In 1967 twenty-year-old SANDIE SHAW took to the stage in VIENNA securing the UK’s first EUROVISION SONG CONTEST win. Wearing a 60’s statement dress and performing barefoot she won singing PUPPET ON A STRING…
PUPPET ON A STRING – Take a minute and listen to this timeless classic!
Hello – welcome to my Eurovision blog. I hope you enjoyed listening to ‘Puppet on a String‘ to get you in the Eurovision mood. You’ll have heard of Eurovision, but do you know much about its history?
Marcel Bezencon, Swiss director-general of the European Broadcasting Union, came up with the idea of a singing contest to unite countries after the second world war.
The word itself, EUROVISION was first used by a British Journalist in 1951.
The very first contest was held in Switzerland in May 1956 – with only seven nations competing.
…the UK did not take part until the following year in 1957. (Many think they missed the deadline for the first ever contest in 1956…eeek!). It was in 1957 that rules were introduced stating that songs could be no longer than 3 minutes and that countries are not allowed to vote for their own entry. These rules still stand today some 69 years later.
In that same year, a tradition was established that all mandatory announcements must be delivered in English and French – this is why all hosts converse in both languages. Well, where would we be without our ‘Douce Points’ !?
Fast Forward to this year…
16th May 2026 EUROVISION is once again in Vienna – a city known for its rich musical history and vibrant cultural scene.
Fingers crossed the UK entrant Look mum no computer with the song Eins, Zwei, Drie (click to listen to the UK’s 2026 entry) will rise to the EUROVISION occasion just like SANDIE SHAW did in Vienna in 1967.
In the build up to its 70th year let’s talk all things Eurovision, starting this week with the last time the UK hosted EUROVISION.
Not one to shy away from a party, I dove right in to celebrate Eurovision especially as it was being hosted in Liverpool. Decorations, LIVERPOOL GIN and that’s my husband Dave in the Graham Norton mask! You might spot a British and Ukrainian flag in the photo’s. We had a Ukrainian girl staying with us at the time so it was nice to celebrate both countries. We are a EUROVISION FAN FAM!
I wanted to show you these cakes that I made (love a muffin with some frosted cream icing). Notice the edible wafers and in particular the ones that say UNITED BY MUSIC. In 2023 the BBC used the phrase ‘united by music’ as hosts of the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool. I LOVE THIS!
UNITED BY MUSIC has since been adopted by the European Broadcasting Union as the official motto for all future competitions. Well done UK.
If you didn’t manage to get tickets for this years contest in Vienna, there’s a EUROVISION LIVE TOUR happening. Follow this link for tickets Live Tour 2026 **
Gosh we are only just getting started. I’m sure by May we will have covered a lot and I look forward to your Eurovision stories. Next week we will look into, who is Look Mum No Computer aka Sam Battle and why he was picked to represent the UK. Let me know your thoughts.
I’ll leave you with this Eurovision corker! Cheesy, catchy and surrounded by controversy during Eurovision 2024: Joost Klein – Europapa (click link)
Joost Klein – photo credit
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Until next time…Au revoir x
**At time of writing tickets were on sale for a live tour planned for later in 2026. It has been postponed due to unforeseen challenges – I’ll keep you updated 🙂
References
who invented eurovision – Google Search
Eurovision Song Contest Live Tour
The History of Eurovision | Singing Through the Decades
BBC Blogs – Eurovision – Sam Ryder set to represent UK at Eurovision 2022 with SPACE MAN
(1723) Joost Klein – Europapa | Netherlands 🇳🇱 | Official Music Video | Eurovision 2024 – YouTube
(1723) LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER – Eins, Zwei, Drei – Official Music Video – YouTube
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