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The European Music Festival, often shorted to EMF, is an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing primally European countries since 2016. Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television, transmitted to national broadcasters via the EBU's networks, with competing countries then casting votes for the other countries' songs to determine a winner.

Active members of the EBU, as well as invited associate members, are eligible to compete, and as of 2023, 30 countries have participated at least once. Each participating broadcaster sends one original song of maximum four minutes duration or less to be performed live by a singer or group of up to eight people aged 16 or older which failed to be selected to represent their country in Eurovision Song Contest which were chosen by national selection of each participating broadcaster. Each country awards 1–8, 10 and 12 points to their favourite songs, based on the views of an assembled group of music professionals and the country's viewing public, with the song receiving the most points declared the winner.

Traditionally held in the country which won the preceding year's event, the contest provides an opportunity to promote the host country and city as a tourist destination. Thousands of spectators attend each year, and journalists are present to cover all aspects of the contest, including rehearsals in venue, press conferences with the competing acts, and other related events and performances in the host city. Alongside the generic EMF logo, a unique theme and slogan is typically developed for each event.

The first winner of the contest ever was Poland which was represented by Margaret with the song "Cool Me Down" scoring 335 points for their country in the 2016 edition.

As of 2023, Sweden holds the record for the most victories, having won two times in 2017 and 2021 editions. The highest scoring winner is Loreen from Sweden who won the 2017 edition with her song “Statments ” which got 381 points – 128 points ahead the runner up.

History
In September 2016 Aleksander Brown, executive supervisor of the emf's and Jon Ola Sand former executive supervisor of the European Broadcasting Union picked up the idea to open an international music contest, and opened the competition to all member broadcasters making it a pan-European event.

United Kingdom was asked to host the first edition of the contest. In Novemver 2015 an EBU committee headed by Jon Ola Sand was formed to investigate new initiatives for cooperation between broadcasters, this committee approved for further study a European song competition. In January 2016 The EBU's General Assembly agreed to the organising of the song contest in October 2016 under the title of European Music Festival and maked United Kingdomthe first ever host of the contest

The first ever European Music Festival was hosted in London at the O2 Arena venue on the 16th October 2016. The first ever edition took place in London, United Kingdom in 2016. A total of 18 countries competed in the very first edition. The first ever winner of the contest was Margaret from Poland with the song "Cool Me Down".

Logo and theme
The general logo. which was created by Polish team, was introduced in the 1st edition. The logo featured the name of the contest and below of it, the name of the host city appeared along with the year of the edition. The word "European" was formed in a calligraphic font while the letter "O" was replaced by a heart where the flag of the host appeared. The logo was generally received positively by both the press and the fans.

Slogans
Since the first edition in 2016, slogans have been introduced in the contest. The slogan is decided by the host broadcaster and based on the slogan, the theme and the visual design are developed.

Hostings
The winning country traditionally hosts the following year's event. Hosting the contest can be seen as a unique opportunity for promoting the host country as a tourist destination and can provide benefits to the local economy and tourism sectors of the host city. Preparations for each year's contest typically begin at the conclusion of the previous year's contest, with the winning country's head of delegation receiving a welcome package of information related to hosting the contest at the winner's press conference. European Music Fesitval is a non-profit event, and financing is typically achieved through a fee from each participating broadcaster, contributions from the host broadcaster and the host city, and commercial revenues from sponsorships, ticket sales, televoting and merchandise.

The host broadcaster will subsequently select a host city, typically a national or regional capital city, which must meet certain criteria set out in the contest's rules. The host venue must be able to accommodate at least 10,000 spectators, a press centre for 1,500 journalists, should be within easy reach of an international airport and with hotel accommodation available for at least 2,000 delegates, journalists and spectators. A variety of different venues have been used for past editions, from small theatres and television studios to large arenas and stadiums. The largest host venue is Tauron Arena in Kraków, Poland, which was attended by almost 20,400 spectators in 2017. With a population of 2,100 at the time of the 2021 contest, Tirana, Albania remains the smallest hosting settlement - Pallati i Kongreseve.

Format
The contest is always screened on a Sunday evening in on October and lasts approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes. Traditionally the contest will consist of an opening ceremony in which the performers are welcomed to the event the performances of the entries, a recap of the songs to help televoting viewers decide which entries to vote for, an interval act usually performed after the televoting has closed, the results of the televoting or back-up jury voting which is then followed by the declaration of the winner and a reprise of the winning song. At various points throughout the show, networks may opt out for a few minutes to screen a commercial break.

Since 2020 the winning entry of each contest has been decided by a mixture of televoting and national juries, each counting for fifty percent of the points awarded by each country. The ten entries that have received the most votes in each country are awarded points ranging from one to eight, then ten and twelve. These points are then announced live during the programme by a spokesperson representing the participating country. Once all participating countries have announced their results, the country that has received the most points is declared the winner of that year's contest. The winner receives a trophy and, the winning country is invited to host the next edition.

The contest usually features three presenters, who regularly appear on stage and with the contestants in the green room. The presenters are also responsible for repeating the results immediately after the spokesperson of each broadcaster to confirm which country the points are being given to. The spokespersons are giving out the points in the same format as in the Eurovision Song Contest, behind a backdrop of a major city of that country in the national broadcaster's television studio.

The main vocals must be sung live during the contest, backing vocals may be recorded onto the backing track. Each country's entry must be selected through a televised national final. Each country's performance is also allowed a maximum of eight performers on stage.

Participation
Only active member broadcasters of the EBU which held a national final in each year are permitted to take part and vote in the contest, though the contest is screened in several non-participating countries. Each full member has got a certain broadcaster that is responsible for the choice of the artists and songs the country is sending for each edition.

Thirty countries has participated at least once. These are listed here alongside the edition in which they made their debut:

Winners
The contest has so far seven winners. Sweden holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest two times in in 2017, and 2021 editions. Sweden is the country with the most second places so far with the country ending up as the runner-up in the 2016 and 2020 editions. Sweden's winning entry currently holds the record for the highest scoring winner and the record for the biggest margin between the winner and the runner-up. Sweden became the first country to win two times.