Looking back at Eurovision's most memorable moments

Contest entries over the years have included pirates, penguins and dancing grandmas

Luxembourg's 1980 entry about a sad penguin and Russia's 2012 song which featured onstage cake-baking have helped make the Eurovision Song Contest a memorable must-watch. Photo: Eurovision Song ContestShow less

As the finals for this year’s contest are held in Liverpool, England, on behalf of Ukraine, we look at the performances that have made the competition an entertaining watch over the years.

Missing only one year in its 67-year history (2020 due to the pandemic), the Eurovision Song Contest has been entertaining, amusing and often bemusing audiences since 1956.

While some countries take their entries very seriously, others are clearly in it for the sheer joy of performing, dressing up as pirates, penguins and more to secure their place, if not on the winner’s podium, then certainly in the Eurovision hall of fame.

Here, we look back at eight of Eurovision’s most memorable moments…

Papa Pingouin, Sophie & Magaly, Luxembourg, 1980

French sisters Sophie and Magaly Gilles-Giovannoni were Luxembourg’s entry at the start of the 1980s with the jaunty Papa Pingouin (Papa Penguin).

The song concerns a penguin patriarch’s desire to spread his wings and travel while coming to terms with the fact he is flightless through existential lyrics such as: “You know that the wings of penguins and mills are good for nothing."

The sisters’ shiny satin jumpsuits are something to behold and the chorus is really catchy, but the performance is stolen by the man who joins them onstage dressed as a giant penguin.

After almost falling down the stairs as the singing starts, he then provides backing vocals and interpretive dance throughout.

Making Your Mind Up, Bucks Fizz, United Kingdom, 1981

Thanks to the famous skirt-rip moment when male singers Bobby Gee and Mike Nolan tore off the longer skirts of the female singers Cheryl Baker and Jay Aston to reveal miniskirts underneath, the song has secured its place in the annals of memorable Eurovision performances.

Winning the finals in 1981, the song beat Germany by only four points and went on to become a huge hit in Europe and the UK, selling more than four million copies worldwide.

We Are The Winners, LT United, Lithuania, 2006

LT United secured their place in the Eurovision hall of fame thanks to the sheer audacity of their song, which declared themselves the winners of the contest.

“We are the winners. We are, we are!” sang the six-piece group, which comprised musicians who were well-known in Lithuania. “So, you gotta vote, vote, vote, vote, vote for the winners.”

The group, headed by Lithuanian rock musician Andrius Mamontovas didn’t win, but came in a respectable sixth place with a mixed response from the audience.

Arnoldas Lukosius’s dance to the rock violin solo remains a highlight.

Hard Rock Hallelujah, Lordi, Finland, 2006

Eurovision hadn’t seen anything like it when Finnish rockers Lordi took to the stage wearing what can only be described as Orc cosplay to belt out their track Hard Rock Hallelujah.

The audience rocked out to the hard metal track which secured Finland’s first ever win in the competition.

The track went to number one in Finland and secured its legacy by breaking the Guinness World Record for largest karaoke in 2006, when 80,000 people sang it together in Helsinki to celebrate the win.

Dancing Lasha Tumbai, Verka Serduchka, Ukraine, 2007

If power accordions, headache-inducing Eurobeats and silver pseudo-cop costumes are your thing, Ukraine’s entry from Verka Serduchka is for you.

The techno-style track featured lyrics in German, English, Russian and Ukrainian and was sang by a popular performer in Ukraine, Andriy Mykhailovych Danylko, who performed as his alter-ego Verka Serduchka.

Divine, Sebastien Tellier, France, 2008

French singer-songwriter Sebastien Tellier ensured uniformity onstage by dressing himself and his male and female backing singers alike, including beards and moustaches.

Arriving onstage in a golf buggy with the French flag painted on the front and a large balloon in his hand, he proceeded to sing the short song in English.

Halfway through, Tellier opened the balloon and inhaled the helium, before continuing to sing in a higher pitch.

Wolves of the Sea, Pirates of the Sea, Latvia, 2008

Less a pop song and more a children’s TV theme song looking for a show to attach itself to, Latvia’s entry was a high-energy dance track going all out from the first note: “With a hi hi ho and a hi hi hey! We're hoisting the flag to be free. We will steal the show, Jolly Rogers go. We are wolves of the sea.”

The six-piece fully commit to the concept, with their costumes, choreography and plastic-prop cutlasses propelling them to 12th place.

Everybody Dance, Buranovskiye Babushki, Russia, 2012

Russia’s entry consisted of six septuagenarians in traditional dress extolling the virtues of cooking for their families, while baking food in an oversized oven onstage.

The song starts out as a folklore-esque melody, before the disco beat kicks in and the women start dancing and encouraging the audience to join in while blasting out lyrics such as: “And my cat is happy, and my dog is happy / And my cat is happy, and my dog is happy / The happiness is overflowing!”

Three quarters of the way through the song, the cakes are brought out of the oven and showcased onstage in a move which propelled the song to second place with 259 points.