What are your favorites? Which ones should have won? Which ones won but didn't deserve to? Also... were there any finalists from individual countries which never made it to the contest, which you feel should have? By researching Eurovision entries, I ahve found SO MANY songs i've never heard before that I truly LOVE. My favorite of all of them is this one, and i'm totally hacked off that I can't seem to find it on CD in any form!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFjTUsYZ_uU

Coming in a close second is from the same year. I fell in love with this the first time I heard it, and the preview video was beautifully filmed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Hx2dOhszs

This is definitely a thread for me! I've been a Eurovision fan for as long as I can remember.

A little fun trivia that I'm not sure you know: the lyrics to "You're summer" were written by Lars Forssell, a respected poet and member of the Swedish Academy!

Edited November 17, 201114 yr by I Am A Swede

No, I didn't know that! As lovely as the song is, i'm sure ti would have never gotten airplay in the US, seeing as it had the word "breasts" in the lyrics, although in this context, it's beuatiful and poetic, and not dirty in any way. One thing that i've always wondered is why so many of the UK entries in the late 60's and early 70's were such "carnival music" for lack of a better term. I hate Lulu's "Boom Bang a bang" with a passion, and I LOVE Lulu. Antoerh one I couldn't stand was Brotherhood of Man's "Save Your Kisses For Me" Mainly because I'm a really big fan of the original group, and I can't stand the second version of the group. Considering this song was a finalist that same year, I think it's a CRIME that this didn't win and represent the UK in 1976

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuo5dNBZz-c

A lot of people don't share your feelings about "Save Your Kisses For Me"! It's the most commercially successful song ever from ESC. Over six million copies sold worldwide according to all the sources I've read. It hit number one in over 30 countries!

Everyone knows of course that ABBA won the ESC for Sweden in 1974 with "Waterloo". But that wasn't the only time that Björn and Benny wrote songs for the Swedish selection. ABBA had already tried once before, in 1973 with "Ring Ring", but the two B's also wrote songs for the Swedish selection in 1972 and 1975.

This song became a huge hit for singer Lena Andersson in 1972, even though she only finished 3rd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQqzTPTKwBI

Svenne & Lotta had a sizeable hit with this song in 1975, and ABBA even recorded it themselves for their 1975 album. It also finished 3rd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAaYNNAQWB8

Edited November 17, 201114 yr by I Am A Swede

A lot of people don't share your feelings about "Save Your Kisses For Me"! It's the most commercially successful song ever from ESC. Over six million copies sold worldwide according to all the sources I've read. It hit number one in over 30 countries!

I know.... it's my own personal hangup and I know it! LOL I suppose most of my disdain is for the group more than the song. I know the group itself catches alot of flack for being Abba Imitators, and that song in itself is an imitation of Tony Orlando and Dawn's hits from their album "The New Ragtime follies". I'm not alone, as I found that nearly 100 percent of fans of the original Brotherhood Of Man have an extreme dislike for the second version of the group.... and you can see why, as they are quite different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1TpG8M73V0

I LOVE Bang-A-Boomerang, but the female vocals on that version are pretty lacking, no Frida and Agnetha, that's for sure. i'm assuming that since Abba won in 74, they couldn't compete in 75? Now.... that song by Lena Andersson is beautiful! I've never heard it before, i'm so glad you posted it, it's gorgeous beyond words!! . I know many people think of French being such a beautiful language, but I actually think Swedish is the most beautiful language, IMO. I have Agnetha's 1968 album and love so many of the songs on it, her voice is so clear and bell like, and she could write such lovely melodies.

Edited November 17, 201114 yr by alphanguy74

No, I didn't know that! As lovely as the song is, i'm sure ti would have never gotten airplay in the US, seeing as it had the word "breasts" in the lyrics, although in this context, it's beuatiful and poetic, and not dirty in any way. One thing that i've always wondered is why so many of the UK entries in the late 60's and early 70's were such "carnival music" for lack of a better term. I hate Lulu's "Boom Bang a bang" with a passion, and I LOVE Lulu. Antoerh one I couldn't stand was Brotherhood of Man's "Save Your Kisses For Me" Mainly because I'm a really big fan of the original group, and I can't stand the second version of the group. Considering this song was a finalist that same year, I think it's a CRIME that this didn't win and represent the UK in 1976

Hazell Dean!!

