Olivia and Eurovision

20s

thanks to Kay

Olivia Newton-John article Olivia Newton-John article

Question- What year did Olivia Newton-John sing for the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest? Where was it held and how did she do?

Paul Caffrey, Temple Bar, Dublin

Years before she played Sandy in Grease, NewtonJohn enjoyed a fair amount of fame in the UK as a pop singer, scoring top 10 hits with covers of Bob Dylan and George Harrison tracks in 1971 and 1972.

Newton-John, who was born in Cambridge but moved to Australia when she was five, was chosen to represent the UK at Eurovision in 1974. Out of six possible entries, the British public chose Long Live Love, although she preferred the runner-up,Angel Eyes. Long Live Love should not be confused with Long Live Love by former Eurovision winner Sandie Shaw, a different song which gave Shaw her second number one in 1965.

The 1974 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Brighton on April 6. Newton-John performed second that night and came in fourth place.You may have heard of the winners that night.They were a Swedish band called Abba, performing Waterloo.

Long Live Love became the title track of Newton-John’s next album, which featured her Song for Europe material. Over the next few years she became a huge star in the US, before dominating the charts with Grease co-star John Travolta.