While competing in Eurovision doesn’t necessarily guarantee international fame, there’s certainly an impressive roster of big-name artists who got their start thanks to the storied singing contest.
From Olivia Newton-John to Celine Dion, Eurovision has hosted plenty of now-beloved stars who give credit to the competition for putting them on the map stateside. That’s not to say there wasn’t plenty of hustling after they took home their impressive prizes. Benny Andersson, a member of the famed Swedish band ABBA, recalled having to find the group’s footing after landing first place for their rendition of “Waterloo.”
“After we won the Eurovision Song Contest and had a big hit with ‘Waterloo’ all over the world, then nothing happened, like often is the way with Eurovision Song Contest contenders,” he recounted to What’s On in 2015. “We worked in England and they said, ‘Well not to worry.’ So from sending us big limousines in the ‘Waterloo’ period, the cars got smaller and smaller and we had a Volkswagen bus by the end!”
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ABBA, and many of the artists below, needn’t have worried about any career lags for long — there was plenty of success in the United States (and beyond!) to come. Scroll on to see which Eurovision contestants who have since made it big stateside:
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