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''Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits'' (also known as ''Eurovision's Greatest Hits'') was a
live television Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television where all viewers watch the same stream simultaneously, rather than watching vide ...
concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
programme organised by the
European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...
(EBU) and produced by the
British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...
(BBC) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
. The concert took place on 31 March 2015 at the Eventim Apollo, in
Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...
, London. Guy Freeman was the executive producer and Geoff Posner the director, both of whom held the same positions as the last time the BBC hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in . Simon Proctor was the senior producer and David Arch was the musical director for the concert. Tickets for the event went on sale at 10:15 (GMT) on 6 February 2015.
Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), known professionally as Graham Norton, is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for the comedy chat show ''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present) ...
and
Petra Mede Petra Maria Mede (; born 7 March 1970) is a Swedish comedian, dancer, actress and television presenter. Mede is known for her several roles in comic shows and as a television presenter, and is best known outside of Sweden for hosting the Eurovis ...
hosted the event, which saw fifteen acts from thirteen countries performing their Eurovision entries from yesteryear. During the televised show, video montages from the Eurovision archives were shown in-between each live performance. The , " Still in Love with You" by Electro Velvet, was performed at the concert as the opening act, but never broadcast on the televised show.
Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...
performed a reprise of their interval act as part of the anniversary celebrations. Several countries confirmed that they would air the delayed broadcast of the concert on various dates that suited the broadcasters' schedules, including , who first competed in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 as a wildcard entry. The host broadcaster BBC and the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) simulcast the show on Good Friday, 3 April 2015, across
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
and
RTÉ 2 (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
. In turn, several countries chose not to broadcast the event, including , who had an act taking part.


Location

Confirmation came on 3 February 2015 that the concert event would take place at the
Eventim Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...
, in
Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. This was the first time that London hosted a Eurovision event since the Eurovision Dance Contest 2007.


Organisation

It was announced on 22 October 2014 that the EBU had appointed the British broadcaster,
British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...
(BBC), to co-produce a special anniversary show to celebrate sixty years of the Eurovision Song Contest, similar to the show '' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'' which took place in 2005. The BBC's Entertainment department had been commissioned to host the 50th Anniversary show from the Royal Albert Hall in 2005 but this had to be declined as the BBC wouldn't commit to broadcasting the show. The details regarding the title of the show were unknown at the time the announcement was made. The EBU later issued the following statement regarding the 60th anniversary: "There are various exciting proposals from member broadcasters on the table to celebrate the 60th anniversary beyond the contest in May, which are currently in the final stages of being evaluated. A decision is expected shortly, so stay tuned!". Edgar Böhm, executive producer of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest said in an interview that the BBC had been chosen to host a special anniversary show. Guy Freeman was appointed as executive producer for the event, assisted by Senior Producer Simon Proctor, the script was co-written by Edward af Sillén, Daniel Réhn, Christine Rose and Simon Proctor whilst the director was Geoff Posner, who had previously directed the
Eurovision Song Contest 1998 The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Br ...
in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
.


Presenters

On 3 February 2015, it was announced that
Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), known professionally as Graham Norton, is an Irish comedian, broadcaster, actor, and writer. He is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for the comedy chat show ''The Graham Norton Show'' (2007–present) ...
and
Petra Mede Petra Maria Mede (; born 7 March 1970) is a Swedish comedian, dancer, actress and television presenter. Mede is known for her several roles in comic shows and as a television presenter, and is best known outside of Sweden for hosting the Eurovis ...
would co-host the concert show. Norton, who co-hosted the Eurovision Dance Contest with
Claudia Winkleman Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman (born 15 January 1972) is an English broadcaster and writer. She has been nominated three times for the British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance for co-presenting the BBC One dancing compet ...
in and , is also the current Eurovision Song Contest television commentator for the BBC, serving since . Norton would later go-on to co-host the grand final of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2023 The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 was the 67th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Liverpool, United Kingdom, as , the winner of the with the song "Stefania (song), Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, was unable to host the eve ...
. Mede was the host of
Melodifestivalen 2009 2009 was the 49th edition of the Swedish music competition , which was organised by (SVT) and took place over a six-week period between 7 February and 14 March 2009. The winner of the competition was Malena Ernman with the song "La Voix (song), ...
, host of the
Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria (Loreen song), Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the Europea ...
, and later co-host of the
2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
and
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
contests.


Tickets

Tickets for the anniversary concert went on sale from 10:15 (GMT) on 6 February 2015 via the BBC's Eurovision website and the Eurovision Song Contest's official website.


