Monaco has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since its debut in . The country's only win in the contest came in when Séverine performed "Un banc, un arbre, une rue". As a result, Monaco was expected to host the contest in , but declined. As of , Monaco is the only microstate which has won the contest. Monaco finished last at its first contest in 1959 before achieving three top three results in the 1960s. Two of these were achieved by François Deguelt, who finished third in and second in . Romuald also finished third in . Severine's victory in 1971 was the first of five top four results in eight years. The others were achieved by Romuald (who returned to place fourth in ), Mary Christy who was third in , Michèle Torr, fourth in and Caline and Olivier Toussaint who were fourth in . After participating in , Monaco was absent from the contest for 25 years. Monaco is the only country to have internally selected all of their participants. While some countries organise televised national finals, it is believed that TMC does not have enough funding to organise national finals. Monaco returned to the contest for three years from to but failed to qualify for the final on all three occasions. The Monegasque broadcaster then withdrew from the contest, stating that regional voting patterns in the contest have effectively given Monaco no chance of qualifying for the final. History Monaco participated in the contest 21 times between its debut in 1959 and 1979. Afterwards the country withdrew from the contest for financial reasons and lack of interest. It only returned in 2004, 25 years after its last participation. It withdrew again in 2007, after failing to qualify for the final for three consecutive years. Monaco won the contest in , with the song "Un banc, un arbre, une rue", performed by Séverine. The Monegasque victory is rather particular in the history of Eurovision as neither the songwriter, the singer, nor director were from the country they represented, something which also was the case with four of Luxembourg’s five victories. Séverine even declared to journalists that she had never set foot in Monaco, forgetting that the video-clip was filmed there. Séverine's producer was dishonest with her and stole her prize, thus she never got paid for her victory, even after suing him. Nevertheless, the singer