WHICH COUNTRY HAS WON EUROVISION THE MOST?
Thousands of Eurovision fans are currently in Basel, Switzerland, ahead of tonight’s Grand Final of the song contest.
Remember Monday, who will be representing the United Kingdom, will be hoping to capture the nation’s first title since 1997.
However, this year’s favourite is certainly proving to be Sweden’s Kaj, who sailed through the semi-finals with the coordinated dance number Bara Bada Bastu (Just Sauna).
Behind Kaj, JJ, of Austria, wowed audiences with his song Wasted Love in the second semi-final.
Graham Norton will be hosting this evening’s UK coverage of the competition live from Basel, with Scott Mills and Rylan Clark hosting on BBC Radio 2.
But, if Sweden were to win tonight, would that make them the country who has won Eurovision the most times? Here’s what you need to know…
Which country has won Eurovision the most times?
Sweden’s 2023 entry Loreen was the hot favourite going in, and she proved all the bookies right.
With her win, she became the second act (and first woman) to win Eurovision more than once, but what does her success mean for Sweden’s tally as a whole?
After Sweden’s 2023 victory, they are now tied as the country with the most Eurovision wins.
Both Sweden and Ireland have won the competition seven times.
Sweden’s wins started with ABBA in 1974, and include 1984, 1991, 1999, 2012, 2015 and now 2023.
Although their fortunes on the Eurovision stage may have been more mixed of late, Ireland dominated the left hand side of the scoreboard from the 70s through to the 90s.
Their first win came in 1970 with Dana’s All Kinds Of Everything, then Johnny Logan snatched victory at the 1980 contest in The Hague with What’s Another Year.
Logan won again for Ireland in 1987 with Hold Me Now and is the only other person except Loreen to win the competition twice.
And in spite of some recent Euro-flops the UK also has an impressive track record with five victories – winning the contest in 1967, 1969, 1976, 1981 and most recently in 1997 with Katrina and The Waves.
Israel is next in the league table with four wins, while Norway, Denmark, Italy and Ukraine have notched up three victories each, and Spain, Austria, Germany and Austria have each won twice.
The list of countries with a single win to their name is even longer: it includes Monaco, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Turkey, Greece, Finland, Serbia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Portugal and Yugoslavia.
Meanwhile spare a thought for such long-term participants as Cyprus, Iceland, Slovenia, Malta, Lithuania, and Romania (among others) – who despite being a part of proceedings for a number of decades have yet to notch up their first victory.
Nobody ever said winning Eurovision was easy…
This article was first published on May 5, 2024.
The Grand Final of Eurovision 2025 will air on BBC One and iPlayer at 8p[m tonight.
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2025-05-17T14:41:21Z