Programme

The concert was recorded live on 31 March 2015 at the Eventim Apollo, London; allowing participating broadcasters the freedom to air the programme on a date and channel that was convenient for their broadcasting schedules. Fifteen artists, representing thirteen countries, took part in the sixtieth anniversary gala event. The first-ever winner of the contest
Lys Assia Rosa Mina Schärer (3 March 1924 – 24 March 2018), known by her stage name Lys Assia, was a Swiss singer who won the first Eurovision Song Contest in . Assia was born in Rupperswil, Aargau, and began her stage career as a dancer, but changed ...
(), appeared in the audience as a guest of honour. During the broadcast, video montages were shown prior to each entry, showing footage for that particular year's contest, ending with Eurovision Song Contest footage for the entry that was about to perform on stage. Recap montages of Eurovision entries over the last sixty years, were also broadcast in-between performances. These sometimes differed between the BBC and other broadcasts because of copyright clearance and were as follows: #
Teach-In A teach-in is similar to a general educational forum on any complicated issue, usually an issue involving current political affairs. The main difference between a teach-in and a seminar is the refusal to limit the discussion to a specific tim ...
– " Ding-a-dong": #
Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...
– " Long Live Love": #
Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the " Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had a significant impact on popular musi ...
– "
Ne partez pas sans moi "Ne partez pas sans moi" (; "Don't Leave Without Me") is a song recorded by Canadian singer Celine Dion with music composed by Atilla Şereftuğ and lyrics by Nella Martinetti. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, held in Dublin, winning ...
": #
Jedward John and Edward Grimes (born 16 October 1991), collectively known as Jedward, are Irish media personalities and singers. They are Monozygotic, identical twins who first appeared as John & Edward in The X Factor (British TV series) series 6, th ...
– "
Lipstick Lipstick is a cosmetics, cosmetic product used to apply coloration and texture to lips, often made of wax and oil. Different pigments are used to produce color, and minerals such as silica may be used to provide texture. The use of lipstick ...
": #
ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
– " Waterloo": #
Serebro Serebro ( rus, Серебро, t=Silver, p=sʲɪrʲɪˈbro, a=ru-серебро.ogg; stylized in all caps) is a Russian girl group formed by their manager and producer Maxim Fadeev. Serebro was formed in 2006, consisting of Marina Lizorkina, Olg ...
– " Song#1": #
Izhar Cohen Izhar Cohen (, ; born March 13, 1951) is an Israeli singer who won the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest. Biography Izhar Cohen was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, and raised in Givatayim, to a family of singers of Yemenite-Jewish descent – Shlomo C ...
& the Alphabeta – "
A-Ba-Ni-Bi "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (; bet-language language game for the word ''aní'', meaning "I" in Hebrew) is a song recorded by Israeli group Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, with music composed by Nurit Hirsh and Hebrew lyrics written by Ehud Manor. It in ...
": #
Kathy Kirby Kathy Kirby (born Catherine Ethel O'Rourke; 20 October 1938 – 20 May 2011) was an English singer. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's " Secret Love" and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song C ...
– " I Belong": # Bucks Fizz – " Making Your Mind Up": # Sonia – "
Better the Devil You Know "Better the Devil You Know" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, taken from her third studio album ''Rhythm of Love (Kylie Minogue album), Rhythm of Love'' (1990). The song was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman and was rel ...
": # Imaani – " Where Are You?": #
Lynsey de Paul Lynsey de Paul (born Lyndsey Monckton Rubin; 11 June 1948 – 1 October 2014) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. After initially writing hits for others, she had her own chart hits in the UK and Europe in the 1970s, starting ...
& Mike Moran – " Rock Bottom": #
Michael Ball Michael Ashley Ball (born 27 June 1962) is an English singer, presenter and actor. In 1985, he made his West End debut as Marius Pontmercy in the original production of ''Les Misérables''. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles C ...
– " One Step Out of Time": #
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...
– "
Congratulations Congratulations may refer to: Film and television * Congratulations (2010 film), an Egyptian film * Congratulations (2023 film), a Gujarati drama film *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'', 2005 television programme ...
": #
Sandie Shaw Sandra Ann Goodrich (born 26 February 1947), known by her stage name Sandie Shaw, is a retired English pop singer. One of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s, she had three UK number one singles with "(There's) Always Some ...
– " Puppet on a String": # Dana – "
All Kinds of Everything "All Kinds of Everything" is a song recorded by Irish singer Dana written by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 held in Amsterdam, resulting in the country's first ever win at the contest. The recording b ...
": # Sheeba – "
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Amina Annabi Amina Annabi (; born 5 March 1962) is a French-Tunisian singer-songwriter and actress. She finished second in the tied 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Rome, after a countback, scoring equal 146 points alongside Carola from Sweden. Early ...
– " Le Dernier qui a parlé...": #
Roberto Bellarosa Roberto Bellarosa (born 23 August 1994) is a Belgians, Belgian singer. Bellarosa came to fame for being the first winner of ''The Voice Belgique''. He also represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, finishing in 12th place with 71 ...
– " Love Kills": # Wig Wam – " In My Dreams": # Ira Losco – " 7th Wonder": # Lena – "
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Niamh Kavanagh Niamh Kavanagh ( ; born 13 February 1968) is an Irish singer who sang the winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. The 1993 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Millstreet, County Cork, Ireland. She sang "In Your Eyes" to clinch t ...
– "
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": # Birthe Kjaer – " Vi maler byen rød":


