Sweden's second Eurovision win came in 1984, when the Herreys pipped Ireland's "Terminal 3" sung by  Linda Martin. The winning song was the bouncy sing-along "Diggy-loo Diggy-ley", which was first in the running order, and thanks to some well polished choreography, found favour with the juries. The Herrys brothers, Per (born in 1958), Richard (born in 1964) and Louis (born in 1966) were Mormons and were based in America at the time of the win and "Diggy-loo Diggy-ley" hit the charts in many countries. The following year they won the famous Sopot festival in Poland. The brothers split a few years later as Louis concentrated on missionary work, but re-formed in 2002, to provide the interval for the Swedish Eurovision selection. 

Isabelle Gall was born into a musical family in Paris in 1947 and was recording songs at 15, under the stage name of France Gall. She came to the attention of singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and in 1964 a song he wrote, brought France her first French number one hit. When Luxembourg approached Gainsbourg to write their 1965 entry, it was seen as a daring choice as his catchy pop songs were not the type associated with the contest. Despite a rather nervous performance, "Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son" scored a clear win and having been recorded in three languages, went on to be a big international hit, topping the Japanese charts. France had a long and successful career and was still recording hits thirty years after her Eurovision win. 

Having won three of the first seven contests, France hasn't tasted victory since 1977. From 1974 to 176, the contest had been won by uptempo pop songs sung in English, and despite being in the favoured last place in the running order, Marie Myriam's victory was somewhat of a surprise. "L'oiseau Et L'enfant" was a huge hit in France and is by far the biggest selling Eurovison single of all time in that country, but it made limited impact outside the francophone countries. Marie went on to have several French hits over the following decade, also recording in her native Portuguese. She appeared at the anniversay show in 2005 and she has also called in the French votes. The songwriters returned in 1981, when the French entry came 3rd.

Having entered the first contest in 1956, Belgium had to wait longer than any of its rivals to taste victory in the event. Success finally came in Bergen in 1986 when the then 13 year old Sandra Kim sang "J'aime La Vie" to a runaway victory. Sandra Caldarone was born into a family of Italian imigrants in the town of Montegnée, near Liège. As Sandra was younger than the minimum age allowed at Eurovision, Switzerland unsussessfully requested that "J'Aime La Vie" be disqualified. The song became a big local hit, but made limited impact outside Belgium. Sandra also represented Belgium at the Yamaha Music Festival in Tokyo in 1986 and she hadseveral hits in the decade following her victory at Eurovision. 

Greece first entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, but had to wait over thirty years for its only win. Swedish born Helena Paparizou had sung the Greek entry in Copenhagen in 2001 as a member of Antique and when the duo went their separate ways, she was invited to sing all the songs in the 2005 Eurovision selection. In a contest dominated by dance routines, "My Number One" had some of the cleverest choreography in Eurovision history, which helped the song appeal to televoters. Following its victory in Kyiv it went on to be a huge hit in Greece and its neighbours, also topped the charts in Helena's native country of Sweden. The song also finished in the Top 5 in the Eurovision anniversay show staged in Copenhagen in November 2005.  

Israel became the first non-European country to enter the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 and only five years later it won the event. The song "A-ba-ni-bi" may have some of he most simple lyrics of any Eurovision winner, but the slick performance of the 27 year old Izhar Cohen and his backing group, gave it the necessary appeal to score an easy win in Paris. Despite being widely ridiculed, the song was an international hit and Izhar returned to Eurovision in 1985, when he came 5th. He tried to represent Israel again in 1987 and 1996 but lost out in the national final. Away from music, Izhar also enjoyed a career as an actor. "A-ba-ni-bi" is unique in Eurovision, as it was the only winner conducted by a woman, Nurit Hirsch who also co-wrote the song.   

Following the victory of Abba in 1974, Eurovision followed a very different path in the mid to late 1970s as light heated pop songs came to the fore. In 1975 Dutch group Teach-in brought their country its fourth and most recent victory with the catchy if totally frivalous "Ding Dinge Dong". The song was the first to win the contest, using the now familiar voting system and it gained votes from every jury, despite having the challenge of opening the contest. Teach-in was formed in 1967 and singer Getty Kaspers joined four years later. "Ding Dinge Dong" was their only big international success, although they scored several other hits in the Netherlands, before going their separate ways in 1978. 

Following the victory of Bucks Fizz in 1981, the U.K. had to wait 16 long years for another win and once again it came in Dublin. "Love Shine A Light" was originally written to promote The Samaritans charity and was a somewhat unusual choice to represent the U.K. at Eurovision. Howver it scored a runaway victory, gaining a then record number of points. Katrina and the Waves first found success in Canada in the early 1980s and scored an international Top 10 single in 1985 with he summer hit "Walking On Sunshine". While "Love Shine A Light" revived their career, American born lead singer Katrina Leskanich left the group in the following year. Having criticised the contest, she unsuccessfully tried to come back in the 2005 Swedish selection.      

While the Eurovision Song Contest was inspired by the long-running San Remo festival, Italy's biggest music event, it took the Italians almost a decade to gain a victory in the international competition. Born in Verona in 1947, Giogliola Cinquetti burst onto the Italian music scene at the age of sixteen when she won the San Remo contest with her emotional performance of the ballad "No Ho L'Eta". Gigliola was the youngest performer in Copenhagen, but her charm and faultless vocal performance scored a runaway victory. The score became an international hit and Gigliola went on to be one of the biggest stars on the Italian music scene. She returned to Eurovision in 1974, finishing second to Abba. Gigliola also co-hosted the 1991 contest in Rome. 

The principality of Monaco first entered Eurovision in 1959 and came close to winning on several occasions before 1971, when "Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue" brought victory. Singer Josiane Grizeau was born in Paris in 1948 and adopted the stage name of Severine, recording several singles before being asked to represent Monaco at Eurovision. For the first time in Eurovision history, the judges were on stage at the contest and awarded a clear victory to the Monagasque ballad. Despite also being recorded in English and German, it was the original French language version that became a Top 10 hit all over Europe. Severine had several minor hits in Germany and France and she participated in the German Eurovision selections in 1975 and 1982.