Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits (also known as Eurovision's Greatest Hits) was a live television concert programme organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest. The concert took place on 31 March 2015 at the Eventim Apollo, in Hammersmith, London. Guy Freeman was the executive producer and Geoff Posner the director, both of whom held the same positions as the last time the BBC hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in . Simon Proctor was the senior producer and David Arch was the musical director for the concert. Tickets for the event went on sale at 10:15 (GMT) on 6 February 2015.
Graham Norton and Petra Mede hosted the event, which saw fifteen acts from thirteen countries performing their Eurovision entries from yesteryear. During the televised show, video montages from the Eurovision archives were shown in-between each live performance. The UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015, "Still in Love with You" by Electro Velvet, was performed at the concert as the opening act, but never broadcast on the televised show. Riverdance performed a reprise of their interval act as part of the anniversary celebrations.
Several countries confirmed that they would air the delayed broadcast of the concert on various dates that suited the broadcasters' schedules, including , who first competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 as a wildcard entry. The host broadcaster BBC and the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) simulcast the show on Good Friday, 3 April 2015, across BBC One and RTÉ 2. In turn, several countries chose not to broadcast the event, including , who had an act taking part.
Location
Confirmation came on 3 February 2015 that the concert event would take place at the Eventim Apollo, in Hammersmith, London. This was the first time that London hosted a Eurovision event since the Eurovision Dance Contest 2007.
Organisation
It was announced on 22 October 2014, that the EBU had appointed the British broadcaster BBC to co-produce a special anniversary show to celebrate sixty years of the Eurovision Song Contest, similar to the show Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place in 2005. The details regarding the title of the show were unknown at the time the announcement was made.
The EBU later issued the following statement regarding the 60th anniversary: "There are various exciting proposals from member broadcasters on the table to celebrate the 60th anniversary beyond the contest in May, which are currently in the final stages of being evaluated. A decision is expected shortly, so stay tuned!". Edgar Böhm, executive producer of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest said in an interview that the BBC had been chosen to host a special anniversary show. Guy Freeman was appointed as executive producer for the event, assisted by Senior Producer Simon Proctor, the script was co-written by Edward af Sillén, Daniel Réhn, Christine Rose and Simon Proctor whilst the director was Geoff Posner, who had previously directed the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 in Birmingham.
Presenters
On 3 February 2015, it was announced that Graham Norton and Petra Mede would co-host the concert show. Norton, who co-hosted the Eurovision Dance Contest with Claudia Winkleman in and , is also the current Eurovision TV commentator for the United Kingdom, serving since . Norton would later go-on to co-host the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023. Mede was the host of Melodifestivalen 2009 (Swedish national selection show), host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 and later co-host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.
Tickets
Tickets for the anniversary concert went on sale from 10:15 (GMT) on 6 February 2015 via the BBC's Eurovision website and the Eurovision Song Contest's official website.