On July 1, fittingly Canada Day, Canada was confirmed to be competing for the first time in the Eurovision Song Contest. And the wait won't be much longer: the nation will compete in the next edition, in 2027.
It was reported last November that Canada was looking to explore participation through its national broadcasters, CBC and Radio Canada. In fact, despite the name, countries do not need to be part of Europe to compete; they must simply have a broadcaster as a member of the European Broadcasting Union, which Canada officially joined last week.
Eurovision director Martin Green said the move was "a further sign that, while born in Europe, the contest continues to welcome the world."
The 2027 edition will be held in Bulgaria, following the country's win in 2026 with the song 'Bangaranga,' performed by Dara and which won both the jury vote and televote, the first entry to do so since Portugal in 2017, giving Bulgaria its first win in the contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest started with just seven participating countries in 1956, spanning to 35 this year. In this gallery, refresh your knowledge of every single winner since the contest started way back in 1956 (2020 being the only exception, as Eurovision was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
From an unprecedented four-way tie in the '60s to the year Celine Dion was Eurovision champion (but not for Canada!), click on for all the winning acts!