For this year's edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, Australia has selected Jessica Mauboy as their representative. She is one of the heavy favorites to win this year due to the fan popularity of her song "We Got Love" and her considerable worldwide success as a pop artist. Though she still hasn't landed a hit on the charts here in the United States, many Americans will recognize her for playing the lively and musically gifted ingenue Julie in the Australia musical film The Sapphires.
She is not the first major music artist that Americans can easily identify. The Eurovision Song Contest has been going on for more than half a century now and many popular artists and acts from all around the world have graced its stage, including several legendary figures. I have rounded up 29 of them.
Now for you hardcore Eurovision fans and music lovers, I just wanted to focus on the performers that the average American could go "oh yeah, I love him/her/them!" A couple of artists that didn't make the cut here due to low visibility include Bucks Fizz, Dschinghis Khan, Susanne Georgi, Blue, Anggun, the recently departed France Gall and the late great Ofra Haza.
ABBA
You can't talk about Eurovision without talking about this Swedish quartet at some time. Missing out on being the Swedish representative in 1973, the pop group and their manager Stig Anderson reconvened and produced a rocking song linking the power of love with a famous war battle. They won their nation's own singing competition Melodifestivalen and went to Brighton looking to win. Their performance that night brought shockwaves to the contest: they wore flashy outfits, the song was upbeat pop and not a ballad, and they sung it in English instead of their native Swedish. ABBA won and went on to have a legendary music career. Meanwhile, the status quo of Eurovision was firmly uprooted by their victory and the presentation of the contest and the performances all had to change with the times.
Céline Dion
The Canadian singer and ballad belter was only 20 years old when she won the national final to become the representative of Switzerland for the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest. She gave it her all with the track "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi" while rocking a bizarre white leather jacket and accompanying tutu. But the real accomplishment for her came later in the evening during what still is the most suspenseful voting process of all time. Dion was neck and neck with the United Kingdom's Scott Fitzgerald for first place and it all came down to the jury from Yugoslavia. She received 6 points from them, which gave her an one point advantage over Fitzgerald. When the Yugoslavian spokesperson revealed that their 12 points would go to France, the green room and the crowd exploded. As per tradition with the contest winners, Dion kicked off the 1989 contest in Lausanne by reprising "Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi" before moving on to her new single, a little diddy called "Where Does My Heart Beat Now". That song would of course become a worldwide smash and led to more international hits.
Olivia Newton-John
Yes, good old Sandy herself was in Eurovision. Just off the heels of the success of "Let Me Be There", the English-Aussie was selected by the U.K. as their representative for the 1974 contest. She was to sing "Long Live Love", which she vehemently hated but had to sing due to it winning the public vote. She came in fourth place, tying the spot with Luxembourg and Monaco. She didn't have to worry about her career though as her next album was set to come out, containing a little number that has become her signature song, "I Honestly Love You".
Andrew Lloyd Webber
This is a bit of a copout entry but he actually performed on the Eurovision stage so it counts. The famed West End and Broadway composer was brought into Eurovision by his home country in 2009 in order to break their streak of bad entries. He along with the great songwriter Diane Warren churned out "It's My Time", a rousing yet hollow pop ballad for the former Sugababes member turned solo singer Jade Ewen. For the grand final performance in Moscow, Webber himself popped up on stage playing a heavenly white piano while Ewen hit the high notes. The U.K. came in fifth place on the night, which still remains their best ever result in over a decade.
Bonnie Tyler
One of the biggest female singers of the 1980s, Tyler was having a hard time getting anyone to turn around and hear her raspy singing in the 21st century, even those with the brightest of eyes. She got a major boost though in 2013 when she was selected as the U.K. representative as part of the country's new strategy of only sending established and famous singers to Eurovision. Taylor was holding out for a hero when it came to a song. Instead of another operatic banger from Jim Steinman, she had to be saddled with the tepid "Believe In Me". She came in 19th place and has since spoken negatively about her experiences in Eurovision save for some salacious backstage talk about some national juries being bribed.
Katrina and The Waves
Forever tied with their cheery hit single "Walking On Sunshine", Katrina and The Waves struggled to escape the shadow of the song and shake the misconception of them being labeled as an one-hit wonder. The rock band was slumming through the 90's until 1997 when they became the representative of the U.K. for that year's contest. Spurned on by Tony Blair's landslide victory two days previously and the eye-popping green blouse lead singer Katrina Leskanich was wearing, the band made the most of their call for peace with the song "Love Shine A Light". They were the runaway winner that evening, putting a final plug to Ireland's dominate victories during the decade and gave the U.K. another well-deserved victory. Unfortunately, "selling out" to Eurovision fractured the band and Katrina left the following year. She has since had a hot-cold relationship with the contest, spending much energy mocking her grueling time to the press but also finding time to accept ambassador roles in Eurovision-themed television programming.
t.A.T.u.
