Britain’s Eurovision Song Contest entries: where are they now?

After a year-long Covid hiatus, Eurovision 2021 has come flouncing back, sequins a-sparkling, with the final taking place on May 22. Britain’s representative this year, 35-year-old Londoner James Newman, is hoping his bouncy single Embers will kindle the judges’ enthusiasm in Rotterdam.

The preview of Newman’s performance at the second Semi-Final on May 20 looked promising, and you can see how the London singer-songwriter fares by tuning in to the Grand Final on Saturday, May 22, which will be broadcast live on BBC One from Rotterdam from 8pm.

Newman’s innocuous entry and roadman styling – big puffa jackets, touseled locks and stubble – is far cry from the camp majesty of some of our other musical ambassadors. Down the years we’ve had everyone from the unforgettable airline-themed Scooch to the woeful Liverpool duo Jemini (“nul points”).

So gird yourselves, glitter-lovers, it’s time to look back at what happened next to all the British acts who’ve graced the Eurovision stage.

Where are the Eurovision Song Contest entries now? 1957: Patricia Bredin, ‘All’

“All the golden dreams of yesterday,” crooned Patricia Bredlin, the young actress and amateur opera singer from Hull who became Britain’s first ever Eurovision contestant, when we joined the contest for its second year. (We would skip the next one, too.) At a nifty one minute and 52 seconds, All remains the UK’s shortest Eurovision entry.

Born in 1935, Bredlin went on to appear in several films alongside Sid James and Richard Burton, before taking over from Julie Andrews as Guenevere in a Broadway production of Camelot. She then emigrated to Canada and took to raising cattle.

She was still performing as recently as 2007, and looks back at her Eurovision appearance fondly, although she was a bit baffled when she was first approached to take part in the contest. She had never watched TV before, and wasn’t sure what it involved. “Television? I’d never heard of it! I didn’t know what they were talking about,” she recalled in 2016.

1959: Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson, ‘Sing, Little Birdie’

Very much the Beyoncé and Jay Z of their day, Carr & Johnson were both popular and independently successful singers before their marriage in 1955. They arrived on Eurovision at the peak of their fame, which clearly helped: they placed second in that year’s contest.

After Eurovision, Johnson went on work as a Radio 2 DJ, and appeared in the TV children’s programme Crackerjack. In 1978, the couple starred together in a West End revival of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Follies. For many years, they lived together in Bridsworth House, an actors’ and artists’ retirement home in Twickenham. Teddy Johnson died in June 2018, and Pearl Carr followed in February 2020. They were both 98. 

1960: Bryan Johnson, ‘Looking High, High, High’

Our 1959 contestant Teddy Johnson had auditioned to represent the UK again in 1960, but found himself pipped to the post by his own brother, Bryan, an out-of-work actor. Like Teddy the year before, Bryan finished in second place.

Better known for his stage roles than his singing, Johnson gave several acclaimed performances in Shakespearean productions, taking comic roles alongside the famous (and famously histrionic) actor-director Sir Donald Wolfit. Recalling his part in Wolfit’s King Lear, the impresario called Johnson “the best Fool I ever had”. He died in 1995.

The Allisons were, in reality, unrelated Credit: Hulton Archive 1961: The Allisons, ‘Are You Sure?’

Despite being unrelated (their real names were Brian Alford and Colin Day), “John and Bob Allison” were marketed as Britain’s answer to the Everly Brothers, a pair of clean-cut crooning siblings. They came in second place at Eurovision with a distinguished 24 points, and Are You Sure? became a minor hit. The pair climbed back into the top 40 singles chart the following year with Lessons in Love, but disbanded in 1964, making only a few reunion appearances. They gave their last concert together in 2012; Colin Day died a year later.

1962 & 1963: Ronnie Carroll, ‘Ring-A-Ding Girl’ & ‘Say Wonderful Things’

The Belfast-born plumber’s son Ronnie Carroll is the only singer to have represented the UK for two straight years, reaching fourth place both times.

He went on to make a living performing on luxury cruise ships including the QE2, and released a comeback album, Back on Song, in 2005. He went bankrupt twice; after the second time, he set up a food stall in Camden Market. 

More surprisingly, Carroll brought his sense of humour and showbiz to the world of British politics. He stood for as a candidate for the tiny Rainbow Alliance party in the 1997 General Election, and again in a 2008 by-election for the Make Politicians History party. That name proved horribly prophetic: when he tried his luck again in the 2014 general election, he died four days after nominations closed, but crucially before polling day. As a result, “The Eurovisionary Carroll” was a candidate on the ballot.

