It's one of those things we love to hate!
Goes back about 50 years - the idea of a song contest between European countries. Amazingly cheesy - with a few scattered gems like Abba along the way. Ireland kept winning it for a long time. Norway always scored "nul points". And something that no-one can really work out is why Israel is included ( actually the boring real reason is that it is part of the Euopean television network, nothing to do with geography).
There are 2 ways to approach the contest - the most favoured being to ignore it completely; the other (which works if you do it once every decade or so) is to invite loads of friends, make them dress up and serve them all the weird, strangely coloured booze from the back of the cupboard, that seemed such a good idea to buy after an evening drinking it in a bar somewhere across europe. You end up noisily supporting an act you've never heard of, from a country you never want to visit, and the wretched tune goes round in your head for ever (indeed, as I write "There's a bird on a branch" is insinuating itself into my thoughts!).
And here's the link!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/eurovision/2005/