2003 Dutch national finalist Berget Lewis headlines Sunday’s Eurovision-filled X Factor UK

Just yesterday we had Montenegro’s Eurovision 2017 representative Slavko Kalezić auditioning on The X Factor UK. Now, this evening’s episode has been even more Eurovision-filled than yesterday’s! While one Eurovision connection would be immediately obvious to viewers, another one would not have been so obvious…

The new ABBA?

The second-half of tonight’s episode began by featuring elderly duo Just Us. The ladies performed a cover of one of ABBA’s lesser-known songs Hasta Mañana. In fact, the group considered submitting the entry to Melodifestivalen 1974 instead of Waterloo thinking that the ballad would be more in tune with previous Eurovision winning entries. Nevertheless, ABBA chose Waterloo and the rest is history!

Back to tonight’s episode, Just Us were joined by judges Louis Walsh and Nicole Scherzinger for their rendition of the track. Simon played up the British Eurovision stereotypes by claiming the group were destined to win next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Additionally, Waterloo was used to soundtrack the celebrations of the so-called “new ABBA”. Well any Eurovision publicity is good publicity, right?

Nationaal Songfestival 2003′s Berget Lewis stuns the judges

Nevertheless, normality was restored with our final auditionee of the night: Berget Lewis. Many Eurovision fans probably wouldn’t have realised that Berget also has a Eurovision connection. Yes, she took part in the 2003 Dutch national selection for Eurovision in a duet with Simon Linnenbank. As Lewis & Simon, they performed Let’s Give It A Try in the last of four semi-finals in Nationaal Songfestival 2003 but narrowly missed out on qualifying for the final. Of course, Esther Hart was the landslide victory with One More Night.

Berget has gone on to achieve success in The Netherlands but auditioned for The X Factor UK in order to break out of her home country. Her audition of Prince’s Purple Rain wowed the judges, also featuring Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne, and easily progressed to the next round!

A Eurovision-filled “Overs” category!

Berget will join Slavko at bootcamp which will air on ITV next weekend. Both of our Eurovision-connected acts will be in the Overs category and be fighting for places in the next round of the competition to air in early October: the Six Chair Challenge. We wish them both the best of luck in following in Saara Aalto’s incredible footsteps last year!

Do you remember Berget’s involvement in Nationaal Songfestival 2003? Furthermore, how does Hasta Mañana rate against Waterloo in your ABBA affections? Let us know in the comments below!