1964: Matt Monro, ‘I Love the Little Things’

At the time of his Eurovision appearance, London singer Monro (nicknamed “the man with the golden voice”) had already lent his vocal talents to a Bond movie, singing the theme tune for 1963’s From Russia with Love.

After placing second in Eurovision, he went on to sing the Oscar-winning title song for 1966 drama Born Free (about the life of Elsa the Lioness), and continued to record and perform until his death from liver cancer in 1985.

1965: Kathy Kirby, ‘I Belong’

Once the highest-paid female singer of her generation, the Marilyn Monroe-esque Kirby brought a radical touch of Sixties spice to Eurovision in 1965, only to finish in second place behind a still more controversial song, Serge’s Gainsbourg’s edgy and satirical Poupée de cire, poupée de son, performed by Luxembourg’s entry France Gall.

Post-Eurovision, Kirby had two prime-time BBC television hits, The Kathy Kirby Show and Kathy Kirby Sings. She toured with stars including Cliff Richard and Tom Jones, and reportedly had an affair with Bruce Forsyth.

But after the death in 1971 of her manager and lover Bert Ambrose (42 years her senior), Kirby’s career suffered. She was declared bankrupt in 1975, and, having been diagnosed with schizophrenia, she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in 1979. After being discharged, she moved in with a female fan called Laraine McKay, and caused a media storm when she announced they were planning to marry each other; the relationship came to an end when McKay was arrested and imprisoned for fraud.

Kirby retired from singing in 1983 after a glitzy farewell concert in Blackpool, and died in 2011.

1966: Kenneth McKellar, ‘A Man Without Love’

Scottish pantomime star McKellar shocked Eurovision audiences by performing in a kilt (a last-minute costume decision). It went down badly: he placed ninth, Britain’s worst result at the time.

Despite his Euroflop, McKellar’s eclectic singing career endured until the mid-Nineties, highlights including an acclaimed musical setting of Robert Burns’s poems, and his popular recording of Song of the Clyde, used as the opening theme for 1963 film Billy Liar.

More surprisingly, he recorded an Afrikaans-language album in 1970, and wrote a comedy sketch that Monty Python performed at the Secret Policemen’s Ball. He died in the USA in 2010, and was brought back home to be buried in Paisley.

Sandie Shaw wins Eurovision for Britain in 1967 Credit: Hulton Archive 1967: Sandie Shaw, ‘Puppet on a String’

Britain’s first Eurochamp was a likely winner from the outset; she’d already had a UK number one in 1964, and having also recorded her hit singles in French, Italian, German and Spanish, she was equally popular on the continent.

But she wasn’t proud of her Eurovision-winning song. “I hated it from the very first oompah to the final bang on the big bass drum,” she once said. “I was instinctively repelled by its sexist drivel and cuckoo-clock tune.” Still, it didn’t hamper her pop career, with further hits well into the Eighties (prompting fan-mail from The Smiths’ Morrissey and Johnny Marr).

Since the Nineties, however, Shaw has worked as a psychotherapist; she finally announced her complete retirement from music in 2013. In 2017, she received an MBE for services to music. She has also been a political campaigner: in 2012, she joined an Amnesty International push against human rights abuses in Azerbaijan, that year’s host country; and she campaigned against Brexit in 2016. 

1968 & 1973: Cliff Richard, ‘Congratulations’ & ‘Power to All Our Friends’

Born Harry Webb in Lucknow, now Sir Cliff (OBE), the septuagenarian is still going strong, having sold 21 million singles in the UK across his half-century career. He did rather well at Eurovision, too, reaching second (1968) and third place (1973).

He has been a fixture of British cultural life ever since. In 2018, he released his first studio album of new material for 14 years, Rise Up, which dealt with his acrimonious legal battle with the BBC. (In 2014, Richard had been investigated as part of Operation Yewtree over allegations of historical sexual abuse, but he was never arrested for any offence. The BBC controversially broadcast a search of his home, and have since been forced to pay out substantial damages.)

1969: Lulu, ‘Boom Bang-a-Bang’

Scottish pop supernova and TV personality Lulu won 1969’s Eurovision in a four-way tie with Spain, France and the Netherlands.

She went on to score number one singles in the UK and America, and sang the theme for 1974 Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun. (That said, in America she’s perhaps better known as the voice behind the chart-busting title theme for the 1967 film To Sir, With Love.)

In 2011 she took part in Strictly Come Dancing, and in 2014 sang at the closing ceremony for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In 2018 she returned to the London stage in West End musical 42nd Street, and was a special guest on Take That’s Greatest Hits Live tour.

