text: Origins and history The Eurovision Song Contest was developed by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) as an experiment in live television broadcasting and a way to produce cheaper programming for national broadcasting organisations. The word "Eurovision" was first used by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951, when he referred to a BBC programme being relayed by Dutch television. Following several events broadcast internationally via the Eurovision transmission network in the early 1950s, including the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953, an EBU committee, headed by Marcel Bezençon, was formed in January 1955 to investigate new initiatives for cooperation between broadcasters, which approved for further study a European song competition from an idea initially proposed by RAI manager Sergio Pugliese. The EBU's general assembly agreed to the organising of the song contest in October 1955, under the initial title of the European Grand Prix, and accepted a proposal by the Swiss delegation to host the event in Lugano in the spring of 1956. The Italian Sanremo Music Festival, held since 1951, was used as a basis for the initial planning of the contest, with several amendments and additions given its international nature.
  Seven countries participated in the , with each country represented by two songs; the only time in which multiple entries per country were permitted. The winning song was "Refrain", representing the host country Switzerland and performed by Lys Assia. Voting during the first contest was held behind closed doors, with only the winner being announced on stage; the use of a scoreboard and public announcement of the voting, inspired by the BBC's Festival of British Popular Songs, has been used since 1957. The tradition of the winning country hosting the following year's contest, which has since become a standard feature of the event, began in 1958. Technological developments have transformed the contest: colour broadcasts began in ; satellite broadcasts in ; and streaming in . Broadcasts in widescreen began in 2005 and in high-definition since 2007, with ultra-high-definition tested for the first time in 2022.