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 .

Today’s Memory

Eurovision is, of course , primarily focused on the performances from each country . However, there have been times where through no fault of their own, the performers have had their performances jeopardised by stage invaders. We are going to today, focus on times when this has happened .

Spain 2010

Our first incident goes back to the 2010 contest , held in Oslo, Norway . Daniel Diges was performing on stage for Spain , singing  “Algo Pequeñito” . His performance was interrupted by a stage invader, known as Jimmy Jump, who was well known for disrupting other major entertaining and sporting events.On screen , he could be seen participating in part of the choreography. He was escorted away from the arena , arrested and fined . Daniel Diges said after the event

“I was frightened. I thought it could be more serious than it actually was, but nothing happened. So, I am happy. Thank God for being in theatre for so long. Many things have happened to me, and this has been a test that has enabled me to show the best of me and my experience.”

Due to this incident, Spain were allowed to perform for a second time and finished 15th in the Grand Final with 68 points .

United Kingdom 2018

SuRie represented the UK in the contest in 2018, held in Lisbon, Portugal, with her song “Storm”. During her performance , a stage invader called Dr ACactivism entered the stage and grabbed the microphone out of her hand , shouting “Modern Nazis of The UK media, we demand freedom! War is not peace!”He was subsequently removed and taken away from the arena by security and then into police custody . As with the 2010 stage invader, the culprit was known for interrupting other events , but in the UK , like the 2017, The Voice and the National Television awards.As scary as that must have been, SuRie to her credit , was able to recover and still able to continue her performance . She was offered the opportunity to perform again but declined as she and the BBC felt that despite the incident, she had still given everything to the performance . SuRie finished third from bottom with 48 points

Ukraine interval act-Kyiv 2017

At the 2017 contest in Kyiv , Ukraine, Jamala, the previous year’s winner was performing as an interval act. During the performance, a stage invader, Vitalii Sediuk , a local man , entered the stage and pulled his trousers down to reveal bare buttocks. He was arrested and heavily fined by Ukrainian authorities. Jamala , to her credit , was able to hold her nerve and still carry on with the performance .

What do you think? Do you remember these moments? 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.

You can see our previous memories HERE HERE HERE HERE HERE and HERE

Keep a look out for more of our favourite memories each day here at Eurovision Ireland !

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source : Eurovision Ireland, Wikipedia, James Scanlan.

Visual Source You Tube.