Eurovision 2015: Worst and weirdest entries at the wacky song contest

The Eurovision Song Contest has long been a controversial competition, unabashedly showcasing some of Europe's most unusual acts in the music industry year after year. Nowadays, it's hard to think back to the time when acts that have been hugely successful outside of the competition, such as Lula and Abba, graced the stages of the event.

In recent years, many musicians that no one has even heard of have stepped up to represent each of their countries on that ever-changing stage, some memorable for all the wrong reasons… whether it be for their out of tune singing, unusual choreography or just downright bonkers dress-code.

With the 2015 Grand Final airing this Saturday (23 May) on BBC One at 8pm, IBTimes UK takes a look back at some of the contest's most weird and wonderful acts, from all over the world.

Pan – Bana Bana (Turkey, 1989)

Bana Bana's frantic music accompanied with the high-pitched shrills sung by the band and the thrashing conducting of a white-suited man on stage, can't help but instil a sense of panic in the viewer, almost making it uncomfortable to watch.

Michalis Rakintzis – S.A.G.A.P.O. (Greece, 2002)

Dressed in futuristic spacesuit costumes, it's easy to think that Michalis Rakintzis were trying to encapsulate the early 2000s feel that boybands such as N-SYNC and Backstreet Boys did back then. Sadly, they didn't quite achieve what they set out to do.

Aside from that, S.A.G.A.P.O's lyrics were repetitive to say the least, with one line that literally consisted of the band singing: "Give the password (Give the password, the password, the password, the password)." We think he really needs that password,

Jemini – Cry Baby (United Kingdom, 2003)

Here it is! There's no way Jemini couldn't make the list. The first ever English-language entry to receive no points whatsoever from any other countries.

Jemini were selected to perform in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest by a voting phone poll in BBC's A Song For Europe which lets members of the public be involved in who represents their country in the competition. However, when the duo were nominated, there was widespread speculation as to whether they really were the nation's favourite – questions that were amplified given their terrible score at the finals.

Daz Sampson – Teenage Life (United Kingdom, 2006)

Continuing with the UK's failures when it comes to Eurovision, Daz Sampson's attempt at 'keeping it real' at the event fell flat, leaving him 19th out of a total of 24 countries.

Despite the negative view of the entry now, Teenage Life did actually enter the UK Singles Chart on 14 May 2006 reaching the Top 10 the next week, then going on to peak at #8. In a 2013 documentary for the BBC about how people can win the Eurovision, Sampson himself stated: "Rap may not be the best of ideas and maybe Europe was not ready for Daz Sampson."

Lordi – Hard Rock Hallelujah (Finland, 2006)

Whilst it's inarguably the most unexpected, and certainly the scariest, act that the Eurovision Song Contest has ever seen, Lordi actually went on to win the 2006 competition.

Achieving 292 points in the contest's voting procedure, it was named as the most popular Finnish Eurovision entry in the forty years the country has taken part. It was even released as a chart single that same year, getting to #1 in Finland, and reaching #25 in the UK Top 40.

Teapacks – Push The Button (Israel, 2007)

Israel's 2007 entry may not seem to unusual when you first start listening; the oddness of it lies in the fact that it doesn't seem to know what kind of track it wants to be.

Push The Button starts off sounding like a typical song audiences have come to expect from the Eurovision Song Contest, but then the chorus turns into a soft rock ditty, with a following verse giving off a strong dance/dubstep feel. Rather confusing.

Scooch - Flying the Flag (United Kingdom, 2007)

The UK are back again, this time with their 2007 entry Flying The Flag, performed by Scooch.

Out of tune with an unbelievably cringe-worthy concept, spoken lines throughout and dazzlingly bright costuming, it's surprising that this act got more points than 2003's Jemini.

Dustin The Turkey – Irelande Douze Pointe (Ireland, 2008)

Despite the song title being in French, Irelande Douze Pointe was Ireland's entry to the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, performed by the puppet known as Dustin the Turkey.

It was the first Irish entry in history to feature elements of several languages including Spanish, Italian, French and German. The act represented the country in the semi-finals, but later failed to qualify for the final.

Jedward – Lipstick (Ireland, 2011)

Lipstick was actually an existing single for infamous X Factor duo, Jedward, months before the 2011 contest. It was the third single to be released from their second studio album, Victory.

It wasn't so much the entry's success that makes Lipstick one of the weirdest acts seen on the show. It actually fared quite well – finishing eighth amongst the 25 countries in competition in the finals, giving Ireland the best result that had had in recent years. However, it was still Jedward, springing around energetically on stage, in costumes that look like something Lady Gaga would reject.

Buranovskiye Babushki – Party For Everybody (Russia, 2012)

Even though the choice of singers seems odd in itself, it's mainly what Russia had the older, female group Buranovskiye Babushki do on stage that makes it so memorable.

Party For Everybody begins with the ladies looking solemn and acting out the motion of cooking bread but then the mood of the performance instantly switches and they all start dancing whilst enthusiastically singing "Come on and dance!"

They then gleefully take their bread out of the pretend oven and present it to the audience. Very bizarre.

Twin Twin – Moustache (France, 2014)

There's a not a lot that makes sense when it comes to Moustache, the 2014 entry for France. A clean-faced singer, with a quiff that would rival Jedward, singing about how he desperately wants a moustache in both French and English.

Combine that with the out-of-place face-painted guitar players in the background and you've got one of the weirdest entries the event has seen.

Donatan & Cleo – My Słowianie – We Are Slavic (Poland, 2014)

Probably one of the most talked-about entries last year, aside from winning drag queen Conchita Wurst, was undoubtedly Poland's. It stood out for it's performance as it had its band-members acting out traditional Polish tasks whilst dressed in asset-accentuating costumes. The song was later released in Poland and actually #2 in the Polish Airplay Chart.