The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light", written by Kimberley Rew, and performed by Katrina and the Waves. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final. The entry went on to win Eurovision with 227 points. This is the last win for the United Kingdom .
Before Eurovision
The Great British Song Contest 1997
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) developed The Great British Song Contest 1997 in order to select its entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. Eight acts competed in the competition which consisted of a radio semi-final on 7 February 1997 and a televised final on 9 March 1997.
Semi-final
On 7 February, a semifinal was held on BBC Radio 2 at 09:30am, presented by Ken Bruce. This featured eight songs. Radio 2 listeners voted at 10:00am and voting closed at 11:15am and the top 4 went forward to the televised final. In addition to the four listed above, the following were included, although the 4 acts not shaded in orange were eliminated:
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
|+Contestants and results of the Great British Song Contest 1997 semi-final
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Artist
! scope="col" | Song
! scope="col" | Songwriter(s)
! scope="col" | Result
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1
|
| "Can't You See I'm Crying"
| , Steve Long
|
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:#FFDEAD;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2
|
| "For the Life You Don't Yet Know"
| , Peter Thompson
| align="center"| Qualified
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 3
|
| "Heart of Stone"
|
|
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 4
| B-Yond
| "Lighten Up"
| , Dave Christie, Lee Lyndsey
|
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:#FFDEAD;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 5
| Katrina and the Waves
| "Love Shine a Light"
|
| align="center"| Qualified
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 6
|
| "Room for Change"
| , Laura Pallas
|
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:#FFDEAD;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 7
| Do Re Mi and Kerry
| "Yodel in the Canyon of Love"
| , Gordon MacDonald
| align="center"| Qualified
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:#FFDEAD;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 8
|
| "You Stayed Away Too Long"
| , Richard Kerr
| align="center"| Qualified
|}
Final
The Great British Song Contest final was held on Mother's Day, Sunday 9 March 1997 and televised on BBC 1 at 15:30pm. Gina G was special guest at the show. The final was hosted by Dale Winton. There was no simultaneous broadcast with Radio 2. The results were announced on The National Lottery Live on 15 March.
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
|+Contestants and results of the Great British Song Contest 1997 final
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Artist
! scope="col" | Song
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Televote
! scope="col" | Place
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 1
|
| "For The Life You Don't Yet Know"
| align="center"| 15,657
| align="center"| 4
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 2
|
| "You Stayed Away Too Long"
| align="center"| 51,584
| align="center"| 3
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 3
| Do Re Mi and Kerry
| "Yodel in the Canyon of Love"
| align="center"| 58,696
| align="center"| 2
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:gold;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | 4
| Katrina and the Waves
| "Love Shine a Light"
| align="center"| 69,830
| align="center"| 1
|}
Each of the 4 finalists were featured each week on The National Lottery Live:
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; text-align:center;"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! scope="col" | Song
! scope="col" | Date
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|"Love Shine a Light"
| style="text-align:left;"|16 February 1997
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|"Yodel in the Canyon of Love"
| style="text-align:left;"|23 February 1997
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|"You Stayed Away Too Long"
| style="text-align:left;"|1 March 1997
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|"For The Life You Don't Yet Know"
| style="text-align:left;"|8 March 1997
|}
At Eurovision
Katrina and the Waves performed 24th in the running order on the night of the contest. "Love Shine a Light" went on to win the contest with 227 points. The UK was awarded 12 points (the highest possible) a total of 10 times.
|-
! scope="col" width="20%" | Score
! scope="col" | Country
|-
! scope="row" | 12 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 10 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 8 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 7 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 6 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 5 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 4 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 3 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 2 points
|
|-
! scope="row" | 1 point
|
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Points awarded by the United Kingdom