United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997

Eurovision Song Contest 1997
Participating broadcaster	British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Country	United Kingdom
National selection
Selection process	The Great British Song Contest 1997
Selection date(s)	Semi-final 7 February 1997 Final 9 March 1997
Selected artist(s)	Katrina and the Waves
Selected song	"Love Shine a Light"
Selected songwriter(s)	Kimberley Rew
Finals performance
Final result	1st, 227 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1996 • 1997 • 1998►

The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light", written by Kimberley Rew, and performed by Katrina and the Waves. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final. The entry went on to win Eurovision with an unprecedented 227 points. This is the last win for the United Kingdom so far.

Before Eurovision

The Great British Song Contest 1997

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) developed The Great British Song Contest 1997 in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. Eight acts competed in the competition which consisted of a radio semi-final on 7 February 1997 and a televised final on 9 March 1997.

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:

Contestants and results of the Great British Song Contest 1997 semi-final^[1]

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

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.

Contestants and results of the Great British Song Contest 1997 final^[2]

Draw	Artist	Song	Televote	Place
1	Sam Blue	"For The Life You Don't Yet Know"	15,657	4
2	Joanne May	"You Stayed Away Too Long"	51,584	3
3	Do Re Mi and Kerry	"Yodel in the Canyon of Love"	58,696	2
4	Katrina and the Waves	"Love Shine a Light"	69,830	1

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

Ahead of the contest, United Kingdom were considered one of the favourites among bookmakers to win the contest, featuring alongside the entries from Ireland, Italy, Germany and Estonia.^[3] Katrina and the Waves performed 24th in the running order on the night of the contest. "Love Shine a Light" went on to win the contest with 227 points.^[4] The UK was awarded 12 points (the highest possible) a total of 10 times.

Voting

Points awarded to the United Kingdom[5] Score Country 12 points  Austria  Croatia  Denmark  France  Hungary  Ireland  Netherlands  Russia  Sweden   Switzerland 10 points  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Estonia  Germany  Greece  Poland 8 points  Iceland  Italy  Slovenia 7 points  Cyprus  Portugal  Turkey 6 points  Norway 5 points  Spain 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point  Malta

Points awarded by the United Kingdom[5] Score Country 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

References

1. Roxburgh 2020, pp. 278–287.
2. Roxburgh 2020, pp. 287–295.
3. "What are the Odds?". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 24 February 1999. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
4. "Final of Dublin 1997". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
5. "Results of the Final of Dublin 1997". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.

Further reading

• O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
• Roxburgh, Gordon (2020). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Four: The 1990s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-163-9.