United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997

The United Kingdom's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina & the Waves. The entry was chosen during the UK selection show, The Great British Song Contest, hosted by Dale Winton on 9 March, with the results announced six days later. The UK went on to win the song contest which was being held in Dublin, Ireland, with an unprecedented 227 points. The UK sang at position 24. The lead singer was Katrina Leskanich. The 1997 contest is still the most recent win for the United Kingdom.

Eurovision Song Contest 1997
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processThe Great British Song Contest 1997
Selection date(s)Semi-final
7 February 1997
Final
9 March 1997
Selected entrantKatrina and the Waves
Selected song"Love Shine A Light"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result1st, 227 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1996 1997 1998►

Before Eurovision

Competing entries

Katrina and the Waves was by far, the best known of the 4 finalists. Their "Walking on Sunshine" was a big hit in the UK and most of Europe.

Paul Varney was better known as half the boy duo Yell! and later enjoyed a solo career as an artist signed to PWL Records.

Joanne May was only 18 years old for her performance. Her composer, Don Black was the most famous name among the composers this year and had previously submitted songs into the UK final, "Come September" for Lulu in 1969 and "Happy Everything" for Maggie Moone being his most memorable.

B-Yond had appeared on the children's TV show Blue Peter on Thursday 7 February but none of the other 7 entries did so. The "teen idol" pop group consisted of Jaden Cornelious, Nataylia Roni, Steve Whyte and Elaine Morris. Their follow-up single was a re-working of "Born Free" (made famous by fellow UK finalist Matt Monro) which was a charity single to raise money for the Quality of Life Animal Sanctuary in Devon.

Laura Pallas was on Motorcity Records on the Nightmare label, which produced a lot of Hi-Nrg artists during the late 1980s

Sam Blue had already been at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 as a backing singer for Emma with "Give A Little Love Back To The World" and had previously been at the UK final of 1996 in the duo Esseness singing "I Never Knew" and has worked with Dennis Waterman on "It's Alright", the theme tune for the BBC1 show "New Tricks". Sam has his own band in America called California Screaming.

Semi-final

On 7 February, a semifinal was held on BBC Radio 2 at 09:30am, presented by Ken Bruce. This featured eight songs. Radio 2 listeners voted at 10:00am and voting closed at 11:15am and the top 4 went forward to the televised final. In addition to the four listed above, the following were included, although the 4 acts not shaded in orange were eliminated:

Semi-final – 7 February 1997
Artist Song Composer(s) Result
Katrina & the Waves "Love Shine a Light" Kimberley Rew Advanced
Do Re Mi & Kerry "Yodel in the Canyon of Love" Kenny MacDonald, Gordon MacDonald Advanced
Joanne May "You Stayed Away Too Long" Don Black, Richard Kerr Advanced
Sam Blue "For the Life You Don't Yet Know" Nick Spindler, Peter Thompson Advanced
Paul Varney "Can't You See I'm Crying" Rowan Heath, Steve Long Eliminated
Dave Black "Heart of Stone" Nicola Philo Eliminated
B-Yond "Lighten Up" Lee Lyndsey, Mike Bryan, Dave Christie Eliminated
Laura Pallas "Room for Change" Cliff Cresswell, Laura Pallas Eliminated

Final

The Great British Song Contest final was held on Mother's Day, Sunday 9 March 1997 and televised on BBC 1 at 15:30pm. Gina G was special guest at the show. The final was hosted by Dale Winton. There was no simultaneous broadcast with Radio 2. The results were announced on The National Lottery Live on 15 March.

Final – 9 March 1997
Draw Artist Song Televote Place
1 Katrina & the Waves "Love Shine a Light" 69,830 1
2 Do Re Mi & Kerry "Yodel in the Canyon of Love" 58,696 2
3 Joanne May "You Stayed Away Too Long" 51,584 3
4 Sam Blue "For The Life You Don't Yet Know" 4

Each of the 4 finalists were featured each week on The National Lottery Live:

Song Date
"Love Shine a Light" 16 February 1997
"Yodel in the Canyon of Love" 23 February 1997
"You Stayed Away Too Long" 1 March 1997
"For The Life You Don't Yet Know" 8 March 1997

At Eurovision

The UK was awarded 12 points (the highest possible) a total of 10 times.

Points awarded to the United Kingdom

Points awarded to the United Kingdom[1]
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by the United Kingdom[1]

12 points Ireland
10 points Estonia
8 points Hungary
7 points Sweden
6 points Iceland
5 points Cyprus
4 points Turkey
3 points Italy
2 points Denmark
1 point Croatia

See also

References

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