The Marcel Bezençon Awards were first handed out during the
Eurovision Song Contest 2002
The Eurovision Song Contest 2002 was the 47th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Tallinn, Estonia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Everybody" by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL. Organised by the Euro ...
in
Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
honouring
the best competing songs in the final. Founded by
Christer Björkman
Christer Samuel Björkman (; born 25 August 1957) is a Swedish singer and television producer. He represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1992 with the song "I morgon är en annan dag". From 2002 to 2021, he served as a producer of Me ...
(
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
's representative in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1992
The Eurovision Song Contest 1992 was the 37th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Carola. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) ...
and Head of Delegation for Sweden until 2021) and Richard Herrey (member of
Herreys
Herreys (), sometimes Herrey's or Herrey, is a Swedish pop group, consisting of the three brothers Per Herrey (born 9 August 1958), Richard Herrey (born 19 August 1964), and Louis Herrey (born 3 November 1966). They won the Eurovision Song Cont ...
, winner of the
Eurovision Song Contest 1984
The Eurovision Song Contest 1984, the 29th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song "Si la vie est cadeau" by Corinne Hermes. Organised by t ...
for Sweden), the awards are named after the creator of the annual competition,
Marcel Bezençon
Marcel Bezençon (; 1 May 1907 – 17 February 1981) was a Swiss journalist, media executive and the director of the European Broadcasting Union between 1954 and 1970. In 1955, he conceived the idea of the Eurovision Song Contest, based on the fa ...
.
Although sanctioned by the
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
(EBU), the awards are not presented during the Eurovision final, but rather are handed out during the official afterparty. Beginning with the
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
contest, the trophies are handed out prior to the final.
Sweden's
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song ...
and Hungary's
A Dal
''A Dal'' (English: The Song) is an annual music competition in Hungary organised by the national broadcaster Duna and was the national selection process for the Eurovision Song Contest between 2012 and 2019. The contest was introduced in 2012. ...
also present the awards during their own competition proper.
Categories
The awards are divided into 3 categories:
* – Given to the best entry as voted on by the accredited media and press during the event.
* – Presented to the best artist as voted on by the commentators since 2010. Until 2009, the category was voted on by previous winners of the contest.
* – A jury consisting of the participating composers vote for the best and most original composition.
In , a special one-off award was presented, the Poplight Fan Award, as voted by fans on the Swedish website ''Poplight.se'' and presented to their favourite debuting artist under the age of 25.
Winners
Press Award
Artistic Award
Voted by previous winners
Voted by commentators
Since 2010, the show commentators have replaced the previous winners as the selection jury for the winners.
Composer Award winners
This award was first presented in , replacing the Fan Award.
Fan Award
The Fan Award was handed out in 2002 & 2003, and voted on by the members of
OGAE
The (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-p ...
, the Eurovision international fan club. It was discontinued and replaced by the Composer Award in 2004.
In 2008, a special award, called the Poplight Fan Award, was introduced and was voted on by Eurovision fans (see above). It has not been awarded since then.
Winners by country
Melodifestivalen winners
Since 2005,
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksdag (national ...
(SVT) has awarded Marcel Bezençon Awards during its national selection
Melodifestivalen
Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song ...
. These awards follow the same format as that for the Eurovision awards, with awards given to songs that competed in the final of the contest.
Press Award
Artistic Award
Composer Award
Fan Award
As with for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest a fan award was also given out for the
2008 Melodifestivalen.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcel Bezencon Awards
European music awards
Awards established in 2002
Eurovision Song Contest
Song contests
European Broadcasting Union