Opening and interval acts

Electro Velvet performed their , " Still in Love with You". This performance did not appear on the televised show, but was exclusively done for the audience members of the concert hall itself and was later uploaded on the BBC's social media pages and YouTube channel. The interval act for the show was
Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...
. Consisting of
traditional Irish music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a Music genre, genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Irela ...
and
dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
, and featuring Irish dancing champions Jean Butler and Michael Flatley, with a score composed by
Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
native Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval performance during the
Eurovision Song Contest 1994 The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ), and presented ...
.


Performances

Fifteen Eurovision acts from thirteen countries participated in the anniversary concert. Although there were originally fourteen acts confirmed by the BBC, it was later announced on 5 March 2015 that 's Bobbysocks would join the line-up increasing the total to fifteen. Video montages were shown prior to each entry, showing footage for that particular year's contest, ending with Eurovision Song Contest footage for the entry that was about to perform on stage.


Reprise performance

A medley of some of the Eurovision Song Contest's greatest hits were performed in English by all of the participating artists, as a reprise act at the close of the show.
Anne-Marie David Anne-Marie David (born 23 May 1952) is a French singer. She has represented both Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest, Luxembourg and France in the Eurovision Song Contest, France at the Eurovision Song Contest, winning in Eurovision Song ...
performed the winning entry for , "
Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christ ...
". Swedish trio
Herreys Herreys (), sometimes Herrey's or Herrey, is a Swedish pop group, consisting of the three brothers Per Herrey (born 9 August 1958), Richard Herrey (born 19 August 1964), and Louis Herrey (born 3 November 1966). They won the Eurovision Song C ...
sang " Nel blu dipinto di blu", which finished in third place for . " Making Your Mind Up", the winning entry for the , was performed by Bobbysocks. The reprise concluded with
Conchita Wurst Thomas Neuwirth (born 6 November 1988) is an Austrian singer, fashion designer, human rights activist and drag queen who is known for his stage persona Conchita Wurst (or simply Conchita). He came to international attention after winning the Euro ...
and
Dana International Sharon Cohen (; born 2 February 1969), professionally known as Dana International (), is an Israeli Pop music, pop singer. She has released eight albums and three additional compilation albums. She was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest ...
leading all of the remaining performers (except
Loreen Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui (born 16 October 1983), known professionally as Loreen (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, Representing Sweden, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Eurovision Song Conte ...
) back on stage to sing " Waterloo", the winning entry for .


Broadcasts

As the show was not broadcast live, the participating broadcasters were able to broadcast the show on a date and channel that was convenient for their broadcasting schedules. Some broadcasters – such those in Austria and Sweden – recorded additional links and interviews in London for their viewers and these were used as previews for the main show.


Commentators

The following broadcasters, listed in order of broadcasting dates, confirmed that they would broadcast the anniversary show.


Non-broadcasting countries

The following broadcasters declined to broadcast the show: * : ARMTV * : ČT * : RTL * : MKRTV * :
AVROTROS AVROTROS () is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster that is part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. It was founded in 2014 as the result of a merger between the Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep (AVRO) and the TROS, Televisie Radio Omro ...
* : NTU The broadcasters in the following countries, which had participated in the Eurovision Song Contest at least once, had not announced their plans on whether to broadcast the show. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


See also

*'' Songs of Europe'' (1981) *'' Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest'' (2005) *'' Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light'' (2020)


Notes


References


External links


60 Years of Eurovision
* {{Eurovision years 2015 in London 2015 in British music
Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
Nostalgia television shows Eurovision Song Contest 2015 March 2015 in the United Kingdom Events in London