A COUNCILLOR who saw Abba win the Eurovision Song Contest from VIP seats has backed a bid for Brighton to host the competition once again.

Councillor Carol Theobald was among those in the audience at the Brighton Dome as the city hosted the contest back in 1974.

She said that having the competition return to the city would be a great opportunity and be worth millions for local businesses.

Council leader Phelim Mac Cafferty announced last week that Brighton would express interest in hosting the competition after organisers of the annual contest concluded that it could not be hosted in Ukraine due to the ongoing Russian invasion.

Reflecting on the last time Brighton hosted the competition almost 50 years ago, Cllr Theobald said that she and her husband had VIP tickets to watch the competition, as her husband had a senior position on the council at the time.

The Argus: Cllr Theobald's tickets from the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, hosted at the Brighton DomeCllr Theobald's tickets from the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, hosted at the Brighton Dome

She said: “It was just wonderful to see Abba and everybody there. It was really a lovely occasion.”

The councillor, who represents Patcham, said that programmes given to audience members featured a scoreboard to rate each of the acts.

She said: “I actually rated Abba to win but I thought Olivia Newton-John, who represented the UK, was certainly a good second, but she came fourth in the end.

“They did win well - they were outstanding. It was a memorable occasion.”

The Argus: Olivia Newton-John and ABBA were listed among the contestants in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, hosted by BrightoNOlivia Newton-John and ABBA were listed among the contestants in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, hosted by BrightoN

Cllr Theobald joined MPs Peter Kyle and Lloyd Russell-Moyle in voicing her support for a Brighton bid to host the contest and said it would be “thrilling” for the city to host it once again.

She said: “If it came to Brighton, it would be worth millions and be so fantastic. It was certainly very successful when we hosted it before.

“I think everyone would be so pleased about it and it would be thrilling to have that back in Brighton again.

“We do have the Dome - and it’s better now having been refurbished, and it would be a good venue to return to.”

Brighton faces stiff competition to host next year’s contest from London, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and many others.

On Friday, Cllr Mac Cafferty said: “It would be an honour to host Eurovision on behalf of Ukraine. We’d love to see the event come back to the city and share some of our lucky stardust with the next global superstars.”