Luxembourg has been represented at theEurovision Song Contest 39 times since its debut at the first contest in1956. The Luxembourgish national broadcaster,RTL Lëtzebuerg (RTL), participates in the contest representing the country. The nation participated in all but one event between 1956 and1993, only missing the1959 contest. After finishing among the bottom seven countries in 1993, Luxembourg wasrelegated and prevented from competing in1994. The nation declined to return to the contest in1995, and would make no further appearances over the next three decades. The country returned to the event for the first time in 31 years in2024.
With five wins, Luxembourg is one of the contest's most successful nations, and from 1973-1976 and 1983-1994 the nation jointly held the record for most contest wins by a single country. Luxembourg won the Eurovision Song Contest in1961, with the song "Nous les amoureux" performed byJean-Claude Pascal, in1965, with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" performed byFrance Gall, recorded back-to-back wins in1972 and1973, when represented by "Après toi" byVicky Leandros and "Tu te reconnaîtras" byAnne-Marie David, and most recently in1983, with the song "Si la vie est cadeau" performed byCorinne Hermès. The contest has been held in Luxembourg four times, in1962,1966,1973, and1984, all of which took place inLuxembourg City. In addition to its five wins, Luxembourg recorded two third-place finishes in1962 and1986, and in total has placed within the top five 13 times and the top ten 20 times. Luxembourg's fortunes in the contest changed in later years, with the nation's final seven appearances in the 1980s and 1990s resulting in four placements in the bottom five, ultimately leading to the nation's relegation and subsequent non-participation in 1993. On its return in 2024, Luxembourg qualified from the semi-finals and ultimately finished in 13th place in the final. It again qualified for the final in2025.
One of seven countries to take part in theinaugural edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, Luxembourg has competed in the contest on 38 occasions since its debut entry. The nation participated in all but one event between 1956 and1993, with no Luxembourgish entry having participated in the1959 contest.[6][7][8] On each occasion that Luxembourg participated in the contest the country was represented by one song, with the exception of the first contest when each nation was represented by two songs.[9][10]
Luxembourg has won the contest on five occasions, marking it as one of the contest's most successful nations.[6][7][11] The country's first win was recorded in1961 with the song "Nous les amoureux" performed byJean-Claude Pascal. Four years later the nation were awarded a second victory, with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" performed byFrance Gall winning the contest in1965. Luxembourg recorded back-to-back victories in1972 and1973 – becoming the second country to win the event in two consecutive events[12] – when represented by the song "Après toi" performed byVicky Leandros, and "Tu te reconnaîtras" byAnne-Marie David, respectively. The nation achieved its most recent victory in1983, with the song "Si la vie est cadeau" performed byCorinne Hermès.[6][7] With its fifth win Luxembourg became the joint-most successful Eurovision nation at that time, equalling the record for the most number of victories by a single country previously set byFrance – a record which would remain untilIreland recorded their sixth win in1994.[6][13] All of Luxembourg's winners, however, were not of Luxembourgish descent, with four of the five artists being French and one, Leandros, being Greek.[14][15]
During its original participation run between 1956 and 1993 therules of the contest for the majority of those editions stated that each country was required to perform in one of the national languages of that country.[16][17] The large majority of Luxembourgish entries were performed in French, which is one of theofficial languages of Luxembourg and the main language of communication in the country, while Luxembourgish, the country's national language, has featured in only three of the country's entries, in1960,1992, and1993.[18][19][20]
Including its five wins, Luxembourg has placed within the top five on 13 occasions and within the top ten on 20 occasions, including two third-place finishes in1962 and1986.[7][21] The majority of the country's top placings, however, were recorded prior to its fifth contest win, and in the decade following its most recent victory Luxembourg's fortunes in the contest began to shift, leading to four appearances in the bottom five between1987 and 1993.[6]
After finishing among the bottom seven countries at the 1993 event, Luxembourg wasrelegated under a new system to accommodate entries from new nations wishing to compete for the first time, and was thus prevented from participating in the 1994 contest.[6][22] Luxembourg subsequently declined to participate in the1995 event and continued to be absent from the contest for three decades, with the increased costs of participating in the event cited as a main contributing factor for the country's absence.[6] Ahead of the2004 event Luxembourg was featured within a preliminary participants list for that edition, however, RTL subsequently reconsidered due to the scale of the participation fee, with Luxembourg ultimately absent from the final list of participating countries.[23][24][25] RTL had been approached on several occasions in subsequent years about the possibility of returning to the contest and participation in the contest was the subject of discussion within theLuxembourgish parliament in the years following Luxembourg's last entry, as well as the subject of fan-led petitions run both in Luxembourg and in other countries.