TAKING THE MIC
Biggest Eurovision celebrity scandals – from Katie Price’s secret baby to Brit winner nearly sacked over shock affair
Even a drug scandal has hit the family favourite as out video reveals
IT is the music extravaganza billed as good, clean family fun that unites the generations across Europe.
But as Eurovision returns and we prepare to cheer on Olly Alexander tonight, some fans have been shocked by his racy performance.
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The Years and Years star, who is hoping to top the scoreboard with Dizzy, is seen writhing around with scantily-clad dancers in a set resembling a public toilet.
He hit back at critics saying the dancer are "so fit, they're so strong, their performance, they're so in character, we've really pushed it. The team is fantastic."
The 33-year-old has also been embroiled in a row over Israel's involvement in the contest, with some calling for him to pull out over their conflict with Palestine.
But Olly is not the only Eurovision star to find himself in the midst of controversy and the competition has seen more than its fair share of shocking celebrity scandals.
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From extra-marital affairs to allegations of vote-rigging, rumours of on-air drug use and pregnancy cover-ups, the show has given us a lot more than innocent singing and good-natured competition.
Here we take a look at the biggest showbiz scandals to rock Eurovision.
The 'other woman'
In 1967, the eventual Eurovision winner Sandie Shaw was nearly sacked before the contest after being named as the other woman in divorce proceedings.
Sandie famously won the contest after singing Puppet on a String barefoot in Vienna.
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But, before the show, BBC executives were shocked when was named in the divorce case of Veronica Murdoch, a successful model also known as Veronica Sands, and her husband Douglas Murdoch, a television executive who worked on pop programme Ready Steady Go! which 20-year-old singer regularly appeared on.
At the hearing, the court heard that while the couple were living apart during a trial separation, Veronica had twice visited her husband at his London flat in 1964 to find Shaw there, on one occasion wearing only a nightdress.
In 2010, Shaw told Desert Island Discs: "The BBC wanted to fire me, because I had a divorce scandal at the time which had come out just before the contest.
"I was involved in somebody else's divorce and they [the BBC] didn't think it was the right image and so it was incredibly unpleasant.
From Katie Price’s ‘cringiest’ audition to struggling boyband star savaged by his OWN manager…. watch Brit celebs’ Eurovision flops
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"I was only young to have all of that going on backstage, it was very hard but I had to hold all that in when I was singing. Afterwards, they [BBC] were all over me like a rash.”
Vote rigging row
The following year Sir Cliff Richard was the UK’s entry with his toe-tapper Congratulations.
He lost out on the top spot by just one point, being pipped to the post by the Spanish contestant Massiel.
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But in 2008 allegations surfaced that Sir Cliff may have been robbed as a documentary claimed the country’s dictator Franco had rigged the vote as the Eurovision win would help his facist regime in boosting Spain’s image abroad.
Pregnancy cover-up
Glamour model and wannabe pop-star Katie Price made her own bid for Eurovision glory back in 2005 with her song “Not Just Anybody”.
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But what Katie had failed to tell anyone was that she was seven-months pregnant during her TV audition to be voted the nation’s Eurovision entry.
Confused viewers called into the show to ask if Katie was expecting, and she even compared herself to a ‘condom’ because she belted out her number wearing a hot pink latex catsuit.
Unfortunately for Katie her performance was panned and she came last, with Javine Hylton going on to become our Eurovision entry that year.
Katie later said: “I was seven months pregnant in that and I never told anybody. I was offered a record deal to do Eurovision, I can't sing that song now and I couldn't even sing it then. It's the cringiest thing.”
The wrong winner
In 2007 Eurovision legend Sir Terry Wogan made an almighty slip-up.
On the show Making Your Mind Up - the competition to pick the UK’s Eurovision entry - he wrongly announced Cyndi as the winner.
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In fact the pop band Scooch were the actual winners.
Afterwards Sir Terry said of his gaffe: “Nobody died, it's a television programme. There’s no doubt Scooch won. They clearly won.
