Eurovision Choir (formerly Eurovision Choir of the Year) was a

choral A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

competition organised by the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

(EBU) and . It is modeled after the latter's World Choir Games. Participation is open to non-professional choirs selected by member broadcasters of the EBU. The inaugural competition took place in 2017 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia, and was won by Slovenia. The second edition took place in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden in 2019 and was won by Denmark. Planning for a third edition was canceled in June 2021 by the ; a host broadcaster for the event had not been selected before the announcement, nor had any countries announced their participation. In October 2022, it was announced by the EBU that Eurovision Choir would return in 2023, hosted by for the second time in the contest's history. However on 17 May 2023, the EBU announced that the 2023 edition had been cancelled. No host city or venue had been revealed before the cancellation. The official list of participants was also not released before the cancellation, however, five countries had confirmed their intention to participate. In October 2024, following the cancellation of the 2021 and 2023 contests, the EBU confirmed that it was not considering organising a new edition in 2025 making it unlikely that the contest will return in the near future.

Origins

Following the positive reception of "Born in Riga", a concert organized by the Latvian broadcaster (LTV), the concept of Eurovision Choir was first discussed in 2014 as a contest organized by LTV and the network

Arte Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

. LTV approached multiple broadcasters, including the

(EBU) and Interkultur, regarding the organisation of the new contest. The event was officially confirmed on 30 November 2016 depending on a reasonable amount of interest from active members of the EBU. On 21 July 2017, it was announced that the Eurovision Choir of the Year would be a biennial contest unless viewing figures were higher than expected. The inaugural contest was hosted by LTV and took place on 22 July 2017, coinciding with the closing ceremony of the European Choir Games 2017.

Format

Participating EBU-member broadcasters select a non-professional choir or ''

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

'' ensemble to represent their home country to compete for the Eurovision Choir of the Year title, with prizes including a recording contract for the winning choir. Each choir performs an unaccompanied set of approximately six minutes in any genre and is adjudicated by a panel of choral music professionals who decide the winner. In 2019, three finalists were chosen to present a second set by which the final ranking was decided.

Participation

Broadcasters from a total of thirteen countries have participated in Eurovision Choir on at least one occasion. The of the contest in 2017 featured choirs from nine countries, while the in 2019 featured ten participating countries. Non-participating broadcasters had also broadcast the event in their countries, with the 2017 event being broadcast in Albania (

RTSH Radio Televizioni Shqiptar (; ; formerly TVSH , now mostly referred to as RTSH ) is the national public broadcasting company of Albania. Founded in 1938, it operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as we ...

), Australia ( SBS), France (

), Norway (

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

), Serbia ( RTS) and Ukraine ( UR). The below table outlines the participating broadcasters and details on their participation in the contest.

Hosting

Unlike other Eurovision contests, where the host location is chosen by the previous year's winning broadcaster, Eurovision Choir has been held as a component of Interkultur's Grand Prix of Nations & European Choir Games, with the contest being held in the country hosting said events. Most of the expense of the contest is covered by commercial sponsors and contributions from the other participating broadcasters. The table below shows a list of cities and venues that have hosted Eurovision Choir, one or more times. Future venues are shown in ''italics''.

Winning entries

References

External links

* {{European Broadcasting Union Eurovision Choir Choral festivals Singing competitions

Choir of the Year Eurovision Choir (formerly Eurovision Choir of the Year) was a choral competition organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and . It is modeled after the latter's World Choir Games. Participation is open to non-professional choirs sel ...

Music of Europe Recurring events established in 2017 2017 establishments in Europe Awards established in 2017