20 years ago today, Katrina and the Waves did the unthinkable and grabbed glory for the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest.
With their foot-stamping crowd-pleaser ‘Love Shine A Light’, Katrina and her bandmates secured a resounding 227 points during the ceremony in Dublin, beating runner-up Ireland by 70 points, with the highest ever score up to that time.
Katrina was the most recent UK winner, but was she the best? Ahead of next week’s contest in the Ukraine, where we’ll be represented by a game Lucie Jones, we count down our top 10 UK entries of all time…
10. Samantha Janus - A Message To Your Heart (1991)
A pretty girl, an uplifting message, a pounding chorus - what could go wrong? Not much - she came an unembarrassing 10th, with 47 points.
9. Gina G - Ooh Ah… Just a Little Bit (1996)
We’re suckers for dots in a song title here at HuffPostUK, and if she sounded as though someone had put a 33” on a 45” speed on the turnstyle by mistake, what of it? 8th position - 77 points.
8. Scott Fitzgerald - Go (1988)
Who, we hear you cry? The man who could have, perhaps should have won and the sleeves were certainly rolled up for victory with this mournful ballad, but Scott learned on that evening what many Las Vegas residency wannabes, Oscar contenders, Grammy aspirants have since learned... nobody comes between a certain French-Canadian chanteuse and her crown. He lost by one point to Ms Dion, having amassed 137.
7. Lulu - Boom Bang-a-Bang (1969)
Lulu said afterwards she didn’t much care for her winning song, but the powers of Eurovision disagreed. Victory was assured, with a resounding... 18 points (it was a tie that year between three countries).
6. Blue - I Can (2011)
Ok, so it didn’t win every juror’s heart, but they were the People’s Winners, coming 11th with a sound 100 points. One of the favourites going in, mocked by Brits, embraced by Bulgarians, it was but another chapter in Blue’s never-say-die odyssey.
5. Bardo - One Step further (1982)
Faced with the difficult task of walking in Bucks Fizz’s foosteps, this game pair made a more than decent stab with this chart-friendly number. At the time, 7th with 76 points. Now, back in people’s hearts, courtesy of Peter Kay’s Forever FM.
4. Sandie Shaw - Puppet on a String (1967)
Barefoot, beaming and beautiful. First place with 47 points. Number one in the uK charts, too. Not bad for a song she considered her least favourite of the 5 songs offered her to compete with.
3. Katrina and the Waves - Love Shine A Light (1997)
Frontwoman Katrina Leskanich later revealed that it was members of the Samaritans who opined that this was “the type of song which would win the Eurovision Song Contest and [so] at the last minute, we submitted the song with our £250 [entrance fee].” 20 years later, it remains our most impressive points tally ever.
2. Brotherhood Of Man - Save All Your Kisses For Me (1976)
First place and 164 points for the quartet, with a song that went on to be a hit all over the world, and the UK’s biggest seller of the year. Not bad for a song that almost didn’t make it to the band’s album on its first listen.
1. Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up (1981)
Bucks Fizz’s very first single, the group having been formed only two months earlier. From 2004 to 2007 the BBC used the name Making Your Mind Up for their Eurovision Selection Show in honour of the song which had everything - pretty faces, smiles, skirts, no skirts, dances and finger-wagging. How could they resist? 136 points was a conservative result.
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest takes place next with semi-finals on Tuesday 9 and Thursday 11, and the final on Saturday 13 May. Coverage will be on BBC Three for the semi-finals and on BBC One for the final.
8 Reasons Sweden Owns Eurovision
MUNICIPAL MUSIC SCHOOLS(01 of08)
Open Image ModalSwedish children are raised on tunes, with municipal music schools popular since the 1970s, with access to instruments and lessons giving youngsters to try all sorts until landing on their favourite.Music reporter Anders Nunstedt explains, "During these decades success from artists like ABBA gave young Swedish musicians confidence that, even though Sweden is a small country, we can still make a big impact on the international music scene."Europe drummer Ian Haugland, who did two years at kommunala musikskolan says, "Apart from the drums I can also play a little guitar and keyboards, but not enough to scare the rats out of the cellar!"
SINGING IN CHOIRS(02 of08)
Open Image ModalAccording to Sveriges Körförbund (the Swedish choir union), roughly 600,000 Swedes sing in choirs, and the union represents about 500 choirs. While these numbers may not seem staggering at first glance, they actually make Sweden the country with the highest number of choirs per capita in the entire world. Sweden’s strong choral tradition comes from a deep-seated culture of singing folk songs, especially around Midsummer and major festivities like Christmas.
