The OGAE Second Chance Contest is a video event organised between branches of OGAE, the international fan club of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Each branch can enter one song that failed to win the country's national selection to compete in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. The members of each club choose amongst the songs that did not win and select one to represent the club in the event.
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The contest began in 1987, when it was then known as "Europe's Favourite". Four OGAE branches competed in the first contest, coming from Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The contest quickly expanded and now contains over 20 countries competing per contest. Due to the nature of some countries and national finals it is a common occurrence for countries to sporadically compete in the contest.[1]
The contest begins during the summer after the year's Eurovision Song Contest, held in May every year. A video of the branch's entry is handed to each competing club. The votes are then returned to the organising OGAE branch, normally the previous year's winning branch, who then organises the final. The method of voting has developed since the contests interception, from audio-tape in the contest's beginnings to the use of video tape and nowadays by DVD and Youtube.[1]
Previously it had been known for non-televised national final entries to compete in the Second Chance Contest. This occurred from 1989 to 1991 when OGAE Spain entered songs known to have been entered into the country's internal selection process. In 1990, 1991, 1998 and 1999 OGAE Italy competed in the Second Chance Contest, entering the winning songs of the Italian San Remo Festival, known to be the basis for the creation of the Eurovision Song Contest. After 1999 a new rule was introduced allowing only songs from televised national finals to compete in the Second Chance Contest. This has led some branches ineligible to compete for many years due to no national final being held in the country.[2]
In 1993 guest juries have been used in the voting of the contest. These juries comprise of branches that are ineligible to compete in the contest due to no national final being held in their country.[2]
From 2003 it was decided to hold Retrospective Contests each year containing songs from contests prior to 1987. In 2003 the first contest was held, containing songs that failed to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986. This is repeated every year to the same way, for example in 2004 the 1985 Retrospective contest was held, and in 2005 the 1984 Retro contest was held etc. The latest contest to be held was the 1979 contest, held in 2010, with plans for the 1978 contest currently in place for 2011.
Participation in the Second Chance Contest requires competing branches to have had a televised national final held in their country for the year's Eurovision Song Contest. So far 37 countries have been represented at the contest at least once. These are listed here alongside the year in which they made their debut:
| Year | Country making its debut entry |
|---|---|
| 1987 | Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom |
| 1988 | Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel |
| 1989 | Spain |
| 1990 | Austria, Cyprus, Italy, Portugal |
| 1991 | Switzerland, Yugoslavia |
| 1992 | Belgium |
| 1993 | Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey |
| 1994 | Russia |
| 1996 | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia |
| 1999 | France |
| 2000 | Latvia |
| 2001 | Lithuania |
| 2003 | Poland |
| 2004 | Serbia and Montenegro |
| 2006 | Ukraine |
| 2007 | Serbia |
| 2009 | Andorra, Moldova, Rest of the World |
| 2010 | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria (as Rest of the World) |
OGAE Rest of the World represents countries that do not have an OGAE branch of their own. Their first participation came at the 2009 Contest, where they represented Slovakia.
Nine countries have won the contest over its 24-year history. The most successful country in the contest has been Sweden, who have won the contest 13 times in total, over half of the contests held. By the way is the only artist, who had won the contest more than once, the Swedish band, Alcazar, who won in 2003 and again in 2005.
| Wins | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Sweden | 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 1982, 1986, 1998 |
| Denmark | 1985, 1989, 2009 | |
| United Kingdom | 1978, 1980, 1981 | |
| 2 | Germany | 1979, 1983 |
| Norway | 1992, 1993 | |
| Spain | 2002, 2004 | |
| 1 | Belgium | 1984 |
| Italy | 1997 | |
| Turkey | 1999 | |
| Finland | 2000 | |
| Slovenia | 2006 | |
| Iceland (Rest of the World) | 2011 |
Years in italics indicate Retro winners.
| Wins | Language | Years | Countries |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Swedish | 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2010 | Sweden |
| 8 | English | 1978, 1980, 1981, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009 | United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark |
| 3 | Dutch | 1982, 1986, 1998 | Netherlands |
| 2 | German | 1979, 1983 | Germany |
| Danish | 1985, 1989 | Denmark | |
| Norwegian | 1992, 1993 | Norway | |
| Spanish | 2002, 2004 | Spain | |
| 1 | French | 1984 | Belgium |
| Italian | 1997 | Italy | |
| Turkish | 1999 | Turkey | |
| Finnish | 2000 | Finland | |
| Slovene | 2006 | Slovenia | |
| Icelandic | 2011 | Rest of the World (Iceland) |
Years in italics indicate Retro winners
The Guest Jury Hits contest was introduced in 2004, giving guest juries of the Retro contests the opportunity to compete in their own contest. The contest was formed as a way for OGAE branches to become juries in the Second Chance Retro Contest, with each non-competing branch selecting a hit song from their country in that year.[3]
The first contest was held in 2004, when hit songs from 1985 competed in the contest. So far six contests have been held, with Italy winning four contests, and Ukraine and Belgium winning once.
| Year | Country | Song | Performer | Second place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Belgium | Vergeet Barbara | Will Tura | Serbia |
| 1984 | Ukraine | Oy zelene zhito zelene | Oksana Bilozir | Greece |
| 1983 | Italy | Sarà quel che sarà | Tiziana Rivale | Ukraine |
| 1982 | Italy | Storie di tutti o giorni | Riccardo Fogli | France |
| 1981 | Italy | Sarà perché ti amo | Ricchi e Poveri | Spain |
| 1980 | Italy | Stella stai | Umberto Tozzi | Cyprus |
| 1979 | Italy | Gloria | Umberto Tozzi | Rest of the World United States |
| 1978 | Spain | Vivir asi es morir de amor | Camilo Sesto | Italy |
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