You need a pretty good memory these days to recall the last time that the United Kingdom won the Eurovision Song Contest.
That victory came courtesy of Katrina and The Waves back in 1997, whose ‘Love Shine a Light’ commanded a storming victory in Dublin.
Since then, it’s been a rather derisory return for UK entrants, with the clock approaching 30 years since we last had a winner of the continental karaoke crown.
But could all that change in 2025? The UK’s entrant, Remember Monday, will take up their place in the Grand Final – by default, perhaps, given that the UK gets a free pass into the finale due to how much we contribute to the event financially.
Will the girl group have enough to impress the judges and TV voters? Or will it nil points for the UK once more?
Will the UK Win Eurovision This Year?
The last five winners of the Eurovision Song Contest could loosely be described as ‘eclectic’.
| Year | Winning Act | Song | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Nemo | The Code | Switzerland |
| 2023 | Loreen | Tattoo | Sweden |
| 2022 | Kalush Orchestra | Stefania | Ukraine |
| 2021 | Måneskin | Zitti e buoni | Italy |
| 2020 | Cancelled | – | – |
| 2019 | Duncan Laurence | Arcade | Netherlands |
There’s been classic singer-songwriters, Italian rock bands, violinists and Ukrainian folk hip-hop, but nowhere to be seen are girl groups making quintessential pop music.
When you factor in the political machinations of the Eurovision Song Contest, and the general dislike of English people overseas, you get a flavour of just why the UK has struggled so badly in the event over the past three decades.
And so it may well be a humbling Saturday for Remember Monday, whose toe-tapping ditty ‘What the Hell Just Happened?’ may well be apt after the votes have been counted and verified.
You can get a spread of odds from 66/1 to 125/1 for Remember Monday to win – and that’s even with four places paid on each way bets, which would suggest that the UK’s chances of winning Eurovision in 2025 are slim, at best.
And while the bookies don’t have a say on who wins Eurovision, they have been excellent predictors of who will get the nod from the voters. They were bang on the money in 2018, offering even money at best on eventual winner Israel, while the Netherlands were a best price of 3/1 a year later.
In fact, none of the last six champions have been able available at odds of greater than 4/1 before the off, with a trio of those odds-on with the bookmakers.
In short, the bookies are as sharp when it comes to Eurovision as they are at predicting sporting outcomes…
Who Will Win Eurovision This Year?
No country has won Eurovision more times than Sweden, with seven victories coming courtesy of the likes of ABBA and the 2023 victor, Loreen.
Maybe it’s their knack for crafting camp earworms, their political neutrality or a combination of the two, but the Swedes are Eurovision specialists – and they head into the 2025 edition as an 11/10 favourite with the bookmakers… they’re as short as 4/5 in some quarters.
Given the bookmakers’ proclivity for predicting the Eurovision winner, it would perhaps be a surprise if Sweden didn’t add an eighth win to their collection come Saturday. However, their entry – ‘Bara Bada Bastu’ by KAJ – will be sung in Swedish; each of their last four wins have come with English-language songs.
Only one other entry weighs in at shorter than 9/1. And that comes courtesy of Austria, who haven’t enjoyed the best of times at Eurovision… owing, perhaps, to their previous kinships on the continent.
But the Austrians did lift the trophy in 2014, courtesy of ‘bearded lady’ Conchita Wurst, so perhaps attitudes towards them are thawing. Their entry, Wasted Love, features a blend of lovelorn balladry and thumping techno beats, which is usually a strong arbiter for success at Eurovision.
If you’re into intriguing narratives, perhaps Israel’s entry is worth an each way flutter. Yes, they’re hardly the most popular of nations right now given the situation in Gaza, but their song – ‘A New Day Will Rise’ by Yuval Raphael, is a hopeful, community spirited number sung by a survivor of the October 7 atrocities.
There’s a cautionary tale, mind you, of following the money. The spokesperson for William Hill, Lee Phelps, revealed that one of their biggest liabilities ahead of the contest was Belgium, who had been well backed into 10/1 third favourites.
“Interest in Belgium has also been strong and they’re now third in the betting at 10/1,” he said.
“With a few large bets placed on them in recent weeks they’re now one of our worst results in the book.”
But, in a delicious twist for employees who earn a Christmas bonus based on the company’s annual earnings, the Belgians were sensationally voted out in the semi finals.