Lulu receives a golden sherry copita from the Spanish ambassador in 1970 Credit: AP 1970: Mary Hopkin, ‘Knock, Knock, Who’s There?’

Welsh folk singer Hopkin gave the UK another second place at Eurovision, after a string of hit singles including Goodbye (written and produced by Paul McCartney).

After she married top producer Tony Visconti in 1971, she withdrew from the limelight, but still sang on several albums he produced, including David Bowie’s Low. After a late-Seventies comeback, she joined a group called Oasis (not the Gallaghers’ band), and sang on Vangelis’s soundtrack for Blade Runner. She is still recording, and released her last studio album in 2013.

In 2018, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her break out single Those Were the Days, produced by Paul McCartney, Hopkin released a new acoustic version of the track.

1971: Clodagh Rodgers, ‘Jack In The Box’

Young Northern Irish singer Clodagh Rodgers received death threats from the IRA when she agreed to represent the UK at the 1971 Eurovision, staged in Dublin. She took the stage nonetheless, and finished in a decent fourth place.

She only had one post-Eurovision chart single (Lady Love Bug, in late 1971), but continued a ropey recording career for several years, releasing her last new studio album in 1976. She would have better luck on stage, touring with the West End musical Blood Brothers in the Nineties.

1972: The New Seekers, ‘Beg, Steal or Borrow’

The New Seekers were only tenuously linked to their Australian parent-group by original Seeker Keith Podger, who left the band before it brought Britain yet another second-place result with its saccharine harmonies. They disbanded in 1974, but have reappeared in various shifting incarnations over the years, most recently in a 2006 tour, which only featured one member of their Eurovision line-up (Paul Layton).

Olivia Newton-John remains one of Britain’s biggest global stars today Credit: AP 1974: Olivia Newton-John, ‘Long Live Love’

After taking Britain to fourth place in Eurovision (beaten by ABBA’s Waterloo), Newton-John was immortalised on the big screen as Sandy in 1978’s Grease, and found further chart success with the soundtrack to Electric Light Orchestra musical Xanadu in 1980 (though the film itself was a flop). She has since won four Grammys, and has become one of the best-selling female artists of all time. 

1975: The Shadows, ‘Let Me Be The One’

Formerly Cliff Richard’s backing band, The Shadows were best known for instrumental hits such as Apache, but made an impressively laid-back foray into vocal harmonies for Eurovision, placing second (again!) despite obviously forgetting the words at one point.

The band went on to considerable worldwide success, and were all offered OBEs in 2004 (though lead guitarist Hank Marvin declined his). They played their farewell tour in 2009. “Everyone thinks screaming was invented with Beatlemania,” the band told The Telegraph, “but Cliff had his own mania.”

1976: Brotherhood of Man, ‘Save Your Kisses for Me’

After winning Eurovision, the ABBA-esque Save Your Kisses for Me became the biggest-selling Eurovision winner to date, prompting a series of international tours, but the Brotherhood’s hits dried up by the end of the decade. They have reunited sporadically since splitting up in 1984.

The Shadows, with Cliff Richard at the centre Credit: Redferns 1977: Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran, ‘Rock Bottom’

Britain came second (yup, it’s catching) with this jaunty honky-tonk duet, though after a few follow-up singles the pair went their separate ways. Afterwards, Moran became the producer of the long-running children’s music TV show Get It Together, while de Paul (after a few pop releases) moved into classical music, releasing albums of Bach and Handel. In 1982, she starred with Ian McKellen, Joanna Lumley and Helen Mirren in a West End panto production of Cinderella.

De Paul also made a police-approved self-defence video, worked as Okay! magazine’s staff cartoonist, and once released a concept album of children’s pop songs about the Channel Tunnel. She died in October 2014.

1978: Co-Co, ‘The Bad Old Days’

Originally called Mother’s Pride and finishing in 11th place, Co-Co split up soon after their Eurovision humiliation, having only released one album. But their real importance is as a prelude: band member Cheryl Baker would be back just three years later with her new group, Bucks Fizz, and would win the competition.

1979: Black Lace, ‘Mary Ann’

Novelty foursome Black Lace may have made little impact at Eurovision (placing seventh), but they would achieve undying notoriety five years later, when they released the hellishly catchy earworm Agadoo (once heralded by Q Magazine as The Worst Song of All Time, according to a panel of expert music writers). Another dubious career highlight came in 2003, when band member Colin Gibb put out an X-rated Black Lace album called Blue (released in Tenerife). In 2016, he reunited with singer Gordon King for what was billed as the band’s 40th anniversary tour. Last year, band member Rob Hopcraft died as a result of a fall. 

