AP PHOTOS: Eurovision delivers decades of songs, spectacle

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FILE - In this April 6, 1974 file photo, Swedish pop group ABBA celebrate winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest on stage at the Brighton Dome in England with their song Waterloo. The coronavirus pandemic canceled the contest in 2020 for the first time in six decades, but now it’s back. On Saturday performers from 26 countries will vie for Eurovision victory in a live televised final in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The prize is glory for the winning nation, though rarely mega-stardom for the victorious act. A few international stars have emerged from Eurovision’s sequinned ranks, including Swedish pop titans ABBA — victors in 1974 with “Waterloo” — and Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest for Switzerland.(AP Photo/Robert Dear, File)

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FILE - In this Friday, May 25, 2012 file photo, Russia Buranovskiye Babushki perform during a rehearsal for the final of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest at the Baku Crystal Hall in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, File)

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FILE - In this Thursday, May 16, 2013 file photo, Finland’s Krista Siegfrids, second right, kisses a dancer as she performs her song “Marry Me” during the second semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Malmo Arena in Malmo, Sweden. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

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FILE - In this May 10, 2014 file photo, The Tolmachevy Sisters representing Russia perform the song ‘Shine’ during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. The coronavirus pandemic canceled the contest in 2020 for the first time in six decades, but now it’s back. On Saturday performers from 26 countries will vie for Eurovision victory in a live televised final in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The prize is glory for the winning nation, though rarely mega-stardom for the victorious act. A few international stars have emerged from Eurovision’s sequinned ranks, including Swedish pop titans ABBA — victors in 1974 with “Waterloo” — and Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest for Switzerland. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

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FILE - In this Saturday, May 10, 2014 file photo, Conchita Wurst representing Austria performs the song ‘Rise Like a Phoenix’ during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

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FILE - In this May 9, 2017 file photo, Slavko Kalezic from Montenegro performs the song “Space” during the first Semifinal for the Eurovision Song Contest, in Kiev, Ukraine. The coronavirus pandemic canceled the contest in 2020 for the first time in six decades, but now it’s back. On Saturday performers from 26 countries will vie for Eurovision victory in a live televised final in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The prize is glory for the winning nation, though rarely mega-stardom for the victorious act. A few international stars have emerged from Eurovision’s sequinned ranks, including Swedish pop titans ABBA — victors in 1974 with “Waterloo” — and Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest for Switzerland.(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

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FILE - In this March 20, 1965 file photo, Winner, 18-year-old French singer France Gall, singing for Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest, poses with her award with Serge Gainsbourg, left, and orchestra director Alain Gorauguer, right, in Naples. (AP Photo/Guilio Broglio, File)

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FILE - In this April 6, 1974 file photo, members of Swedish group ABBA and close associates celebrate the victory of their song “Waterloo” in the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton, England. The four members of ABBA, Benny Andersson, left, Annifrid Lyngstad, third left, Agnetha Faltskog, second right, and Bjorn Ulvaeus, right, , second right, were the most successful winners of the Eurovision Song Contest, enjoying unprecedented success after their victory. (AP Photo/File)

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FILE - In this Tuesday, May 14, 2019 file photo Kate Miller-Heidke of Australia performs during the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest semi-final in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

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FILE - In this March 21, 1970 file photo, Ireland’s entrant ‘Dana’ sings the winning song “All Kinds of Everything” in the Eurovision Song Contest, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The coronavirus pandemic canceled the contest in 2020 for the first time in six decades, but now it’s back. On Saturday performers from 26 countries will vie for Eurovision victory in a live televised final in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The prize is glory for the winning nation, though rarely mega-stardom for the victorious act. A few international stars have emerged from Eurovision’s sequinned ranks, including Swedish pop titans ABBA — victors in 1974 with “Waterloo” — and Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest for Switzerland.(AP Photo, File)

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FILE - In this April 4, 1981 file photo, Buck’s Fizz on stage during rehearsals for the Eurovision Sing contest in Dublin, Ireland. The band won the contest with their song “Making Your Mind Up.” (AP Photo/Bob Dear, File)

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FILE - In this May 1, 1988 file photo, Celine Dion shows her Eurovision Song Contest trophy in Dublin, Ireland. The coronavirus pandemic canceled the contest in 2020 for the first time in six decades, but now it’s back. On Saturday performers from 26 countries will vie for Eurovision victory in a live televised final in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The prize is glory for the winning nation, though rarely mega-stardom for the victorious act. A few international stars have emerged from Eurovision’s sequinned ranks, including Swedish pop titans ABBA — victors in 1974 with “Waterloo” — and Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest for Switzerland.(AP Photo/Peter Kemp, File)

