There are some points worth noting on this table. The voting in the first contest, staged in 1956 was never made public and only the winner (Switzerland) was announced. While it is widely rumoured that Germany came second, but only a gold has been awarded for this contest. In 1969 there was a four-way tie for first place between the Uunited Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain and France. All have been given a gold, and no silver or bronze awarded. In 1990, there was a tie for second place between France and Ireland, and both have been given a silver with no bronze awarded. In 1991 Sweden and France tied for first place, but on a count-back of the votes, Sweden took the title and the gold for that year, and France the silver. In 2002 the points of Estonia and the U.K. were equal, Estonia were awarded third place as there have been no tied positions in Eurovision at that time. 

In total 25 countries have won the Eurovision Song Contest, since 1956. It's no surprise that with seven victories, Ireland finishes on top of the Eurovision table. Of the countries with five victories, the United Kingdom is ahead of France and then Luxembourg, based on the higher number of second place finishes. The United Kingdom has most medals with 22 top three finishes, but they have not had a top three result since 1998. France has 16 medals, but you have to go back to 1991 for their last top three finish. Ireland has 12 medals, with the most recent being the silver picked up in 1997.

In total, fifty one countries have taken part in the contest. Nineteen countries have yet to finish in the top three. Some countries like Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco and the former Yugoslavia no longer participate in the competition, while Portugal are waiting for a medal finish after over forty years in the contest.

2011 UPDATE : Azerbaijan's victory in only their fourth Eurovision Song Contest moves them into the Top 20. This is the second Top 3 result for Azerbaijan, following their third place finish in 2009. Italy's successful return to the contest after a 14 year absence sees them in 14th place, while Sweden's 3rd place sees them consolidate themselves in fifth place.