1980: Prima Donna, ‘Love Enough for Two’

Prima Donna were part of a tangled Eurovision dynasty: one singer Danny Finn, was formerly in The New Seekers, our 1972 entry, while fellow band-member Lance Aston was the brother of Bucks Fizz singer, and future 1981 winner, Jay Aston. Prima Donna’s Sally Ann Triplett, meanwhile, would return to Eurovision two years after that, as one half of UK entry Bardo.

Unable to hold together such a powerful nexus of Europop talent, the band’s flame burned only briefly; our 1980 hope had disbanded before the year was over.

1981: Bucks Fizz, ‘Making Your Mind Up’

Notorious for their skirt-ripping dance routine, Bucks Fizz not only blazed to victory at Eurovision but also went on to sell 15 million records worldwide, with further UK number one hits including The Land of Make Believe and My Camera Never Lies.

But in 1984, tragedy struck: a bus crash broke the spine of band member Cheryl Baker, and sent fellow singer Mike Nolan into a three-day coma, causing injuries from which he has never fully recovered. Creative difference led to a legal battle over the rights to the band name in the late Nineties and early Noughties, in what The Telegraph later called “one of the messiest break-ups in music history”.

Going by The Fizz, Baker, Nolan and Aston got back together in 2009 and embarked on a UK-wide tour. In the 2019 general election, Aston briefly became a politician when she stood for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in Kensington, but received less than 1 per cent of the vote. Their third studio album, Smoke & Mirrors, was released in March, reaching 29th in the charts.

1982: Bardo, ‘One Step Further’

Crackerjack presenter and former Prima Donna member Sally Ann Triplett only reached seventh place with this duet, joined by her real-life romantic partner Stephen Fischer. Fischer went on to work as a keyboardist with Boy George and Bob Geldof, while Triplett has found success in Broadway musicals and on the West End stage.

1983: Sweet Dreams, ‘I’m Never Giving Up’

This now-forgotten teenage pop trio finished in sixth place. When their follow-up single failed to chart, the band split up just a few months after Eurovision. Pretty boy Bobby McVay became a local radio presenter, before joining Bucks Fizz on their 2015 reunion tour, while fellow dreamer Carrie Grant became a vocal coach, returning to Eurovision in 2014 to head the UK’s expert jury.

1984: Belle and the Devotions, ‘Love Games’

The poor behaviour of British football fans at a 1983 Luxembourg match meant that this trio were greeted with boos as they took the stage in Luxembourg for Eurovision 1984. Their Supremes-like love song finished in seventh place, and the band split up soon afterwards, though “Belle” (real name: Kit Rolfe) would return to Eurovision in 1991 as a backing singer for Britain’s Samantha Janus. Rolfe also recorded an unsuccessful novelty single with failed Olympic skier Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards.

1985: Vikki, ‘Love Is…’

Victoria Watson was our first female Eurovision entry to perform a self-penned song. Her ballad only came in fourth place, but Watson has since used her ethereal vocals to great effect, after changing her name, moving to Los Angeles and rebranding herself as an Celtic-influenced ambient folk singer.

She hasn’t made much of an impact on the pop world, putting out a string of online-only releases before a 2015 comeback album. But she’s a big name in Hollywood sound-design: her atmospheric, wordless vocals have been used on more than 70 film trailers, including The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies and the 2016 Dan Brown adaptation Inferno.

She now performs under the name Aeone (pronounced “ay-own”). According to her website, the new name means “an endless period of time that is essentially female, feeling without thinking”.

1986: Ryder, ‘Runner in the Night’

The pop sextet Ryder (led by singer Maynard Williams) were manufactured created purely to take part in Eurovision. The result was a disaster: their song only placed seventh in the competition, and didn’t even scrape into the top 75 in the UK singles chart, making it the worst commercial flop of any British Eurovision entry. In 1987, Williams sang the theme tune for the BBC sitcom Truckers, also better forgotten, After popping up in a 1996 episode of Heartbeat, he seemingly retired from showbiz for good.

1987: Rikki, ‘Only the Light’

Like “Vikki” before him and “Emma” after, the mononymous Scottish singer Rikki seems to have chosen his name with a view to future anonymity: it’s not so much a pop rebrand as a Eurovictim protection programme, helping failed entrants to hide their shame.