Speaking of one-hit wonders, the infamous Russian girl duo who rode their faux-lesbian act to the bank spent a part of their peak time in the limelight performing at Eurovision. They had a firm shot at bringing a win to mother Russia in 2003 but the two female singers and their masterful press manipulator of a manager essentially helped squandered their chances. Their "controversy creates cash" approach started with them badmouthing the other competitors. When it came time to do rehearsals, they skipped the first day due to "vocal issues" and then proceeded to lambast the production crew. Possible chicanery involving them doing some kind of lesbian act on stage drew the ire of the EBU, quite the ironic thing to get angry about when it comes to Eurovision. Finally, the band had their shot at the gold at the Grand Final but their performance was and still is widely mocked. Their song "Ne Ver', Ne Boysia" was very contemporary but was plainly just sloppy seconds of their hit single "All The Things She Said". The girls didn't help matters with their off-key belting and their dreadful costumes consisting of plain white-ts and jeans. Their worldwide popularity helped drive them up the final rankings but only to 3rd place, losing a mere three points away from the top of the podium. More controversy and wild displays of obnoxious behavior followed the group soon after the contest but everyone had their fill of them by the year's end.
Blackstreet
If you had a chance to appear on television before millions of viewers, you sometimes have to do some mercenary work. The R&B group Blackstreet was quite a strong force in the mid to late 90s, thanks mainly to the intense work ethic of its lead singer/writer/producer Teddy Riley and the huge success of the single "No Diggity". However, a fast drop off in popularity and internal fighting caused the group to break up at the turn of the century. Members Mark Middleton, Eric Williams, and Levi Little eventually got the right to perform under the name again (along with the group's co-founder Chauncey "Black" Hannibal) and has since gone on to do several international tours. One stop involved the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest, where Middleton, Williams, and Little performed as the back-up singers for F.Y.R. Macedonia's representative Daniel Kajmakoski on the song "Autumn Leaves". Unfortunately, Kajmakoski couldn't get past the semi-finals and Blackstreet went back to banking on 90s nostalgia.
Julio Iglesias
Before he sired one of today's biggest music stars and sang with Willie Nelson about their former beaus, the legendary latin singer represented his home country of Spain for the 1970 contest. He and the song "Gwendolyne" came in fourth place, tying with Switzerland and France. The crooner's participation at the contest helped contribute to his popularity around the continent and he soon after began his famed distinction of recording songs in multiple languages.
Cliff Richard
Poor old Cliffy. The rock legend had many hits in the United States but never at the same height of fame as he is in the U.K. Most will remember him only for his duet with Olivia Newton-John on "Suddenly" for the infamous flop turned cult classic Xanadu. But he had the worst luck when it came to Eurovision. He first participated in the 1968 contest in London and was firmly set to give the U.K. back-to-back winning entries with the rousing "Congratulations". Unfortunately, possibly due to some chicanery and bribery, he was nipped at the post by Spain by one point. He tried again in 1973 with "Power To All Our Friends" but only ended up in third place and again lost the top spot by a few points.
Engelbert Humperdinck
Probably more famous nowadays for Eddie Izzard's hilarious stand-up routine about his name, the English crooner of "Release Me" is still going strong well into his eighties. However, everybody was in a total daze back in 2012 when he was announced as the U.K. representative for that year's Eurovision as part of the as-mentioned "famous only" policy. How in the world would a well past his prime 76 year old be able to draw in votes, especially when he was set to perform a creeky tune called "Love Will Set You Free"? More bad news soon followed when it was revealed that per a random drawing that the U.K. was set to perform first. Instead of the usual exhilarating kickstart to the proceedings, the audience of Eurovision 2012 was bored by a banal ballad and some lame fireworks. Humperdinck came second to last and took the painful loss to heart, skipping a major afterparty later that night. To add salt to the wound, the Russian entry consisted of a group of very elderly women flatly singing a dumb dance song and they came in second.
