Be a part of us for our High 20 rundown of the very best Eurovision Tune Contest winners…
20 All Sorts Of Every part – Dana (Eire, 1970)
Eire’s first win sounds just like the sort of over-earnest ballad you’d hear in a Disney cartoon. As impossibly healthful as its singer (there was by no means something even distant controversial about Dana), it marked a return – after 1968’s La, La, La and 1969’s quadrumvirate of Vivo Cantando, De Troubadour, Un Jour, Un Enfant and Growth Bang-a-Bang – to the simple listening sounds that had outlined the competition’s early days.
19 Take Me To Your Heaven – Charlotte Nilsson (Sweden, 1999)
There are echoes of ABBA’s Waterloo on this one, which little doubt helped it win the 1999 competitors. Like that earlier prizewinner, it’s sung in English, this time by Charlotte Nilsson, who later represented Sweden in 2008 along with her track Hero.
18 J’aime la Vie – Sandra Kim (Belgium, 1986)
You’d be arduous pressed to discover a track so shamelessly 80s in all of the Eurovision oeuvre. This candyfloss-light quantity made Eurovision historical past in two methods – first, it’s nonetheless Belgium’s solely winner (they’d truly completed the earlier contest in final place), and its singer – Sandra Kim – stays, at 13, the youngest singer to win the competitors.
17 Why Me? – Linda Martin (Eire, 1992)
This soft-rock energy ballad is a bit Eurovision-by-numbers, however it’s nonetheless a track that any feminine balladeer would kill for of their repertoire. Like Linda Martin’s earlier Eurovision entry, 1984’s Terminal 3, it was written by 1980’s winner, Johnny Logan.
16 Save Your Kisses for Me – Brotherhood Of Man (UK, 1976)
Okay, so possibly Save Your Kisses For Me hasn’t aged in addition to among the UK’s different winners, however it’s undeniably a Eurovision favorite, and was – lest we neglect – Britain’s biggest-selling track of 1976. It was additionally the primary of Brotherhood Of Man’s three UK No.1s, not dangerous for a band which were unjustly forgotten in recent times.
15 1944 – Jamala (Ukraine, 2016)
Who says Eurovision winners all the time must be both ferociously upbeat or unbearably tacky? Ukraine’s profitable track from 2016 handled the subject of the Soviet deportation of Crimean Tatars within the Forties, an uncommonly heavyweight topic for a contest that many nonetheless considered camp and throwaway.
14 Molitva – Marija Šerifović (Serbia, 2007)
Molitva turned the primary track containing no English language lyrics to scoop the highest prize since Dana Worldwide’s win in 1998. You don’t want to talk Serbian, nevertheless, to know what’s happening in his operatic, high-drama ballad, which collected 298 factors on the evening.
13 Maintain Me Now – Johnny Logan (Eire, 1987)
Eire have received Eurovision an incredible seven occasions, however that is the standout, an influence ballad so stirring it’s astonishing that Michael Bolton’s by no means coated it. Logan had beforehand received in 1980 with What’s One other 12 months? and would go on to jot down the winner of 1992 (Why Me? for Linda Martin).
12 Fångad av en Stormvind – Carola (Sweden, 1991)
A track so extremely buoyant, it’s virtually unattainable to hearken to with out leaping out of your chair and throwing shapes across the room. An irresistible slice of Scandi pop, courtesy of Carola Häggkvist, who had represented Sweden in 1983, ending third and once more in 2006, ending fifth.
11 Diva – Dana Worldwide (Israel, 1998)
Dana Worldwide hade historical past in 1998 as the primary transgender lady to compete within the contest. Diva pays tribute to a few of historical past’s strongest females, together with references to Cleopatra, Aphrodite and Victoria, although it’s unclear whether or not she’s referring to Queen Victoria, Victoria Wooden or Posh Spice.
10 Ne partez Pas Sans Moi – Céline Dion (Switzerland, 1988)
Céline Dion was barely out of her teenagers when she got here to worldwide consideration with this win for Switzerland in 1988. Not as power-ballad-like as her later materials, it’s extra Edith Piaf than Whitney Houston, profitable Eurovision with 137 factors, beating the UK’s entry Go by only one level in one of many closest finishes within the contest’s historical past.
9 Puppet On A String” – Sandie Shaw (UK, 1967)
Okay, so the UK’s first win is a bit frivolous, however it’s undeniably one of many catchiest tunes within the Eurovision canon. Earlier than this, Eurovision had been dominated by bland, simple listening acts, however Puppet On A String was the second the competitors began to embrace modern pop.
8 Amar pelos dois – Salvador Sobral (Portugal, 2017)
Salvador Sobral’s expressive, heartfelt efficiency of this luscious ballad helped Portugal obtain its first win since 1964. The track amassed 758 factors, setting the file for the very best rating within the historical past of Eurovision.
7 Solely Teardrops – Emmelie de Forest (Denmark, 2013)
Ending in first place with 281 factors, Denmark’s 2013 entry nonetheless sounds thrillingly trendy, 10 years on. The folks components are a novelty and the track proved so common that, within the UK, it debuted at No.99, regardless of the present airing solely 4 hours earlier than the cut-off level for the chart. Per week later, it rose to a excessive of No.15.
6 Growth Bang-a-Bang – Lulu (UK, 1969)
1969 gave us a quartet of winners – Salomé singing Vivo Cantando for Spain, Lenny Kuhr singing De Troubadour for the Netherlands, Frida Boccara singing Un jour, Un Enfant for France, and this, simply the very best of the 4. Playful and ever-so-slightly tongue-in-cheek, it’s a joyful pop nugget, carried out by an effervescent Lulu.
Eurovision Tune Contest winners – Lulu
5 Rise Like A Phoenix – Conchita Wurst (Austria, 2014)
Conchita Wurst’s win in 2014 was a giant ahead step for the LGBT+ group and is probably the very best James Bond theme that isn’t an precise James Bond theme. A timeless Eurovision winner, it may have scooped the highest prize in any decade.
4 Making Your Thoughts Up – Bucks Fizz (UK, 1981)
By way of nice Eurovision moments, Mike Nolan and Bobby G ripping the skirts off Cheryl Baker and Jay Aston should go down some of the iconic. In fact, it could depend for nothing if it hadn’t been in the midst of an awesome track and Making Your Thoughts Up was a technicolour delight.
3 Euphoria – Loreen (Sweden, 2012)
If any pal goes on a rant about how tacky Eurovision is, level them towards this winner, which is a banger any pop star from 2012 would have given their proper arm for. It’s uncommon for a Eurovision winner to change into an enormous membership hit, however in 2012, this Thomas G:son-penned dance quantity was a staple of seemingly ever nightclub within the land.
2 Love Shine A Gentle – Katrina And The Waves (UK, 1997)
The Strolling On Sunshine hitmakers received the Eurovision Tune Contest in 1997, marking the primary time that the UK had triumphed in 16 years. Coming the day after Labour’s landslide victory within the 1997 Normal Election, this actually was the beginning of Cool Britannia.
And high of our listing of Eurovision Tune Contest winners is…
ABBA – Waterloo (Sweden, 1974)
Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad already had one album underneath their belts by the point they received 1974’s Eurovision Tune Contest (which wasn’t their first affiliation with Eurovision – the earlier 12 months, they’d completed third with Ring Ring within the Swedish pre-selection contest). Waterloo, although, can be the track that catapulted them into the worldwide enviornment, hitting No.1 within the UK. Almost 50 years on, it’s nonetheless one of many band’s most infectious hits.