Born Richard Peebles, he arrived at the door of Eurovision having previously written a few songs for a middle-of-the-road pop band called Middle of the Road. Rikki finished in 13th place, and never made it into the UK top 75 chart. After a botched 1987 debut album, he has avoided the limelight, writing songs for club performers.

When The Mirror tracked him down for a 1996 interview, he recalled how badly he had been hurt by Eurovision. “I cried,” he said. “I thought I had let my country down in front of all those millions of viewers. I would never, ever do it again.”

Ki Fitzgerald of Busted (r) is the son of 1988 entry Scott Fitzgerald Credit: PA 1988: Scott Fitzgerald, ‘Go’

The overwrought ballad Go was yet another second-place near-miss for the UK. It was written by Bruce Forsyth’s daughter Julie, who joined Scottish singer Fitzgerald onstage for Eurovision in Dublin. Fitzgerald was raised on a Glasgow tenement where, in his early childhood, he befriended a girl called Marie Lawrie – who grew up to become the 1969 Eurovision winner Lulu. His own pop career stalled after his silver medal 19 years later, but his son Ki Fitzgerald has fared better – he’s a founding member of Noughties boy band Busted.

1989: Live Report, ‘Why Do I Always Get it Wrong?’

For Eurovision voters, Live Report clearly got something right, receiving the most perfect 12-point scores from judges. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to win: Britain came second (there’s a theme emerging, here) to Yugoslavia. The band’s lead singer Ray Caruana is actually Maltese, and was later a runner-up in the contest to represent Malta for Eurovision 1994.

1990: Emma, ‘Give a Little Love Back to the World’

At just 15 years old, Emma Booth remains Britain’s youngest Eurovision contestant. Her song finished sixth and broke into the UK top 40, but, in what was by now a fine British tradition, her follow-up single failed to chart.

According to the local news site Wales Online, as of 2004 Booth was making a living singing on cruise ships. Her other post-Eurovision work involved touring with the Chuckle Brothers, and supporting Keith Harris and Orville the Duck. 

1991: Samantha Janus, ‘A Message to Your Heart’

After placing 10th in Eurovision, Brighton-born Samantha quit the pop world for a career in acting, playing Sandy in a West End revival of Grease. She is best known, however, for playing the icy Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders from 2007-2017.

Michael Ball recently took Capt Tom Moore to the top of the UK charts Credit: PA 1992: Michael Ball, ‘One Step Out of Time’

Already a successful West End musical performer, Ball took the UK to second place (again!) in Eurovision, before hosting his own ITV music show, and releasing a string of gold-selling albums. He still performs regularly, and presents a show on BBC Radio 2. In 2015, he received an OBE for services to musical theatre.

In March 2019, Ball released the album Coming Home To You, which became his first number one album as a solo artist in almost three decades. The same year, he performed in a placeholder production of Les Misérables with long-time collaborator Alfie Boe, while the West End production moved theatres. His NHS-fundraising cover of You’ll Never Walk Alone, with Capt Tom Moore, topped the charts during the coronavirus pandemic.

1993: Sonia, ‘Better the Devil You Know’

Liverpool singer Sonia Evans came second (again!) in Eurovision with this rock ’n’ roll number, having already racked up several UK chart hits (most notably 1989’s You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You). When her recording career hit a post-Eurovision slump, she took to the London stage, briefly playing Sandy in Grease (before handing over the role to our 1991 entry Samantha Janus).

Afterwards, she slid into reality television (ITV’s Reborn in the USA, a 2003 vehicle for has-been pop stars) and regional panto. But in 2012, she had a one-off return to a major stage, performing at London’s O2 Arena for a Hit Factory Live concert alongside Kylie Minogue. She signed a new record deal with Energise Records in 2019, and released the single A Night That’s Never Ending later that year.

1994: Frances Ruffelle, ‘We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)’

After placing 10th in 1994 with We Will Be Free, Ruffelle followed several other Eurovisionistas into musical theatre. She has found success in the West End, appearing in Trevor Nunn’s Tony Award-winning RSC Les Miserables, and playing the title role in Piaf. In 2017, she starred in the musical The Wild Party, at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End venue The Other Palace.

1995: Love City Groove, ‘Love City Groove’

Britain’s first foray into Eurovision hip-hop reached number seven in the charts, but only placed tenth in the contest. The group’s rapper Stephen “Beanz” Rudden has since found work as a jobbing producer, writing the theme tune for 1998’s forgotten Kelsey Grammer comedy The Real Howard Spitz.

Meanwhile, Paul Hardy (who sang the chorus) tried to rise from the ashes by rebranding himself Paul Phoenix and signing up to compete on BBC One’s The Voice in 2016. Sadly, he didn’t even make it through the initial blind-audition round.

