User:NotGuyFieri/sandbox AmerivisionIRLCountries

= List of countries in the Amerivision Song Contest = As of the 1965 edition, 15 of the 49 countries that ever participated of the Amerivision Song Contest have debuted.

Argentina
Argentina is one of the six original Amerivision countries, winning the contest once in 1964.

In its early years, Argentina was seem as a mixed bag country in the competition, never really staying in the middle of the scoreboard, always gravitating towards the bottom or the top, a major proof of this was their 1964 victory, that was surrounded by two lackluster performances by the country, the former being tied for last place in the contest and the following being the country's first placing out of the top 10.

Due to diminished funding and lack of interest in the contest due to poor performances during the 70s, original broadcaster Televisión Pública withdrew from the 1977 contest, stating that it had no intentions of returning in the foreseeable future, upon hearing the news, Telefe showed interest in obtaining the rights of broadcasting Amerivision from TVP, which was originally declined, with Telefe seeking ABU approval to take responsabilites for hosting the contest, the case stayed open for several months, – Which led to Argentina not being able to attend the 1978 contest as well and nearly missing the 1979 one. – but in the end, Telefe was successful in obtaining the rights to broadcast Amerivision in Argentina, and it does so to this day.

Brazil
Brazil is one of the six original Amerivision countries, they've won the contest once, in its inaugural edition.

Brazil is largely seen as one of the powerhouses of the Amerivision contest, getting high placements and being one of the few countries that never ended last places, initially the contest was broadcasted in Brazil by the late Rede Tupi, but after an inner channel crisis – that eventually led to the network's dissolution in 1981 – Tupi stated that the 1977 contest was going to be the last one to be broadcasted by them, and that they were forfeiting the rights to host the event, Rede Bandeirantes and Rede Globo both offered bids to be the new broadcaster of the contest in Brazil, with the latter being approved as the new broadcaster due to the larger bid. Globo broadcasts the contest to this day in Brazil, and is one of the largest financial contributors for the contests, which made it recieve a spot in the "Big 4" after the semifinals system was implemented in 2004.

Canada
Canada is one of the six original Amerivision countries, they've won the contest twice.

Canada is considered to be the strongest english speaking country in the contest, they were the first nation to win the contest twice, doing so in 1959, the first nation to host the event twice and is considerably more successful in the contest than the United States, despite Canada occasionally sending American-born artists to represent itself in the contest, such as the 1959 winner, Ronnie Hawkins.

Participating of the contest since its innaugural edition, Canada is one of the few countries that participated of every single edition of the contest.

Chile
Chile debuted in the contest in 1958, they won the contest once in 1962.

In its first few participations, Chile failed to cause a large impression in the contest, – with them even considering with drawing from the contest after the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, which they eventually came around as a way to provide entertainment to the public during the harsh times. – however, in 1962, they won the contest with "Twist del estudiante", to this day considered one of the biggest success stories to come out of Amerivision, and the victory went on to forever change the country's luck in the contest.

Colombia
Colombia is one of the six original Amerivision countries, their best result was a second place in 1957.

Despite having a couple of victories in its back, Colombia is largely seen as the weakest of the original six countries, as well as the one with the least amount of funding, which led to Colombia often struggling to make an impression in the early days of the contest, with them even withdrawing from the 1962 contest due to budget reasons.

Cuba
Cuba debuted in the 1957 contest, for the longest time, this was Cuba's sole participation in the contest until its return in 1997. Initally broadcasted by CMQ, Cuba ended its first participation in the contest in 6th place out of 9 countries. However, the country withdrew from the contest in 1958 due to complications caused by the Cuban Revolution, originally intending to return in 1959, after the revolution was successful, the new government stood against the participation of the country in the contest, and after CMQ dissolved in 1960, no cuban networks with ABU memberships remained, and the country stayed most of the 20th century without participating of the contest, however, with the country becoming more open during the mid 90s, Cubavisión eventually obtained the rights to broadcast the contest, and eventually making their long awaited second participation in 1997, although refusing to host the event in the case of a victory until the late 2010s.

The gap between 1958 and 1996 that Cuba didn't participate is the largest gap of time that a previously participating country stayed out of the contest.

Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic debuted in the contest in 1961, their best result was a second place finish in that same year.

In its first participations, the country showed itself to be incredibly successful, ending second in its first participation and third in the following entry, however, it didn't take long for the favoritism to cease, to the point that they ended in last place in the 1965 contest, nowadays, the Domincan Republic is seem as a recurring but relatively middling country in the contest, despite a couple of victories under its name.

