Belgium, Finland and Slovakia, participants in the previous year's contest, were unable to return after being excluded by the new relegation rules.

The winner was the United Kingdom with the song "Love Shine a Light", written by Kimberley Rew and performed by Katrina and the Waves.

These included: the first openly LGBT artist, Iceland's Paul Oscar, selected to compete in the event; changes to contest rules led to the abandonment of live musical accompaniment in future events; a successful trial of televoting in five countries led to widespread adoption for all countries in 1998.

The 1997 contest took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1996 edition with the song "The Voice", performed by Eimear Quinn.

[10] Additionally, Tor Endresen and Bettina Soriat, who represented Norway and Austria, respectively, in this year's event, had performed in previous contests as backing vocalist.

[15] The audio-only qualifying round used in 1996 had been poorly received among the competing countries, and so a new relegation system was introduced by the European Broadcasting Union for 1997 and future contests.

[16] In cases where the average was identical between two or more countries the total number of points scored in the most recent contest determined the final order.

[9][16] Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Romania and Slovakia were therefore excluded from participating in the 1997 contest;[16] however following Israel's withdrawal due to the date of the final clashing with its Holocaust Remembrance Day, Bosnia and Herzegovina was subsequently provided a reprieve and allowed to participate.

Table key The Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was produced by the Irish public broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ).

[22][23][24] On behalf of the contest organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the event was overseen by Marie-Claire Vionnet as scrutineer.

[4] A tight security presence was felt during the rehearsal week; emergency drills were held by Gardaí, including evacuations of the Point Theatre, as a precaution against potential disruption from loyalist paramilitaries as part of the wider sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland.

[5][32] The trophy awarded to the winners was designed by Maura Whelan and Luc Racine, and was presented by the previous year's winning artist Eimear Quinn.

[37][38] The points awarded by the majority of countries were determined by an assembled jury of sixteen individuals, which was required to be split evenly between members of the public and music professionals, comprised additionally of an equal number of men and women, and below and above 30 years of age.

The votes of each member were collected following the country's performance and then tallied by the non-voting jury chairperson to determine the points to be awarded.

[8][39] Irish boy band Boyzone, with co-presenter Keating as a member, featured as part of the show's interval act, performing the song "Let the Message Run Free".

[5] The winner was the United Kingdom represented by the song "Love Shine a Light", composed by Kimberley Rew and performed by Katrina and the Waves.

[39] Jury voting was used to determine the points awarded by most countries, with televoting used in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

[41] Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.

[109][110] The winner in 1997 was Malta's representative, Debbie Scerri (as determined by the founders of the House of Eurovision site, Edwin van Thillo and Rob Paardekam).

[114][115] Paul Oscar's participation, as well as changing attitudes to homosexuality in Europe in the following years, marked the beginning of wider visibility of LGBT artists and themes; the following year's event provided the first trans participant in Israel's Dana International, 2002 saw Slovenia's Sestre become the first competing artists to perform in drag,[q] and the 2000 contest contained the first display of same-sex affection on stage through a kiss between the two male members of the Israeli band PingPong.

[10][122] The abolishment of the orchestra proved controversial among some circles, with three-time, former Eurovision winner Johnny Logan referring to the modified event as "karaoke" in 2000.

[123] The introduction of televoting to the contest followed several years of successive Irish wins, with the national juries typically voting for more traditional, middle-of-the-road songs than those that represented the wider tastes of the general public, as was the case in 1996 when Eimear Quinn's "The Voice" was victorious over more modern entries such as Gina G's "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit", which represented the United Kingdom at that year's event and would go on to receive a nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 1998 Grammy Awards.