Official Charts Pop Gem #56: Imaani – Where Are You

She may have just lost out to Dana International in 1998, but Pop Gem victory belongs to Imaani!

Our Pop Gem theme this week was – what else? – EUROVISION.

We asked our Facebook friends and Twitter buddies for Eurovision tunes that might not have taken home the big prize, but were winners in their eyes, and worthy of a Pop Gem

Any country, any year – it didn’t matter. We got quite a few British suggestions, understandably, but more international songs than we originally expected.

After much deliberation, we got it down to 12 finalists – well, 11. As you may notice, one Eurovision act made it onto the list TWICE, which has never happened before!

It was a tough list, with an unprecedented number of songs that aren’t actually that very well known at all beyond the super-keen Eurovision circle. (Check out our playlist if you need a reminder.)

After playing the videos over and over and over again, and debating who deserved to be inducted into the Pop Gem Hall Of Fame, we went for a genuine one-hit wonder who was repping our very own UK – congratulations Imaani’s Where Are You.

Watch Imaani perform at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 before we explain why victory had to be hers.

Why it had to be Imaani

Eurovision can be tough, but Imaani had the biggest hill to climb of all. The previous year, 1997, the UK had won Eurovision after a 16-year drought. Katrina and the Waves’ Love Shine A Light had romped to victory in Dublin to bring the trophy home.

Imaani’s song had been wildly popular in the Song For Europe selection process, but consecutive wins for countries are particularly rare (unless you’re Ireland). Performing on home turf is a nerve-wracking experience, but Imaani gave it her all.

The song

Where Are You couldn’t have been more different from Katrina’s winning song of 1997. Where Love Shine A Light had been a message of hope with a singalong chorus that wouldn’t be out of place at a football match, Where Are You was a dark thumping house track telling a tale of love and loss, with Imaani’s powerhouse vocals hammering all that anguish home.

In the end, Imaani did much better than many imagined, impressing almost all the international juries – with telephone voting being included for the first time – and scored 166 points.

The voting went down to the wire, with Malta, Israel and the UK all within reach of victory. It was Macedonia’s vote that helped UK lose out to Israel’s Dana International – easily one of the most famous winners of the last 20 years – and gave the UK another second placing. The UK has finished as runner-up 15 times – a Eurovision record– with Imaani’s amazing effort the best we have done in the Contest in the last 16 years.

Imaani’s chart story

Where Are You is Imaani’s only solo offering to make the UK Top 40. It reached Number 15 in 1998. Two years later, Imaani provided vocals for Tru Faith & Dub Conspiracy’s cover of Adina Howard’s Freak Like Me, which peaked at Number 12.

Imaani, you may not be a Eurovision winner, but you’re Number 1 in our eyes! Welcome to the Pop Gem mansion.

Video playlist

Take a look at your shortlisted Eurovision Pop Gems!

Pop Gem Hall Of Fame

Today's Pop Gem is the latest in a long line of amazing pop songs that have been inducted into our Pop Gem Hall Of Fame. Take a look at all the tracks who've received the honour so far

Your Pop Gem needs you

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