Better the Devil You Know (Sonia song)
| "Better the Devil You Know" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Sonia | ||||
| from the album Better the Devil You Know | ||||
| B-side | "Not What I Call Love" | |||
| Released | April 1993 | |||
| Format |
CD single 7" single 12" single |
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| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 2:36 | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Writer(s) | Brian Teasdale Dean Collinson |
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| Producer(s) | Nigel Wright | |||
| Sonia singles chronology | ||||
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 "Better the Devil You Know" |
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|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 1993 entry | |
| Country | |
| Artist(s) |
Sonia Evans
|
| As |
Sonia
|
| Language | |
| Composer(s) |
"Red" (Brian Teasdale) and Dean Collinson
|
| Lyricist(s) |
Red and Collinson
|
| Conductor | |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result |
2nd
|
| Final points |
164
|
| Appearance chronology | |
| ◄ "One Step Out of Time" (1992) | |
| "We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)" (1994) ► | |
"Better the Devil You Know" is a pop song written by Brian Teasdale and Dean Collinson for English singer Sonia. The single was released in April 1993 as the second and final single from Sonia's third album, Better the Devil You Know. The song was the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993.
For A Song for Europe 1993, the BBC asked the heads of each of the Eurovision Network member broadcasters for their opinion regarding who should represent the United Kingdom from a shortlist the BBC had prepared. A plurality chose 22-year-old recording artist Sonia, who already had a #1 hit to her credit. She then sang eight different songs at the national final. For the second year running, a nationwide telephone vote was held to pick one song to send to the Eurovision finals, held this year at Millstreet, County Cork, Ireland. "Better the Devil You Know", the fifth song performed, won with over 156,000 supporters, twice as many as the second-place entry.
At Millstreet, the song was performed nineteenth on the night, after Bosnia and Herzegovina's Fazla with "Sva bol svijeta", and before the Netherlands' Ruth Jacott with "Vrede". At the end of judging that evening, "Better the Devil You Know" took the second-place slot with 164 points. Belgium, Iceland, Austria and Israel gave the UK 12 points that evening. This was the fourth time the UK had ranked second in the voting since 1988.
The song was a retro rock 'n' roll offering with a 1950s flair. Sonia tells the story about how in love she is with her boyfriend, wishing he won't hurt her, for her love is true. She lets it known that she would "sell her heart and soul" to get his unconditional love in return, rationalising that it's better that one deal with "the devil you know" (him with his faults) instead of "the devil you don't" (another potential boyfriend).
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Wikipedia