- The Eurovision Song Contest celebrates its 60th anniversary
- Expert John Kennedy OConnor explains why the contest remains as popular as ever six decades on
- What do you think of this year’s UK entry? Watch the video below and take part in our poll
- Watch videos of the UK’s winning songs…and some we’d rather forget, below
It’s Eurovision time again. To celebrate the contests 60th anniversary, event expert John Kennedy OConnor explains why he thinks the show has stayed the distance
What do you think is the enduring appeal of Eurovision?
I think it’s the occasion and I think that’s what it has evolved into. I don’t think it’s a lot to do with pop music anymore. The contest was set up to allow songwriters from different countries to compare their work and that’s obviously long fallen by the wayside. It’s such spectacular entertainment and only once a year so it’s something to look forward to and has that sense of excitement.
Do you feel for those who end up with the infamous nul points?
When you’re following it and watching rehearsals, you do get to know the singers and it is awful for them because they’re representing their country, and themselves, and a terrible performance can kill a career. They all believe they have the winning song. The only other way of doing it, is to do all the voting backstage and just announce the winner but that would take out all the drama and jeopardy of the show. Voting is the most important part of the night.
What chance do you think first-time entrant Australia has?
Do you think it’s unfair that the BBC now choose the song internally?
What are your thoughts on the UK’s entry, duo Electro Velvet?
I’ve met them and they’re such nice people. It’s a very catchy, upbeat song and I think it’s memorable. We’ll have to see. It might stand out, but maybe for the wrong reasons.
What do you mean?
This is where I’m a little bit critical of how the BBC handles things, and it’s only a minor criticism, but when I saw them perform last night, they had about 18 dancers on stage. You’re allowed six on stage at Eurovision, that’s the absolute rule, so they’re going to have to come up with something that sells it just as well. The BBC’s goal is to deliver an entertaining show on the Saturday night but other countries have the goal of doing that – and winning. I think the attitude with the BBC is that if it happens, it happens.
What makes a successful entrant?
It’s so hard to say. It’s a very bizarre concept in itself. Music is completely subjective, it’s about taste. So saying the winning song is better than anyone else’s is strange in itself. Quite often they’re not hits, and never heard of again because when they’re heard on the radio a week later they’re being compared to what else is on the playlist. It’s the song that rises to the top on the night, in the field. And when you think about it, it’s strange it’s lasted for 60 years when that’s at the heart of it!
Why do you think Bonnie Tyler didn’t win in 2013?
Bonnie had a good song and I don’t wish to be mean but Bonnie’s career is long since behind her and when you haven’t been singing in public for 20, 30 years, people are expecting you to look and sound like you did when you had your big hits. I think people spent the first minute going, ‘Oh my god, what happened to Bonnie Tyler?’ and not really listening to the song. The better known you are and the more success you’ve had then the more people expect of you and judge you more harshly.
What’s your reasoning for why we don’t do as well as we should?
The problem for the UK is that it’s the most famous music country in Europe and has the biggest industry so the expectation is much higher and judged harshly. If Electro Velvet were singing for Croatia, people would go, ‘Oh that’s really good for Croatia’ but because it’s us, they’re thinking, ‘That’s the best they can do?’. It’s a harsh attitude but it exists.
Do you think we’ll ever win again?
Oh yes, absolutely. One of the beauties of Eurovision is that it just takes a couple of minutes of genius song writing. Austria waited 50 years for their second win, Germany waited 30-something years. The UK’s only been waiting since 1997 so it’s not that bad. We’ll win again. We’ve won five times. The last few years have been embarrassing, but that will change.
- The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals will air on 19 and 21 May on BBC Three and the final on 23 May on BBC One.
- The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official Celebration is published in hardback by Carlton Books, priced £14.99 and available now.
- The Eurovision Song Contest was held for the first time in Switzerland on 24 May 1956, with seven entries. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union, which had formed in 1950.
