Money, Money, Money: The true cost of Eurovision

Last year a staggering 160 million people watched the 66^th edition of the  Eurovision Song Contest, but what are the costs to host the event, to those taking part and who exactly are the ‘Big Five?’

The contest was held today, May 11, and the money involved is astronomical. A report by The Mirror looks at how much it costs for each act to participate, and which country holds the record for the most expensive Eurovision ever.

Today, the event held in Liverpool cost about £9.8m (€11.3m), the money was stumped up by, Liverpool City Council, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, the UK government, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the BBC.

All 37 countries have to pay to take part, which can vary depending on the country, the combined total is around £5m.

However, the ‘Big Five,’ UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, pay the most to enter, which is why they are automatically entered without having to go through the nail-biting qualifying stages.

However, all 37 countries must pay a fee to enter, and the total for all entrants comes to around £5 million combined.

But it doesn’t end there, every country then has to ensure their entry not only sounds good but looks good. This entails the artist’s fee, hair and make-up together with state-of-the-art staging.

Last year it reportedly cost Spain €682,000 for its entry, Chanel, who sang SloMo, and despite that finished in third place. Allegedly the entrance fee was €302,000, while other costs such as the stage performance and hotel accommodation cost an eye-watering €380,000.

In 2016, the Netherlands sent Douwe Bob with his song Slow Down to Stockholm, Sweden. He came a disappointing 11^th despite it costing them an incredible €500,000.

The cost of hosting the event is quite staggering too. This year, a broad estimate of the UK’s expenses falls between £8m – £17m.

The country which gets to hold the event is awarded the participation fees collected by the EBU to put towards presenting the show, but the rest of the budget is funded by the hosts themselves.

So which country has shelled out the most when it comes to hosting the biggest song event on the planet

The record, and this will take some beating, goes to Azerbaijan who hosted Eurovision in 2012 and had to build a completely new arena which cost a flabbergasting €60 million (£52 million).