Swedish act Loreen has made history by becoming the only female to win the Eurovision Song Contest twice – on a night that proved disappointing for the UK and Mae Muller.
The Swedish pop singer had been the bookies’ favourite going into the competition and managed to match expectations with her winning performance of ‘Tattoo’. Upon collecting her trophy, Loreen described the victory as “overwhelming”, adding: “I’m so grateful. I’m so thankful.” “In my wildest dreams, I didn’t think this would happen,” she added. Her success is a repeat of 2012’s Eurovision in which also won the competition, then with the energetic pop tune ‘Euphoria’. Euphoria wasn’t applicable for the UK and its entrant on the night, however, with Mae Muller coming second to last – only doing better than Germany.
READ MORE: ‘The whole show is designed around integration’ | Creating The Eurovision Song Contest
Muller’s performance of ‘I Wrote A Song’ fell well short of Sam Ryder’s second-place finish last year, which had led to the UK hosting this year’s competition in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine. Among the usual glitz, glam, poor jokes and surreal moments that Eurovision often provides – helped this year by the hosting of Alesha Dixon, Hannah Waddingham, Ukrainian singer Julia Sanin and presenting stalwart Graham Norton – the event also saw a cameo appearance from Catherine, the Princess of Wales, who briefly played piano in a pre-recorded video.
Loreen’s win means Sweden will now host next year’s competition on what will be the 50th anniversary of when ABBA, the country’s greatest musical export, won Eurovision with ‘Waterloo’ in 1974.
Viewing figures released by the BBC show this year’s Eurovision final was watched by an average of 9.9 million viewers across its programme, with a peak of 11 million – higher than the 10.6 million peak that tuned-in last year.
The Swedish pop singer had been the bookies’ favourite going into the competition and managed to match expectations with her winning performance of ‘Tattoo’. Upon collecting her trophy, Loreen described the victory as “overwhelming”, adding: “I’m so grateful. I’m so thankful.” “In my wildest dreams, I didn’t think this would happen,” she added. Her success is a repeat of 2012’s Eurovision in which also won the competition, then with the energetic pop tune ‘Euphoria’. Euphoria wasn’t applicable for the UK and its entrant on the night, however, with Mae Muller coming second to last – only doing better than Germany.
READ MORE: ‘The whole show is designed around integration’ | Creating The Eurovision Song Contest
Muller’s performance of ‘I Wrote A Song’ fell well short of Sam Ryder’s second-place finish last year, which had led to the UK hosting this year’s competition in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine. Among the usual glitz, glam, poor jokes and surreal moments that Eurovision often provides – helped this year by the hosting of Alesha Dixon, Hannah Waddingham, Ukrainian singer Julia Sanin and presenting stalwart Graham Norton – the event also saw a cameo appearance from Catherine, the Princess of Wales, who briefly played piano in a pre-recorded video.
Mae Muller looked dejected as the results came in. Photo: Anthony Devlin.
