ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 (Picture: Getty)
The Eurovision Song Contest has begun and fans want to know more about Abba’s previous involvement in the competition.
Eurovision 2024 is currently taking place in Malmö, Sweden, with brothers Marcus and Martinus set to represent their country with their song Unforgettable.
The odds are stacked against the UK’s act, Olly Alexander who has fierce competition against Croatia’s act, Baby Lasagna and Israel’s act Eden Golan who are favourites to win.
Although Israel’s act may be one of the favourites to win, there have been calls to boycott the competition because of their involvement. Given that Russia was excluded from the competition when the war began in Ukraine, Eurovision viewers expected Israel to receive the same treatment when war broke out in Gaza.
As fans gear up for a highly anticipated competition, many are speculating about how the host country may include Abba in the celebrations.
50 years ago, Swedish supergroup Abba came to fame as the singers wowed viewers with an incredible version of one of their now beloved songs at Eurovision.
Abba’s music has spawned musicals, theatre productions, films, and dining and concert experiences across the world. Their overwhelming success spanning half a century is truly staggering and hasn’t been seen in an act at Eurovision since.
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As the contest returns to Sweden fans want to know more about the band that marked the country’s first ever win five decades ago.
The band stars Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Picture: AP)
How many times has Abba won Eurovision?
Abba won Eurovision just once in 1974. This was Sweden’s first contest win which meant they were the hosts for the first time the year after in 1975.
Interestingly, in the 1974 competition when Abba won, they competed against Olivia Newton-John who performed Long Live Love for the UK. This of course was years before Australia was invited to join the contest.
What were their Eurovision-winning songs?
Abba sang their hit song, Waterloo which was the band’s first single from their second album also titled Waterloo. After the contest the song went on to top charts across the world, making it to the top 10 in the US, Canada, and New Zealand, and number 1 in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, and Germany.
The band won in 1974 when the contest was held in Brighton, UK (Picture: Ollie Lindeborg/AFP via Getty Images)
How many points did they get in 1974?
The voting system was different in the 1970s with just 17 countries competing in the final versus the 10 that will be competing in Saturday’s live final in 2024.
In 1974, Sweden’s total points were 24, making them 6 points ahead of the runner-up from Italy, Gigliola Cinquetti who sang Si.
Was it Eurovision that made Abba famous?
Eurovision kick-started Abba’s international fame as their song Waterloo became a chart-topping hit in every corner of the world.
The band went on to record seven more studio albums that were released in the 70s and 80s and again in 2021 with the album, Voyage.
Is Abba going to perform at Eurovision 2024?
This year the competition is being hosted in Malmö, Sweden and marks the 50-year anniversary of Abba’s win at Eurovision, leading some to speculate that the group may be making a reappearance and performing in 2024.
‘We’ve got Sweden’s historic seventh win, tying the all-time record with Ireland, we’ve got Loreen who is the champion and the only woman to ever win this contest twice, and of course, there’s this particular group called Abba that won the contest 50 years ago with Waterloo, we will be celebrating all these things,’ Swedish TV producer Martin Österdahl and the Executive Supervisor of Eurovision told Deadline.
The band members are now all in their seventies (Picture: Getty)
However, this doesn’t mean that the band are necessarily performing live. In fact, the band hasn’t performed live together since 1982, with some members previously stating they won’t perform at Eurovision. Björn Ulvaeus, 79, told the BBC in 2023, ‘We can celebrate 50 years of ABBA without us being on stage.’
A source told The Sun, ‘The group have made it clear they have no interest in performing again but Abba’s music will be a major part of the event with a chunk of time put aside for a tribute after all the acts have performed.’
‘Bringing part of their Abba Voyage show to Sweden is really complex because the tech is very expensive and complicated, which is why they had to build an arena for it in East London.’
‘Organisers are racing to try and make it possible but otherwise, a selection of stars, likely all from Sweden, will be singing Abba’s music instead,’ the source concluded.
So we may have to wait until this weekend to see how the contest pays tribute to such an important band in Eurovision history.
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