Lulu
Two years after taking the United States by storm with the movie single "To Sir, With Love", the lovely Scottish singer was in a bit of a pickle. Then currently hosting her own variety show, she was asked by her bosses at the BBC to not only have a special episode with her singing the six selected songs for Eurovision participation but to also be the U.K. representative. Thinking there was no choice in the matter, she accepted and hoped to get a real banger. She got a banger all right in the form of "Boom Bang-a-Bang", a goofy pop song in the same vein as the infamous winner of the previous year's Eurovision, the Spanish entry "La, La, La". She powered through it while wearing a nice pink outfit only to receive some more comedy at the contest. She was announced as the winner but had to share it with three other competitors as they all received the same amount of points. Despite laughing the song off as being "rotten", it when on to become her 2nd biggest hit in the UK charts.
Mocedades
Fans of the 1970s pop music scene and of the movie Tommy Boy will recall the sweeping Spanish ballad "Eres Tú". It actually originated at Eurovision, as the folk band Mocedades harmoniously sung it at the 1973 contest. They were able to secure second place after the hotly contested voting process concluded, beating Cliff Richard by two points but losing to Anne-Marie David by four points. They had the last laugh though as "Eres Tú" became a huge hit all over the world, made ever more special in the United States where the original Spanish track was the preferred choice over the English version and went to #9 on the Billboard charts.
Gina G
The U.K. had a strong shot at winning the 1996 contest in Oslo thanks to an attractive Aussie and a high energy house song with sexual connotations called "Ooh Aah... Just A Little Bit". Unfortunately, the country were set to perform second aka the dreaded death slot due to no nation ever able to win the contest from that position. Ireland once again claimed the throne that night with the U.K. coming in a respectable but still disconcerting eighth place. But while Ireland's "The Voice" floundered all around Europe, "Ooh Aah..." became a big international hit and crossed over the pond to the United States, reaching #12 on the charts and earning a Grammy nomination.
Las Ketchup
Novelty can only get so far in terms of a music career. The girl group Las Ketchup had a worldwide hit with "The Ketchup Song" thanks to the girls' good looks and the goofy dance that came with it. However, that was back in 2002 and the trio didn't really follow it up with anything worthwhile. They seemingly vanished from the public sight as many one-hit wonders often do only to suddenly reappear in 2006 as Spain's selected representative for Eurovision. They also gained a fourth member that according to the other three girls was always one of the group despite never appearing before hand. They sang the song "Un Blodymary" in an awful performance, spending the majority of the stage time swinging around on chairs and boring the audience to tears. They came in 21st place and proceeded to quietly disappear once again.
Cascada
Germany was still riding high after winning Eurovision in 2010 and having two top ten entries in the following years. They thought they had another hit in 2013 in the form of "Glorious" by the popular dance act Cascada. I say popular a bit loosely because though they were very successful in their homeland, other nations including the United States only remember them for "Everytime We Touch" in 2005 and "Evacuate The Dancefloor" in 2009. Still, they were favored to be a possible winner of the contest that year only to be derailed by plagiarism accusations. Their song sounded just a little too much like the 2012 winner "Euphoria". Eurovision has had a history of imitation and songs playing off what worked the previous year and the EBU ultimately cleared Cascada of the charges. Unfortunately, the accusations stuck for some people and along with Cascada's disappointing performance on the night, Germany ended up in 21st place and began a streak of dismal entries.
Nicki French
Speaking of dance acts that profited from other people's work, Nicki French had a hit across the globe with a house rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in 1995. Other dance covers of popular songs soon followed. Five years later, the U.K. public picked her as their representative for the 2000 contest. Since they had to have an original song for the competition, French was bequeathed the tune of "Don't Play That Song Again". As many a jokester has said, everyone certainly did in fact refuse to play or even remember the song. It came in 16th place, then the worst ever placing for the United Kingdom. French didn't take the blow very hard as she continued her music career and has co-hosted the annual London Eurovision Party several times.
Verka Serduchka
When Eurovision fans want to show non-fans the insanity of the contest, they tend to point to Ukraine's entry in the 2007 contest. Verka Serduchka is the drag persona of comedian Andriy Danylko and left all of the previous novelty/comedic entries of Eurovision in the dust when she came in second place that year. The catchy accordion dance beat, bedazzled Nazi outfitted dancers, loose grasp of languages, star ornament headwear, and the secret message of telling Russia to fuck off all worked to make one of the most entertaining entries in Eurovision history, for better or worst. You may have come across the performance on YouTube but most Americans will be well aware of Serduchka and the song "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" from the Melissa McCarthy comedy Spy, where the comedian has a cameo and the song is included on the official soundtrack.
