"Long Live Love" is a song by Australian singer,songwriter,and actress Olivia Newton-John composed and written by Valerie Avon and Harold Spiro. It represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 held in Brighton.
The song's composers,Valerie Avon and Harold Spiro,had worked together as staff writers for Belwin Mills Publishing since 1970 and had placed songs with several artists:Newton-John had recorded the Avon/Spiro composition "Don't Move Away" as a duet with Cliff Richard,the track serving as B-side to Richard's 1971 hit "Sunny Honey Girl".
"Long Live Love" was the third time Avon and Spiro had submitted a co-composition of theirs to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for consideration for A Song For Europe ,its national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest,having finished fourth in a field of six in 1970 with "Can I Believe",and having finished sixth in a field of six in 1971 with "In My World of Beautiful Things".
The BBC had internally selected Olivia Newton-John as its performed for the 19th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. She introduced one of each of the six nominated songs on a broadcast of Jimmy Savile's Clunk Click television show on BBC One;on 23 February 1974 a television broadcast entitled A Song For Europe 1974 announced the tally of viewers' mailed-in ballots,with "Long Live Love" the clear victor at 27,387 votes,becoming the British entrant for Eurovision. [2] The runner-up,"Angel Eyes" –which was Newton-John's favourite– [3] gained 18,018 votes. [4]
Newton-John made recorded versions of all the songs she had performed for consideration for Eurovision,these tracks making up half of Long Live Love ,a December 1974 Olivia Newton-John album release,with "Angel Eyes" being utilized as the B-side of the single release of "Long Live Love." She also recorded a German-language version of "Long Live Love". [5]
On 6 April 1974,the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the The Dome in Brighton hosted by the BBC,and broadcast live throughout the continent. Considered a strong contender,Newton-John performed "Long Live Love" second on the evening,following Finland's "Keep Me Warm" by Carita Holmström and preceding Spain's "Canta y séfeliz" by Peret. The conductor for the British entrant was Nick Ingman and Newton-John was backed by a five-woman chorale which included the Ladybirds,the trio who had sung backup for Sandie Shaw on her victorious performance of "Puppet on a String" in the 1967 contest. [6]
At the close of voting "Long Live Love" had received 14 points to place in a three-way tie for forth [4] in a field of 17,"Bye Bye I Love You" by Ireen Sheer singing for Luxembourg and "Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va" by Romuald singing for Monaco also having accrued 14 points. [7] Newton-John admitted post-contest:"I was never really happy with the song I had to sing."[ citation needed ]
"Long Live Love" was succeeded as British entrant at the 1975 contest by "Let Me Be the One" by The Shadows. Olivia Newton-John would be the last solo act to represent the UK at Eurovision until the 1985 contest.
On 10 August 2022,the Eurovision's official YouTube channel uploaded,with permission of the BBC,the song's Eurovision performance in Brighton in tribute to Newton-John after her death.
In the British Isles "Long Live Love" charted in the UK with a #11 [8] peak and reached #9 [9] in Ireland:the track also afforded Newton-John a #11 hit in her adopted homeland of Australia. [10] In anticipation of a boost from its expected strong Eurovision showing,"Long Live Love" was widely released throughout mainland Europe with the track having its highest global impact in Norway with a three-week chart peak tenure at #3, [11] being kept from #1 by the chart-topping 1974 Eurovision victor "Waterloo" (ABBA) with first "Devil Gate Drive" (Suzi Quatro) and then "Seasons in the Sun" (Terry Jacks) at #2. [12] However "Long Live Love" did not afford Newton-John widespread European success,otherwise charting only on Belgium's Dutch chart (#7) and in Finland (#9). [13] [14]
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Renderings of "Long Live Love" in Norwegian and Finnish were recorded by respectively Gluntan ("Det er et sted") [18] and Päivi Paunu ("Kun rakastaa"). [19] Anthony Newley covered the song and it was issued as a single (MGM M12744) in the U.S. in 1974
The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 6 April 1974 in the Dome in Brighton, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and presented by Katie Boyle, this was the fifth time that the United Kingdom had staged the contest.
The United Kingdom held a national pre-selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974.
"Love Shine a Light" is a song by British rock band Katrina and the Waves written by Kimberley Rew. It represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 held in Dublin, resulting in the country's fifth and most recent win at the contest. It was released as a single on 28 April 1997 and was later included on the band's ninth studio album, Walk on Water (1997), serving as the album's lead single.
The Avons were a British pop vocal group. Originally composed of Valerie Murtagh and Elaine Murtagh, and known as 'The Avon Sisters', they added Raymond S. Adams, and changed their name to 'The Avons'.
Long Live Love is the fourth studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released in June 1974 by EMI Records.
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"Hold Me Now" is a song written and recorded by Irish singer-songwriter Johnny Logan. It represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987 held in Brussels, resulting in his second win at the contest, as well as the country's third victory.
"What's Another Year" is a song recorded by Irish singer-songwriter Johnny Logan with music composed and lyrics written by Shay Healy. It represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 held in The Hague, resulting in his first win at the contest, as well as the country's second victory.
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"Non ho l'età ", usually given as just "Non ho l'età" is a song recorded by Italian singer Gigliola Cinquetti, with music composed by Mario Panzeri and lyrics by Nicola Salerno. It represented Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1964, held in Copenhagen, winning the contest, having previously won that year's Sanremo Music Festival.
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Harold Jacob Spiro was an English songwriter. He is best known for his co-writing with Valerie Avon, particularly the song "Long Live Love" (1974) performed by Olivia Newton-John, which was the UK's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1974.
Valerie Murtagh is an English singer and songwriter, who was a member of The Avons.
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"Rock Bottom" was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, performed in English by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran. It was also written and produced by de Paul and Moran and released on the Polydor record label. Originally it was written for the group Blue Mink; and submitted unbeknown to de Paul and Moran as an entry for A Song For Europe by the publishers; when it was selected, de Paul agreed to perform the song if Moran would join her. On 9 March 1977, "Rock Bottom" was selected to represent the UK at the A Song for Europe 1977 event held at the New London Theatre, presented by Terry Wogan.
"Fairytale" is a song composed, written, and recorded by Belarusian-Norwegian singer-songwriter Alexander Rybak. It represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 held in Moscow, winning the contest. It is the first single from Rybak's debut album Fairytales released on 29 May 2009 just after the contest.
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Finland was represented by Päivi Paunu and Kim Floor, with the song "Muistathan", at the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 25 March in Edinburgh.