The

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was "

Love Shine a Light "Love Shine a Light" is a song by British rock band Katrina and the Waves. It represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. It was released as a single on 28 April 1997 and was later included on the band's ninth studio a ...

" by Katrina and the Waves. The entry was chosen during the UK selection show, ''

The Great British Song Contest ''Eurovision: You Decide'' is the most recent name of a BBC television programme that was broadcast annually to select the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest, United Kingdom's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest. The show had prev ...

'', hosted by

Dale Winton Dale Jonathan Winton (22 May 1955 – 18 April 2018) was an English radio DJ and television presenter. He presented the shows ''Dale's Supermarket Sweep'' from 1993 until 2001 and again in 2007, the National Lottery game show '' In It to W ...

on 9 March, with the results announced six days later. The UK went on to win the song contest which was being held in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, with an unprecedented 227 points. The 1997 contest is last win for the United Kingdom so far.

Before Eurovision

The Great British Song Contest 1997

''The Great British Song Contest 1997'' was the national final developed by the BBC in order to select the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. Eight acts competed in the competition which consisted of a radio semi-final on 7 February 1997 and a televised final on 9 March 1997.

Semi-final

On 7 February, a semifinal was held on BBC Radio 2 at 09:30am, presented by

Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...

. This featured eight songs. Radio 2 listeners voted at 10:00am and voting closed at 11:15am and the top 4 went forward to the televised final. In addition to the four listed above, the following were included, although the 4 acts not shaded in orange were eliminated:

Final

''The Great British Song Contest'' final was held on Mother's Day, Sunday 9 March 1997 and televised on

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

at 15:30pm.

Gina G Gina G (born Gina Mary Gardiner, 3 August 1970) is an Australian singer who represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1996, with the song " Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit", which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. The ...

was special guest at the show. The final was hosted by

. There was no simultaneous broadcast with Radio 2. The results were announced on ''

The National Lottery Live ''The National Lottery Results'' (previously ''The National Lottery Live'', ''The National Lottery Draw'', ''The National Lottery Stars'' and ''The National Lottery Draws'') is the television programme that broadcasts the drawing of the Natio ...

'' on 15 March. Each of the 4 finalists were featured each week on ''

'':

At Eurovision

Ahead of the contest, United Kingdom were considered one of the favourites among

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

s to win the contest, featuring alongside the entries from , , and . Katrina and the Waves performed 24th in the running order on the night of the

contest Contest may refer to: * Competition * Will contest * Contesting, amateur radio contesting (radiosport) Film and television * ''Contest'' (2013 film), an American film * Contest (1932 film), a German sports film * " The Contest", a 1992 season ...

. "

" went on to win the contest with 227 points. The UK was awarded 12 points (the highest possible) a total of 10 times.

Before Eurovision

The Great British Song Contest 1997

Semi-final

Final

At Eurovision

Voting

References

Further reading