News - esctoday.com TOP TEN: No. 7 and 6 | Eurovision Song Contest News - Azerbaijan 2012 

This list features the ten Eurovision Song Contest performers, who are said to have sold the most records, CDs and downloads worldwide. The numbers are based on various sources and mostly estimated based on sales certifications. 

So here we start...

No. 7 - Vicky Leandros

Vicky Leandros is reported to have sold about 150 million records worldwide. She was born in Greece but her family moved to Germany when she was still a child. Her first single was released in 1965, when she was fifteen years old. Already this first song Messer, Schere, Gabel Licht was a small hit and it marked the beginning of a successful carreer. The singer has released countless albums and singles in German, English, French, Japanese and Greek and many of them have achieved gold or platinum status. For about ten years, she hals also been producing and composing much of her own music. 

In 1967, she represented Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest under her first name Vicky only and she finisehd fourth with the song L'amour et bleu. The song was also a commercial success and spawned a series of popular cover versions. In 1972, she represented Luxembourg the second time and this time she won with the song Après toi. In 2006, she tried to represent her home country Germany in the contest in Athens but only finished third out of three participants with her own composition Don't break my heart. 

Après toi remains Vicky Leandros' biggest hit worldwide. The song was recorded in seven languages and it was a success in many countries, especially in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Japan, where the song reached the top of the charts. Counting the song's different versions as one, Après toi is said to have been the most sold single worldwide in 1972. In the German speaking countries however, her biggest hit was a song called Ich hab' die Liebe gesehen, which was included on the same album as the German version of Après toi.  

Après toi (1972):

No. 6 - Céline Dion

Céline Dion is reported to have sold 175-200 million records worldwide. She is from Québec, the French speaking part of Canada and she was discovered by her future husband René Angelil when she was still a child. Her first album was released in 1981 and more records, most of them very successful in Québec, were released over the folloiwing years. Her first hit in English was Where does my heart beat now, which was premiered as opening act of the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 in Lausanne. She became even more famous, when she recorded the title track of the soundtrack of the Disney film Beauty and the beast. Her career achieved a peak in 1998, when she released the Titanic song My heart will go on. Her Las Vegas show, which ran from 2003 to 2007 was watched by three million people and it is one of the highest grossing music shows ever.

Céline Dion represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, six years after she had already represented France in the Yamaha Music Festival. She could win the contest with the song Ne partez pas sans moi getting only one point more than the UK representative Scott Fitzgerald. 

Céline Dion's biggest hit is without a doubt My heart will go on. It was the best selling single worldwide in 1998 and it received countless gold and platinum certifications. It is also said to be the second most sold single by a female artist behind Whitney Houston's version of I will always love you. The biggest hit album by Céline Dion was Falling into you in 1996 as it was sold more than 32 million times in total. 

My heart will go on (1998):

Tomorrow, we will introduce no. 5 and 4 on the list.