1996: Gina G, ‘Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit’

Born and raised in Australia, Gina Gardiner’s saucy pop tune didn’t go down well at Eurovision (placing seventh), but it became a UK number one. Despite a successful debut album, she left the music industry following a lengthy legal battle with her producer. She tried to make a comeback in 2005, competing unsuccessfully to represent Britain in Eurovision again. She then moved to Los Angeles to run her own record label, Stunt Girl Music.

1997: Katrina and the Waves, ‘Love Shine a Light’

In 1997, Katrina and the Waves were no longer Walking on Sunshine, with their Eighties heyday a distant memory. But winning Eurovision in 1997 brought them back into the limelight, giving them their biggest-selling UK single to date. Later that year, lead singer Katrina Leskanich caused a tabloid rumpus when she was photographed kissing comedian Caroline Aherne at a Sony Awards dinner. Leskanich left the band in 1998, finding work as a Radio 2 DJ, releasing several (non-chart) solo albums, and co-authoring a travel guide to London with her pet poodle, Peggy Lee.

1998: Imaani, ‘Where Are You’

Imaani’s song Where Are You came a very respectable second to Israel’s Dana International. Released as a single, it remained in the UK charts for over two months, but Imaani was dropped by EMI before a follow up single.

She continues to perform regularly alongside jazz-funk band Incognito. Her first solo album, Standing Tall, was released in 2014, but it failed to chart. No UK act since has exceeded her Eurovision score of 166, which remains her greatest career achievement to date.

1999: Precious, ‘Say It Again’

Girl band Precious split up the year after they competed in Eurovision, having released just four singles. The song they took to Jerusalem in 1999, Say It Again, gained only 38 points.

Their best-known member was Jenny Frost, who went on to join Atomic Kitten in 2000. Replacing Kerry Katona, Frost released three number one singles with the group before they split in 2004. Her more recent exploits have included appearing in I’m A Celebrity… in 2005, presenting the BBC Three show Snog, Marry Avoid? and becoming the face of homeopathic medicine company Nelson’s. She would, in turn, be re-replaced by Katona in 2012.

Among the other Precious members, Sophie McDonnell had a brief spell as a presenter on CBBC, while lead singer Louise Rose went into acting, and has appeared in Moving Wallpaper and Luther. Kalli Clark-Sternberg is now a session-singer, while Anya Lahiri is a boot-camp trainer.

Nicki French performing at Eurovision in 2000 Credit: Pressens Biuld 2000: Nicki French, ‘Don’t Play That Song Again’

French sang Don’t Play That Song Again to the crowds in Stockholm in 2000. They seemed to agree, awarding the UK just 28 points.

These days, French performs at Pride events across the world, and has appeared on British theatre stages too, starring in Menopause: The Musical in 2007. Despite not coming out top in Eurovision, her entry was nonetheless released in a 2015 special edition EP, along with a four-disc anthology album, One Step Further.

2001: Lindsay D, ‘No Dream Impossible’

At 16, Lindsay Dracass represented the UK with the song No Dream Impossible in 2001. The song placed 15th, and after one European tour and the single hitting number 32 in the charts, she went back to being a normal British teenager. She now works as a vocal coach. In November 2019, she released a new album, Waiting for You. 

2002: Jessica Garlick, ‘Come Back’

After being among the last 10 contestants on Pop Idol 2002, Welsh singer Garlick represented the UK in Tallinn. Her score of 111 points made her the highest scoring British act of the 2000s, and won her (joint) third place. She featured in a number of subsequent Eurovision analysis programmes, including the following year’s UK selection show, A Song For Europe.

She embarked on a solo career in 2009, but has never really escaped Eurovision, releasing her first single the day before the semi-final, and giving her first live performance at the Eurovision Preview Party 2009. Other notable appearances include featuring on the identity parade in BBC panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2006. 

2003: Jemini, ‘Cry Baby’

After gaining notoriety for coming last in the 2003 contest in Latvia, gaining the dreaded score of “nul points” for Cry Baby, Liverpudlian duo Jemini were dropped by their record company. Gemma Abbey subsequently worked in a car showroom, while Chris Cromby found employment in a clothes shop.

That wasn’t the end of their Eurovision career though. The pair were (for some reason) interviewed for the 2013 BBC special How To Win Eurovision, and reunited in 2014 for a Eurovision special episode of BBC game show Pointless Celebrities.

In 2016, Abbey was convicted of benefits fraud. The singer had claimed over £67,000 in tax credits as a single mother, despite being married; officials found photographs of her wedding on Facebook.

