Performances

ABBA first rose to international fame after winning the Eurovision contest back in 1974 with the song Waterloo. The iconic song was actually the first song to be sung in English, as up until 1974, countries in the contest were only allowed to sing in their native language. Waterloo refers to the 1818 Battle of Waterloo, but is a metaphor for a relationship. The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest will happen in Sweden, which also coincides with the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s Waterloo win!

Hard Rock Hallelujah by Lordi – Finland 2006

Being the first win for Finland, this hard rock/ heavy metal song came as a surprise win in 2006. They were not the predicted winner despite their highly theatrical performance, in which the band members wore monster masks and included horror elements. At the time the win broke a lot of records, being the first rock song to win the competition, and the first time Finland placed in the competition’s top five.

This drag act representing Ukraine came second in the 2007 competition. Despite representing Ukraine, this song was not approved by all Ukrainians, with even some members of Ukraine’s parliament disapproving of the choice. The song is sung in German and English, however the term Lasha Tumbai is completely made up. After the competition, this song became the first non-UK, non-winning Eurovision entry since 1974 that made the UK singles chart.

Party for Everybody by Band Buranovskiye Babushki - Russia 2012

Made up of eight grandmothers originally from the village Buranovo in Udmurt Republic. The song is written by the grandmothers themselves, in the Udmurt language. Their performance included a giant wood fire oven which they used to bake a tray of cookies over the progression of the song. They came second in the 2012 competition.

Fairytale by Alexander Rybak - Norway

2009

Winning the 54th Eurovision song contest in 2009, this isn’t the only time Alexander Rybak participates in the competition. In 2018, he performed his song That’s How You Write a Song, however he didn’t have as much success the second time round only reaching 15th place in the finals.

Heroes by Måns Zelmerlöw– Sweden

2015

This performance is amazing! The song is simply Måns Zelmerlöw singing in front of a small screen, however he interacts with various elements, such as small stick men. which makes an effective and impactful performance. It was so effective that it won the 2015 competition.

Rise Like a Phoenix by Conchita WurstAustria 2014

This song won the competition back in 2014 making it Austria’s first win since 1966 and the first time a singer has won without any backing singers or dancers since 1970.

Sung by the drag queen, Conchita Wurst, the song is about combatting prejudice by rising up against oppression.

Even though this song won the 2019 competition, it became viral in late 2020, becoming the most streamed Eurovision song on Spotify by early 2021. In April of the same year, this song was the first Eurovision song in 25 years and the first Eurovision winning song in 45 years to reach the US Billboard Hot 100.

Winning the 2018 competition this song is about the empowerment of women. The song is mostly in English, but with a Hebrew phrase and a Japanese word. It became the most viewed song on the official Eurovision song contest’s YouTube channel until July 2020, with currently over 170 million views.

In 2020 the Eurovision competition was cancelled due to the COVID -19 Pandemic. As a result, this song was never performed on the big stage. Despite this, it is the most streamed song to date on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel with over 270 million views.

Shum is sung and performed by a Ukrainian folktronica band called Go_A. This Ukrainian folk song is about the spring harvest and is sung completely in Ukrainian. This performance ended up in fifth place overall in the 2021 competition.

Give that Wolf a Banana by Subwoolfer

Travelling from the moon, the duo Keith and Jim make up the group Subwoolfer that represented Norway in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest. Performed with DJ Astronaut, this song is about how providing a banana to these wolves can protect the elderly from harm. This act was made up of Ben Adams and Gaute Ormåsen whose identities were revealed after the competition came to an end.

Sung and rapped in Finish, this song is about letting go of everyday stresses and enjoying life with a carefree attitude. The song fuses rap, electronic music, metal and schlager genres with a performance that combines ballroom dancers and wooden pallets. Coming second in the 2023 competition, this song won the audience vote with 376 votes.

Tattoo by Loreen - Sweden 2023

This is the second time Loreen has won Eurovision, previously winning in 2012 with her song Euphoria. She goes down in history as the first woman and the second artist to win the competition twice. The only other artist to win more than once was Johnny Logan, who represented Ireland in the competition, but was actually born in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. This win is also the seventh for Sweden in the competition’s history, making them tied with Ireland for most Eurovision victories.

Honourable mentions

Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son by France Gall - Luxembourg 1965

Long Live Love by Olivia Newton John - UK 1974

Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein by Joy Fleming - West Germany 1975

Hallelujah by Milk and Honey – Israel 1979

J’aime La Vie by Sandra Kim – Belgium 1986

Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi by Céline Dion - Switzerland 1988

Flying on the Wings of Love by Olsen Brothers - Denmark 2000

My Number One by Helena Paparizou - Greece 2005

Wolves of the Sea by Pirates of the Sea - Latvia 2008

Satellite by Lena - Germany 2010

Run Away by Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira - Moldova 2010

Tonight Again by Guy Sebastian – Australia 2015

Sound of Silence by Dami Im – Australia 2016

You Are The Only One by Sergey Lazarev - Russia 2016

Don’t Come Easy by Isaiah – Australia 2017

Amar Pelos Dois by Salvador Sobral - Portugal 2017

Yodel It! By Ilinca feat. Alex Florea - Romania 2017

Fuego by Eleni Foureira – Cyprus 2018

We Got Love by Jessica Mauboy – Australia 2018

Zero Gravity by Kate Miller-Heidke – Australia 2019

Spirit In the Sky by KEiiNO - Norway 2019

Soldi by Mahmood - Italy 2019

Think About Things by Daði og Gagnamagnið - Iceland 2020

Don’t Break Me by Montaigne – Australia 2020

Voilà by Barbara Pravi - France 2021

Mata Hari by Efendi - Azerbaijan 2021

10 years by Daði og Gagnamagnið - Iceland 2021

Technicolour by Montaigne – Australia 2021

Loco Loco by Hurricane - Serbia 2021

Zitti e buoni by Måneskin – Italy 2021

Stefania by Kalush Orchestra - Ukraine 2022

SloMo by Chanel - Spain 2022

Not the Same by Sheldon Riley – Australia 2022

Space Man by Sam Ryder - UK 2022

Évidemment by La Zarra - France 2023

Promise by Voyager – Australia 2023

Queen of Kings by Alessandra - Norway 2023