ESC 2006

Eurovision Song Contest 2006
Feel The Rhythm!
Dates
Semi-final	18 May 2006 (2006-05-18)
Final	20 May 2006 (2006-05-20)
Host
Venue	Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall, Athens, Greece
Presenter(s)	Maria Menounos Sakis Rouvas
Directed by	Volker Weicker
Executive supervisor
Executive producer	Fotini Yannoulatou
Host broadcaster	Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT)
Opening act	Semi-final: Eurovision medley performed by Greek gods and goddesses; "Love Shine a Light" performed by Sakis Rouvas and Maria Menounos Final: "The Mermaid Song" performed by Foteini Darra accompanied by Greek dancers; "My Number One" performed by Elena Paparizou
Interval act	Semi-final: "I'm In Love With You" performed by Sakis Rouvas Final: "Mambo!" performed by Elena Paparizou; 4000 Years of Greek Song
Participants
Number of entries	37
Debuting countries	Armenia
Returning countries	None
Withdrawing countries	Austria  Hungary  Serbia and Montenegro
Participating countries     Did not qualify from the semi final     Countries that participated in the past but not in 2006
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Nul points	None
Winning song	Finland "Hard Rock Hallelujah"
← 2005 Eurovision Song Contest 2007 →

Eurovision Song Contest: Athens 2006
Compilation album by Eurovision Song Contest
Released	28 April 2006
Genre	Pop
Length	53:38 (CD 1) 56:12 (CD 2)
Label	CMC
Eurovision Song Contest chronology
Eurovision Song Contest: Kyiv 2005 (2005)Eurovision Song Contest: Kyiv 20052005 Eurovision Song Contest: Athens 2006 (2006) Eurovision Song Contest: Helsinki 2007 (2007)Eurovision Song Contest: Helsinki 20072007

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May (for the semi-final) and 20 May 2006 (for the final). The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT). The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah", written by lead singer Mr. Lordi. "Hard Rock Hallelujah" was the first ever hard rock song to win the contest, since Eurovision is normally associated with softer pop music and schlager. This was Finland's first victory in Eurovision after waiting forty-five years. It is also noted that they scored the same amount of points in the semi-final and the grand final.

The hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens were Greek singer Sakis Rouvas, the Greek representative at Eurovision in 2004 and 2009, and the Greek American television presenter and actress, Maria Menounos. In the semi-final, both the hosts sang Katrina and the Waves' contest-winning "Love Shine A Light". For one of the intervals, Sakis Rouvas sang an English version of his Greek hit "S'eho Erotefthi" called "I'm in love with you". Helena Paparizou, who performed the winning song in Kiev, returned to the Eurovision stage in Athens. Following the examples of Sertab Erener, Ruslana and Marie N in the last three years, she sang twice in the final, "My Number One" in the opening and her current song "Mambo!" in the interval (which was also a smash hit in Greece at the time); Greek dancers were also present in the interval acts, as well as other Greek elements. An official CD and DVD was released and a new introduction was an official fan book released from this year, and every year to come with detailed information of every country.

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