Jemini on their return to London after an ill-fated Eurovision attempt Credit: David Dyson 2004: James Fox, ‘Hold On To Our Love’

Welsh singer James Fox followed up his 16th-place finish by writing and recording the official 2008 FA Cup song for Cardiff FC. Since then he has become a fixture in musical theatre, recently playing Paul McCartney in the West End and Broadway runs of Beatles musical Let It Be. He has also supported a range of celebrities, including Tina Turner, Wet Wet Wet and Lulu.

2005: Javine Hylton, ‘Touch My Fire’

In a shock vote, Javine was chosen to represent the UK over Katie Price’s autotune-defying offering Not Just Anybody. Her song, Touch My Fire, came 22nd (of 24) in the final. She continued a career as an R&B singer and television personality, appearing on Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Skins. She won Channel 4 game show The Games in 2006, and came second in Celebrity Come Dine With Me in 2010. She is now the face of Javine Total Fitness, her own sports and fitness brand.

2006: Daz Sampson, ‘Teenage Life’

A poor man’s Tim Westwood, Daz Sampson represented the UK in Eurovision after releasing several reasonably successful dance tracks in the UK and Europe. His co-written entry Teenage Life, featuring backing dancers dressed as school girls known as The Sampsonites, perhaps slightly misjudged the age and sexuality of the average Eurovision viewer and only scored 25 points. It proved more popular with the home crowd however, charting at 8 in the UK Top 40.

In 2011 Sampson re-lauched himself as a hypnotist, telling the Manchester Evening News he intended to “quit the recording studio and help make the world become a happier and a healthier place.” A Twitter feed associated with Daz (which describes him as a fortune-teller, inter alia), announced in May 2015 that he would soon be “back in the studio […] i want to say sorry in advance for what comes out. but i have a family to feed.” No new tracks have since emerged, so Sampson’s family are presumably still peckish.

Sampson also works as a professional football manager and scout, with links to Scottish Championship side Ayr United and Stockport County in England’s National League North.

2007: Scooch, ‘Flying the Flag (For You)’

It may surprise viewers of Scooch’s airline-themed Eurovision appearance to learn that this was not the group’s first TV performance. In fact, in 1999 they won the opportunity to have a single released after beating a rival band in a competition on TV show Live & Kicking.

Despite mixed sentiment surrounding Scooch’s entry (Charlotte Church described the act as “absolute s—”, and Swedish singer Pandora accused Flying The Flag of plagiarism), the act were the first in five years to receive “douze points” for the UK, winning the maximum score from Malta.

Disappointingly, none of the band now work for an airline. Natalie Powers and David Ducasse are both singing coaches at performing arts schools, while Caroline Barnes and Russ Spencer started a relationship post-Eurovision, and became one of the longest lasting couples on series 4 of Channel 4 game show Coach Trip in 2010.

2008: Andy Abraham, ‘Even If’

X-Factor runner-up Andy Abraham’s performance of Even If came joint last in Belgrade in 2008. But he remained on the UK stage, touring the show An Evening with Andy Abraham for two years after the contest. More recently, he played both Judas and John the Baptist in a touring revival of the musical Godspell, alongside his successor at Eurovision, Jade Ewen.

2009: Jade Ewen, ‘It’s My Time’

Andrew Lloyd Webber led the UK selection programme which voted Jade Ewen as the 2009 UK entry, and played piano alongside her in the song It’s My Time. Ewen placed fifth in the end, gaining points from 31 countries.

Like 1999 contestant Jenny Frost, she went on to join a three-piece girl band that has a fairly constant rotation of members: the Sugababes. In 2013 she was the first celebrity to be eliminated on BBC game show Splash!.

2010: Josh Dubovie, ‘That Sounds Good To Me’

Josh Dubovie was the third UK entry to place last in 10 years, his song That Sounds Good To Me winning only 10 points.

He has since changed his stage name to Josh James, as searches including Dubovie only returned results relating to Eurovision, preventing him from forging a new reputation. His debut solo single was released in 2013, peaking at number 179. His website lists his current occupations as “mindset coach, dreamer, dad and entrepreneur”. 

2011: Blue, ‘I Can’

Ten years after the boyband formed, Blue marked their return to showbiz by performing the song I Can. The song placed 10th, and the band complained they were the victims of political voting.

Their limited company, Blueworld, collapsed in 2013, and since then every member of Blue has declared themselves bankrupt. Blue have brought out two new albums, but you’d be forgiven for not having noticed. After the most recent, 2015’s Colours, sold fewer than 4000 copies in its first week on sale, Blue were dropped by their record label.

