në të njëjtin qiell" dhe Kiev's "Awakening", slogani për Festivalin e 2006 ishte "Ndjeje Ritmin".

Për të ruajtur kohën në finale, koha e votimit zgjati 10 minuta dhe procesi i votimit u ndryshua: pikët nga 1-7 u shfaqën automatikisht në ekran. The spokespersons only announced the countries scoring 8, 10 and 12 points. Ky lloj votimi u kritikua sepse. And for the first time, the display for the Macedonian entry had the title spelled out in its entirety (as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia") instead of being abbreviated as it has been in previous years (as "FYR Macedonia").

Vendet Pjesëmarrëse në Festivalin Evropian duhet të jenë anëtarë të EBU active members.

Gjysmëfinalja u mbajt më 18 maj 2006 në orën 21:00 (CET). 23 shtete performuan dhe të gjithë shtetet pjesëmarrëse votuan dhe Serbia dhe Mali i Zi.

Vendet me ngjyrë të verdhë u kualifikuan për në finale

Rradha	Shteti	Gjuha	Artisti	Kënga	Përkthimi	Vendi	Pikët
01	Armenia	Angleze	André	"Without Your Love"	"Pa dashurinë tënde"	6	150
02	Bullgaria	Angleze	Mariana Popova	"Let Me Cry"	"Më lër të qaj"	17	36
03	Sllovenia	Angleze	Anžej Dežan	"Mr Nobody"	"Z. Askushi"	16	49
04	Andorra	Katalanase	Jenny	"Sense tu"	"Pa ty"	23	8
05	Bjellorusia	Angleze	Polina Smolova	"Mum"	"Mama"	22	10
06	Shqipëria	Shqipe	Luiz Ejlli	"Zjarr e ftohtë"	-	14	58
07	Belgjika	Angleze	Kate Ryan	"Je t'adore"	"Të Adhuroj"	12	69
08	Irlanda	Angleze	Brian Kennedy	"Every Song Is a Cry for Love"	"Çdo këngë është një e qarë për dashuri"	9	79
09	Qiproja	Angleze	Annet Artani	"Why Angels Cry"	"Pse ëngjëjt qajnë"	15	57
10	Monako	Franceze, Tahitian	Séverine Ferrer	"La Coco-Dance"	"Kërcimi Koko"	21	14
11	Maqedonia e Veriut	Angleze, Maqedonase	Elena Risteska	"Ninanajna" (Нинанајна)	-	10	76
12	Polonia	English, Polake, Gjermane, Ruse[2]	Ich Troje feat. Real McCoy (dance group)	"Follow My Heart"	"Ndiq zemrën time"	11	70
13	Rusia	Angleze	Dima Bilan	"Never Let You Go"	"Kurrë nuk të lë të ikësh"	3	217
14	Turqia	Turke	Sibel Tüzün	"Süper Star"	"Superstar"	8	91
15	Ukraina	Angleze	Tina Karol	"Show Me Your Love"	"Më trego dashurinë tënde"	7	146
16	Finlanda	Angleze	Lordi	"Hard Rock Hallelujah"	"Hard-Rrok Haleluja"	1	292
17	Holanda	Angleze, Gjuha Imagjinare	Treble	"Amambanda"	—	20	22
18	Lituania	Angleze, Franceze[3]	LT United	"We Are the Winners"	"Ne jemi fituesit"	5	163
19	Portugalia	Angleze, Portugeze	Nonstop	"Coisas de nada (Gonna Make You Dance)"	"Gjëra të pakuptimta"	19	26
20	Suedia	Angleze	Carola Häggkvist	"Invincible"	-	4	214
21	Estonia	Angleze	Sandra Oxenryd	"Through My Window"	-	18	28
22	Bosnja dhe Hercegovina	Boshnjake	Hari Mata Hari	"Lejla"	"Lejla"	2	267
23	Islanda	Angleze	Silvía Night	"Congratulations"	"Urime"	13	62

Finalistët ishin:

• Katër vendet e kualifikuara automatikisht Franca, Gjermania, Spanja dhe Britania e Madhe;
• 10 vendet e para nga finalja e 2005 (të tjera nga të kualifikuarit automatikisht);
• 10 vendet e para nga gjysëm finalja e 2006.

Finalja u mbajt më 20 maj 2006 në orën 21:00 (CET) dhe fitoi Finlanda.

