The Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was the 42nd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on May 3, 1997 in Dublin. The presenters were Ronan Keating and Carrie Crowley. Katrina and the Waves, representing the United Kingdom, were the winners of this Eurovision with the song Love Shine A Light. The track scored an unprecedented 227 points; it received points from all participating countries, including five sets of 10 points and a record-breaking ten sets of the maximum 12 points. This record was equalled by Greece when Elena Paparizou won the 2005 event. Her song My Number One scored a winning total of 230 points, three points more than Katrina and the Waves did, albeit with far more countries voting (39 compared to 1997's 25). Thus, Love Shine a Light is still regarded as one of the most successful Eurovision winners ever, as signified in Athens at the 2006 contest when it was the closing song of the medley of past Eurovision winners, performed at the opening of the semi-final. After the controversy over the pre-selection in 1996, the European Broadcasting Union introduced a new system for 1997: the countries with the lowest average scores over the previous four years would be excluded from the 1997 contest, and those with the lowest averages over the previous five years would be excluded from future contests (save that every country so excluded for one year would automatically be allowed to participate the following year), with so many countries being omitted as would reduce the number of participants each year to 25. Italian National Broadcaster RAI already stated that this year was their last year of participating at the Eurovision Song Contest. There was much array of different styles this year.  Source: Wikipedia