It’s that time of year again when the next two weeks are given over to the fun and excitement of the build up to the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest, this year to be held in Basel , Switzerland. My colleagues , John ,James and Richard are already out and about around there , so in the meantime , those of us back in Blighty will keep you entertained with all things Eurovision!

There is no doubt that Eurovision over the years has often given us lots of rather entertaining moments, apart from the singing ! Ranging from the funny, to weird, to dramatic and sometimes serious .Who could, for example, forget the four country win back in 1969 , or host Lil Lindfors , losing her skirt at the contest in Gothenburg in 1985? We at Eurovision decided it would be fun to look back at some of those entertaining moments , so each day during the run up to Basel 2025, we will be refreshing those memories by looking at one of those special moments .

Our hi light today ….

Today we are starting off with a journey back to Eurovision 1990 , in Zagreb , then Yugoslavia ( now capital of Croatia).Those of us around at that time and old enough to remember the 1990 contest will recall that Azúcar Moreno, with their very Spanish song, Bandido were representing Spain that year. It’s nerve wracking enough being first in the running order , what Azucar Moreno couldn’t have envisaged would be that a technical incident would cause a false start . The conductor Eduardo Leiva ,was unable to hear the backing track where some of the music was prerecorded, as the sound engineers had failed to raise the volume of the tape, and could not cue the orchestra to commence on time. When they eventually raised the volume, the track was already partway through the song, putting the orchestra and performers out of sync with the tape, resulting in the two singers looking puzzled and then walking off the stage! The then UK commentator , Terry Wogan said that he hoped that “it wouldn’t go on like this or we would be in for a very long night”. Thankfully the performance was re-started and then went without any further problems . To their credit, Azucar Moreno finished 5th overall in the contest, with Italy being the winners that year.In 2003, the UK broadcaster , the BBC chose Bandido and the technical hitch as one of the most memorable moments at Eurovision.

What do you think? Do you remember this moment? What is your favourite memory of Eurovision ?Let us know by lea ving a comment in our comments box and you can find us on our FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, BLUESKY and X feeds.

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source : Eurovision Ireland, Wikipedia,

Visual Sources DBL Nostalgia /YouTube James Scanlan