There were a few “tra-la-las”, several acoustic guitars, long-haired chaps dressed up in bow ties and – the height of fashion – a very brown set. Tonight, millions will tune into an outrageous glitterfest of Eurovision campness, with pyrotechnics, occasional bum notes, forgettable ballads and, for a few performers, that most unwelcome of guests, a positive Covid-19 test. There will be the usual technical challenges, laborious voting and a spirited UK performance of Embers by James Newman, shot down by political differences and a whiff of anti-Brexit hostilities. All very different 50 years ago, when a victory for the tiny principality of Monaco sparked an unusual sequence of events that eventually led to Eurovision rolling into Edinburgh’s Usher Hall.
View the complete Eurovision winners list from 1956 to now. See famous Eurovision winners like ABBA to forgotten favourites such as the Olsen Brothers.