Patricia Bredin, UK’s first Eurovision, singer dies aged 88

The UK’s first-ever Eurovision contestant, Patricia Bredin, has died at the age of 88.

Bredin was only 22 years old when she performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 in Frankfurt, Germany. According to BBC News, the Hull-born actress and singer was chosen to participate in the competition after being spotted at the Savoy Hotel in London by a BBC executive.

Her family confirmed that she had passed away at her farm in Nova Scotia, Canada.

In 2016, Bredin told BBC News about her Eurovision experience: “Singing in the final in Frankfurt, Germany, it was wonderful, because they had about a 60-piece orchestra and it was like being on clouds.”

Patricia Bredin ?? UK’s first #Eurovision entrant has passed away at the age of 88.
At the 2nd ESC in Frankfurt Germany 1957 she performed “All”, the first ever english language song that also held the title of shortest song in the history of the contest until Finland 2015. RIP pic.twitter.com/BFyi7T0MKy

— Will O’Regan? (@willovision) August 15, 2023

She continued: “Two songs had been chosen and each one had to be sung by two different performers, but they had a problem because nobody wanted to sing that terrible little song called ‘All’.”

The song aired on television but was never recorded so it never entered the charts. Bredin went on to marry Canadian millionaire Charles MacCulloch and moved to Nova Scotia. She remained in Canada after her husband’s death.

‘All’ recieved a total of six points in the Eurovision singing contest which put Bredin ahead of Austria, Switzerland and Belgium. The winner of the contest ended up being Corry Brokken with the song ‘Net Als Toen’ for the Netherlands.

All 10 of the participating countries each had 10 jury members who held their own vote. They were able to support a single song with the artist receiving the most votes winning the competition.

The Netherlands ended up getting a single vote from the UK jury while France, Denmark, Italy and Austria each received two. The final UK vote went to Luxembourg.

Though she did not win Eurovision, Bredin went on to have a long career on both stage and screen before retiring and moving to a farm in Nova Scotia to raise cattle. She starred alongside Sid James in the film Desert Mice and was the lead in Left Right and Centre, with Ian Carmichael and Alastair Sim.

She also became a regular in musicals in the West End and on Broadway, once taking over a role from Julie Andrews as Guenevere in the original production of Camelot.