Jedward
Back when people really cared about televised singing competitions such as American Idol, there was this trend from anti-fans who would vote for the worst entries to move forward. The zenith of this phenomenon wasn't with someone like Sanjaya Malakar but with two plucky Irish twins who couldn't really sing very well or stop annoying everyone around them. The Brothers Grimes ran rough-shot on the 2009 season of The X Factor, driving the judges crazy with their unrefined singing, goofy antics and their wild high tower hairdos. However, their popularity with the show's main audience, along with the ironic crowd, kept them in the competition and a hit among online viewers and writers. They were eventually voted off but when on to a very lucrative music career. For the 2011 Eurovision contest, Ireland narrowly voted for them as their representative. Say what you will about their takes of "Oops... I Did It Again" and "Ghostbusters" but for the 2011 contest, the twins brought their all into the song "Lipstick" and accompanying vibrant performance, earning a solid 8th place. The charm of the boys quickly wore off however when they returned to Eurovision the following year; they got passed the semis but their repetitive antics and the mediocre pop song "Waterline" landed them in 19th place.
Ruslana
Ukrainian pop singer Ruslana helped fuel the next chapter in the presentation of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Wild Dances" in 2004. While the ethno dance track blasted throughout the Abdi İpekçi Arena in Istanbul, she and her backup dancers/singers did a bombastic and well choreographed performance. She won the contest and became an all-around major figure in Ukraine to point of being one of the popular leaders of the Orange Revolution. Us Americans will most likely know of Ruslana in the hugely successful video game Grand Theft Auto IV, where the pop singer acts as the DJ for the in-game radio station Vladivostok FM and a remix of her Eurovision song "Wild Dances" is prominently played.
Alexander Rybak
It's 2009 and the Eurovision Song Contest is set to take place in heart of Russia, a country known for their harsh anti-LGBT views and policies. What better way to shut those conservative assholes up then to send an outspoken gay-friendly performer with a rigorous work ethic, dashing charisma, and a passion for the fiddle. Alexander Rybak was dubbed "The King of Eurovision" for his electrifying performance of the song "Fairytale" and earning the highest tally of points under the old voting system. The official video of the performance was handpicked as one of the 31 memorable videos of 2009 from a certain video site called YouTube.
Conchita Wurst
Dubbed "The Queen of Eurovision" by the commentators, Conchita Wurst became an overnight gay icon and a huge symbol for the LGBT cause in Europe thanks to her amazing performance and win at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. The drag persona of pop singer Thomas Neuwirth, Wurst overcame intense criticism from discriminating Eastern European nations and the negative viewpoints from a few of her fellow competitors to belt out the James Bond-like "Rise Like A Phoenix" into the victory lane. Her win along with the fashion statement of a bearded drag queen made headline news across the globe and made her a fixture of the fashion and entertainment world. Wurst has returned to the headlines recently when she announced following an extortion attempt that she's HIV positive.
Silver Convention
"Fly, Robin, Fly" is safe to say one of the famous disco tracks of all time. Consisting of only six words in total, the song was a #1 hit in America, the first ever for a German act. Most people seem to forget that they actually had a second major hit with "Get Up And Boogie", which also only had six words in total. But a lot of people are completely unaware that they competed in 1977 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Telegram". They came in eighth place and soon flew off up up to the sky.
The New Seekers
This English folk rock group had a couple of hits here in the States most notably "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing", a reworked version of the famed Coca-Cola ad that some zen ad man came up with. During that song's chart success, the group represented their home nation in the 1972 contest with the little ditty "Beg, Steal Or Borrow". The performance was a huge hit that night mainly because the contest was taking place in Edinburgh. They earned the once traditional placing for British entries (2nd place) and had a fruitful career in the U.K. for the rest of the decade.
Brotherhood Of Man
The U.K. had to wait until the 1976 contest to finally stop being the bridesmaid for a spell. They sent off the pop quartet Brotherhood of Man to The Hague with their cutesy tune "Save Your Kisses For Me". They drew the first performance position and went wholeheartedly into their little jig for the song about a father saying goodbye to his three-year-old. They quite handily won the evening and became a major act in the U.K. and across Europe, even still performing to this very day. The song itself was a minor hit in America but is overshadowed by the group's previous hit, the 1970 song "United We Stand", which was performed by a different set of singers.
Domenico Modugno
"Volare". Need really I say any more? The second most famous song to ever come out of Eurovision, Italian superstar Domenico Modugno came in third at the 1958 contest with the song under its traditional name "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu". But the song quickly outpaced its the gold and silver winners to become a hugely successful song across the world, the #1 single of 1958 in America, the very first Grammy winner of Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and a popular standard for every crooner.
