United Kingdom in The Eurovision Song Contest - Records

Records

The UK ranks joint second in its number of Eurovision victories and has the highest cumulative points total of any country in the contest. The UK has won five times (joint second with France, Luxembourg and Sweden to Ireland's seven wins), and has come second fifteen times.

Until 2004, the UK also had the record for the largest number of points scored in a single contest, in 1997 with the runaway winner 'Love Shine A Light' which scored 227 points. However, in 1997, only 25 countries voted, whilst in 2004, when the points record was broken, 36 countries voted. Until the 2009 contest the UK held the record for winning by the largest margin, 70 points, which was also in the 1997 contest held in Dublin's Point Theatre in Ireland. This record was broken by Norway on 16 May 2009, though, only 25 countries voted in 1997, whereas 42 voted in 2009.

The United Kingdom was the first country to win with the help of Televoting after winning the 1997 Contest. The United Kingdom was one of five countries that introduced Televoting that year along with Austria, Switzerland, Germany and Sweden.

In 1976 the UK received 164 points from 17 countries, which gave them an average of 9.64 points per country; this remains the record and is unlikely to be broken due to the vastly increased number of countries now eligible to vote in the final, though Norway's 2009 entry fell just 0.20 points short, attaining 387 points from 41 countries for an average of 9.44.

The UK has hosted the contest eight times, more than any other country. Even though the UK has only won the contest five times, it has also stepped in when other countries have turned down the chance to host it.

For eight years the UK held the record for receiving the most set of 12 points in one show. They received ten sets of twelve points in 1997 in Dublin, however they then shared this record for four years with Greece who also received ten sets of twelve points in 2005. This was later beaten by Norway in 2009 with 16 sets, but since Eurovision Song Contest 2012, Sweden now holds the record with their 18 sets of 12 points. 25 countries voted in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest, compared to 42 countries in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, meaning Sweden now also holds the record for having the highest percentage of 12 points (44% compared to 42%).

The United Kingdom has also made 54 appearances in the contest since its debut in 1957, missing only 2 (1956 and 1958). This record is bettered only by Germany which has a record number of appearances, 55 in total, missing only one contest in 1996. The United Kingdom also holds the record for the most consecutive entries by entering every contest since 1959 making 52 consecutive entries to date.

Every UK entry from 1959-1977 was placed first by at least one jury in every contest. Under the 'douze points' voting system introduced in 1975, every UK entry from 1975-1993 received either at least 12 or 10 points once or more in every contest, except 1978 when the song "The Bad Old Days" only received a maximum of 8 from Germany. In 2000, for the first time ever, the UK entry failed to receive a top 3 score from any nation.

Although Ireland is the only country to have won three consecutive contests, and the UK have never achieved consecutive wins, the UK are in fact the closest nation to achieving four straight wins, being just 7 points short of 4 victories from 1967-1970.