| "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single byHerreys | |
| from the album Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley | |
| Language | Swedish |
| Released | 1984 |
| Length | 3:02 |
| Label | Mariann |
| Composer | Torgny Söderberg |
| Lyricist | Britt Lindeborg |
| Producers |
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| Eurovision Song Contest 1984 entry | |
| Country | |
| Artists |
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| As | |
| Language | |
| Composer | |
| Lyricist | |
| Conductor | |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 1st |
| Final points | 145 |
| Entry chronology | |
| ◄ "Främling" (1983) | |
| "Bra vibrationer" (1985) ► | |
| Official performance video | |
| "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" onYouTube | |
"Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" is a song recorded by Swedish trioHerreys – brothers Per, Louis, and Richard Herrey – with music composed byTorgny Söderberg and Swedish lyrics written byBritt Lindeborg. It was produced byAnders Engberg and Torgny Söderberg. Itrepresented Sweden in theEurovision Song Contest 1984, held inLuxembourg, winning the contest.
"Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" was composed byTorgny Söderberg with Swedish lyrics byBritt Lindeborg. It was produced byAnders Engberg and Torgny Söderberg. It is an upbeat 1980s-style dance song. It deals with the lead singer discovering a pair of golden shoes in the street one day. He puts them on and immediately feels like dancing in the street, entering a "magical world". Thus, he wishes for everyone to have a pair. In addition to the Swedish original version,Herreys recorded the song in English with lyrics by Per Herrey.[1]
On 25 February 1984, "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" performed by Herreys competed in the23rd edition of theMelodifestivalen. It received 49 points, winning the competition. As the festival was used bySveriges Television (SVT) to select their song and performer for the29th edition of theEurovision Song Contest, the song became theSwedish entry, and Herrey's the performers, for Eurovision.[2]
On 5 May 1984, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at theThéâtre Municipal inLuxembourg hosted byRadio Télévision Luxembourg (RTL), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Herrey's performed "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" first on the evening, precedingLuxembourg's "100% d'amour" bySophie Carle.Curt-Eric Holmquist conducted the event's orchestra in the performance of the Swedish entry.[3]
At the close of voting, the song had received 145 points, winning the contest. Herreys sang their winning reprise half in Swedish and half in English.[4] They became the third winners of the competition to sing from pole position, followingTeach-In in1975 andBrotherhood of Man in1976. No song sung first or second has won since.[5] The song was succeeded as winner in1985 by "La det swinge" byBobbysocks representingNorway.
Despite the reception the song receives today, in the run-up to the contest it was not an immediate favorite to win: bookmakersLadbrokes hadIreland's "Terminal 3" andItaly's "I treni di Tozeur" as higher favourites, so the song winning came as a surprise to many. Fellow Swedish Eurovision participantTommy Körberg famously dubbed the group "the dancingdeodorants" in the press, a derogatory nickname that stuck with them for the rest of their career in their home country[6] – and the nonsensical title harking back to previous entries such as "Boom Bang-a-Bang", "Ding-a-dong" and "La, la, la".
The song has achieved considerable fame among Eurovision Song Contest fans, with a well-known archive of contest lyrics using the domain name diggiloo.net, named after it.
Richard Herrey, the lead singer of the band, performed "Let Me Be the One" (1975 British entry) as part of the interval acts of the fiftieth anniversary competitionCongratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest held on 22 October 2005 inCopenhagen.[7] All three band members performed the song with a mixture of English and Swedish lyrics in the Eurovision sixtieth anniversary showEurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits held on 31 March 2015 in London.[8][9] On 9 May 2024, they performed the song at the end of the second semi-final of the2024 contest held inMalmö, Sweden.[10][11][12]
The highest chart position the song reached was No. 2, in theSwedish singles chart. They reached No. 46 on theUK Singles Chart.
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13] | 11 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] | 3 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[15] | 4 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[16] | 5 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[17] | 4 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] | 2 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] | 10 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[20] | 46 |
| West Germany (GfK)[21] | 18 |
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| Preceded by | Melodifestivalen winners 1984 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Eurovision Song Contest winners 1984 | Succeeded by |
