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Eurovision Song Contest 1993 | ||||
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Country | ![]() | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | Artist: Internal selection Song: A Song for Europe 1993 | |||
Selection date(s) | 9 April 1993 | |||
Selected entrant | Sonia | |||
Selected song | "Better the Devil You Know" | |||
Selected songwriter(s) |
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Finals performance | ||||
Final result | 2nd, 164 points | |||
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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Sonia represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993, singing "Better the Devil You Know". The song, chosen from a selection broadcast on A Song for Europe , was placed second in the contest.
A shortlist of artists included by the BBC was presented to the Head of Delegations of each participating country in the Eurovision Song Contest that ultimately selected the British entrant. Sonia was revealed by the BBC as the British entrant for the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest. The UK branch of the International Eurovision Fan Club (OGAE), had conducted a poll in late 1991, asking the members to nominate which singer they'd like to represent the UK in the contest. Sonia was the overwhelming winner of that poll, announced in early 1992.
Two songs each, both performed by Sonia, were premiered during four preview programmes on BBC1 between 14 March and 4 April 1993. [1] The final, held at the BBC Television Centre in London and hosted by Terry Wogan, was filmed earlier on 8 April 1993 and televised on 9 April 1993. The show was broadcast on BBC1 and BBC Radio 2 with commentary by Ken Bruce. A public televote selected the winning song, "Better the Devil You Know", which was revealed during a separate show broadcast on BBC1 and hosted by Terry Wogan. [2]
Draw | Song | Songwriter(s) | Televote | Place |
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1 | "A Little Love" | Ian Curnow, Phil Harding, Shaun Imrei | 55,053 | 4 |
2 | "I'm Gonna Put a Spell on You" | Shaun Imrei, Graham Stack | 27,795 | 6 |
3 | "Life After Love" | David Harwood-Smith, Roger Graham Taylor | 38,308 | 5 |
4 | "It's Just a Matter of Time" | Alan Glass, Gary Benson | 18,251 | 8 |
5 | "Better the Devil You Know" | Dean Collinson, Brian Teasdale | 156,955 | 1 |
6 | "Our World" | Johnny Warman, Nick Graham | 77,695 | 2 |
7 | "So Much of Your Love" | Pat McGlynn, Jane Andrews | 70,454 | 3 |
8 | "Trust" | Simon Stirling, Geoffrey Williams, Phil Manikiza | 26,745 | 7 |
Sonia released the winning song on an Arista vinyl 7" single, 12" single, CD single and cassette, reaching no. 15 in the UK singles chart. The top four songs were included in her album Better The Devil You Know , released by Arista just after the Eurovision final. The album peaked at no. 32 in the UK album chart. The remaining four tracks have not been released in any official format.
Twenty five countries participated in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet, Ireland on 15 May. "Better the Devil You Know" was placed second with 164 points. [4] It received points from every country apart from Greece and Malta.
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Sir Michael Terence Wogan was an Irish-British radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday breakfast programme Wake Up to Wogan regularly drew an estimated eight million listeners. He was believed to be the most listened-to radio broadcaster in Europe.
Sonia Evans, known mononymously as Sonia, is an English pop singer from Liverpool. She had a 1989 UK number one hit with "You'll Never Stop Me Loving You" and became the first female UK artist to achieve five top 20 hit singles from one album. She represented the United Kingdom in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, where she finished second with the song "Better the Devil You Know". Between 1989 and 1993, she had 11 UK top 30 hits, including "Listen to Your Heart" (1989), "Counting Every Minute" (1990) and "Only Fools " (1991). In 1994, she starred as Sandy in a West End revival of the musical Grease, while on television she appeared as Bunty in the 1998 BBC comedy series The Lily Savage Show.
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