Kross-European Song Contest of 1966

This was the 41st edition of the contest and was held in May 1966. Kross Company again collaborated with RECORDZA and EmbeX for the edition of the contest. Felix Dahlman from Sweden returned as Executive producer with Kiana Ratz again as the assistant director.

The contest would start on Tuesday 10th May 1966 with the first semi final, continue through to Thursday 12th May 1966 with the second semi final and end with the grand final on Saturday 14th May 1966

Hosting
When Cyprus won the contest, it was unclear what country would host next. Cyprus, who had only became independent in 1964, was approached by the BBC (British broadcasters) to help. BBC provided 75% of the funding for the contest and would take 75% profits which angered the Cypriots but without British help, they wouldn't of hosted the event anyway. The host city was almost immediately chosen because it was the biggest city in the country and would allow for a better experience (not to mention it was in the middle of the country and a very tourist-friendly city)

Participants
Currently, 42 countries have confirmed participation for the contest. Scotland, who debuted in 1964, would be again not compete after previously missing out on the 1965 contest. This is followed by Wales who has been participating for 14 years since 1952. This means the United Kingdom will be acting as a whole for the first time since 1951 meaning a large renovation to their national final took place. France returned to the contest after previously missing out on the 1965 contest.

Countries who used a national selection: Countries who used internal or alternative method:

Grouping
Pot 1 is usually countries related to or near automatic qualifiers, Pot 2 is usually small countries. Pot 3 and Pot 4 are usually eastern European countries, Pot 5 is usually Nordic or northern countries and Pot 6 is usually any north African countries. These are not official boundaries however. There are 41 countries total. 5 automatically qualify. These are Cyprus, the host, Switzerland, United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. This means there are 6 countries over the 6 pots.

Semi Final 2
These are the countries going into the next round:
 * Qualifier 1
 * Qualifer 2
 * Qualifier 3
 * Qualifer etc
 * Automatic Qualifier 1
 * Automatic Qualifier etc

Awards
Bekaert Awards