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 is 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 languageGerman
No. of episodes
  • 2 contest
Production
Executive producerStefan Raab
Running time
  • ~4 hours (finals)
Production companyBrainpool TV
Release
Original networkProSieben
Original release15 May 2020 (2020-05-15)

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 city of Cologne, Germany, on 16 May 2020. Sixteen countries participated: each participating country submitted an entry. The contest was won by Nico Santos, representing Spain, with the song "Like I Love You".

A third edition was announced for 2022 during the show. However, on 25 June 2022, it was announced that the show would be suspended for a year and would return in 2023 for a third edition.[3] The 2023 contest was cancelled in May of that year.[4]

Participation
Year Country making its début entry
2020  Austria,  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Denmark,  Germany,  Ireland,  Israel,  Italy,  Kazakhstan,  Netherlands,  Poland,  Spain,   Switzerland, The Moon The Moon,  Turkey,  United Kingdom
2021[5]  Belgium,  England,[lower-alpha 1]  France,  Greece,  Scotland,[lower-alpha 1]  Slovenia

The following countries have all participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, or are eligible to compete by the standards of the Free European Song Contest, but have not had either public or private broadcasters indicate interest in participating (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 West Germany Cologne 16  Spain Nico Santos "Like I Love You" 104 16  Netherlands The Moon The Moon [6]
2nd 15 May 2021  Ireland Rea Garvey "The One" 116 22  Belgium[lower-alpha 2] [7][8]

Medal table

The table below shows the top-three placings from each contest, along with the years that a country won the contest.

Country 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total Years won
 Ireland 1 0 0 1 2021
 Spain 1 0 0 1 2020
 Netherlands 0 2 0 2 —
 Belgium 0 0 1 1 —
The Moon The Moon 0 0 1 1 —

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

See also

Notes
  1. In 2020, England and Scotland participated as separate home nations of the United Kingdom.
  2. Both Belgium and Scotland finished with 77 points; however, the official ranking and Eurovision tiebreak rules would put Belgium ahead of Scotland.

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. Rick (25 June 2022). "Ein Jahr Pause: Der #FreeESC kehrt erst 2023 wieder zurück" [Paused for a year: The #FreeESC will only return again in 2023]. ESC kompakt (in German). Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  4. Hertlein, Benjamin (15 May 2023). "FreeESC 2023 abgesagt – Zukunft des ProSieben-Wettbewerbs ungewiss" [FreeESC 2023 called off – future of the ProSieben competition uncertain]. ESC kompakt (in German). Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  5. Granger, Anthony (29 April 2021). "Countries competing in the Free European Song Contest 2021 Revealed". Eurovoix World. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  6. Granger, Anthony (31 March 2020). "Germany: ProSieben Announces Free European Song Contest". Eurovoix World. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  7. Granger, Anthony (17 May 2020). "ProSieben Confirms Free European Song Contest to Return in 2021". Eurovoix World. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  8. Granger, Anthony (16 May 2021). "Rea Garvey Wins The Free European Song Contest 2021". Eurovoix World. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
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