Mexico
Mexico is one of the six original Amerivision countries, their best result was a second place in 1965.

In the initial years, Mexico struggled considerably to have high placings in the contest, often staying in the middle of the board, during that time, Telesistema Mexicano was the broadcaster of the event in mexico, but after the channel ceased, the transmission rights were moved to its successor, Televisa, that one being a major financial contributor to the event, which led to Mexico being one of the countries in the "Big 4", together with Brazil, Canada and United States.

Mexico was an early adopted of the national final selecting contest, with most of its entries after the 1959 contest being selected via the program "Una voz para el México".

Panama
Panama debuted in the contest in 1965, as the first central american country to do so, and won in its very first participation, it was the first time a non-original six country won the contest in its very first participation, however, the win was seem as controversial, as the panamanian entry, Raphael, was spanish and had no ties with Panama in itself. However, the ABU rules specifically state that the representative doesn't necessarily have to be from the country it is representing to participate of the contest, and that the only reason this happened is because RPC invited Raphael to participate of the event and he accepted. After its success in the ASC, Raphael went on to represent his home country in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1966 and 1967, ending 7th and 6th respectively.

Peru
Peru debuted in the contest in 1959, their best result was a second place in 1959.

Despite having an early lead, finishing its first ever participation in second place, Peru went on to struggle in the upcoming years, even ending last place in 1963. For those reasons, peru is largely seen as one of the least impactful countries in South America in the contest.

Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico debuted in the contest in 1957, they won the competition once in 1961.

Puerto Rico is often considered the biggest wild card in the contest, either doing terribly or amazingly in it. In its first four participations, the country seriously struggled to maintain good results, even being the first country to recieved the dreaded nul points in the contest's history in 1959, and repeating the feat in the following year, however, in a major upset, the country was crowned the winner of the 1961 contest with the song "Ramona" by Rafael Cortijo, credited to "Cortijo y Su Combo", initially this was believed to be a sign of things to come for Puerto Rico, but after three lack-luster performances in the following years, – including its first ever placement out of the top 10 in the 1964 contest – this theory was quickly shut down, the country went on to get its second best result ever at the time in 1965, ending 3rd with the song "El rebelde" by Lucecita Benítez.

Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago debuted in the contest in 1964, and ended in last place that year.

As the first country from the Lesser Antilles to participate of the contest, Trinidad and Tobago served as the unintentional hub for artists from other countries of the region to participate of the contest, after internally selecting Lord Kitchener in its first participation and ending the contest in last place, the broadcaster created the national selection TTT Festival to select its future entries in the contest, which led to several artists from countries like Grenada, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to participate of the program in order to get a spot in Amerivision, which was proven successful, given the first edition was won by Grenadinian singer Mighty Sparrow and the second being won by Barbadian band The Merrymen. However, despite backlash from local musicians, TTT didn't do anything to stop it, as it was indeed leading to the country performing better in the contest. However, as other countries from the region joined the contest, the quantity of foreigner artists participating of the TTT Festival started to decrease, and while eventually foreigner artists still represent Trinidad and Tobago, the majority of modern representatives are native to the nation.

United States
United States is one of the six original Amerivision countries, their best result was a second place finish in 1964.

Despite being always considered a major favorite of the competition, the United States seriously struggled to do as well as anticipated in the early years of the contest, despite constant podium placements, only achieving their first victory in [...].

Despite this, NBC, the american broadcaster, is considered to be the largest financial contributor to the contest, and is often treated as the backup host nation, as it often hosts contests when the previous year's winner or runner up declines the offer. The first time that happened being in 1961, when it hosted the contest in behalf of Uruguay.

Uruguay
Uruguay debuted in the contest in 1957, they are the biggest winners in the contest history, winning three times.

Often considered to be one of the biggest surprises in the contest's history, Uruguay did remarkably well in the early years of the contest, ending third place in their first participation and winning in the following year, they later became the second country to win twice in 1960 and in 1963 they became the first country to win three times. Which led to them recieving a constant status of favorites for the contest.

They were also the first country to win the contest with a returning artist, as the 1963 winner, Julio Sosa, had already participated of the contest in 1961, ending 6th place.

Venezuela
Venezuela debuted in the contest in 1965, with its best placement being a 10th place in that same contest.

The country is often seen as inconsistent in the contest, not only due to the fact that it often floats around the board with no pattern of placements, but also due to its tendency to withdraw from the contest, with the first withdraw happening in 1967, and many others happening throughout the decades.