Eurovision records: epic performances for unforgettable moments
Since its inception in 1956, Eurovision has been the stage for some iconic performances and historic moments. Let's take a look back at the most impressive and sometimes zany records in the history of the last 80 editions of the world's most famous music contest.
The Eurovision record for most wins
If Eurovision were a race, Ireland would certainly be in the lead... but not alone. The country has long held the record for the most Eurovision wins, with a total of seven to its name. The country won the contest for the first time in 1970 with Dana and its song "All Kinds of Everything", and went on to win six more times in 1980, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. This impressive series of victories made Ireland one of the dominant forces in Eurovision and helped forge its reputation as one of the contest's legendary countries. By the way, Johnny Logan is the Irish artist who has won twice (in 1980 and 1987 as a performer and 1992 as a composer), to the extent that he has earned the nickname "Mr. Eurovision".
Now this record has also been shared since last year with Sweden, who won the title for a seventh time with Loreen (Tatoo) in May 2023. Sweden began its winning streak in 1974 in Brighton with ABBA's 'Waterloo', the 40th anniversary of whose victory we celebrated a few days ago. Then in 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012 (hello Loreen again! ), 2015 and 2023.
The host city's Eurovision record
Following on from this victory, Dublin holds the record as the host city for the greatest number of Eurovisions. At the Gaiety Theatre in 1971at the Simmonscourt Pavilion in 1981 and 1988 then at Point Theatre in 1994, 1995 and 1997.
Eurovision record for most points
The Eurovision points system has changed several times over the years, but the record for the most points ever awarded to a song belongs to Salvador Sobral of Portugal. In 2017, her song "Amar Pelos Dois" received a total of 758 points. It was Portugal's first and only Eurovision win.
Eurovision record for largest points margin
The "points margin" in Eurovision score tables refers to the difference in points between the winner and the runner-up in a given edition of the contest. This highlights the winner's dominance over the other participants.
In 2009, Alexander Rybak won Eurovision for Norway with his song "Fairytale". His victory was particularly impressive because of the overwhelming margin by which he won the contest. Alexander Rybak scored a total of 387 points, 169 points ahead of the runner-up, the largest margin of victory in Eurovision history. With his violin riff, he is one of the iconic artists who are regularly recalled in editions of Eurovision or interval acts.
This record was almost dethroned in 2022 in Turin by Kalush Orchestra with " Stefania "for Ukraine, with 631 obtained and a margin of 165 points over the runner-up (Sam Ryder - Space Man).
The score differences are generally closer, averaging between 20 and 90 points.
The Eurovision record for the most "12 points".
Ukraine holds the record for the most "twelve points" ever received by a Eurovision winning song, with a total of 33 in 2016, from both the juries and the public. Portugal follows with 30 in 2017, then Sweden with 18 in 2012, and Ukraine again with 17 in 2016, and finally Norway with 16 in 2009.
The record for the highest number consecutive of "twelve points" goes to Israel, the United Kingdom and Sweden, each receiving five "twelve points" in a row, in 1978, 1997 and 2012 respectively.
The Eurovision record for most entries
The record for the most Eurovision appearances by one country is held by Germany. The country has taken part in the competition a total of 66 times since its first appearance in 1956. Despite this impressive number of entries, Germany has only won the competition twice, in 1982 and 2010.
For artists, it's Corry Brokkenrepresenting the Netherlands, who holds the record for the most appearances at Eurovision as an artist. She represented the Netherlands three times: in 1956, 1957 and 1958. Corry Brokken won the competition on her first appearance in 1957 with her song "Net als toen", making her the first female artist to win Eurovision. She was also the only artist to come last in the competition the year after her victory.
The Eurovision record for the longest wait for a country to win
Every May in France, the media remind us, not without a touch of nostalgia mixed with guilty mockery, that our last Eurovision victory was 47 years ago in 1977 with Marie-Myriam. But did you know that Portugal finally waited 53 years before taking home the trophy in 2017? Followed by Finland with 45 years in 2006. You've probably heard of them. They were... Lordi !
The Eurovision record for the highest number of "0 points".
Not all Eurovision records are success records. The record for the most "zero points" (i.e. the number of times a country has received absolutely no points) is held by Norway. The country has finished with zero points on four occasions, in 1963, 1978, 1981 and 1997.
Eurovision's shortest and longest song
The shortest song ever performed at Eurovision was the UK's 1957 entry, "All" by Patricia Bredinwhich lasted only 1 minute and 52 seconds. In the same year, the Italian song lasted 5 minutes and 9 seconds. In other years, a rule was introduced to ensure that songs lasted a maximum of 3 minutes.
The highest 'high-note
At the Eurovision final in Rotterdam in 2021, the Israeli singer Eden Alene hit an incredibly high note with his performance of " Set Me Free "In fact, it's a real feat to be able to do this with a B in the 6th octave, i.e. 3950 Hertz. Few singers can climb even higher in the treble. Ariana Grande, Mariah Carey. Unfortunately, this score did not pay off, as Eden Alene finished in 17th place.
Record for the longest Eurovision song title
The record for the longest song title in Eurovision history was broken this year in 2024 by the Estonian duo 5miinust x Puuluup with "(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi " ("We don't know anything (at all) about drugs"). With its 50 characters, it dethroned the previous record held by "The Social Network Song (OH OH - Uh - OH OH) "This 44-character song was performed by Valentina Monetta when she took part in Eurovision 2012, representing San Marino.
The largest Eurovision audience
Eurovision regularly attracts huge audiences, with peaks of several million viewers from the four corners of the globe. But it is in 1991 that the record for the largest number of television viewers was measured. Eurovision 1991, held in Rome, Italy, attracted an estimated audience of over 300 million viewers worldwide.
The first Eurovision winning song to top one billion streams (on Spotify)
It's Dutch Duncan Laurence and her winning song 'Arcade' in 2019, is the record for being the first Eurovision winning song to exceed one billion streams on the Spotify platform. It's worth noting that her song has since been covered as a duet with Fletcher, which has certainly helped give it a boost. We can't get enough of it!
