Most prolific songwriter at the Eurovision Song Contest

Nobody has left a more indelible mark on the Eurovision Song Contest than veteran songwriter Ralph Siegel (Germany), who earned credits on 24 different final and semi-final entries between 1974 and 2017. The Munich-born composer’s 40-year-plus Eurovision journey began as a co-writer on “Bye Bye I Love You”, which came fourth for the English-born vocalist Ireen Sheer, representing Luxembourg. Unquestionably his greatest success was with “Ein bißchen Frieden” (“A Little Peace”) for Germany’s Nicole (Seibert), which won the 1982 contest and topped sales charts across Europe. His most recent entry was “Spirit of the Night”, a semi-final contender for San Marino’s Valentina Monetta and the American singer Jimmie Wilson in 2017.

Other highlights of Siegel’s career include three second- (1980-81 and 1987) and two third-place (1994 and 1999) finishes in the final, and writing all four of Sammarinese singer Monetta’s entries, in 2012-14 and 2017, including the song that granted San Marino their first-ever final appearance – “Maybe”. In all, Siegel has penned songs that have been adopted by five different countries in Eurovision finals and semi-finals – Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Montenegro and San Marino – while his prolific output has graced the national finals of seven more countries, including Austria, Ireland, Malta, Moldova and Portugal.