Diggi-loo Diggi-ley
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"Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" is a song recorded by Swedish trio Herreys – brothers Per, Louis, and Richard Herrey – with music composed by Torgny Söderberg and Swedish lyrics written by Britt Lindeborg. It was produced by Anders Engberg and Torgny Söderberg. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984, held in
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, winning the contest.


Background


Conception

"Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" was composed by Torgny Söderberg with Swedish lyrics by Britt Lindeborg. It was produced by Anders Engberg and Torgny Söderberg. It is an upbeat 1980s-style dance song. It deals with the lead singer discovering a pair of golden shoes in the street one day. He puts them on and immediately feels like dancing in the street, entering a "magical world". Thus, he wishes for everyone to have a pair. In addition to the Swedish original version, Herreys recorded the song in English with lyrics by Per Herrey.


Eurovision

On 25 February 1984, "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" performed by Herreys competed in the of the
Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...
. It received 49 points, winning the competition. As the festival was used by
Sveriges Television Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television aktiebolag, Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksd ...
(SVT) to select their song and performer for the of the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
, the song became the , and Herrey's the performers, for Eurovision. On 5 May 1984, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the in
Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...
hosted by (RTL), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Herrey's performed "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" first on the evening, preceding 's "100% d'amour" by Sophie Carle. Curt-Eric Holmquist conducted the event's orchestra in the performance of the Swedish entry. At the close of voting, the song had received 145 points, winning the contest. Herreys sang their winning reprise half in Swedish and half in English. They became the third winners of the competition to sing from pole position, following Teach-In in and Brotherhood of Man in . No song sung first or second has won since. The song was succeeded as winner in by "
La det swinge "La det swinge" (; "Let it swing") is a song recorded by the pop duo Bobbysocks! –Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreassen– with music composed and Norwegian lyrics written by Rolf Løvland. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 held in Gothenb ...
" by Bobbysocks representing . Despite the reception the song receives today, in the run-up to the contest it was not an immediate favorite to win: bookmakers Ladbrokes had 's " Terminal 3" and 's " I treni di Tozeur" as higher favourites, so the song winning came as a surprise to many. Fellow Swedish Eurovision participant Tommy Körberg famously dubbed the group "the dancing
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s" in the press, a derogatory nickname that stuck with them for the rest of their career in their home country – and the nonsensical title harking back to previous entries such as " Boom Bang-a-Bang", " Ding-a-dong" and " La, la, la".


Aftermath

The song has achieved considerable fame among Eurovision Song Contest fans, with a well-known archive of contest lyrics using the domain name diggiloo.net, named after it. Richard Herrey, the lead singer of the band, performed " Let Me Be the One" () as part of the interval acts of the fiftieth anniversary competition '' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'' held on 22 October 2005 in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. All three band members performed the song with a mixture of English and Swedish lyrics in the Eurovision sixtieth anniversary show '' Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits'' held on 31 March 2015 in London. On 9 May 2024, they performed the song at the end of the second semi-final of the held in
Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...
, Sweden.


Track listing

#"Diggi Loo – Diggi Ley" – 3:05 #"Every Song You Sing" – 3:34


Charts performance

The highest chart position the song reached was No. 2, in the Swedish singles chart. They reached No. 46 on the UK Singles Chart.


Weekly charts


Legacy

*The Swedish heavy metal band Black Ingvars covered "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" on their 1998 album '' Schlager Metal''. * Meiju Suvas has recorded a version in Finnish. *The Danish duo Small Talk released an English cover version on their 2001 album ''Eurovision''.


References


External links

* {{authority control Eurovision songs of 1984 Melodifestivalen songs of 1984 Eurovision songs of Sweden Eurovision Song Contest-winning songs Songs in Swedish Songs written by Torgny Söderberg Herreys songs Mariann Grammofon singles 1984 songs 1984 singles