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’re going all the way back to the 1957 Eurovision contest, held in Frankfurt, Germany.A time that probably only a few of today’s contest fans were around to see . Denmark were represented by Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler, with their song “Skibet skal sejle i nat” ( The ship shall sail tonight ). This was said to be the most impressive staging for its time , with Winckler dressed as a sailor and Wilke as a woman on the harbour , wearing a coat with a purse in her hand. They also created a harbour atmosphere. Their performance caused some controversy , in what were then very conservative times , when Wilke and Winckler ended the performance by kissing for a record 11 seconds ! It’s believed that the kiss lasted so long because the stagehand forgot to signal them to stop. This would now seem tame in comparison to some of the antics we see on the Eurovision stage these days.Denmark finished a credible third place in that year.The contest that year was won by The Netherlands when the late Corry Brokken sang them to victory with “Net als toen”.

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, Eurovision.TV

Visual Sources : You Tube , James Scanlan