It’s Eurovision Song Contest season, people. This means we’re all about to be treated to a series of bold and entertaining performances that will likely puzzle and delight you in equal parts.
Eurovision 2021 is set to hit tellies from May 19, 2021. As we prepare for the most colourful of music competitions, and our very own Montaigne who will be representing Australia with the track ‘Technicolour’, we thought it would be worth taking a look back at some classic Eurovision moments in history.
After some 65 years (yes, that’s how long it’s been running) there’s been no shortage of memorable moments to come out of the Eurovision tradition.
Here’s a list of our favourites.
1. The beginning of ABBA
Long before Meryl Streep’s Mamma Mia, Benny, Frida, Agnetha and Björn of ABBA were performing ‘Waterloo’ on the Eurovision stage. The band came out as the winners of the 1974 competition and eventually went on to become international stars.
2. Celine Dion represented Switzerland in 1988
Though Ms Dion is, famously, a French Canadian performer, in 1988 she competed in Eurovision for Switzerland and won with her performance of ‘Ne partez pas sans moi’.
3. Australia enters the chat
In 2014, Jessica Mauboy stepped onto the Eurovision stage in Copenhagen, Denmark as a guest performer. The year after, however, Australia was invited to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest by the European Broadcasting Union as a wildcard entry.
Guy Sebastian was our first official representative with his performance of ‘Tonight Again’. He took out fifth place.
4. Fire Saga, indeed
The Makemakes caught the attention of the masses in 2015 after they set a piano alight during their performance of ‘I Am Yours’.
5. Whatever the hell this is
In 2014, Romania’s Ovi stepped onto the stage with a giant circular piano belt type situation that he somehow managed to play.
6. Run, don’t dance
Ukraine performer Mariya Yaremchuk opted for a man running in a hamster wheel instead of traditional backup dancers in 2014.
7. Eurovision goes to the moon
In 2017, Australian performer Jamala was treated to a naked bum mid-performance. A streaker ran up onto the stage with an Australian flag wrapped around his body. He then proceeded to moon the audience.
No, the streaker wasn’t Australian.
A man wearing an Australian flag has interrupted Jamala’s live #SBSEurovision performance – removed from the stage by security @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/vVPnWnNd33
— Brett Mason (@BrettMasonNews) May 13, 2017
Here’s hoping the 2021 iteration of the Eurovision Song Contest is loaded with memorable moments (fully clothed, please) worth writing home about, too.
You can find all the details on the wild and wonderful contest and where you can watch along in Australia here.
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