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The UK has crowned its favourite ever Eurovision entrant, in a one-off special shown on what should have been the night of this year’s live final.
On Saturday evening, Eurovision: Come Together aired on BBC One, taking fans on a trip down memory lane by replaying 19 classic performances from past years of the song contest.
The shortlist was chosen by a shortlist of experts including presenters Rylan Clark-Neal and Mel Giedroyc, former entrants Nicki French and SuRie and other Eurovision superfans.
At the end of the show, viewers were then invited to vote for their favourites on the BBC Eurovision website, with ABBA’s Waterloo coming out on top.
The groundbreaking pop group rose to fame after winning Eurovision in 1974, and went on to sell 380 million records the world over.
In second place was Conchita Wurst’s winning entry Rise Like A Phoenix, followed by Loreen’s Euphoria, the most-downloaded Eurovision song ever in the UK.
Other winning UK entrants to make the top 10 included Katrina And The Waves’ Love Shine A Light and Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Fizz, which came in fourth and eighth place, respectively.
Måns Zelmerlöw’s Heroes, Alexander Rybak’s Fairytale and Ukranian drag queen Verka Serduchka’s Dancing Lasha Tumbai completed the list, ahead of Brotherhood Of Man’s Save Your Kisses For Me and Ooh…Aah…Just A Little Bit by Gina G.
Also shown during the broadcast but not making the top 10 included last year’s runner up, Mahmood, 2018 champion and second place Netta and Eleni Foureira and game-changing Israeli winner Dana International.
Eurovision: Come Together was followed by another broadcast, organised by the European Broadcasting Union titled Eurovision: Europe Shine A Light.
The special received a more lukewarm response from fans watching along on Twitter, with some feeling it had more somber feel than many were expecting, with less focus on the 2020 entrants than anticipated.
It did have a few touching moments, though, including a performance of Love Shine A Light From Home from all of the competitors, and a special message from ABBA star Björn Ulvaeus.
“Everybody knows why there couldn’t be the usual Eurovision final this year,” Björn said. “But we hope this show will comfort you in some small way, knowing that it will be back next year.”
He added: “Very good title by the way – Shine A Light. I’m glad they didn’t choose Waterloo. Long live the Eurovision Song Contest.”
At the end of the show, it was also revealed that Eurovision would go ahead in Rotterdam in 2021, which was supposed to have been the host city this year.
