UK national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest had hit with "Walking On Sunshine", to enter a new track, "Love Shine A Light". This produced a win in the Eurovision Contest itself for the United Kingdom and for Katrina and the Waves in 1997, and followed with a second place for Imaani in 1998, but disappointment in 1999 for the all-girl band Precious. In 2000, the same format continued, but the final four songs were performed live in "A Song For Europe", still shunted to a graveyard Sunday afternoon slot. The result proved disappointing. Nicki French gave what author John Kennedy O'Connor describes in his book The Eurovision
Eurovision Song Contest 1997 Dex Award, a humorous award given to the worst dressed artist each year in the contest. It is named after the Belgian artist, Barbara Dex, who came last in the 1993 contest, in which she wore her own self designed dress. House of Eurovision would continue to provide the Barbara Dex Award until 2016, when another Eurovision fansite, songfestival.be, took the reins of the award and will present it every year starting with the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine. Debbie Scerri of Malta was the 1997 Barbara Dex Award winner. The order in which each country announced their votes