Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light as it happened – Graham Norton narrates emotional evening with live performances
The BBC organised a special weekend of programmes on what would have been the 2020 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest
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Your support makes all the difference.While the Eurovision Song Contest is sadly unable to take place this year, that doesn’t mean fans weren’t able to celebrate their favourite annual event.
The BBC hosted a TV special on the night of the would-be grand final on 16 May titled Eurovision: Come Together, as part of a wider celebration taking place all this week.
The Come Together show was hosted by Graham Norton; it reflected on the UK’s best Eurovision moments, past and present, and was ultimately won by Eurovision stars ABBA and their performance of “Waterloo”.
The BBC organised a number of shows to lift the spirits of Eurovision fans everywhere, starting with...
Eurovision 2020: The Cancelled Coronavirus Year
In February, BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat began filming a documentary that follows the UK’s Eurovision entrant, James Newman, through rehearsals, as well as backstage during the live debut of his Eurovision song, “My Last Breath”.
The documentary jumps to when the contest was cancelled, and interviews Newman as he reveals what the cancellation means for him. Other contestants speak about how their experiences of Eurovision differ, and what their future plans are.
Eurovision 2020: The Cancelled Coronavirus Year is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer, and on the BBC Newsbeat YouTube channel.
Eurovision at 60
In 2015, Eurovision at 60 aired on BBC to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the song contest. It includes interviews with Graham Norton, Eurovision champion Conchita Wurst, and the late Sir Terry Wogan.
Dana: The Original Derry Girl
Fifty years ago, an 18-year-old schoolgirl left the Bogside in Ireland and journeyed to Amsterdam to represent her country in the 15th Eurovision Song Contest. Against the odds, she won! Dana: The Original Derry Girl looks back at the life of Dana, and how she became Ireland’s first-ever Eurovision winner
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Eurovision: Come Together
Graham Norton hosted Eurovision: Come Together, a one-off TV special that gave the UK a chance to vote for their favourite Eurovision performances.
The event was ultimately won by ABBA performing “Waterloo”.
Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light
Right after the Come Together show you’ll get to watch Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light, which will honour all of the 41 songs that would have competed in the 2020 contest in Rotterdam.
This non-competitive show was broadcast across Europe, just like the usual contest, with a special hosted by the original Dutch presenters who were supposed to present the live event this year: Chantal Janzen, Edsilia Rombley, and Jan Smit from the Netherlands. Graham Norton provided additional commentary.
A virtual singalong also took place, with fans dressing up in costume and forming a huge Eurovision choir, which will perform “What’s Another Year”, Ireland’s winning song originally performed by Johnny Logan.
The liveblog is now closed
The A-Z of Eurovision
Yes, there’s more! Rylan Clark-Neal narrated The A-Z of Eurovision at 10pm on Saturday 16 May, this time on BBC2.
The special took us through all of the disasters, outlandish costumes and other memorable moments that have taken place over 65 years of Eurovision.
TOTP2 Does Eurovision
Hosted by Steve Wright, this Eurovision-themed special was originally shown at the beginning of the 2007 edition of the competition.
Catchup with all of the 2020 Eurovision broadcasts on YouTube and BBC iPlayer.
It's clear that we're going to be zipping through these clips as quickly as with the usual Eurovision Song Contest, so you'll forgive me if the odd typo slips in here or there. It's definitely not the wnie.
In case you didn't know, this is the full list of acts we'll be watching tonight (in alphabetical, not running order)
- Dancing Lasha Tumbai - Verka Serduchka (Ukraine) - 2007
- Diva - Dana International (Israel) - 1998
- Euphoria - Loreen (Sweden) - 2012
- Fairytale - Alexander Rybak (Norway) - 2009
- Fuego - Eleni Foureira (Cyprus) - 2018
- Heroes - Måns Zelmerlöw (Sweden) - 2015
- Love Shine A Light - Katrina & The Waves (UK) - 1997
- Making Your Mind Up - Bucks Fizz (UK) - 1981
- Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu - Domenico Modugno (Italy) - 1958
- Ooh…Aah…Just A Little Bit - Gina G (UK) - 1996
- Poupée de cire, poupée de son - France Gall (Luxembourg) - 1965
- Rhythm Inside - Loïc Nottet (Belgium) - 2015
- Rise Like A Phoenix - Conchita Wurst (Austria) - 2014
- Satellite - Lena (Germany) - 2010
- Save Your Kisses for Me - Brotherhood of Man (UK) - 1976
- Soldi - Mahmood (Italy) - 2019
- Sound of Silence - Dami Im (Australia) - 2016
- Toy - Netta (Israel) - 2018
- Waterloo - Abba (Sweden) - 1974
It's Bucks Fizz! They won for the UK in 1981 with this colourful and rather adorable performance of "Making Your Mind Up". It includes that somewhat infamous moment where the guys tear off the women's skirts. Probably not something you'd see at a live show nowadays.
This is "Fuego" performed by Eleni Foureira (Cyprus) in 2018. She was beaten by Israel's Netta and her chicken impersonations.
I still don't know exactly how this performance didn't win over Netta given it's an absolute banger of a pop song (she's a tiny bit patchy on the vocals but meh)
It's one of my favourite singers, France Gall! She won in 1965 for Luxembourg with ‘Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son’, which was written by actual Serge Gainsbourg.
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