The Eurovision Song Contest was been awarded the 2016 Charlemagne Medal (Médaille Charlemagne pour les Médias Européens) for media that had contributed to European unity at a ceremony in Aachen, Germany.

Björn presented the medal to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)’s Director-General Ingrid Deltenre and Eurovision Song Contest Executive Supervisor Jon Ola Sand after giving a quite remarkable, clever and inspiring speech.  His speech is well worth listening to.

There was also some fans on hand to film him arriving and after his speech - thank you to them for uploading and sharing their footage.

LAUDATORY SPEECH ON AWARDING OF CHARLEMAGNE MEDAL TO EUROVISION SONG CONTEST - BJÖRN ULVAEUS

Click link above for transcript - Björn tweaked a few word when actually delivering the speech:

"And the winner is ...Sweden … Those might not have been the exact words, but that certainly was the meaning. And the venue was The Dome in Brighton and the year, as several people have said already, was 1974. The song-writers had already been asked to come on stage and Stig Anderson and Benny Andersson, my co-writers - not-related - they were already on stage. But me, I was struggling with a security guard at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the stage.

I could see exactly what was going on in his mind.  He thought, "That guy, he's not a song-writer. They don't look like that - funny costume, platform boots and a star-shaped guitar. He's got it all wrong, he's the artist."  So he says to me, "No, no, sir, you have to wait." And I was seriously pissed off by this time!  But eventually I got to go on stage with the two ladies to perform the winning song once more and that was, of course, Waterloo.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason why I am standing here today and I’m so proud having been to present give this wonderful award to the European Broadcasting Union and the Eurovision Song Contest.

60 years ago – 1956 - when Elvis changed the world with Heartbreak Hotel, television was still in its infancy – but a new television show was created by the EBU, to go beyond the boundaries of the technology of the day and to unite people all over Europe through their love of music.

It was seven countries back then. Then in the 70s, Israel and Turkey joined and the 90s, the communist countries, the former communist countries - from eastern europe and central europe and now with Australia partaking for the second year, this is truly a global phenomenom. And as someone said before, almost 200 million viewers last year.

In this competition it is appropriate to say - you must excuse me - the winner takes it all (applause). We rarely remember those who came second or third. When I wrote this speech I had to look it up. And in '74, an Italian lady called Gigliola Cinquetti came No.2 with Si. Remember that one? (someone whoops!)  No, you're too young, you're too young!

No.3 came a Dutch duo, man and woman, Mouth & MacNeal, and they did a song that went goes something like, "I see a star, a brand new star, it's like the twinkling in your eyes." (applause).  Good tune. We were dead scared of that one. We thought it would be tough competition.

And Mouth, that was the guy, I thought I could see in him that he and I shared the same problem. Our pants were too tight! I had not been able to sit down all evening, I’d been walking up and down corridors. Had I sat down, my pants would have ripped! And I remember, you know, coming back to Stockholm one morning, looked myself in the mirror and I said, "You wanna be a pop star?  Well, what you see in that mirror isn't one!"  I lost 15 kilos. Steak, medium rare, mixed salad - for a very, very long time. 

I'm ... In 2013 Sweden hosted the Eurovision Song Contest final in Malmö. The motto for the event was ”We are one” to celebrate the unity of European. And I was asked, together with Benny Avicii to write a song for the procession - there was a procession of artistes going into the arena - very pompous at the beginning of the show. And I called it  We Write the Story. And I took inspiration from European history. Not from Napoleon or Duke of Wellington this time.

I know that there are far too many dark chapters in that history. The world wars and the 30 years war, the Crusads, the Inquisitionm, etc. etc. But I took inspiration from the forces that stood against that cruel and superstitious world order.

I think I’m a European. I have always felt like one. And even in this world of post-modernism, I will  stick out my neck and say that I don’t think it’s hubris or arrogance to be humbly, quietly proud of the Greek and Roman philosophers, of the renaissance, the enlightenment or our modern liberal democratic, secular societies with their freedom of speech and their constant striving for equality between man and woman. I'll stand up for those values - always. (applause)

We are living in distressing times. The migration crisis, religious fanaticism is threatening to break up Europe once again. Extreme nationalism seems to be on the rise. We thought we were rid of them, but no. The Europe that we love has always be defended and fought for again and again.

And for me here, the Eurovision Song Contest is a powerful symbol. I would go as far as to say that it's a weapon against those forces that want to drag us back to the middle ages once more. It's more relevant than ever. And I think that, you know, those hours, those bright, shining and uplifting hours when the Eurovision Song Contest final is on the air all over Europe, that’s one of the few times nowadays when Europeans can get at least a sense of what it is to be connected, to live in unity and in harmony. And no other event really comes close to that I think.

So after ABBA had won the Eurovision Song Contest that fateful night back in 1974, it was all pure chaos. I spoke to Nicole about this earlier today and she agreed - chaos, chaos. Everyone wants to talk to you. But ... I do ... I don't remember much of that but I do remember waking up early the next morning, having just slept a few hours and my beautiful, blonde wife still sleeping peacefully beside me, I felt so good despite a slight hangover I suspect. I felt so good.  I dawned on me finally that yesterday we were this obscure little group from Scandinavia and today the whole world knows about us. That is the power of the Eurovision Song Contest.

So no-one can be more grateful than me. The contest changed my life completely.  It's now an incredible 42 years ago and here I am. It's absolutely incredible. And my horizon, my time persepctive back then was like a year ahead. And what was later to happen in reality that would have been too far-fetched for that young man in that hotel room even to imagine. And how it really happened, to this day, I don't know.  It's a mystery and I love it!

So you understand why I'm so honoured to be here and to give this award, later on I think, to a well-deserving, a worthy recipient if there ever was one, the European Broadcasting Union, Ingrid Deltenre and the Eurovision Song Contest, Jon Ola Sand.

Thank you.

Eurovision.tv
European Broadcast Union

Thanks to Monique Hoevens, Charles Patrick and Claire-Louise Emmerson c/o ABBAtalk and Pascale Ranson and Shanika Ranasinghe c/o ABBA Village.
YouTube links c/o European Broadcasting Union and Eurovision Song Contest, abbapics and 
Pieter Mielen