THE SWEDISH GOVERNMENT LOVES ROCK MUSIC TOO(03 of08)
Open Image ModalSince 1997, the Swedish government has awarded its Music Export Prize in recognition of international musical achievements by Swedes. Past honourees have included Swedish House Mafia, Robyn, members of ABBA, The Hives, The Cardigans, Max Martin, and Roxette."Our well-developed social system makes it possible for people to create music even though they do not have a lot of income," says music industry researcher Daniel Johansson. This is often expressed as ‘socialbidraget som ligger bakom det svenska musikundret’ (‘the social welfare behind the Swedish music miracle’), highlighting the Swedish government’s support of musicians and artists through the Swedish Arts Council - allocating roughly SEK 1 billion (EUR 116 million) in the form of grants to performing arts every year.
SWEDES BEHIND THE SCENES(04 of08)
Open Image ModalSwedish songwriters lie behind many chart-topping pop songs today. Max Martin has penned catchy pop tunes for Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Pink, Usher, Backstreet Boys, and ‘N Sync. Shellback topped Billboard’s 2012 chart as the #1 producer and has written for Maroon 5. And there is RedOne, who has written for Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, Pitbull, and One Direction. "A lot of talent was attracted to Cheiron Studios in Stockholm where they recorded their smash hits alongside Swedish songwriters’, adds Nunstedt. ‘International acts like Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys came to Cheiron and left Sweden with Billboard top hits in their hand luggage."Though Cheiron Studios closed its doors in 1998 due to Denniz Pop’s untimely death, its producers such as Max Martin have gone on to elevate Swedish songwriting globally.Sweden also boasts music video directors such as Johan Renck, who has directed music videos for Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, and Sweden’s own Robyn, as well as director Jonas Åkerlund, who keeps pushing boundaries with edgy music videos for Madonna, Lady Gaga, Moby, Christina Aguilera, Pink, and U2.
INDEPENDENCE IS VALUED(05 of08)
Open Image ModalMany Swedish artists take full control of their creative process – from songwriting to owning their own labels and marketing themselves independently – and pop rock sensation Robyn is just one example. She founded Konichiwa Records in 2005 to cover all aspects of her music career such as media management, recording contracts, and her creative process."I reached a point where it was no fun anymore," Robyn says regarding a previous record company relationship. "I wanted to alter my situation and create a bubble of my own where I could decide the parameters myself." This keeps their style and sounds organically unique without the pressures of third party management companies.
TECHNOLOGY(06 of08)
Open Image ModalMany Swedish artists also control how their music is consumed and disseminated digitally. Audio platform SoundCloud allows artists to upload, record, promote and share their original sounds. Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li actively uses SoundCloud to spread her music and share it with SoundCloud’s 20+ million member-strong communities of fans, followers, and fellow artists.Internationally acclaimed Swedish DJ Tim Bergling, more widely known as Avicii, organised the X You project which was touted as the world’s largest music collaboration – bringing together 4,199 people from 140 countries who contributed 12,951 melodies, basslines, beats, rhythms, breaks and effects – all made possible by technology.Sweden-based Spotify is the modern day digital equivalent of ‘word of mouth’ music recommendations. Started in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, Spotify allows users to freely listen to, stream, and share millions of music tracks to their computers and smartphones. Many artists, both international and Swedish, maintain Spotify profiles – Avicii is one of them.
EUROVISION(07 of08)
Open Image ModalSweden’s annual Melodifestivalen is the most watched TV program in Sweden, with roughly 4 million viewers out of almost 10 million residents unleashing their inner music critic while voting. More importantly, the winner of Melodifestivalen goes on to represent Sweden in the annual Eurovision Song Contest – the world’s most watched non-sporting event.Sweden has won Eurovision five times, making it the second most winning country after Ireland which has won seven times.Winning Eurovision in 1974 with their chart topping ‘Waterloo’, it certainly has come full circle for ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus who, alongside Avicii, were tasked with composing the official anthem for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest held in Malmö, Sweden.
THE ABBA EFFECT(08 of08)
Open Image ModalIt’s nearly impossible not to include the influence of ABBA in a list like this one. Chart-topping Swedish musical acts and songwriters keep passing the proverbial hit-making baton to each other as they move through the decades."We have a strong tradition of folk music in Sweden but I also think great artists serve as inspiration to other artists to make it," says Ian Haugland. "Let´s say The Spotnicks in the 60s inspired ABBA in the 70s which inspired Roxette in the 80s and so on."After ABBA, who ruled the 70s and early 80s to become the second most successful group ever behind the Beatles, came Roxette, Neneh Cherry, and Europe who rocked the 80s and early 90s.The 90s also brought with it Ace of Base and Neneh’s brother Eagle Eye Cherry alongside bands like The Cardigans who would later pass the baton into the early 2000s to the likes of indie rockers The Hives, Peter Bjorn & John, and Jens Lekman. Today, artists Robyn, Lykke Li, and Miss Li now dominate pop charts in their respective genres.