Museum Monday Week Three: Herrey's

13 June 2016 at 21:05 CEST
Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits Guy Levy / © BBC 2015
Every few years a Eurovision Song Contest entry becomes a classic. Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley, the winning song from Sweden in 1984, is one such example. In part three of our Museum Monday series we will tell the story of Herrey's, the three brothers, Per, Richard and Louis, who won the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest singing in their golden boots.

Broadcast live from a small venue, the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, with a simple stage, a formal audience and no flags, the Eurovision Song Contest was a very different show back in 1984. The show was presented by 19 year old Désirée Nosbusch, who adopted a more casual approach to presenting the show, even opting not to have the customary costume change before the voting. Over the years there has been much speculation regarding the ideal position in the running order to increase the chances of victory since most winners have come from the second half of the running order. Just as the Netherlands did in 1975 and the United Kingdom in 1976, Sweden showed that it was possible to win after performing first on the night. 

During the voting, Louis, the youngest member of the band, listened to his walkman as he found the pressure too much. He can also be seen clutching a teddy bear given to him by his girlfriend at the time. Towards the end of the voting it was a two-horse race between Sweden and Ireland's Linda Martin with her song Terminal 3. Linda's song was written by Johnny Logan, who won the contest in 1980. Johnny would go on to win the contest in 1987 and as a songwriter in 1992. "We are very proud that we are only only act to beat Johnny Logan in the Eurovision Song Contest", said Richard. 

After the Herrey brothers won the Eurovision Song Contest their lives changed dramatically and they became stars in their home country. According to Per Herrey, the cashier in a local supermarket even fainted when they walked into the store! Over 30 years later the brothers still have an affection for the Eurovision Song Contest and appeared the contest's 50th anniversary concert, Congratulations, in 2005 as well as Eurovision's Greatest Hits in 2015. Asked if they can still remember the dance routine, Richard replies "Yes, the choreography is still the same but it's more slow motion in the way we do it!"