Dusseldorf, Germany -- While America gets ready for the finale of "American Idol" and tunes into hot new shows such as NBC's "The Voice," Europe is busy watching the continent's annual vocal competition that many say gave rise to the entire phenomena of televised singing throw-downs: Eurovision. Since 1956, European nations have sent representative artists and songs to battle for the boasting rights as top songsmiths. On Tuesday evening the first semi-final of 2011 took place in a Dusseldorf, Germany, arena. And just like on U.S. shows such as "Idol," losers went home and winners advanced. The only difference is that in this competition, entire countries are left saddened when songs fail to impress the voting public in Europe -- and members of a jury: The vote is split 50/50 between fans and a panel of experts.
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European nations compete in friendly music competition at Eurovision
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On Tuesday the first semi-final of the 2011 Eurovision took place in a Dusseldorf arena
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Between 100 million and 120 million are expected to tune into the competition this year
The number of American media outlets attending Eurovision this year has more than doubled from 2010 and @placeholder officials say website traffic from North America overall is comparable to last year and even up slightly.