Eurovision years of glory and tears
IT’S fitting that this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which marks the 50th anniversary of Abba’s famous win with Waterloo, will take place in Malmo, Sweden.
Abba’s 1974 victory performance took place on April 6, at Brighton Dome’s Concert Hall. Fifty years later, the seaside city landmark will honour its part in pop history by unveiling a plaque outside the building.
Fifty years on and having sold in the region of 150 million records, Abba are still going strong, if only through their Abbatars.
Britain entries have, over the years, had a mixed bag of results.
From Bucks Fizz to Daz Sampson, the UK has offered its neighbours in Europe some interesting delicacies across the 62-year history of the
Eurovision Song Contest.
Ahead of Saturday night’s finale, we take a look at the UK’s most successful and most tragic attempts at wooing the continent in the competition and wish Olly Alexander all the best.
Sandie Shaw, 1967
After several second-placed finishes, the UK scored its first winner in 1967 as psychotherapist-turned-singer Sandie Shaw scored big with Puppet On A String.
Cli Richard, 1968
Sir Cliff Richard (then known simply as Cliff) has represented Britain twice in the contest, finishing a respectable second and third with Congratulations in 1968 and later, Power To All Our Friends in 1973. Upon losing out to Spanish entry Massiel, and her song La La La La in ’68, an emotional Cliff described having to lock the doors of the green room toilets to avoid TV cameras filming him crying.
Lulu, 1969
Britain’s prolific success continued as Lulu’s Boom Bang-ABang shared the prize with France, Netherlands and Spain with 18 points apiece. The Scottish singer famously went on to record the self-titled soundtrack to The Man with the Golden Gun.
Brotherhood Of Man, 1976
Another UK victory came in 1976 with Brotherhood of Man’s
Save Your Kisses For Me. The band’s manager Tony Hiller put the song’s success down to their TV appearances
across France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland the year before the contest.
Bucks Fizz, 1981
The quartet’s entry, Making Your Mind Up, won the contest in 1981. The band were formed specifically to enter the contest and their stage act, where the two male members ripped off
the skirts of Cheryl Baker and Jay Aston, has gone down in Eurovision history.
Katrina And The Waves, 1997
Katrina And The Waves were the last British act to take the title, with their entry Love Shine a Light in 1997. This gentle clap-along ballad was lapped up by the European
public in a way that no British entry has managed since.
Jemini, 2003
By far the most disheartening year was the infamous “nul points” for Jemini. The duo’s Cry Baby failed to get a single point for the first time in the UK’s history, finishing last in the 26-nation competition held in Latvia.
Daz Sampson, 2006
Daz Sampson’s Teenage Life was perhaps one of the worst songs inflicted on the rest of Europe. But the UK’s biggest sin was not allowing Sampson to perform his feign-rap in front of our continental neighbours.
Scooch, 2007
The UK sent its most kitsch entrant yet with Steps-lite act Scooch. The camp quartet and their air steward outfits came a lowly 22nd with their entry, Flying the Flag (For You). They received only 19 points.
Engelbert Humperdinck, 2012
Veteran crooner Engelbert Humperdinck fared no better in 2012, when his entry, Love Will Set You Free, only narrowly avoided finishing rock-bottom. “The Hump” scored just 12 points.