Although it's only been a year since I last saw it, as ever, there were one or two wee scenes which caught me unawares. I hadn't really clocked quite how many previous contestants bought into the idea.
There were a whole bunch of cameos from actual Eurovision winners including:
- Salvador Sobral, the Portuguese singer who won the contest in 2017 with “Amar Pelos Dois,” who appears briefly as a street performer in Scotland.
- John Lundvik, who kicks off the song-a-long, is a Swedish pop singer who placed fifth in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv with the song “Too Late for Love.”
- Anna Odobescu represented Moldova in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, where she performed “Stay.”
- Bilal Hassani represented France in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “Roi.” He made it to the finals, ultimately placing 16th.
- Loreen is a Swedish pop singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with her song “Euphoria.”
- Jessy Matador represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo with “Allez Ola Olé,” which placed 12th.
- Alexander Rybak is a Belarusian Norwegian singer and violinist who has represented Norway in two separate Eurovision Song Contests. In 2009, he won the contest with “Fairytale,” which features some very energetic violin playing, and In 2018, Rybak returned with “That’s How You Write a Song,” which placed 15th.
- Jamala is a Ukrainian singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with “1944,” a song about Stalin and Beria’s deportation of the Crimean Tartars.
- Elina Nechayeva represented Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018, placing eighth with “La Forza.”
- Conchita Wurst, the stage persona of Austrian singer Thomas Neuwirth, won the contest in 2014 with “Rise Like a Phoenix.”
- Israeli singer Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal, with “Toy.”
As promised, here’s the second lot of winners, from 1956-1989.
| Year | Country | Song | Performer |
| 1956 | Switzerland | "Refrain " | Lys Assia |
| 1957 | Netherlands | "Net als toen" | Corry Brokken |
| 1958 | France | "Dors, mon amour" | André Claveau |
| 1959 | Netherlands | "Een beetje" | Teddy Scholten |
| 1960 | France | "Tom Pillibi" | Jacqueline Boyer |
| 1961 | Luxembourg | "Nous les amoureux" | Jean-Claude Pascal |
| 1962 | France | "Un premier amour" | Isabelle Aubret |
| 1963 | Denmark | "Dansevise" | Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann |
| 1964 | Italy | "Non ho l'età" | Gigliola Cinquetti |
| 1965 | Luxembourg | "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" | France Gall |
| 1966 | Austria | "Merci, Chérie" | Udo Jürgens |
| 1967 | United Kingdom | "Puppet on a String" | Sandie Shaw |
| 1968 | Spain | "La La La" | Massiel |
| 1969 | Spain | "Vivo cantando" | Salomé |
| United Kingdom | "Boom Bang-a-Bang" | Lulu | |
| Netherlands | "De troubadour" | Lenny Kuhr | |
| France | "Un jour, un enfant" | Frida Boccara | |
| 1970 | Ireland | "All Kinds of Everything"" | Dana |
| 1971 | Monaco | "Un banc, un arbre, | une rue"Séverine |
| 1972 | Luxembourg | "Après toi" | Vicky Leandros |
| 1973 | Luxembourg | "Tu te reconnaîtras" | Anne-Marie David |
| 1974 | Sweden | "Waterloo" | ABBA |
| 1975 | Netherlands | "Ding-a-dong" | Teach-In |
| 1976 | United Kingdom | "Save Your Kisses for Me" | Brotherhood of Man |
| 1977 | France | "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" | Marie Myriam |
| 1978 | Israel | "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" | Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta |
| 1979 | Israel | "Hallelujah" | Milk and Honey |
| 1980 | Ireland | "What's Another Year" | Johnny Logan |
| 1981 | United Kingdom | "Making Your Mind Up" | Bucks Fizz |
| 1982 | Germany | "Ein bißchen Frieden" | Nicole |
| 1983 | Luxembourg | "Si la vie est cadeau" | Corinne Hermès |
| 1984 | Sweden | "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley | "Herreys |
| 1985 | Norway | "La det swinge" | Bobbysocks! |
| 1986 | Belgium | "J'aime la vie" | Sandra Kim |
| 1987 | Ireland | "Hold Me Now" | Johnny Logan |
| 1988 | Switzerland | "Ne partez pas sans moi" | Céline Dion |
| 1989 | Yugoslavia | "Rock Me" | Riva |
A few fun facts and figures:
The performer and the songwriter(s) of the winning song only receive a medal or a trophy, while its participating broadcaster is invited to host the following year's contest. Since 2008, the performer has been awarded a handmade trophy of sandblasted glass in the shape of a 1950s microphone, while the songwriter(s) and the broadcaster receive smaller versions of the trophy.
Ireland and Sweden have won seven times, more than any other country. Ireland also won the contest for three consecutive years (1992, 1993, and 1994), the only country to ever do so. Three countries have won twice in a row: Spain (1968 and 1969), Luxembourg (1972 and 1973) and Israel (1978 and 1979). Serbia is the only country to win with its debut entry (in 2007).[b] By contrast, Portugal holds the record for waiting the longest to achieve their first win, doing so in 2017; 53 years after their first appearance in the contest. Two people have won more than once as a performer: Ireland's Johnny Logan, who performed "What's Another Year" in 1980 and "Hold Me Now" in 1987, and Sweden's Loreen, who performed "Euphoria" in 2012 and "Tattoo" in 2023.
The United Kingdom has finished second sixteen times at Eurovision (most recently in 2022), more than any other country. France has finished third and fourth eight times at Eurovision (most recently respectively in 1981 and in 2024), and Sweden has finished fifth nine times at Eurovision (most recently in 2019). The country with the most top three places that has never won the contest is Malta, having finished second in 2002 and 2005 and third in 1992 and 1998. Another island nation, Iceland, has also finished second twice, in 1999 and 2009.
With Portugal achieving its first win in 2017, Malta now also holds the record for longest wait for a first win, having first entered the contest in 1971 (although Cyprus has more winless appearances, with 36 since debuting in 1981, due to Malta taking a break from 1976 through 1990). Spain holds the current record for longest drought by a winning country, having last won in 1969. They are followed by France (1977) and Belgium (1986).
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