- The contest has been held every year since, making it one of the longest running TV programmes worldwide.
- The fall of the Berlin Wall increased participation in the contest post-1989.
- The contest helped launch the careers of Abba, Celine Dion and Julio Iglesias, and something many dont realise is that the Grammy award-winning Volare started as Italys 1958 entry. Riverdance also achieved worldwide success after being the interval entertainment at Dublins 1994 contest.
- In recent years there have been accusations of political voting with, for example, Cyprus always giving maximum points to Greece and the former Soviet states voting for each other. As a result it was decided that the competition was losing its value, so the voting system was changed in 2010. The public now account for 50 per cent of the final scores, with a reinstated professional jury in each country determining the other half of the votes. This appeared to make the contest significantly fairer that year when Germany won for the first time since 1982.
Euro hits …. and misses
Ireland tops the Eurovision leader board with seven wins, but with five wins, the UK is in equal second place alongside France, Luxembourg and Sweden.
Here’s our list of winners (although it has since been claimed that Sir Cliff Richard, who came second by one point with Congratulations! in 1968, was robbed of the title by Spanish dictator General Franco who rigged the vote):
1997: Katrina and The Waves – Love Shine A Light
1981: Bucks Fizz – Making Your Mind Up
1976: Brotherhood of Man – Save Your Kisses For Me
1969: Lulu – Boom Bang-a-bang
1967: Sandie Shaw – Puppet On A String
Recent contests have not been kind to the UK, however. Here are a few results British fans would rather forget:
2008 Andy Abraham
The former X Factor contestant came equal last with his effort, Even If.
2010 Josh Dubovie
That Sounds Good To Me, he sang. It clearly didn’t to the voters – he came last.
2012 Engelbert Humperdinck
Despite much hype surrounding his selection, the veteran crooner only went one better coming 25th out of 26 with Love Will Set You Free.
2003 Jemini
Most infamous of all was this duo’s tuneless performance of Cry Baby, which earned the UK its only ‘nul points’ result. It was variously blamed on a backlash over the Iraq war or a dodgy mic.
WHEN it comes to Eurovision, one thing that has become as predictable as the ludicrous outfits and high kitsch performances is controversy.
From tactical voting to political scandals, this contest has had it all.
- In 1978, Jordan refused to broadcast the Israeli entry and viewers were instead shown pictures of flowers. When Israel then won, Jordanian broadcasters cut the transmission and its media announced the following day that runners-up Belgium had come first. Lebanon attempted the same trick in 2005 when Greece won, but were forced to withdraw for a breach of contest rules.
- When Israeli transsexual Dana International was chosen to represent the country in 1998, religious groups protested and parliament called for a replacement. But in a bizarre twist, she then won, resulting in thousands of Israelis taking to the streets in celebration.
- It has since been claimed, in a Spanish documentary, that dictator General Franco rigged the 1968 Eurovision to boost Spains flagging tourism. British act Cliff Richard, whose entry Congratulations came second, is still bitter.
- Israels 1973 Eurovision entrant had to sing while wearing a bulletproof vest, after Palestinian militants had massacred Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics the previous September.
- Georgias 2009 entry was banned for violating the Eurovision ban on songs with overtly political content. It was called We Dont Wanna Put In and was about their recent war with Russia, whose Prime Minister was Vladimir Putin.
- Austria boycotted the contest in 1969 in protest that it was being held in Spain. Turkey were forced to do the same thing in 1979 under pressure from Arab states who objected to a predominantly Muslim country taking part in a contest which was that year being held in Israel
- Following Turkeys 1974 invasion of Cyprus, Greece withdrew its 1975 entry in protest over Turkeys inclusion. In 1976, Turkish TV then refused to broadcast the Greek performance.
- The most controversial political gesture occurred in 2000 when Israels entrants ended by revealing Syrian flags and calling for peace. It emerged that two of the group were journalists who wrote about cultural affairs for the newspaper Maariv