Vendet në bold u kualifikuan automatikisht për finalen e Festivali Evropian i Këngës 2007.

Draw	Country	Language	Artist	Song	English translation	Place	Points
01	Zvicra	English	six4one	"If We All Give a Little"	—	16	30
02	Moldavia	English	Arsenium feat. Natalia Gordienko & Connect-R	"Loca"	Crazy	20	22
03	Izraeli	English, Hebrew	Eddie Butler	"Together We Are One"	—	23	4
04	Letonia	English	Vocal Group Cosmos	"I Hear Your Heart"	—	16	30
05	Norvegjia	Norwegian	Christine Guldbrandsen	"Alvedansen"	The Elf Dance	14	36
06	Spanja	Spanish	Las Ketchup	"Bloody Mary"	A Bloody Mary	21	18
07	Malta	English	Fabrizio Faniello	"I Do"	—	24	1
08	Gjermania	English	Texas Lightning	"No No Never"	—	14	36
09	Danimarka	English	Sidsel Ben Semmane	"Twist of Love"	—	18	26
10	Rusia	English	Dima Bilan	"Never Let You Go"	—	2	248
11	Maqedonia e Veriut	English, Macedonian	Elena Risteska	"Ninanajna" (Нинанајна)	—	12	56
12	Rumania	English, Italian	Mihai Trăistariu	"Tornero"	I'll return	4	172
13	Bosnja dhe Hercegovina	Bosnian	Hari Mata Hari	"Lejla"	Layla	3	229
14	Lituania	English, French[3]	LT United	"We Are the Winners"	—	6	162
15	Britania e Madhe	English	Daz Sampson	"Teenage Life"	—	19	25
16	Greqia	English	Anna Vissi	"Everything"	—	9	128
17	Finlanda	English	Lordi	"Hard Rock Hallelujah"	—	1	292
18	Ukraina	English	Tina Karol	"Show Me Your Love"	—	7	145
19	Franca	French	Virginie Pouchain	"Il était temps"	It was time	22	5
20	Kroacia	Croatian	Severina	"Moja štikla"	My high-heel	12	56
21	Irlanda	English	Brian Kennedy	"Every Song Is a Cry for Love"	—	10	93
22	Suedia	English	Carola	"Invincible"	—	5	170
23	Turqia	Turkish, English	Sibel Tüzün	"Süper Star"	Superstar	11	91
24	Armenia	English	André	"Without Your Love"	—	8	129

Vendet i dhanë votat në këtë rend:

• On 18 June 2005, Austrian newspaper Kurier reported that the Austrian broadcaster ORF would not be taking part in the 2006 contest.
• On 5 October 2005 the managing director of Georgia Television & Radio Broadcasting stated that Georgia would not enter the 2006 contest.
• On 6 October 2005 Česká televize announced that the Czech Republic would not participate.
• On 9 December 2005 Hungarian broadcaster Magyar TV announced that Hungary would not participate for financial reasons.
• Italy did not take part in the Contest between 1997 and 2011.
• Serbia and Montenegro withdrew from the contest due to a scandal in the selection process, which has caused tensions between the Serbian broadcaster, RTS, and the Montenegran broadcaster, RTCG. Serbia and Montenegro did retain voting rights for the contest. Serbia and Montenegro's withdrawal left a vacancy in the final. In the delegations meeting on 20 March, it was decided that Croatia, who finished 11th in the 2005 Contest, would fill the empty spot.

After the Contest, EBU officials that the overall ratings for the Semi-Final were 35% higher than in 2005, and for the Final had risen by 28%.

In France, average market shares reached 30.3%, up by 8% over the 2005 figure. Other countries that showed a rise in average market shares included Germany with 38% (up from 29%), United Kingdom with 37.5% (up from 36%), Spain with 36% (up from 35%), Ireland with 58% (up from 35%) and Sweden, which reached over 80% compared to 57% the year previously.

Voting revenues had also risen from the Kiev Contest, and the official Eurovision website, www.eurovision.tv, reported visits from over 200 countries and over 98 million page views, compared with 85 million in 2005.

