Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest

Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest
Former participating broadcaster	Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC; 1959–2006)
Participation summary
Appearances	24 (21 finals)
First appearance	1959
Last appearance	2006
Highest placement	1st: 1971
Participation history 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 – 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 – 2024
External links
Monaco's page at Eurovision.tv
For the most recent participation see Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Monaco has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since its debut in 1959. The country's only win in the contest came in 1971, with "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" performed by Séverine. As a result, Monaco was expected to host the contest in 1972, but it ultimately declined. The Monégasque participant broadcaster in the contest was Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC). Monaco is the only microstate to have won the contest to date.

Monaco finished last at its first contest in 1959 before achieving three top three results in the 1960s. Two of these were achieved by François Deguelt, who finished third with "Ce soir-là" in 1960 and second with "Dis rien" in 1962. "Où sont-elles passées" by Romuald also finished third in 1964. Severine's victory in 1971 was the first of five top four results in eight years. The others were achieved with "Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va" by Romuald (who returned to place fourth in 1974), "Toi, la musique et moi" by Mary Christy who was third in 1976, "Une petite française" by Michèle Torr, fourth in 1977, and "Les Jardins de Monaco" by Caline and Olivier Toussaint who were fourth in 1978. After participating in 1979, Monaco was absent from the contest for 25 years.

Monaco is the only country to have internally selected all of its participants. While some countries organise televised national finals, it is believed^{[by whom?]} that TMC does not have enough funding to organise national finals.

Monaco returned to the contest for three years from 2004 to 2006 but failed to qualify for the final on all three occasions. TMC then withdrew from the contest, stating that regional voting patterns in the contest have effectively given Monaco no chance of qualifying for the final.^[1][2]