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FILE - In this Sunday May 10, 1998 file photo, Israeli singer Dana International celebrates her victory in the Eurovision Song Contest at the Birmingham Indoor Arena, England. (AP Photo/Louisa Buller, File)

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FILE - In this early Sunday, May 21, 2006 file photo, Finnish group Lordi celebrate after their victory in the Eurovision Song Contest at the Indoor Olympic stadium in Athens, Greece. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

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FILE - In this May 12, 2007 file photo, Verka Serduchka from the Ukraine sings ‘Dancing Lasha Tumbai’ at a dress rehearsal for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, in Helsinki, Finland. The coronavirus pandemic canceled the contest in 2020 for the first time in six decades, but now it’s back. On Saturday performers from 26 countries will vie for Eurovision victory in a live televised final in the Dutch city of Rotterdam. The prize is glory for the winning nation, though rarely mega-stardom for the victorious act. A few international stars have emerged from Eurovision’s sequinned ranks, including Swedish pop titans ABBA — victors in 1974 with “Waterloo” — and Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest for Switzerland.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

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FILE - In this May 11, 2007 file photo, Scooch representing the United Kingdom, sing their song entitled ‘Flying the Flag (For You)’ at a dress rehearsal for the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, in Helsinki, Finland. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

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FILE - In this May 14, 2011 file photo, Ireland’s ‘Jedward’, John and Edward Grimes, perform their song ‘Lipstick’ during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Duesseldorf, Germany. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

By The Associated Press

Once a year, Europeans come together in a flurry of flags, spangles and disco beats to compete for the continent’s pop crown at the Eurovision Song Contest.

The coronavirus pandemic canceled the contest in 2020 for the first time in six decades. But now it’s back. On Saturday, performers from 26 countries will vie for Eurovision victory during a live televised final in the Dutch city of Rotterdam.

The prize is glory for the winning nation, though rarely mega-stardom for the winning act. A few international stars have emerged from Eurovision’s sequined ranks, including Swedish pop titans ABBA — victors in 1974 with “Waterloo” — and Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest for Switzerland.

Others have sunk without a trace — hello, Britain’s 2007 budget airline-themed novelty act Scooch — or saw their musical fame peak with Eurovision success, such as Irish singer Dana, who won as a teenager in 1970, or British pop quartet Buck’s Fizz, who took the prize in 1981.

Launched in 1956 to foster unity after World War II, Eurovision evolved over the years from a bland ballad-fest to a campy, feelgood extravaganza. It has grown from seven countries to include more than 40, including non-European nations such as Israel and far-away Australia.

But despite its peace-through-pop ethos, the song contest has not escaped entanglement in geopolitics.

There are annual grumbles about bloc voting, with Nordic nations often supporting one another and Greece and Cyprus giving each other top marks. Britain blames its European outlier status for its failure to win the contest since 1997 — though its tendency to send underpowered entries may also be a factor.

Contest organizers screen the songs for any hint of political content that could sour the harmony. In 2009, Georgian entry “We Don’t Wanna Put In” was nixed because it took a dig at Russian leader Vladimir Putin. In 2014, the audience booed Russian singing twins Anastasia and Maria Tolmachevy because of their country’s invasion of Crimea, and 2017 host country Ukraine barred Russia’s entry amid conflict between the neighboring nations.

The contest’s most memorable acts have transcended borders with glorious extravagance or eccentric individualism. There was silver-spangled Ukrainian drag performer Verka Serduchka in 2007, and six singing grandmothers from a Russian village who performed as the Buranovskiye Babushki in 2012.

To the uninitiated, Eurovision can appear ridiculous. But fans treasure its mix of kitschy fun and genuine emotion. For every ludicrous Lordi — the Finnish rockers in latex monster masks who won in 2006 — there is a Dana International, the transgender Israeli singer whose 1998 contest win was a landmark for LGBT people in her homeland.

The victory of Austrian drag queen Conchita Wurst in 2014 was a moment of triumph for many of the contest’s gay fans, but also showed that equality was still some way off. The bearded diva’s achievement was hailed by many as a gain for diversity and tolerance but condemned by nationalist politicians in Russia as evidence of Western degeneracy.