The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
The best and worst of UK Eurovision acts
1. Sandie Shaw, 1967 The UK scored its first winner in 1967 as singer Sandie Shaw scored a hit with Puppet On A String.
2. Cliff Richard, 1968
A year later, Cliff Richard finished in second place with Congratulations in 1968. He came third with Power To All Our Friends in 1973.
3. Lulu, 1969
Lulu’s Boom Bang-A-Bang shared the top spot with France, Netherlands and Spain with 18 points apiece.
4. Brotherhood Of Man, 1976
Another UK victory came in 1976 with Brotherhood Of Man’s Save Your Kisses For Me. The band’s manager put the song’s success down to their TV appearances across Europe the year before the contest.
5. Bucks Fizz, 1981
The quartet’s skirt-ripping entry, Making Your Mind Up, won the contest in 1981.
6. Katrina And The Waves, 1997
Katrina And The Waves were the last UK act to take the title, with their entry Love Shine a Light in 1997.
7. Jemini, 2003
By far the most disheartening year was the infamous “nul points” for Jemini which left Britons weeping into their snack bowls. The duo’s Cry Baby failed to get a single point for the first time in the UK’s history, finishing last.
8. Daz Sampson, 2006 Daz Sampson and his tragically-named Sampsonites (young women dressed as schoolgirls) was perhaps one of the worst songs inflicted on the rest of Europe.
9. Scooch, 2007
Ten years after Katrina And The Waves swept to victory, the UK sent its most kitsch entrant yet with Steps-lite act Scooch. They came a lowly 22nd with their entry, Flying the Flag (For You). They received only 19 points, which included a maximum 12 points from Malta, who later revealed it was a protest vote against block voting.
10. Engelbert Humperdinck, 2012 The veteran crooner fared no better in 2012, when his entry, Love Will Set You Free, only narrowly avoided finishing rock-bottom. ‘The Hump’ scored a total of 12 points, with only Belgium, Estonia, Latvia and Ireland voting for him .
11. Lucie Jones, 2017 Finally, last year’s entry Lucie Jones managed to get the UK its highest points haul in eight years with a not-too-shabby 111 for her rousing performance of ballad Never Give Up On You. The effort saw us finish 15th.