Winning the Eurovision Song Contest can be a once in a lifetime opportunity for artists… except for when it’s not. Over the years there have been a number of former winners who have gone back to chase victory again, with varying degrees of success:
Lys Assia
1956 Switzerland – Refrain, 1st Place
1957 Switzerland – L’enfant que j’étais, =8th Place
1958 Switzerland – Giorgio, 2nd Place
Corry Brokken
1957 The Netherlands – Net als toen, 1st Place
1958 The Netherlands – Heel de wereld, =9th Place
Jean-Claude Pascal
1961 Luxembourg – Nous les amoureux, 1st Place
1981 Luxembourg – C’est peut-être pas l’Amérique, 11th Place
Isabelle Aubret
1962 France – Un Premier Amour, 1st Place
1968 France – La Source, 3rd Place
Gigliola Cinquetti
1964 Italy – Non ho l’età, 1st Place
1974 Italy – Sì, 2nd Place
Anne-Marie David
1973 Luxembourg – Tu te reconnaîtras, 1st Place
1979 France – Je suis l’enfant soleil, 3rd Place
Izhar Cohen
1978 Israel (with Alphabeta) – A-Ba-Ni-Bi, 1st Place
1985 Israel – Olé, Olé, 5th Place
Johnny Logan
1980 Ireland – What’s Another Year, 1st Place
1987 Ireland – Hold Me Now, 1st Place
Niamh Kavanagh
1993 Ireland – In Your Eyes, 1st Place
2010 Ireland – It’s For You, 23rd Place
Dana International
1998 Israel – Diva, 1st Place
2011 Israel – Ding Dong, DNQ (15th Place in Semi Final 2)
Charlotte Nielson
1999 Sweden – Take Me To Your Heaven, 1st Place
2008 Sweden (as Charlotte Perrelli) – Hero, 18th Place
Alexander Rybak
2009 Norway – Fairytale, 1st Place
2018 Norway – That’s How You Write A Song, 15th Place
Lena
2010 Germany – Satellite, 1st Place
2011 Germany – Taken By A Stranger, 10th Place
There have also been numerous winners, who have taken the trophy on subsequent attempts:
Udo Jürgens
1964 Austria – Warum nur, warum?, 6th Place
1965 Austria – Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen, 4th Place
1966 Austria – Merci, Chérie, 1st Place
Vicky Leandros
1967 Luxembourg – L’amour est bleu, 4th Place
1972 Luxembourg – Après Toi, 1st Place
Elisabeth Andreasson
1982 Sweden (as part of Chips) – Dag efter dag, 8th Place
1985 Norway (with Bobbysocks!) – La Det Swinge, 1st Place
1994 Norway (with Jan Werner Danielsen) – Duett, 6th Place
1996 Norway – I Evighet, 2nd Place
Carola
1983 Sweden – Främling, 3rd Place
1991 Sweden – Fångad av en stormvind, 1st Place
2006 Sweden – Invincible, 5th Place
Linda Martin
1984 Ireland – Terminal 3, 2nd Place
1992 Ireland – Why Me?, 1st Place
Helena Paparizou
2001 Greece (as part of Antique) – (I Would) Die For You, 3rd Place
2005 Greece – My Number One, 1st Place
Dima Bilan
2006 Russia – Never Let You Go, 2nd Place
2008 Russia – Believe, 1st Place
Who is your favourite returning winner? Which former winner would you like to see return to the contest? Let us know in the comments.
