You're a Vision Award

History

The award's lineage traces to the Barbara Dex Award, created in 1997 by Edwin van Thillo and Rob Paardekam, founders of the Dutch Eurovision fansite The House of Eurovision. That original prize went to the artist judged to have the "worst dressed outfit" and was named after Belgian singer Barbara Dex, who represented Belgium in the 1993 contest and finished last. Her self-made semi-transparent dress was later described as "looking like a lampshade" by William Lee Adams of Wiwibloggs. Voting was initially internal but opened to the public from 1999. The Barbara Dex Award was discontinued after the 2021 contest, with Norwegian entrant Tix as its final recipient. On 13 March 2022, Songfestival.be announced a replacement award for the "most remarkable outfit", first used at the 2022 contest. Following an online vote, the name "You're a Vision Award" was announced on 29 April 2022, a wordplay on "Eurovision". Australia's Sheldon Riley became the first winner in 2022. Finnish runner-up Käärijä won in 2023, and Croatian runner-up Baby Lasagna won in 2024. After the 2025 contest, no vote was held and no announcement was made, marking the first year since 1996 that neither award was given. The award's future remains uncertain as of the latest update.