Eurovision Song Contest: the world's version of American Idol

Byron Scott, professor emeritus, Missouri School of Journalism: The annual Eurovision Song Contest is one of the largest cultural events in the world but is not well-known in the United States. To put it into a U.S. perspective, picture the Super Bowl but with an audience exceeding 100 million in more than 50 countries. Picture a sequin-filled competition that would bring American Idol to its knees by comparison. The Eurovision competition has been going on since 1956; the latest one was held last week, with the finals last weekend in Moscow. The press corps assembled in Moscow made the G-20 summit look minuscule. The competition was reported to have cost the Russians the equivalent of more than $33 million. Tell us about the competition, and give us a summary of what took place.