How is there Canadian content in the Eurovision Song Contest?

Political content - In 1974, the Portuguese entry took the political element a step further. Less than a month after the contest, the military broadcast a coded signal to start the uprising to overthrow Portugal's dictatorship. They used that year’s Eurovision entry, Paulo de Carvalho's ‘And After The Goodbye,' as the signal.

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Fans down under - The Eurovision Song Contest has been broadcast in Australia since 1983 and has a huge following there.

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Australia? - Although Australia is outside the European Broadcasting Area, it was permitted an entry to commemorate the 60th competition in 2015.

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Yup, Australia - Although Australia's participation in 2015 was announced as a one-off event, they have been allowed to remain in the contest every year since.

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Canadian content - Over the years, several Canadians have competed at the Eurovision Song Contest, despite the country not being allowed to partake.

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Sherisse Laurence - In 1986, Manitoba-born Sherisse Laurence took the stage representing Luxembourg.

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Sherisse Laurence - She was a TV host and musician in Canada in the late 1970s and 80s. She hosted the show 'Circus' on CTV until 1983.

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Sherisse Laurence - Her Eurovision performance placed third with 117 points.

(Photo: Andres Putting)

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Celine Dion - Celine Dion launched her career with a Eurovision win in 1988. The Quebecois singer performed ‘Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi’ for Switzerland.

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Celine Dion - The win was a dramatic one—Switzerland beat the United Kingdom by just one point in the last vote to win the title. And Celine went on to become an international star.

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Annie Cotton - In 1993, Annie Cotton represented Switzerland. She was born in Laval, Quebec and was an actor in various francophone teen shows and soap operas during the 1990s.

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Annie Cotton - Her performance of 'Moi, Tout Simplement' received 148 points and earned Switzerland third place.

(Photo: Thomas Hanses)

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Natasha St-Pier - Natasha St-Pier represented France at the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Je N’Ai Que Mon Âme.' She was born in Bathurst, New Brunswick.

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Natasha St-Pier - She came fourth, but went on to top the French singles and albums charts and has a successful career in francophone Europe.

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Natasha St-Pier - St-Pier is now the host of the French TV show 'Les chansons d'abord' and was a commentator for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.

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Natasha St-Pier - For the 60th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest, in 2016, Natasha was invited to perform her original entry at a celebratory event.

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Rykka - In 2016, Switzerland poached another Canadian talent to represent the country in the competition. Rykka was born Christina Maria Rieder in Vancouver.

(Photo: Eurovision Song Contest)

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Rykka - She came last in the semi-finals.

(Photo: Eurovision Song Contest)

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Rykka - Prior to her Eurovision performance, Rykka recorded several albums and in 2013 she won $100,000 in the Peak Performance Project.

(Photo: Eurovision Song Contest)

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Rykka - Today, she splits her time between Zurich and Vancouver and is still recording and performing.

(Photo: Eurovision Song Contest)

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2018 host - Portugal’s Salvador Sobral won the 2017 contest in Kiev, Ukraine.

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Lisbon 2018 - As a result, this year's competition will take place in Lisbon.

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Peter Serrado - One of the contestants who competed to be Portugal's 2018 candidate was born, raised, and lives in Toronto, but has dual Portuguese-Canadian citizenship. His name is Peter Serrado.

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Eurovision Song Contest - The Eurovision Song Contest is the longest-running annual international TV song competition.

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History - It has been held since 1956 among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union.

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First year - Swiss singer Lys Assia won the first year.

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Voting - Each participating country submits an original song to be performed live on TV. Each country casts votes on the other countries' songs to determine the winner.

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Europe? - This means that countries that aren't technically part of Europe, including Israel, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, are able to compete. And they do. With enthusiasm.

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