Eurovision Politics: ESC Performers Who Went into Politics

As an official matter, Eurovision and politics are not supposed to mix, at least on stage.  However, a number of performers have given the political arena a try after their appearances.  In a few cases, even before them.

Do not be so surprised: For one thing, as of 2024, there have been over 1,700 songs, and with a four-digit number of singers, chances are at least someone in that group was going to run for office.  Further, the Eurovision Song Contest is the biggest music show in the world, with a global audience in the hundreds of millions.  That’s what I call capitalizing on your popularity.

It’s a big election season across the ocean from the contest in the United States.  In the meantime, we’ve compiled a list here of Eurovision singers who ended up involved in politics in some way.  This is not necessarily an exhaustive list; these are all the people we could verify with outside sources.   They are organized by the first year in which they participated in the contest.

Eurovision Politics: 1950s Performers

Domenico Modugno

• Countries and Years: Italy, 1958, 1959, and 1966
• Song(s): “Nel blu, dipinto di blu,” “Piove,” “Dio, come ti amo”
• Best Finish: 3^rd Place
• Political Career: Member of the Italian Parliament, 1987-1992¹

1960s Performers

Ronnie Carroll

• Countries and Years: United Kingdom, 1962 and 1963
• Song(s): “Ring-A-Ding Girl,” “Say Wonderful Things”
• Best Finish: 4^th Place
• Political Career: Three-time candidate for the British House of Commons, leader of Make Politicians History party²

Nana Mouskouri

• Countries and Years: Luxembourg, 1963
• Song(s): “À force de prier”
• Best Finish: 8^th Place
• Political Career: Greek Member of the European Parliament, 1994-1999³

Vice Vukov

• Countries and Years: Yugoslavia, 1963 and 1965
• Song(s): “Brodovi,” “Čežnja”
• Best Finish: 11^th Place
• Political Career: Member of the Croatian Parliament, 2003-2005⁴

Åse Kleveland

• Countries and Years: Norway, 1966
• Song(s): “Intet er nytt under solen”
• Best Finish: 3^rd Place
• Political Career: Norwegian Minister of Culture, 1990-1996⁵

Louis Neefs

• Countries and Years: Belgium, 1967 and 1969
• Song(s): “Ik heb zorgen,” “Jennifer Jennings”
• Best Finish: 7^th Place
• Political Career: Municipal councilor in Mechelen, Belgium⁶

Vicky Leandros

• Countries and Years: Luxembourg, 1967 and 1972
• Song(s): “L’amour est bleu,” “Après Toi”
• Best Finish: Won (1972)
• Political Career: Municipal councilor in Piraeus, Greece⁷

Iva Zanicchi

• Countries and Years: Italy, 1969
• Song(s): “Due grosse lacrime bianche”
• Best Finish: 13^th Place
• Political Career: Italian Member of the European Parliament, 2008-2014⁸

Eurovision Politics: 1970s Performers

Dana Scallon

• Countries and Years: Ireland, 1970
• Song(s): “All Kinds of Everything”
• Best Finish: Won
• Political Career: Irish Member of the European Parliament, 1999-2004⁹, and two-time candidate for President of Ireland¹⁰

1980s Performers

Lia Vissi

• Countries and Years: Cyprus, 1985
• Song(s): “To katalava arga”
• Best Finish: 16^th Place
• Political Career: Candidate for Cyprus House of Representatives in 2006¹¹

Eurovision Politics: 1990s Performers

Michalis Hatzigiannis

• Countries and Years: Cyprus, 1998
• Song(s): “Genesis”
• Best Finish: 11^th Place
• Political Career: Cypriot Deputy Minister of Culture, 2023¹²

Evelin Samuel

• Countries and Years: Estonia, 1999
• Song(s): “Diamond of Night”
• Best Finish: 6^th Place
• Political Career: Candidate for the Estonian Parliament, 2015¹³

2000s Performers

Claudette Pace

• Countries and Years: Malta, 2000
• Song(s): “Desire”
• Best Finish: 8^th Place
• Political Career: Member of the Maltese Parliament since 2013¹⁴

Ruslana Lyzhychko

• Countries and Years: Ukraine, 2004
• Song(s): “Wild Dances”
• Best Finish: Won
• Political Career: Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, 2006-2007¹⁵

Julie Zahra

• Countries and Years: Malta, 2004
• Song(s): “On Again… Off Again”
• Best Finish: 12^th Place
• Political Career: Member of the Maltese Parliament since 2022¹⁶

Kārlis Būmeisters

• Countries and Years: Latvia, 2005
• Song(s): “The War Is Not Over”
• Best Finish: 5^th Place
• Political Career: Press and media contact (Latvian delegation) for the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, European Parliament¹⁷

Luminița Anghel

• Countries and Years: Romania, 2005
• Song(s): “Let Me Try”
• Best Finish: 3^rd Place
• Political Career: Candidate for the Romanian Parliament, 2008¹⁸

Sopho Khalvashi

• Countries and Years: Georgia, 2007
• Song(s): “Visionary Dream”
• Best Finish: 12^th Place
• Political Career: Deputy mayor of Batumi, Georgia since 2018¹⁹

