Barbara Dex Award

Did You Know?

• In a January 2006 interview with ESCToday, Barbara Dex stated that there was "nothing wrong" with the award.
• A 2015 poll by Wiwibloggs found Guildo Horn, Germany's 1998 Eurovision act, to be considered the worst-dressed of previous award recipients.

History

The Barbara Dex Award was created by Edwin van Thillo and Rob Paardekam, founders of the Dutch Eurovision fansite The House of Eurovision, in 1997. It was named after Belgian singer Barbara Dex, who represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1993 wearing a self-made, semi-transparent dress that William Lee Adams of Wiwibloggs described as making her "look like a lampshade". The award was initially given to the worst-dressed contestants, with Malta's 1997 entrant Debbie Scerri as the first recipient.

After two years of internal selection, public voting began in 1999. Following the closure of The House of Eurovision after the 2016 contest, the award was handed to the Belgian website Songfestival.be and its founder Jasper van Biesen, who hoped to broaden its reach. Starting with the 2019 contest, the criterion changed to the "most notable outfit", later refined to "most striking look". Songfestival.be stated that the prize for the most striking outfit did not intend to label anything as ugly or place the Song Contest in a bad light.

On 13 March 2022, Songfestival.be announced the end of the Barbara Dex Award due to its negative connotation, replacing it with the You're a Vision Award for the "most notable outfit". Following an online vote, the new name was announced on 29 April, aiming to promote creativity, diversity and positivity in Eurovision onstage fashion. Australia's 2022 entrant Sheldon Riley became the first recipient of the You're a Vision Award.