9 There have been 56 winners over 53 contests (as there was a four-way tie in 1969). That total comprises 33 female soloists, 7 male soloists, 11 groups and 5 duos (one all female, one mixed-sex and three all-male).

10 A total of 51 nations have competed in the contest, including countries with more than one incarnation. Germany was technically West Germany only before 1990 but as the old East never competed (and now never will) it stays as one nation.

11 Portugal in 1964 and Lithuania in 1994 are the only countries to score "nul points" on their debut.

12 After Finland's win in 2006 the country waiting longest for it's first win is by far Portugal, who have been competing since 1964, followed by Malta (1971), Cyprus (1981) and Iceland (1986). Of these, Malta came within a whisker of success in 1998 and 2002 and Iceland in 1999. Portugal and Cyprus have never come close.

13 In 1969 four countries tied for first place and as there was no tie-breaker they all shared the prize. Since then the rules for a tie have sometimes altered. Firstly there would have been a re-vote, then it became the song with the most top marks, and now it is the song with votes from the most countries.

14 Israel have competed at Eurovision since 1973 despite obviously not being part of Europe. The contest is open to active members of the European Broadcasting Union, which includes several North African countries, some of whom would no doubt compete if Israel did not (Morocco took their chance in 1980).

15 Ireland lead the medal table with seven wins, followed by the UK, France and Luxembourg on five each.

16 In every contest since 2001 the winning country has never won Eurovision before.

17 Norway lead the roll-call of nul-pointers with 4 but just one behind are Austria, Finland, Spain and Switzerland.

18 The Greece/Cyprus 12 points vote exchange is far and away the most recurring predictable vote.

19 The first contest featured just seven countries, each of whom performed two songs.

20 The biggest contest final was in 2003 when 26 countries took part. The semi-final system inaugurated the year after enabled more countries to send songs to the contest week, and 2008 sees a record 43 countries participating.

21 The 8 countries who have competed previously but not in 2008 are Austria, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Serbia/Montenegro, Slovakia and Yugoslavia.

22 Before 1993 Yugoslavia was the only eastern bloc country to compete in the contest. The 2008 event contains no less than 22 former eastern bloc countries including 6 from the old Yugoslavia and 10 from the old Soviet Union.

LANGUAGES

23 Belgium alternate each year between their Flemish and Walloon TV stations, although both have sent entries in English and imaginary languages.

24 Switzerland have submitted entries in all four native tongues (French, German, Italian and Romansch) as well as English.

25 France has sent entries in Creole and Breton, while one Irish entry was in Gaelic.

26 Andorran televisions catchment area includes the Spanish region of Catalonia, and their song has usually been sung in Catalan and Spanish Catalans can vote on behalf of Andorra.

THROUGH THE YEARS

27 None of the 1956 voting is known, other than the winner being Switzerland. In 1964 the Danish hosts managed to lose their video of the contest meaning that no recording of the event exists. All other contests and voting records are intact.

28 In 1966 the first black contestant was the Netherland's Millie Scott and the only black winner has been Dave Benton (one half of Estonia's Tanel & Dave in 2001).

29 The 1968 contest at the Royal Albert Hall was the first to be broadcast in colour.

30 In 1974 the United Kingdom gave nul points to Abba.

31 In 1977 the contest almost didn't happen due to a BBC strike. The original contest had to be postponed and luckily all parties re-convened at Wembley a few weeks later.

32 In every contest from 1981 to 1986 the UK was drawn to sing immediately after Norway.

33 In 2003 Esther Hart was in both the Dutch and UK finals. She won the Dutch final and gave up her song in "A Song For Europe" to another singer. The song was retitled and promptly finished last...... behind Jemini.

34 In 2005 Lebanon were due to debut and selected a song but they refused to broadcast the Israeli song and were thrown out.

UNITED KINGDOM

35 The contest has been held in the UK no less than eight times, despite us only winning five times. The venues were London (1960,1963,1968,1977), Edinburgh (1972), Brighton (1974), Harrogate (1982) and Birmingham (1998).

36 In 20 contests up to and including 1977, the UK only finished outside the top 4 twice.

37 In 10 contests from 1999 to 2008, the UK only finished inside the top 10 once.

38 Before Scooch's 12 points from Malta in 2007, the last UK "douze" was for Jessica Garlick in 2002.

39 Sir Cliff Richard isn't the only artist to have sung twice for the UK. Ronnie Carroll actually represented us twice consecutively in 1963 and 1964. Cheryl Baker was a member of Bucks Fizz in 1981 and also Coco three years earlier. Sally-Ann Triplett was in Prima Donna (1980) and Bardo (1982).

40 Sir Terry Wogan is synonymous with Eurovision commentary in the UK, but his predecessors included Dave Lee Travis, David Vine, David Jacobs, Pete Murray and Rolf Harris.