Alenka Gotar

• Countries and Years: Slovenia, 2007
• Song(s): “Cvet z juga”
• Best Finish: 15^th Place
• Political Career: Candidate for the Slovenian Parliament, 2018²⁰

Tarmo Leinatamm

• Countries and Years: Estonia, 2008
• Song(s): “Leto svet”
• Best Finish: Eliminated in semifinal
• Political Career: Member of the Estonian Parliament, 2003-2007 and 2011-2014²¹

Hannes Võrno

• Countries and Years: Estonia, 2008
• Song(s): “Leto svet”
• Best Finish: Eliminated in semifinal
• Political Career: Member of the Estonian Parliament, 2003²²

Anastasia Prikhodko

• Countries and Years: Russia, 2009
• Song(s): “Mamo”
• Best Finish: 11^th Place
• Political Career: Candidate for the Ukrainian Parliament, 2019²³

Andrew Lloyd Webber

• Countries and Years: United Kingdom, 2009 (backing, songwriter)
• Song(s): “It’s My Time”
• Best Finish: 5^th Place
• Political Career: Member of the British House of Lords, 1997-2017²⁴

Eurovision Politics: 2010s Performers

Zlata Ognevich

• Countries and Years: Ukraine, 2013
• Song(s): “Gravity”
• Best Finish: 3^rd Place
• Political Career: Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, 2014-2015²⁵

Stig Rästa

• Countries and Years: Estonia, 2015
• Song(s): “Goodbye to Yesterday”
• Best Finish: 7^th Place
• Political Career: Candidate for the Estonian Parliament, 2023²⁶

Ana Rucner

• Countries and Years: Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2016
• Song(s): “Ljubav je”
• Best Finish: Eliminated in semifinal
• Political Career: Member of the Zagreb, Croatia City Assembly, 2017-2018²⁷

Jala Brat

• Countries and Years: Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2016
• Song(s): “Ljubav je”
• Best Finish: Eliminated in semifinal
• Political Career: Local elections candidate in Bosnia & Herzegovina, 2016²⁸

References

1. Sito ufficiale di Domenico Modugno :: Biografia. (n.d.). (in Italian) http://www.domenicomodugno.it/sito/pagine/biografia.html
2. Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Ronnie Carroll. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Carroll#Political_career
3. 4th parliamentary term | Nana MOUSKOURI | MEPs | European Parliament. (n.d.). https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/2183/NANA_MOUSKOURI/history/4
4. Wiki, C. T. E. S. C. (n.d.). Vice Vukov. Eurovision Song Contest Wiki. https://eurovisionsongcontest.fandom.com/wiki/Vice_Vukov
5. Wikipedia contributors. (2024c, July 27). Åse Kleveland. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85se_Kleveland
6. Wiki, C. T. E. S. C. (n.d.-a). Louis Neefs. Eurovision Song Contest Wiki. https://eurovisionsongcontest.fandom.com/wiki/Louis_Neefs
7. Vicky Leandros age, hometown, biography | Last.fm. (n.d.). Last.fm. https://www.last.fm/music/Vicky+Leandros/+wiki
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9. Dana for president? (2022, September 15). RTÉ Archives. https://www.rte.ie/archives/2022/0817/1316221-dana-for-president/
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17. Contacts // ECR Group. (n.d.). ECR Group. https://ecrgroup.eu/contacts
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19. Mamsikashvili, R. (2018, November 27). Sopho Khalvashi is the new deputy mayor of Batumi — Georgia’s second-largest city. Wiwibloggs. https://wiwibloggs.com/2018/11/27/sopho-khalvashi-is-the-new-deputy-mayor-of-batumi-georgias-second-largest-city/229149/
20. Wikipedia contributors. (2024k, September 8). Alenka Gotar. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alenka_Gotar
21. Wikipedia contributors. (2024h, August 23). Tarmo Leinatamm. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarmo_Leinatamm
22. Kantselei, R. (2003, September 23). Riigikogu juhatuses. (In Estonian.) Riigikogu. https://www.riigikogu.ee/pressiteated/riigikogu-juhatuses-39/
23. Eurovision Universe. (2024, July 10). Anastasiya Prikhodko – Eurovision Universe. https://www.eurovisionuniverse.com/encyclopedia/anastasiya-prikhodko/
24. Lord Lloyd-Webber. (n.d.). UK Parliament. https://members.parliament.uk/member/2049/career
25. Wikipedia contributors. (2024q, October 10). Zlata Ognevich. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zlata_Ognevich#Political_career
26. Kandidaadid. (n.d.). (In Estonian.) https://rk2023.valimised.ee/en/candidates/electoral_district/4
27. Gradski zastupnici, gradski zastupnici kojima je mandat u mirovanju, gradski zastupnici kojima je prestao mandat i njihovi zamjenici. (n.d.). (In Croatian.) skupstina.zagreb.hr. https://skupstina.zagreb.hr/gradski-zastupnici-gradski-zastupnici-kojima-je-mandat-u-mirovanju-gradski-zastupnici-kojima-je-prestao-mandat-i-njihovi-zamjenici/3041
28. Wikipedia contributors. (2024o, September 29). Jala brat. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jala_Brat