Most times hosting the Eurovision Song Contest (individual)

TV and radio personality/announcer and actress Katie Boyle (UK, b. Italy, 1926-2018) hosted four editions of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), in 1960, 1963, 1968 and 1974 (famously won by ABBA in Brighton, UK). The United Kingdom was selected as the host venue for the 1960, 1963 and 1974 contests despite the previous year’s final being won by Netherlands, France and Luxembourg, respectively. The UK earned the right to host in 1968 after Sandie Shaw’s comfortable victory with “Puppet on a String” in 1967.

The daughter of an Italian marquis, Boyle was christened Caterina Irene Elena Maria Imperiali dei Principi di Francavilla. Praised for her “poise and elegance”, she also worked as a model and an agony aunt.

TV presenter/comedian Petra Mede (Sweden) hosted for a third time (alongside Malin Akerman) in Malmö, Sweden, in 2024, after previously taking on the role in Sweden in 2013 (alone) and 2016 (with Måns Zelmerlöw). Mede could claim a share of Boyle’s record for the most prolific Eurovision host if Sweden were to win an eighth final while her TV career is active.

If semi-finals (introduced in 2004, 30 years after Boyle’s final hosting appearance) are included, Mede’s total jumps to an unrivalled nine Eurovision shows hosted (six semi-finals and three finals). Polyglot Mede is fluent in English, French, Italian and Spanish, in addition to Swedish. She once worked as a backing vocalist for a pre-fame Céline Dion, who went on to win the ESC for Switzerland in 1988.