She sang on one of my favourite songs in the 80s:

As for the UK entries.... I guess they didn't want to change a winning concept. From 1959 to 1977 the UK only missed the top 4 one (!!) time. Of course, they only won three times during that period..... But with these results:

1959: 2nd

1960: 2nd

1961: 2nd

1962: 4th

1963: 4th

1964: 2nd

1965: 2nd

1966: 9th

1967: 1st

1968: 2nd

1969: 1st

1970: 2nd

1971: 4th

1972: 2nd

1973: 3rd

1974: 4th

1975: 2nd

1976: 1st

1977: 2nd

it's hard to deny that they did something right.

I LOVE Bang-A-Boomerang, but the female vocals on that version are pretty lacking, no Frida and Agnetha, that's for sure. i'm assuming that since Abba won in 74, they couldn't compete in 75? Now.... that song by Lena Andersson is beautiful! I've never heard it before, i'm so glad you posted it, it's gorgeous beyond words!! . I know many people think of French being such a beautiful language, but I actually think Swedish is the most beautiful language, IMO. I have Agnetha's 1968 album and love so many of the songs on it, her voice is so clear and bell like, and she could write such lovely melodies.

I don't think ABBA wanted to compete again. They had already won the big contest, so why risk entering again?

Agnetha actually wrote a song too for the Swedish selection, in 1981:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa5B-txRDzA

Sadly it finished in 5th and last place. The runner-up that year is one of my personal favourites though:

Edited November 17, 201114 yr by I Am A Swede

Your'e right of course, about the UK's track record. Very good. It appears that the judges at Eurovision during that period really liked "Cutesy" type songs, while as you can tell, I'm a big lover of beuatiful, lush ballads. Here's another UK Finalist from 1970 that I liked, "Early In The Morning Of Your Life"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMNty5QKBgQ

During the 90s, with the explosion of ethnic influences, I fell head over heels in love with most of the entries from Cyprus and Greece.

Greece 1997:

Cyprus 1994:

Greece 1992:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvgRH_E9qKg

Oops, I can't believe I forgot this one!! This is one of my all-time favourite Eurovision songs!

Cyprus 1995:

OMG I had to post about this. Alphanguy74, I couldn't stand the reincarnation of Brotherhood Of Man in the mid '70s with that saccarine ditty "Save Your Kisses For Me". I didn't even like the way all four of them looked. Now, the first version of this band circa 1970 was terrific. Two of the singers, sisters Sunny Leslie and Sue Glover, would eventually be background singers for Donna Summer in the mid '70s, singing on her albums A Love Trilogy and Four Seasons Of Love. They were also members of a backing group called The Midnite Ladies or somethang like that, singing on Munich Machine's 1977 album with that disco classic Get On The Funk Train on it. Everyone knows them for "United We Stand", but get a listen to the follow-up WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO MY LOVE, my favorite from them. http://youtu.be/SNw6jCpMN8I

Edited November 19, 201114 yr by OldSchoolSoapFan

In regards to I Am A Swede and Alphanguy74's posts about Swedish music, after listening to Lena Andersson's versions of SOS, Fernando and Hasta Manana (in German and Swedish, respectively), not only do I think Andersson has a better voice than the ABBA girls, but the Swedish versions are much more pleasant to the ear. Swedish and Norwegian are both melodious languages, which is interesting since most would think that the Romance languages of southern Europe can be classified as such.

Personally, I think the UK entries in Eurovision "back in the day" were cheesy (although I do like Clodagh Rodgers' "Jack In The Box"). Something tells me post-1970 that all the good British music had gone to the States entirely.

you know, Oldschoolsoapfan... I always thought even Agnetha's vocals sounded better in Swedish. I think alot of it is because when a singer sings in their primary language, it always sounds better, as they don't ahve to concentrate on the pronunciation, and can concentrate more on the phrasing and such. And I like "Jack In the box" as well... Clodaugh looked incredible in those pink hotpants she wore on the night of the performance. Now... I'm so glad someone put up the original version of "Where Are You Going To My Love", I love that song. you don't have to sell me on Sunny and Sue, I have all 3 of the original Brotherhood Of Man's albums, 1970's "United We Stand" (there's and expanded CD edition that's been released) 1971's "We're the Brotherhood Of Man", and 1972's "The World Of the Brotherhood Of Man". AND..... Sunny and Sue performed at Eurovision in 1975, backing up Joy Fleming. And with them is none other than Madeline Bell, and all-star backing trio that was!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe0fzxoDupc