This year’s Eurovision Song Contest takes place this week with semi-finals on 7th & 9th May and the grand final on Saturday 11th May. Olly Alexander is representing for the UK this year – good luck Olly! But right now, I’m looking back on 10 of the most memorable winners in the history of the competition.
1969 – Four way tie!
It’s the first and only time that Eurovision has seen a tie for the win, and with no tie-breaker rule in place at the time, four acts were declared joint winner including UK legend Lulu and her catchy hit ‘Boom Bang-a-Bang’. The other three acts that were crowned joint winners were Spain’s Salomé with ‘Vivo cantando’, ‘De troubadour’ by Lenny Kuhr for the Netherlands and Frida Boccara with ‘Un jour, un enfant’ by Frida Boccara.
1974 – The birth of legends
Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Frida aka ABBA wowed international audiences with their energetic performance of ‘Waterloo’ which saw them take first place at that year’s Eurovision Song Contest to become Sweden’s first winners (the country has now won a record 7 times – joint most with Ireland). It was the song that launched their international careers and has seen them much adored today as one of the biggest groups in the world.
1981 – ..And if you want to see some more
Another 4 piece group consisting of two men and two women, Bucks Fizz, were voted the winners of Eurovision in 1981 for the UK with the brilliant ‘Making Your Mind Up’. It was perhaps the performance that helped secure the group the win with Cheryl and Jay having their long skirts whipped off by Mike and Bobby to the line ‘and if you wanna see some more’. Mrs Prude of Basingstoke was probably appalled by this racy behaviour!
1987 – The luck of the Irish
Johnny Logan became the first person to win the Eurovision for a second time (and remains the only male act to do so) when in 1987 his song ‘Hold Me Now’ swept the board. He first won the contest in 1980 with the song ‘What’s Another Year’. As mentioned above Ireland are joint record holders (with Sweden) when it comes to Eurovision with 7 wins throughout its history but the last time they won was in 1996 when Eimear Quinn – The Voice (Ireland). Could 2024 see Irish eyes smiling?
1988 – Dion it for the Swiss
A little known power vocalist by the name of Celine Dion walked away with top honours at Eurovision 1988 with the French language song ‘Ne Partez pas sans moi’. The Canadian songstress was just 20 years old and represented Switzerland where they speak German, French, Italian and Romash. It was the first and only time Switzerland have lifted the trophy so far.
1998 – Viva la diva
Eurovision has always been a big hit with the queer community, but in the late 90s, one act made history by becoming the first trans person to win the competition. That winner was Dana International with her hit ‘Diva’, winning the contest for Israel (their second time winning the competition; the other occasion was back in 1979 with duo Milk & Honey)
2006 – Raaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwk!
Eurovision always has something unexpected, but I’m not sure anyone expected heavy metal, masked rockers Lordi. The rockers took the Eurovision crown for Finland giving the country it’s first and only win to date. The song later won a Guinness World Record for the most people singing karaoke simultaneously with over 80,000 people singing it in Helsinki to celebrate the band’s Eurovision win.
2014 – Could Be Wurst!
In 2014, way ahead of The Greatest Showman, a different bearded lady came to the world’s attention when drag queen Conchita Wurst took to the stage for Austria. The bond theme like ‘Rise Like A Phoenix’ moved fans as Conchita belted out the song, looking gorgeous in a figure hugging, full length sequined dress. long brunette hair and of course a designer beard!
2022 – Standing with Ukraine
Eurovision fans across the world made their stance clear on the war in Ukraine by voting Kalush Orchestra’s ‘Stefania’ as the winner at 2022’s contest. Mashing up traditional folk music with hip hop beats, rap and chanting, the track gained the highest number of televote points in the history of the contest. The group later auctioned their Eurovision trophy to raise funds for a charity for the support of Ukraine and the armed forces.
2023 – Tat-two!
In many a Eurovision poll for best ever song, Swedish singer/songwriter Loreen’s 2012 winner ‘Euphoria’ is often at the top, so fans of Eurovision were very excited to see her competing once more in last year’s competition. Her song ‘Tattoo’ won the competition with 583 points and made her the first female artist to win Eurovision twice, and only the second artist ever to do so (after Johnny Logan above).
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 is available on BBC One and BBC iPlayer with the Semi Finals on 7th and 9th May and Grand Final on Saturday 11th May.
