She wowed viewers when she stormed to victory in 1997.
And Eurovision‘s last UK winner Katrina Leskanich proved that she’s barely aged a day as she made an appearance on Lorraine ahead of the final in Liverpool.
The singer, 63, who won the contest with Katrina and the Waves and their song Love Shine A Light, admitted that her final was more of a ‘barn dance’ when compared to the vast productions of this year.
Her victory marks the last time the United Kingdom has won Eurovision, with this century seeing a poor run of form for the home nation.
The 2023 Eurovision final is being hosted in the UK on behalf of last year’s winners Ukraine, as they are unable to due to their ongoing conflict with Russia.
Blast from the past! Eurovision’s last UK winner Katrina Leskanich (right in 1997) showed she’s barely aged a day, as she appeared on Friday’s Lorraine (left) ahead of the final in Liverpool
Throwback! The Katrina And The Waves star was joined by A1’s Ben Adams, who competed on Eurovision for Norway last year
Katrina told Lorraine: ‘Compared to now, it was a barn dance. We had an angle poised lamp. I was wearing the clothes I’d worn all week! The stylist came in and tried to put me in a Union Jack dress and I said ”I don’t think so”.’
Reflecting on the moment she realised she’d won, Katrina added: ‘The reason it was nerve wracking was because everyone was saying ”there’s no way you can win because of political voting.”
‘I didn’t let anything get in the way of the win or a couple of glasses of champagne. We won and I felt a hand on my shoulder saying ”come on love you’ve got to sing it again” and I thought ”oh”.
Despite the win, Katrina also noted the huge camaraderie between the contestants.
She said: ‘In 97, when I did it, it was like a small community. We knew all the other people. We were piled in the green room sharing alcohol and food. I was throwing hamburger sliders at people.’
Katrina went onto say that thanks to Sam Ryder, who came second last year, the UK is ‘back on track’ in the contest.
Joining Katrina on the show was former Eurovision contestant Ben Adams, who was revealed as the man behind the masked Subwoolfer duo, who represented Norway in the 2022 contest.
The former A1 star’s identity was originally unknown, but Sam Ryder later blew Ben’s cover by revealing he was the mysterious wolf who performed in the final.
Reflection: The singer admitted that her final was more of a ‘barn dance’ when compared to the vast productions of this year
Victors! Alongside her group Katrina And The Waves, Katrina won Eurovision in 1997 with her song Love Shine A Light
How long? Her victory marks the last time the United Kingdom has won Eurovision, with this century seeing a poor run of form for the home nation
Determined: ‘I didn’t let anything get in the way of the win or a couple of glasses of champagne,’ she said while discussing her victory
Ben told Lorraine: ‘They do song writing camps and we laughed the whole day. Then NRK said we’d like you to do it. They said what if you wore a mask?
‘We ended up having to do it ourselves and it’s been a ridiculous time ever since. Sam Ryder outed us in 2022 – he worked out it was us!’
Eurovision fans are now hoping that Mae Muller will do one better and win the contest for the UK this year.
She will take to the stage in Saturday’s final with her track I Wrote A Song.
It comes after Mae‘s performance in the upcoming Eurovision 2023 grand final appeared to be under threat.
Mae had been forced to go on voice rest by her vocal coach following this week’s dress rehearsals.
Updating her fans on Twitter on Wednesday, Mae shared a photo of herself wearing a ‘vocal rest’ sign around her neck.
Looking disappointed with the news she explained: ‘As someone who can not stfu if their life depended on it i’m not doing well x.’
‘My vocal coach literally had to make me wear a sign to make me shut up I am so embarrassed omg.’
The full list of countries that will be putting on a show-stopping display in the 2h10 min spectacular begins as follows: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, Serbia, France, Cyprus, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Estonia and Finland.
Performance: Eurovision fans are now hoping that Mae Muller will do one better and win the contest for the UK this year
Also taking to the stage are: Moldova, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Israel, Croatia, Norway, Germany and Lithuania.
The Eurovision Final will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC IPlayer and the official YouTube channel at 8pm UK time on May 13.
There will also be live commentary on BBC Radio 2, hosted by Rylan Clark and Scott Mills.
Cinema lovers can also catch a glimpse of the spectacular show in Vue Cinemas across the UK.
