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
Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 Italy was represented by Enrico Ruggeri, with the song '"Sole d'Europa", at the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 15 May in Millstreet, Ireland. The song was chosen internally by broadcaster RAI; Ruggeri was the winner of the 1993 Sanremo Music Festival, but RAI decided against sending his winning song "Mistero" to Eurovision. Following the 1993 contest, RAI withdrew from Eurovision for the following three years. They made a brief reappearance in 1997, but then withdrew again until 2011. On the night of the final Ruggeri performed first in the running