Eurovision Song Contest 1997

The Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was the 42nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 3 May 1997 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, and presented by Carrie Crowley and Ronan Keating. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), who staged the event after winning the 1996 contest for Ireland with the song "The Voice" by Eimear Quinn. The 1997 contest was the seventh – and to date last – edition to be staged in Ireland, as well as the fourth to be produced by RTÉ in five years. The Point Theatre served as the host venue for the third time, following the 1994 and 1995 contests, becoming the only venue to have been the site of three Eurovision Song Contests.

Broadcasters from twenty-five countries participated in the contest, with a new relegation system introduced to determine which could participate, based on each country's average points total in previous contests. Italy made its first appearance since 1993, and Denmark, Germany, Hungary, and Russia returned after last competing in 1995, having been prevented from competing the previous year after failing to progress from that event's qualifying round. Belgium, Finland, and Slovakia, participants in the previous year's contest, were unable to return after being excluded by the new relegation rules.

The winner was the United Kingdom with the song "Love Shine a Light", written by Kimberley Rew and performed by Katrina and the Waves. Ireland, Turkey, Italy, and Cyprus rounded out the top five, with Ireland earning its fifth placing in the top two within six years, Turkey achieving their best result to date, and Cyprus equalling its best result from 1982. Five of the competing countries used televoting to determine their points, allowing the general viewing public a say in the results for the first time; following this successful trial all countries were encouraged to use this system starting from the following year's event. Entries were also permitted for the first time to feature no live music accompaniment, with each performance being able to use only a backing track rather than utilising any part of the orchestra or any live instrumentation from the performers themselves.

The 1997 event would prove to be a watershed for the contest, with many aspects of this event leaving a lasting impact on future editions of Eurovision. These included: the first openly LGBT artist, Iceland's Paul Oscar, selected to compete in the event; changes to contest rules led to the abandonment of live musical accompaniment in future events; a successful trial of televoting in five countries led to widespread adoption for all countries in 1998.

The 1997 contest took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1996 edition with the song "The Voice", performed by Eimear Quinn. It was the seventh time that Ireland had hosted the contest, having previously staged the event in 1971, 1981, 1988, 1993, 1994, and 1995, with all previous events held in Dublin except the 1993 contest which was held in Millstreet. This was the fourth edition of the contest that Ireland had hosted within five years, and with this edition Ireland equalled the record for the nation which had staged the most contests, originally set by the United Kingdom in 1982.

Given the financial impact to staging the contest for a fourth time in five years, there was early speculation following its win in the 1996 contest that Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) might stage the event as a co-production with BBC Northern Ireland, however ultimately the Irish broadcaster decided to organise the event on its own once again. The selected venue was the Point Theatre, a concert and events venue located amongst the Dublin Docklands which had originally been built as a train depot to serve the nearby port. Opened as a music venue in 1988, it was closed for redevelopment and expansion in 2008 and is now known as the 3Arena. The venue had previously hosted the 1994 and 1995 contests, and with this staging it became the only venue to have hosted three Eurovision Song Contests.

Per the rules of the contest twenty-five countries were allowed to participate in the event. Denmark, Germany, Hungary, and Russia made a return to the contest after failing to progress from the qualifying round in the previous year's contest, and Italy returned after last competing in 1993. Conversely Belgium, Finland, and Slovakia, participants in the 1996 contest, were relegated and prevented from participating in this year's event.

Three representatives who had previously performed as lead artists in the contest competed again at this year's event. Two artists represented their country for a second consecutive year, with Şebnem Paker having represented Turkey in 1996, and Maarja-Liis Ilus, after having represented Estonia in 1996 with Ivo Linna, competing as a solo artist. Alma Čardžić also made a second appearance in the contest, having previously represented Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1994. Additionally, Tor Endresen and Bettina Soriat, representing Norway and Austria, respectively, in this year's event, had performed in previous contests as backing vocalist. Endresen had supported Norway in 1988, and Soriat had supported Austria in 1996.