The fifth esctoday.com TOP TEN list starts today with the places 5 and 4 being announced. As announced on Saturday, this week's topic are the TOP TEN longest-running spin-offs and imitations.

The list features shows and contests that are either real spin-offs of the Eurovision Song Contest organised by the EBU or contests that follow a similar idea.

So we continue:

No 3 – Eurovision Young Dancers (1985-2005)

The Eurovision Young Dancers contest is an official spin-off of the Eurovision Song Contest that did not get the attention it might have deserved considering how long it was running. The participants (both couples and olo artists), who were no professional dancers, had to be aged between 15 and 21 years and both classical and contemporary styles were eligible. The first edition was held in 1985 and the contest was held every second year until 2005. The 2007 edition did not take place as the EBU launched a new dancing competition – the Eurovision Dance Contest. As the Eurovision Dance Contest 2009 was cancelled, the Eurovision Young Dancers competition was set to return. The contest was scheduled for 19th June but it was cancelled again due to the low number of participating countries. The competition may return in 2011.

The country with the most victories in the contest is Spain having won five times. In fact, it is the only country that one more than once, including four editions in a row between 1991 and 1997. The other winning countries were Denmark, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Sweden and the Netherlands. Some of the dancers competing can be considered stars in the dancing scene. Among them are various ballet dancers like Bart de Block from Belgium, Nikolaj Hübbe from Denmark, Igor Yebra from Spain and Emmanuel Thibault from France.

The most recent winner in 2005, Milou Nuyens from the Netherlands:

No. 2 – Eurovision Young Musicians (1982-present)

The Eurovision Young Musicians contest was the first official spin-off of the Eurovision Song Contest launched in 1982 and it has been held every second year since. The contest is aimed at instrumentalists younger than 19 years old. The contest is a joint production of the EBU and the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth. Until 2004, the contest was held in a different country every year but sicne 2006, it has been held as part of the Wiener Festowchen in Vienna, Austria every year.

Austria is also the country that has won the contest the most times as four victories went onto their account. Germany, the Netherlands and Poland have all won twice while the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Slovenia and Greece have all taken home the trophy once.

Slovenia winning in 2010. Eva Nina Kozmus is the first flutist winning the main award:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB2JfIthNwY

Tomorrow, the no. 1 on the list will be revealed.