Over the course of April and May, on the lead up to the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, we will be celebrating the countries that are participating this year in Rotterdam. Today, we celebrate the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom debuted at the Contest in 1957, in Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany. Patricia Bredin finished in seventh place with her entry “All”, scoring 6 points.

The most successful entry from the United Kingdom was in 1967, 1969, 1976, 1981 and 1997. In 1967, when the Contest took place in Vienna, Austria, Sandie Shaw finished in first place with her entry “Puppet on a String”, scoring 47 points.

In 1969, when the Contest took place in Madrid, Spain, Lulu finished in joint first place with her entry “Boom Bang-a-Bang”, scoring 18 points.

In 1976, when the Contest took place in The Hague, The Netherlands, Brotherhood of Man finished in first place with their entry “Save Your Kisses for Me”, scoring 164 points. This included seven sets of twelve points from Belgium, Greece, Israel, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

In 1981, when the Contest took place in Dublin, Ireland, Bucks Fizz finished in first place with their entry “Making Your Mind Up”, scoring 136 points. This included two sets of twelve points from Israel and The Netherlands.

In 1997, when the Contest took place in Dublin, Ireland, Katrina and the Waves finished in first place with their entry “Love Shine a Light”, scoring 227 points. This included ten sets of twelve points from Austria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands.

The most recent British entry was due to be in 2020, when the cancelled Contest was due to take place in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. James Newman was due to represent the United Kingdom with his entry “My Last Breath”.

This year, the United Kingdom will be represented by James Newman with his song “Embers”. Will James Newman take the United Kingdom to their sixth victory?

Join us tomorrow, as we celebrate the The Netherlans’s participation at the Eurovision Song Contest. Let us know what you think about the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest – either in the comments below or on our FACEBOOK and TWITTER pages.

Author: Richard Taylor

Source: Eurovision Ireland