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Eurovision Song Contest Creates Frenzy Overseas

2:28 PM PDT 5/15/2011 by Karsten Kastelan

Europe's biggest music event -- whose alumni include Abba, Celine Dion and Katrina and the Waves -- might be a little freaky for the U.S., but ignore it at your own peril.

While for most of us, ESC stands for the upper left button on computer keyboards, pop-music aficionados know it as the abbreviation for the Eurovision Song Contest, the battle of artists from 50 countries that annually captivates a television audience of 125 million and can draw up to 59 percent of viewers ages 14-49 in industrialized countries.

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