Poor Blue. Their Eurovision appearance may have been responsible for their relatively unsuccessful reunion, but equally to blame may be the fact that it is no longer the early 2000s, and just like Napster and Nokia 3310s, they’ve kind of had their day.

Engelbert Humperdinck flew the flag for Britain in 2012 Credit: PA 2012: Engelbert Humperdinck, ‘Love Will Set You Free’

Traditional crooner Engelbert Humperdinck was put forward to represent the UK through internal selection. Performing with no sequins on his outfit and no backing dancers at all, he placed second last with 12 points.

Now in his seventies, Humperdinck has continued to tour, but Love Will Set You Free rarely makes an appearance on his set-lists.

2013: Bonnie Tyler, ‘Believe In Me’

Tyler may have been past her Eighties heyday (when she had a string of hit ballads such as Total Eclipse of the Heart), but she still won plaudits from the critics for her Eurovision single. Tyler was the first UK entrant to receive the Eurovision Song Contest Radio Awards for Best Song and Best Singer.

That didn’t change the fact that her performance of Believe In Me came a lowly 19th. Unlike some previous entries, its poor performance at Eurovision was repeated in the UK market, only reaching a peak chart position of 93.

Nonetheless, she has continued to record and perform as if it never happened. In 2019, she released her 17th studio album, Between the Earth and the Stars, and embarked on a live tour.

2014: Molly Smitten-Downes, ‘Children of the Universe’

Children Of The Universe, Molly’s self-penned ballad designed to “break down political boundaries”, seemed a subtle attempt from the UK internal selection committee to actually make an impact, and before the final the UK was among the favourites to win. It was not to be however, with Smitten-Downes winning only 40 points on the night.

Her musical career hasn’t progressed a huge amount since then, her only noteworthy release being a guest appearance on a 2015 track by German DJ Zwette.

2015: Electro Velvet, ‘Still in Love With You’

This likeable (and unfairly mocked) electro-swing duo comprised X Factor and The Voice reject Bianca Nicholas, and Alex Larke, the Mick Jagger part of a Rolling Stones tribute act. Alas, after placing 24th in Eurovision, plans for a debut LP were shelved due to Nicholas’s poor health. Nicholas, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, has become a prominent public face for people living with the condition, and in December 2016 she released a cover-version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. In February 2017, Larke released his debut solo single, Shine On.

Britain’s 2015 offering Electro Velvet were widely derided at home Credit: Kerstin Joensson/AP 2016: Joe and Jake, ‘You’re Not Alone’

Light-rock duo Joe Woolford and Jake Shakeshaft (from Ruthin and Stoke-on-Trent, respectively) are still together and still gigging in small venues. In October 2016, the band played a charity fundraising gig at the Ruthin Farmers Auction to raise money for a local girl’s medical treatment. That same month, they tweeted that they were recording “lots of songs”, but only one follow-up to their Eurovision single has been released: 2017’s Tongue Tied, which failed to chart.

2017: Lucie Jones, ‘You’re Not Alone’

The 27-year-old X-Factor contestant was the bookies’ fifth-favourite to win the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, but the singer finished in 15th place, blaming Brexit for her disappointing result. Since the show, Jones has turned her attention to musicals, appearing as Holly in the UK tour of The Wedding Singer, and reprising her role as Elle Woods in a nine-month run of Legally Blonde. In 2019, she was cast in the West End musical Waitress, and after a hiatus, was due to return to the role when the coronavirus pandemic closed the theatres.

2018: SuRie, ‘Storm’

SuRie, born Susanna Marie Cork, finished 24th in 2018’s Eurovision Song Contest. In 2015, she provided backing vocals for Belgium’s Eurovision entry, and in 2017 she was the musical director for another Belgian contestant. 

Her own performance was notable for its interruption. SuRie was thrown off when a protester stormed the stage, took the microphone and shouted “Modern Nazis of the UK media, we demand freedom, war is not peace.” She was diagnosed with PTSD after the incident. 

Her recent single, Taking It Over, failed to chart in the UK.

2019: Michael Rice, ‘Bigger Than Us’

Michael Rice finished dead last in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, the UK’s fourth bottom-placed finish. Rice had previously won the BBC One singing competition All Together Now, and appeared in the 11th series of The X Factor in 2014.

Following Eurovision, Rice released the single Somebody, which failed to chart, and performed in small venues across the UK. In the build-up to last year’s aborted show, he appeared on a number of local radio stations to comment on James Newman’s UK entry.