[15] The organisation however varyingly identified high participation costs, organisational difficulties, the cost and logistical issues of staging the event should Luxembourg win, format incompatibilities at the broadcaster, disinterest among the Luxembourgish viewing public and poor results towards the end of Luxembourg's participation among the reasons future participation was consistently ruled out.[15][26][27][28] In an interview withLuxemburger Wort in April 2014, Luxembourgish singerThierry Mersch [lb] revealed that he had been contacted bySammarinese broadcasterSan Marino RTV to create a duet that would represent both countries jointly in the2015 contest. Despite the initial availability of Luxembourgish minister of Culture, the project was ultimately discarded for financial reasons.[29]
On 15 December 2022, it was reported thatXavier Bettel, theLuxembourgish prime minister andminister for communications and media, had instigated discussions with RTL regarding the return of Luxembourg to the Eurovision Song Contest in2024, with a team within theLuxembourgish government formed to facilitate the country's return to the event.[30][31][32] On 12 May 2023, ahead of the final of the2023 contest, the 30th anniversary of Luxembourg's last entry and the 40th anniversary of Luxembourg's last win, RTL and the EBU announced that Luxembourg would return to the contest in 2024.[3][33][34] As part of the announcement, RTL and the Luxembourgish government highlighted the promotion of Luxembourgish culture, the development of thecultural section of Luxembourgish society, as well as economic and touristic benefits which participation in the event could bring.[15][21][35]
In July 2023, RTL launched itsnational selection process, with a televised final held on 27 January 2024 at theRockhal inEsch-sur-Alzette. Interested artists were able to apply to compete in the event, with applicants required to beLuxembourgish citizens, long-term residents, or those with a proven connection to the Luxembourgish music scene and strong involvement with Luxembourgish culture.[36][37] This marked a change from the majority of previous Luxembourgish selections, which were predominantly held internally and were often led by the RTL organisation in Paris instead of the local Luxembourgish broadcaster;[15] due to this, a large number of the artists who represented Luxembourg in the contest were not of Luxembourgish descent, including all five of the nation's winning artists.[15][38][39] TheLuxembourg Song Contest was officially launched on 1 December 2023, with RTL highlighting the event as a showcase for Luxembourgish talent and a platform for established and emerging artists within the Luxembourgish music scene.[40][41] The chosen entry for 2024, "Fighter" byTali, qualified for the final and finished 13th.[42] "La poupée monte le son" byLaura Thorn also qualified for the final in 2025 and finished 22nd.[43]
A special competition was held in October 2005 to celebrate the contest's 50th anniversary, with 14 songs from Eurovision history competing to determine the most popular song from the contest's first 50 years, with the winner determined through the combined votes of the viewing public and juries over two rounds.[46][47] The contest was not relayed by a Luxembourgish broadcaster; however, Luxembourg's winning song from 1965, "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", performed by France Gall, was featured among the 14 selected songs.[48][49]
Participation history atCongratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest[7][46]
Luxembourgish actress and television presenterDésirée Nosbusch(pictured in 2018) was nineteen years old when she hosted the1984 contest, becoming the youngest presenter in the contest's history.[50][51] Upon Luxembourg's return to the contest in 2024, she became the first Luxembourgish spokesperson to appear in vision during the contest.[52]
As is customary the winning broadcaster is offered the opportunity to organise the following year's event,[2] which has resulted in Luxembourg hosting the contest on four occasions.[7][21] On each occasion the contest was held inLuxembourg City, and coincided with one of Luxembourg's victories. The1962 and1966 events were held in theGrand Auditorium ofVilla Louvigny and presented byMireille Delannoy andJosiane Shen, respectively.[53][54] The1973 and1984 contests were held in theGrand Théâtre de Luxembourg (also known at the time as theNouveau Théâtre andThéâtre Municipal) and presented byHelga Guitton andDésirée Nosbusch, respectively.[55][50][56] Although Luxembourg won the contest in 1973 and were offered the opportunity to stage the1974 event, RTL declined the offer due to the financial strain of hosting two consecutive events, leading to theBBC to step in as organiser and staging the event inBrighton.[57][58]
Each participating broadcaster in the Eurovision Song Contest assigns a head of delegation as the EBU's contact person and the leader of their delegation at the event. The delegation, whose size can greatly vary, includes a head of press, the performers, songwriters, composers, and backing vocalists, among others.[62] The Luxembourgish head of delegation in 2024 and 2025 been Eric Lehmann,[63] whilst David Gloesener will be Head of Delegation for the 2026 contest.[citation needed]
In contests where an orchestra was provided, aconductor was required to lead the musicians during each country's performance. Broadcasters were able to provide their own conductors or could call upon the services of the conductor appointed by the host broadcaster.[64] The conductors which led the orchestra during the Luxembourgish entries each year are listed below.
Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals for the Eurovision Song Contest, ranking all entries except their own. The modern incarnation of jury voting was introduced beginning with the2009 contest, and as of 2023[update], the juries' votes constitute 50% of the overall result in the final alongside televoting.[2][66]
RTL has broadcast the contest on various television and radio channels during its participation history and has provided commentary in different languages for the local audiences. On occasion commentary has been relayed from the broadcast feed of other participating countries.[69] Between 1956 and 1991 the contest was broadcast on the French-language television channel of RTL (presently known asRTL9), and was also broadcast on the German-language television channel (previously known asRTL plus, now titledRTL) between 1984 and 1988; in 1992 and 1993 the contest was broadcast on the Luxembourgish-language channelRTL Hei Elei.[70] The contest is also known to have been broadcast on RTL's radio stations, in 1966 on the French-languageRadio Luxembourg,[71] in 1962 and 1973 on the Luxembourgish-languageRadio Luxembourg [lb],[72][73] in 1973 on the English-languageRadio Luxembourg,[74] and in 1979 on the German-languageRTL Radio.[75] Upon its return to the contest in 2024, RTL provided a wide array of broadcast options through television, radio and online streaming, with English, French and Luxembourgish language commentators recruited to provide context during the live shows.[76][77]
As part of the contest's voting procedure, each participating broadcaster nominates a spokesperson which announces the results of their country's vote during the final.[78][79] Since 1994, the year Luxembourg began its most recent hiatus from the contest, the spokespersons have been connected through satellite links, which replaced the use of telephone lines in previous events.[13][80]Désirée Nosbusch, who had previously hosted the1984 contest, served as Luxembourg's spokesperson upon the country's return in 2024, and thus became the first Luxembourgish spokesperson to be seen in vision during the contest.[52]
Television commentators and spokespersons (1956–1993)
As part of the broadcaster's delegation team, acreative director may be employed to provide guidance on the staging of the competing entry at the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2024, RTL collaborated with the Ukrainian directorHerman Nenov [ru] on the staging of the Luxembourgish entry in Malmö.[138][139] In 2025, the staging was designed by the Ukrainian team TRI.Direction, led by Nataliia Lysenkova, Nataliia Rovenska and Mariia Hryhorashchenko, with choreography by Denys Stulnikov.[140][141]
^abBrincourt, André (23 March 1964). "La Télévision par Andŕe Brincourt: Le Grand Prix Eurovision de la chanson à Gigliola Cinquetti (Italie)".Le Figaro (in French). p. 21.ISSN0182-5852.OCLC1367314267.
^See individual references embedded within the "Commentators and spokespersons" table.
^"Radio Luxembourg" [Radio Luxembourg].Luxemburger Wort (in French and Luxembourgish). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 6 April 1973. p. 31. Retrieved6 January 2023 – via National Library of Luxembourg.
^"Paris-Inter".Radio Cinéma Télévision (in French). No. 372. 3 March 1957. p. 17.ISSN0481-5920.OCLC474508236.Présentation pour la France et les pays de langue française : Robert Beauvais [Presentation for France and the French-speaking countries: Robert Beauvais]
^Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne 1966 (Television programme) (in English and French).Luxembourg City, Luxembourg: Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion. 5 March 1966.
^"Télé-Programmes".Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 24 March 1972. p. 17. Retrieved5 January 2023 – via National Library of Luxembourg.
^"Die Luxemburger Jury-Mitglieder" [The Luxembourg jury members].Luxemburger Wort (in German). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 25 March 1972. p. 28. Retrieved5 January 2023 – via National Library of Luxembourg.
^RTL Télévision Eurovision 1988promo. April 1988.C'est en direct du Royal Dublin Society que Valérie Sarn assurera les commentaires de cette grande soirée. [It's live from the Royal Dublin Society that Valérie Sarn will provide the commentary for this great evening.]
For the most recent participation see
.jpg)
%2c_Bestanddeelnr_923-3696.jpg)
%2c_Bestanddeelnr_928-5031.jpg)
