A throng of surprisingly talented hopefuls gathered yesterday to see if they could land the gig of representing Britain at the Eurovision song contest. But what awaits them in the Eurovision afterlife? Hitlist remembers five of the contest’s “legends”:

Bucks Fizz It’s a somewhat alarming 27 years since the chirpy Brit foursome smiled, trilled and danced their way to top honours at Eurovision. Chart success followed, but then Mike Nolan was injured in a coach crash, blonde singer Jay Aston left and years of bickering ensued. Tellingly the band’s routine of ripping off the skirts was named in 2005 as the most memorable Eurovision moment ever.

Javine Narrowly missing out on the chance to become one of Girls Aloud, Javine Hylton was left with only one real choice: represent Britain at Eurovision 2005. On the plus side, she stopped Jordan from being the UK entrant; on the downside, she came 22nd with just 18 points. In March 2006 she was banned from driving for 18 months on drink-driving charges.

Dana International Gimmicks have always gone a long way in Eurovision, and being the show’s first transsexual entrant was a headline-grabber from the off, a fact Israeli man-woman Dana International used to devastating effect when she won the 1998 contest. Not to be confused with the original Dana, whose All Kinds of Everything won Eurovision in 1970 and who went on to become an MEP and stood for president of Ireland.

Céline Dion Representing Switzerland in 1988, the Canadian warbler swept the boards with the maudlin Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi (Don’t Leave Without Me) – and swiftly went on to rule the world. The singer of the theme tune to Titanic has sold upwards of 200m albums, and her current world tour takes her to such unlikely rock’n’roll hotspots as Dubai and China.

Lordi The heavily made-up troupe from Finland who won Eurovision in 2006 with their grandiose Hard Rock Hallelujah enjoyed brief mega-stardom in the “metal” community after appearing at the following year’s Ozzfest tour. It gets better – the band have just released a horror film called Dark Floors in which they appear as, yes, monsters.

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