Free European Song Contest

The Free European Song Contest is an international song competition, organised by the German television network ProSieben and the production company Brainpool TV, with participants representing primarily European countries. The contest was similar in format to the long-running Eurovision Song Contest: each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television, then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the winner.

Free European Song Contest
Also known as
  • FreeESC
GenreSong contest
Created byStefan Raab
Based onEurovision Song Contest
Country of originGermany
Original language(s)German
No. of episodes
  • 1 contest
Production
Executive producer(s)Stefan Raab
Running time
  • ~4 hours (finals)
Production company(s)Brainpool TV
DistributorProSieben
Release
Original networkProSieben
Picture format
  • 1080i (HDTV) (2020–present)
Original release16 May 2020 (2020-05-16)

The overall winner of the contest is the entry that has received the most points after the scores from every country have been collected and totalled.

History

As the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 could not take place due to the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Europe, German TV station ProSieben and German entertainer Stefan Raab decided to organise Free European Song Contest as an alternative.[1] After the success of the first edition, ProSieben has decided to plan the event also for 2021.[2]

The first contest was held in the town of Cologne, Germany, on 16 May 2020. Sixteen countries participated: each partecipating country submit an entry. The contest was won by Nico Santos, representing Spain, with the song "Like I Love You".

Participation
Year Country making its début entry
2020  Austria
 Bulgaria
 Croatia
 Denmark
 Germany
 Ireland
 Israel
 Italy
 Kazakhstan
 Netherlands
 Poland
 Spain
  Switzerland
The Moon
 Turkey
 United Kingdom

The following countries have all participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, but have not had either public or private broadcasters indicate interest in participating in upcoming editions of the Free European Song Contest (as of yet):

Competition history
Edition Date of final Year Host broadcaster(s) Host city Countries Winner(s) Performer Song Points Margin Runner up 3rd place Ref.
1st 16 May 2020 ProSieben Cologne 16  Spain Nico Santos "Like I Love You" 104 16  Netherlands The Moon [3]
2nd 2021 [2]

Presenters
Year Presenter(s)
2020 Steven Gätjen and Conchita Wurst
2021

See also

References
  1. "FREE EUROPEAN SONG CONTEST - Stefan Raab und ProSieben rufen freien europäischen Songwettbewerb aus!". www.prosieben.de (in German). 15 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  2. Granger, Anthony (17 May 2020). "ProSieben Confirms Free European Song Contest to Return in 2021". Eurovoix World. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  3. Granger, Anthony (31 March 2020). "Germany: ProSieben Announces Free European Song Contest". Eurovoix World. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
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