It's Eurovision Song Contest time again. Time for contestants from 41 European countries (and Australia) to try to win the hearts of the rest of the continent. Time for neighbouring countries to vote for each other. And time for house parties with lots of alcohol and lots of gawping at what the contestants are wearing.
Over the past few years, Eurovision has seen singing grannies, a bearded lady, a rock band dressed as monsters, and a singer being carried onto the stage by a giant. In this gallery, IBTimes UK looks back at the weirdest, the campest and the most memorable Eurovision acts.
2005: Moldova's entry, a band named Zdob şi Zdub, perform Boonika bate toba (Grandmama Beats the Drum), finishing 6thSean Gallup/Getty Images2005: A dancer shows a bit of cheek during a rehearsal for Macedonia's Martin Vučić and the song Make My Day – it came 17thSean Gallup/Getty Images2005: Norway's entry, a band called Wig Wam (with a lead singer named Glam), finished ninth with their song In My DreamsSean Gallup/Getty Images2006: Daz Sampson, representing the United Kingdom, performs Teenage Life which finishes 19thYiorgos Karahalis/Reuters2006: Finland's entry was Hard Rock Hallelujah, performed by Lordi, a rock band dressed as monsters. Bizzarely, it wonSean Gallup/Getty Images2007: Austria's entry, Eric Papilaya, sings Get a Life – Get Alive. Sadly, it failed to reach the finalsJohannes Simon/Getty Images2007: Scooch, representing the United Kingdom, perform Flying the Flag (for You). It finished second from lastBob Strong/Reuters2007: Dmitry Koldun of Belarus sings Work Your Magic, which came 6thBob Strong/Reuters2007: Verka Serduchka, representing Ukraine, performs Dancing Lasha Tumbai, which finished secondJohannes Simon/Getty Images2008: Spain's Rodolfo Chikilicuatre sings Baila el Chiki-chiki ('dance the chiki-chiki') which finishes 16thMarko Djurica/Reuters2008: Sébastien Tellier, representing France, performs Divine and finished 19thMarko Djurica/Reuters2008: Dustin the Turkey, representing Ireland, performed Irelande Douze Pointe. It failed to get many points at all and was knocked out in the semi-finalsDimitar Dilkoff/AFP2008: Laka, representing Bosnia and Herzegovina, performs Pokušaj ('try'). It came 10thAndrej Isakovic/AFP2008: Latvia's entry Pirates of the Sea performs the song Wolves of the Sea, which finished 12thAndrej Isakovic/AFP2008: Gisela, representing Andorra, sings Casanova but failed to make the finalMarko Djurica/Reuters2008: Croatia's Kraljevi Ulice and 75 cents perform their song Romanca ('romance'), which wound up in 21st placeMarko Djurica/Reuters2008: Elnur and Samir take their song Day After Day to eighth placeMarko Djurica/Reuters2009: Bulgaria's Krassimir Avramov performs Illusion, surrounded by dancers in an array of bizarre costumes. Sadly, he didn't make it past the finalNatalia Kolesnikova/AFP2009: Gipsy.cz, representing the Czech Republic, perform Aven Romale ('come in gypsies'). They were sent home after the semi-finalsOleg Nikishin/Epsilon/Getty Images2009: Ukraine's Svetlana Loboda, with the help of a few musclebound gladiators, performs Be My Valentine, which came 12thDenis Sinyakov/Reuters2010: Miro of Bulgaria sings a song called Angel si ti ('you're an angel'), which didn't reach the finalNigel Waldron/Getty Images2010: Lithuania's InCulto pay tribute to Bucks Fizz's famous skirt-ripping move as they perform Eastern European Funk but didn't make it past the semisNigel Treblin/AFP2010: Thea Garrett, representing Malta, sings My Dream, accompanied by a creepy giant bird – it didn't make the finalBob Strong/Reuters2010: Daniel Diges of Spain sings Algo Pequeñito ('something tiny') for a second time after his first performance was interrupted by a stage invader – he finished 15thBob Strong/Reuters2011: Yuksek Sadakat of Turkey sings Live It Up but didn't reach the finalSean Gallup/Getty Images2011: It's our old friends Zdob şi Zdub again (they represented Moldova in 2005 with Grandmama Beats the Drum). This time they pulled out all the stops on their performance of a song called So Lucky, which came 10thSean Gallup/Getty Images2012: Jedward represent Ireland for a second consecutive year, but their new song Waterline doesn't do as well as Lipstick so they finished 19thAFP2012: Rona Nishliu of Albania sings Suus (Personal), which finished fifthDavid Mdzinarishvili/Reuters2012: Russia's singing grannies, Buranovskiye Babushki perform Party for Everybody, and manage to bag second place behind Sweden's LoreenDavid Mdzinarishvili/Reuters2013: Montenegro's Who See fails to make the final with the song Igranka ('the dance')Janerik Henriksson/Scanpix Sweden/Reuters2013: Cezar, representing Romania, sings It's My Life, and finishes 13thJessica Gow/AFP2013 (and the weirdest stage entrance of all time): Ukrainian singer Zlata Ognevich is carried by a giant. Her song Gravity finished thirdJessica Gow/Scanpix/Reuters2014: The Tolmachevy Sisters, representing Russia, sing Shine. They were booed several times during the contest, apparently over the crisis in Ukraine and Russia's stance on gay rights, but they still finished 7th, partly due to generous votes from Russia's neighbours, which led to more booingTobias Schwarz/Reuters2014: Ovi, of Paula Seling & Ovi, performs Romania's entry Miracle - – it finishes in 12th placeRagnar Singsaas/Getty Images)2014: 'Bearded lady' Conchita Wurst, representing Austria, sings Rise Like A Phoenix – and deservedly wins the contest by a huge marginJonathan Nackstrand/AFP2015: Serbia's Bojana Stamenov sings Beauty Never Lies, which finished 10thLeonhard Foeger/Reuters
The first semi-final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest is on 10 May, followed by a second on 12 May. Both semi-finals will be broadcast in the UK on BBC4. The final is on 14 May and it will be live on BBC One from 8pm.