"We wish them well and I shall be there to cheer them on by word and gesture in Helsinki. Bad luck on Cyndi.
"My apologies for any embarrassment she may have suffered but it probably wouldn't do her career any harm, either. She's a fine singer.”
Scooch eventually placed 22nd in Eurovision with just 19 points for their song Flying the Flag (For You).
Eurovision Song Contest entries 2024
Here are all of the acts taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Finalists:
- United Kingdom: Olly Alexander - Dizzy
- Sweden: Marcus & Martinus - Unforgettable (2023 winning country)
- France: Slimane - Mon amour
- Germany: ISAAK - Always On The Run
- Italy: Angelina Mango - La Noia
- Spain: Nebulossa - ZORRA
- Serbia: TEYA DORA - RAMONDA
- Portugal: iolanda - Grito
- Slovenia: Raiven - Veronika
- Lithuania: Silvester Belt - Luktelk
- Ireland: Bambie Thug - Doomsday Blue
- Ukraine: alyona alyona & Jerry Heil - Teresa & Maria
- Luxembourg: TALI - Fighter
- Finland: Windows95man - No Rules!
- Croatia: Baby Lasagna - Rim Tim Tagi Dim
- Cyprus: Silia Kapsis - Liar
- Armenia: LADANIVA - Jako
- Austria: Kaleen - We Will Rave
- Estonia: 5MIINUST x Puuluup - (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi
- Georgia: Nutsa Buzaladze - Firefighter
- Greece: Marina Satti - ZARI
- Israel: Eden Golan - Hurricane
- Latvia: Dons - Hollow
- Norway: Gåte - Ulveham
- Netherlands: Joost Klein - Europapa
- Switzerland: Nemo - The Code
Out:
- Poland: LUNA - The Tower
- Iceland: Hera Björk - Scared of Heights
- Moldova: Natalia Barbu - In The Middle
- Azerbaijan: FAHREE feat. Ilkin Dovlatov - Özünlə Apar
- Australia: Electric Fields - One Milkali (One Blood)
- Malta: Sarah Bonnici - Loop
- Albania : BESA - TITAN
- Czechia: Aiko - Pedestal
- Denmark: SABA - SAND
- San Marino: MEGARA - 11:11
- Belgium: Mustii - Before The Party's Over
Nul Points
In 2003 the UK made Eurovision history - but for all the wrong reasons.
Our entry Jemini got the first ever ‘nul points’ for their song Cry Baby.
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The Liverpool-based duo Gemma Abbey and Chris Cromby blamed technical issues for their embarrassing result, while Sir Terry Wogan blamed European criticism of the US and UK invasion of Iraq.
Louis Walsh branded their performance “a disgrace.” The pair were later dropped by their record label.
Drugs scandal
In 2021, the lead singer of the winning band was forced to take a drug test after viewers claimed to have seen him snorting cocaine in the green room whilst live on TV.
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Damiano David, frontman of the Italian rock group Maneskin, appeared to lean over a table during the broadcast prompting allegations about drugs to circle on social media.
He later said he had bent over to look for broken glass at another band member’s feet, and a negative drug test and a full investigation later cleared him of any wrongdoing.
In a statement the European Broadcasting Union said: “No drug use took place in the green room and we consider the matter closed.”
Dodgy voting
ABBA are unarguably the Eurovision song contest’s biggest success story, with their 1974 win for Waterloo propelling them from being a little-known Swedish band to global superstars.
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But on the night, the Swedish sensations were awarded an embarrassing ‘nul points’ by the UK’s judges.
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Years later Abba songwriter Björn Ulvaeus suggested the UK might have given his group the lowest possible score as they viewed them as the biggest possible threat to their entry, Olivia Newton John.
He told the BBC: "Because the Brits were the first ones to embrace us after winning, so the jury could have been as cunning as that - [it's] very likely actually. Because it's kind of strange they would give us zero points. It sounds like they were trying to do something cunning.”
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