The UK has entered the Eurovision Song Contest every year since 1959, but its success at the event has been very mixed over the decades.
This year’s contest in Basel, Switzerland is the 69th edition of the annual competition, and comes after Swiss singer Nemo won the event last year with ‘The Code’.
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Hazel Brugger, Sandra Studer, and Michelle Hunziker are set to host the live final on May 17, where 26 countries will compete for the top prize.
This year’s song for the UK is ‘What The Hell Just Happened?’ by country group Remember Monday, who previously appeared on The Voice UK in 2019.
How many times has the UK won the Eurovision Song Contest?
The UK has won the contest five times in total. In 1967, Sandie Shaw won the contest with ‘Puppet On A String’, followed by Lulu in 1969 with ‘Boom Bang-a-Bang’ in what was a four-way tie with Spain, the Netherlands, and France.
Brotherhood Of Man won the contest in 1976 with ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’, Bucks Fizz took the top spot in 1981 with ‘Making Your Mind Up’, and the UK last won in 1997 with ‘Love Shine A Light’ by Katrina And The Waves.
The UK holds the record for the most second-place finishes in the contest’s history with 16 in total, with the last time being Sam Ryder’s ‘Space Man’ in 2022.
Who has hosted Eurovision the most?
The UK has hosted the contest nine times in total, which is the highest of any country. Of these nine times, five of them were on behalf of another country, like in 2023 when the event was hosted in Liverpool in honour of Ukraine.
Ireland and Sweden are tied in second place, having hosted 7 times each, while the Netherlands has held the event five times.
