Eurovision 1997: Dublin

Ireland’s seventh contest is also, so far, its last. It was the fourth it had staged in five years, and the third in the same building: the Point Theatre in Dublin is the only venue to have held the contest three times.

There had been talk of sharing the cost with the BBC in Northern Ireland. There had even been a suggestion of holding it at the Sydney Opera House. In the end RTÉ did it alone once more. Carrie Crowley presented with Ronan Keating, whose band, Boyzone, also provided the interval act.

Much of what the contest is now began that night.

A new way of being relegated

The audio-only qualifier of 1996 had been unpopular, and it was dropped. In its place came a league table. Apart from the host, the 25 places went to the countries with the best average score over the previous four contests.

That let Germany, Denmark, Hungary and Russia back in, and Italy returned for the first time since 1993. Belgium, Finland and Slovakia were among those shut out.

Israel qualified and then withdrew: the date was its Holocaust Remembrance Day. Its place went to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Televoting

In five countries — Austria, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom — the points were decided not by a jury but by the public.

When the last song finished, viewers there had five minutes to telephone a number for the song they liked best. Each of the five kept a jury on standby in case the phone system failed.

It was a trial. It worked, and from the next year every country was encouraged to do the same.

Without the orchestra

A second rule change was quieter. Until now a backing track could only carry instruments that were being mimed on stage. From 1997 a song could be performed entirely to a recording, with no live music at all.

It was the beginning of the end for the orchestra. Within two years it had become optional, and today no live accompaniment is permitted. Johnny Logan, three times a winner, later called the result “karaoke”.

Paul Oscar

Iceland’s singer, Paul Oscar, was the first openly gay artist chosen to compete as a lead performer at the contest. He finished twentieth. What he started did rather better: a transgender singer won the following year.

The result

The United Kingdom won, and it was not close. Katrina and the Waves sang “Love Shine a Light” second from last and finished on 227 points, 70 ahead of Ireland.

It was Britain’s fifth victory and its first for sixteen years. It has not won since.

Ireland’s second place was its fifth top-two finish in six years. Turkey, in third, had its best result yet. Cyprus was fifth.

Italy came fourth on its return — and then left again. Its broadcaster declined to enter the following year, and no Italian song was heard at the contest for another fourteen years.

At the bottom, Norway and Portugal both scored nothing. For Norway it was an eighth last place and a fourth zero.