Has any act ever won Eurovision more than once and how often can you take part?-Caroline Westbrook-Entertainment – Metro

Loreen is chasing her second Eurovision victory (Picture: AP)

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest is shaping up to be one of the most exciting in years, with some big favourites set to take to the stage over the coming days in Liverpool.

While the UK’s Mae Muller is hoping to outdo last year’s runner-up Sam Ryder – and potentially hand us the hosting gig for a second year – the hot favourite to take the title is Sweden’s Loreen with her song Tattoo.

Of course Loreen is no stranger to Eurovision audiences, as she stormed to victory in 2012 with Euphoria – widely regarded as one of the greatest winners of all time.

It’s no surprise that anticipation is high for her appearance in Liverpool, as winning Eurovision even once is no mean feat, let alone twice.

But has any act ever won the contest more than once?

Let’s take a look…

Has any act ever won Eurovision more than once?

To date, only one person has ever won the contest more than once – with the honour belonging to Ireland’s Johnny Logan.

Johnny first triumphed at the 1980 contest in The Hague with What’s Another Year, with the classic ballad fighting off competition from second-placed Germany to take the trophy.

He returned just seven years later for a second stab at the title with another ballad, Hold Me Now – and once again took top honours, beating Germany into the runners-up spot once again.

As an added bonus Johnny also wrote 1992’s winning entry for Ireland, Why Me? which was performed by Linda Martin.

If Loreen does triumph in Liverpool she will therefore become only the second person in contest history to score two victories.

A win for the singer would also put them neck and neck with Ireland for the most contest wins – seven in total.

How many times can an act compete in Eurovision?

There’s no limit on how many times a singer or band can represent their country on the Eurovision stage – although the rules state that an act cannot represent more than one country in any given year.

Loreen is not the only former participant returning for another go this year – as Moldova is sending another 2012 returnee, singer Pasha Parfeni – who finished 11th at the contest in Baku 10 years ago.

Fans might also recognise Italy’s representative Marco Mengoni, who finished ninth at the 2013 contest in Malmo, as well as Lithuania’s Monika Linkyte, who appeared as a duo with singer Vaidas Baumila at Eurovision 2015 in Vienna.

Another 2023 act, Georgia’s Iru Khechanovi, was formerly part of the girl group Candy, who won the 2011 Junior Eurovision Song Contest with the track Candy Music.

Although there are too many repeat performers to list them all here, some are more notable than others – although the most number of times any act has represented their nation on the contest stage is four.

These performers include Belgian singer Fud Leclerc, who represented his country in the very first contest in 1956, as well as 1958, 1960 and 1962.

Swiss group Peter, Sue and Marc represented their home nation in 1971, 1976, 1979 and 1981 – while San Marino’s Valentina Monetta has also notched up four appearances, taking to the stage in 2012, 2013, 2014 and in 2017, in a duet with American singer Jimmie Wilson.

Valentina Monetta has taken part four times for San Marino but only been in the final once (Picture:AFP via Getty Images)

Valentina, however, has only ever reached the final once – at the 2014 contest in Copenhagen.

Norwegian singer Elisabeth Andreassen, meanwhile, has also participated four times – three as part of duos, and once as a solo performers.

As well as being one half of Bobbysocks, who brought Norway their first ever win with Lat De Swinge in 1985, Andreassen took part in 1982, 1994 and 1996 – the latter as a solo artist on home turf, following Norway’s win in 1995. She finished second behind Ireland that year.

A longer list of artists have notched up three Eurovision appearances, among them Sweden’s Carola – who won the contest in Rome in 1991, also appearing in 1983 and 2006 – and Malta’s Chiara, whose best result saw her finish second in Kyiv in 2005.

Moldovan act Zdob si Zdub also notched up their third appearance on the Eurovision stage in 2022 – having previously taken part in 2005, when Moldova made its debut in the contest, and 2011.

Those who have entered twice have included Jedward, who reached the final for Ireland in 2011 and 2012, with their entries Lipstick and Waterline.

And a whole host of former winners have returned to the contest for another try over the years – including Germany’s 2010 winner Lena, who returned to defend her title in 2011, finishing 10th, and Israel winners Izhar Cohen (1978) and Dana International (1998), who gave it a second shot in 1985 and 2011 respectively.

Meanwhile Norway’s Alexander Rybak – who scored a huge victory in 2009 with Fairytale – flew the flag once again in Lisbon in 2018 with That’s How You Write A Song – but failed to bag a second victory, ending the night in 15th place.

The Eurovision Song Contest semi-finals are on May 9 and 11 on BBC One at 8pm. The grand final is on Saturday May 13 on BBC One at 8pm.

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