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OGAE
The Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l'Eurovision (pronounced [ɔʁɡanizɑsjɔ̃ ʒeneʁal dez‿amatœʁ də løʁovizjɔ̃]; French for 'General Organisation of Eurovision Fans'), shortened to OGAE, is a non-governmental and non-profit international organisation, consisting of 42 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs from across Europe and beyond. It was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jaripekka Koikkalainen. Four non-profit competitions are organised by the OGAE every year to promote national popular music to Eurovision fans around the world. The organisation also works frequently in co-operation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and national broadcasters from the participating countries in order to help promote the Eurovision Song Contest. The current president of the OGAE International Network is Simon Bennett from OGAE United Kingdom, who succeeded Maiken Mäemets of OGAE Finland in 2015. HistoryThe Eurovision Song Contest began in 1956, and in 1984 the OGAE International Network was founded by Jaripekka Koikkalainen in Savonlinna, Finland.[1] The organisation, which is an independent Eurovision fan club, operates as a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit body, and works frequently in cooperation with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The network is open to countries that take part in the Eurovision Song Contest or have participated in the past. Several other countries around Europe and beyond that do not have their own independent OGAE Network, including Monaco, San Marino, Kazakhstan, South Africa, and the United States of America, participate under the name "OGAE Rest of the World".[2] Every year, the organisation arranges two competitions, the OGAE Second Chance Contest, and the OGAE Song Contest.[3] The cooperative exercise of the OGAE Network is to raise awareness of popular national music across the world, in collaboration with the fans of the Eurovision Song Contest, as well as establishing a strong relationship between national broadcasting companies and the marketing of the Eurovision Song Contest itself to a wider fan-base.[4] In 2007, Antonis Karatzikos was elected as new International Coordinator for the OGAE, until 2009. In July 2009 he was re-elected for the same post.[5] In 2011, OGAE International Network became a registered organisation in France, and Maiken Mäemets was elected president.[4] She was re-elected for a second term on 17 May 2013 at the Euro Fan Café (Moriska Paviljongen) in Malmö, Sweden.[6] During the annual OGAE Presidents’ Meeting, which took place on 22 May 2015 at the Euro Fan Café in Vienna, the presidents of the OGAE Clubs elected a new board for the OGAE International Network (shown below), who would maintain their roles until the next election in 2017.[7][needs update]
OGAE branchesOGAE currently has forty-four members, including two in Germany.[1][8] These are:
OGAE Rest of the WorldCountries that do not have an OGAE Network in their own right, but are active or associate members of the EBU are unified under the name "Rest of the World". The countries which constitute this OGAE Network are:[2][9]
OGAE contestsOGAE PollThe Marcel Bezençon Fan Award was handed out in 2002 and 2003, and voted on by members of the OGAE. It was discontinued and replaced by the Composer Award in 2004.
Every year since 2007, the OGAE has conducted a pre-Eurovision Song Contest poll in which every national club plus OGAE Rest of the World cast a vote from all entries participating in a particular contest, using the same scoring system as the one at Eurovision: the most voted songs on each club receive 1 to 8, and then 10 and 12 points, and countries cannot vote for themselves. The winners of this poll are:
OGAE Second Chance ContestThe OGAE Second Chance Contest is a visual event organised by branches of OGAE. It began in 1987, when it was then known as "Europe's Favourite".[citation needed] Four OGAE branches competed in the first contest, coming from the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.[12] The contest quickly expanded and now contains over 20 countries competing each year. Due to the countries' varying Eurovision selection methods over the years, it is a common occurrence for countries to sporadically compete in the contest.[13] The competition was previously a non-televised event, but evolved over the years by the usage of videotape and later DVD, YouTube and streaming services.[12] The contest takes place in the summer after the year's Eurovision Song Contest. A video entry from each branch of OGAE is handed to each competing OGAE 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.[12] 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 Spain entered songs known to have been entered into the country's internal selection process. In 1990, 1991, 1998 and 1999 Italy competed in the Second Chance Contest, entering the winning songs of the Italian Sanremo Music 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 to some branches becoming ineligible to compete for many years due to no national final being held in the country.[14] Since 1993, guest juries have been used in the voting of the contest. These juries are composed of branches that are ineligible to compete in the contest due to no national final being held in their country.[14] Retrospective Second Chance ContestFrom 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 format is repeated every year, for example in 2004 the 1985 Retrospective contest was held, and in 2005 the 1984 Retro contest was held etc.
Guest Jury HitsThe Guest Jury Hits contest was introduced in 2003, 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. The first contest was held in 2003, when hit songs from 1985 competed in the contest. So far eighteen contests have been held, with Italy winning eight contests, the United States winning twice, and Australia, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, and Jamaica each winning once. Umberto Tozzi has so far been responsible for three of Italy's wins.[15] OGAE Song ContestThe OGAE Song Contest is an audio event in which all OGAE national clubs can enter with an original song released in the previous 12 months in their countries. The competing songs must be sung in one of the country's official languages.[17][18] This rule was planned to be removed in 2022,[19] before the event was cancelled that year due to the controversy surrounding OGAE Russia's continued participation and the decision by OGAE not to remove the Russian OGAE club from the contest for its support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[20] ParticipationSo far 59 countries have been represented at the contest at least once. These are listed here alongside the year in which they made their debut:
OGAE Rest of the World represents countries that do not have an OGAE branch of their own. Their first participations came at the 1987 contest, where they represented Botswana & Zimbabwe. WinnersFourteen countries have won the contest since it began in 1986. The most successful country in the contest is the United Kingdom, which has won the contest eight times. OGAE Video ContestThe OGAE Video Contest is a video event which, much like the OGAE Song Contest, is organised between branches of the OGAE. All OGAE national clubs can enter with an original song and video released in the previous 12 months in their countries. There is no obligation on the entry for the OGAE Video Contest to be sung in one of the country's official languages. ParticipationSo far 51 countries have been represented at the contest at least once. These are listed here alongside the year in which they made their debut:
OGAE Rest of the World represents countries that do not have an OGAE branch of their own. Their first participation came at the 2005 contest, where they represented Kazakhstan. WinnersNine countries have won the contest since it began in 2003. The most successful countries in the contest has been France, who has won the contest four times.
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