Vicky
Most of you may not know who Vicky aka Vicky Leandros is but you will know of her Eurovision song. Representing Luxembourg in the 1967 contest, she came in fourth with the song "L'Amour Est Bleu". Later that year, French conductor Paul Mauriat covered the song but took out the vocals and modified the musical arrangements. The track now known as "Love Is Blue" went to #1 for five weeks on the Billboard charts and is a stable for many easy listening radio stations.
Il Volo
Not to be confused with Il Divo, this all-Italian operatic trio and have been a near staple of American television programming in the 2010s. From talk shows to the Emmys to the Rockfeller Christmas Tree Lighting, the two tenors and a baritone have had several successful albums and tours of America. After winning the Sanremo Music Festival in 2015 with the song "Grande Amore", they accepted the invitation to be Italy's representative for Eurovision that year. They were the heavy favorite going into the contest and had to fight off Sweden and Russia for the top spot but instead walked away with third place.
SunStroke Project
Memes can last forever. For the 2010 contest, Moldova sent SunStroke Project and Olia Tira to Oslo with the dance track "Run Away" and a lot of 80s inspired makeup and costumes. They got past the semis but came in 22nd place at the final. But all was not lost to the sands of time. A clip from the semi final performance of SunStroke Project member Sergey Stepanov grooving and pelvic-thrusting while doing his staged saxophone solo became a popular internet meme later in the year. Dubbed "Epic Sax Guy", the clip was looped, remixed, and also utilized as a new form of rickrolling. SunStroke Project went on to continue submitting themselves for Eurovision consideration, winning a spot in 2017 with the track "Hey Mamma!". Thanks to the considerable love of the televote, the group came in third place at the final, the best ever result for Moldova.
And now for a couple extra entries that weren't really artists or acts at Eurovision but had a substantial part in its history and will be recognizable by my fellow Americans:
Maria Menounos
The famed entertainment journalist and part-time professional wrestler took a break from Hollywood to co-host the 2006 contest with pop singer Sakis Rouvas. The Greek American did her very best but nerves got to her at many points, most notably when she kept calling everything "amazing" to the derision of the commentators and critics.
Ronan Keating
Former Boyzone member turned very successful solo singer Ronan Keating stole your mother's heart with "When You Say Nothing At All" on the Notting Hill soundtrack and made her buy his subsequent albums. But Eurovision fans will remember his impressive double duty performance of being the co-host and part of the interval act for the 1997 contest in Dublin.
Pilou Asbæk
Danish actor Pilou Asbæk is currently one of the top scourges on the popular television series Game of Thrones as the brother-killing, king usurper Euron Greyjoy and recently popped up as the live-action version of Batou in the sci-fi flop Ghost in the Shell. But back in 2014, when he was still riding high from his acclaimed supporting role in the political drama Borgen, he was one of the co-hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest. He brought considerable charm to the gig and is mostly remembered for his recurring bit about paying respect to the Chinese viewership and pulling a surprise prank on the BBC commentator Graham Norton.
Aqua
The only europop band that can say they were able to beat major toy company Mattel in court, Aqua sold a lot of albums and drove a lot of people crazy with their satirical single "Barbie Girl". When Denmark won the 2000 contest, the band was asked to be the interval act and perform a medley of their European hits at the following year's show in Copenhagen. The performance was certainly energetic and high-pitched but created a storm of controversy when they swore several times (a big no no in Eurovision) and lead singer Lene Nystrøm did the "jerk off" motion.
Justin Timberlake
For the 2016 contest, the EBU delivered a major shock a day before the first set of semi-finals: They somehow got one of the biggest pop singers of our time to be the interval act of the Eurovision Grand Final. With his usual gusto, Justin Timberlake performed some of his previous hits before delivering the world live premiere of his then just released new single "Can't Stop The Feeling!". This would be a major coup for Americans since the 2016 contest was the first Eurovision to air on live television. Unfortunately due to rights restrictions and probably Viacom, JT's mini concert was not shown and the interval act of the first semi-finals was its replacement.
Riverdance
Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the greatest interval act of Eurovision of all time. The 1994 contest needed some extra juice as it looked like Ireland was about to win yet again. The show's producers asked composer Bill Whelan to come up with something for the interval and it responded with something rooted in traditional Irish music. It was set to be accompanied by some dancing performed by native ballet dancers including Michael Flatley and Jean Butler, who were the leads in the performance and the choreographers. When it was all put together, the seven minute routine caused the theater to explode in excitement and received a well-deserved standing ovation. The success of the interval act would lead to the theatrical show of the same name that is still performed today.
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