From the Final

• Finland had to wait forty-four years since their debut in 1961 to achieve their first victory. The Finns have been waiting since 1977 for their fourth set of 12 points; this year they finally achieved one again - in fact, they received eight.
• Bosnia & Herzegovina reached third place, its highest position ever. The seventh place reached in 1999 was its most successful entry.
• Sweden's Carola obtained 170 points without getting any 12-pointers and reached 5th place.
• Though Turkey was the fourth country with the most 12s (received from France, Germany and Netherlands), the entry by Sibel Tüzün only reached 11th place with 91 points.
• Lithuania waited 12 years to receive their first 12 points. This was finally realised by points from Ireland.
• Runner-up Russia and 4th placed Romania were voted for by 35 countries, more than winner Finland, who received votes from 34 countries.
• The United Kingdom placed 19th, receiving points from 10 countries, while Macedonia (12th), Croatia (13th) and Denmark (18th) were voted for by 9, 8 and only 5 countries respectively.
• It is noticed that Turkey received 91 points both in the semi final and the final.
• So, Finland received 292 points both in the semi final and the final.
• As of the conclusion of the 2008 contest, Greece holds the record for the most successful run in the Eurovision Song Contest since its shake-up in 2004. It is the only country that has not yet been relegated to the semi-final (excluding the Big Four), after having attained places in the top 10 since then (third in 2004, first in 2005, ninth in 2006). This record has been maintained beyond Athens, reaching seventh in Helsinki 2007, third in Belgrade 2008, seventh in Moscow 2009, eighth in Oslo 2010 and seventh again in Düsseldorf 2011. Turkey is followed after, in 2003 they won with Sertab Erener singing Everyway that I can. In 2004 (4th), In 2007 (4th), In 2008 (7th), In 2009 (4th) and In 2010 (2nd), unfortunately, their break ended when they couldn't participate for the Grand Final in 2011.
• Despite having withdrawn from the 2006 contest, Serbia and Montenegro retained their voting rights. During the announcement of their votes, spokesperson Jovana Janković said "So, as you know, we don't have a song for you this year, but we promise that next year we will give you the best one". Her promise was fulfilled when Marija Šerifović of Serbia won the contest the following year.^[4] Janković would also host the 2008 Contest.
• Alexis Kostalas, the long-time Greek spokesman, jokingly described Finland's Lordi "beautiful, gorgeous, sweet-looking creatures" before giving them the maximum twelve points, which eventually cemented their victory.
• The Norwegian entry "Alvedansen" performed by singer, songwriter Christine Guldbrandsen, is the first and until now, the latest entry performed in Norwegian Language since the end of the language-rule in 1999.

Australia

Although Australia is not itself eligible to enter, the semi-final and final were broadcast on SBS. As is the case each year, they were not however broadcast live due to the difference in Australian time zones. Australia aired the United Kingdom's broadcast, including commentary from Paddy O'Connell and Terry Wogan. Before the broadcasts, viewers were told by an SBS host that the Eurovision Song Contest was one of their most popular programmes. The final rated an estimated 462,000, and was ranked 21st of the broadcasters top rating programs for the 2005/06 financial year. [1]

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan were willing to enter the contest but since AzTV applied for active EBU membership but was denied on June 18, 2007, they missed the contest and have to wait until they're accepted. Another Azerbaijan broadcaster, OTV, broadcast the contest. It is a passive EBU member, and has broadcast it for the last 2 years. It was the only non-participating broadcaster this year to send its own commentators to the contest.[2] Arkivuar 29 shkurt 2012 tek Wayback Machine

Italy

Italian television did not enter because RAI, the national broadcaster, is in strong competition with commercial TV stations and they believe that the Eurovision Song Contest would not be a popular show in Italy. They have not broadcast the contest in recent years, although an independent Italian channel for the gay community has shown the show.

  Worldwide

A live broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast worldwide by satellite through Eurovision streams such as Channel One Russia, ERT World, TVE Internacional, TVP Polonia, RTP Internacional and TVR i. The official Eurovision Song Contest website also provided a live stream without commentary using the peer-to-peer transport Octoshape.

Possible broadcasts

Japan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname and Vietnam may have broadcast as well, as they have also broadcast the contest in the past. While Liechtenstein had no television broadcaster of its own until 1FLTV began broadcasting in 2008, Liechtensteiners could watch the contest on Swiss, Austrian or German television.

Gibraltar

Gibraltar screened only the final.

• Eurovision Record Book

 Commons: Eurovision 2006 – Album me fotografi dhe/apo video dhe materiale multimediale

• Official Eurovision Website – Audio and video clips available in the Multimedia Lounge