Members alphanguy74 Posted November 20, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2011 Huntress..... are there much more countries allowed to participate than in the 70's, for instance? I heard Iceland mentioned, and I don't remember seeing anything from them in the older contests. Of course, back then, Yugoslavia was one country, and then split into four, I believe? so that right there increases the playing field a great deal. I know Israel participated for the first time in 73. I have to say I do't care for the recent contests because I want the freaking ORCHESTRA. when it comes to Germany's entries... I actually like Silver Convention's "Telegram" from 1977: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNpW9WqbCiY Which is unusual for me, because I ususally HATE Silver Convention My favorite German entry of all time comes from Mary Roos in 1972, "Nur die Liebe Läßt uns Leben " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S5yt48iUpU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted November 20, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2011 holy cow... I just watched that entry from Iceland... how bizarre. First, a flaming fairy surrounded by women like that? He grabbed his crotch, too! I actually like the song, but I think it was a bit theatrical for Eurovision. I think the staging and performance kind of distracted from the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted November 20, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2011 Here's another one of my favorites, from Netherlands 1977. Heddy Lester has such a bright and lovely voice, and open and pretty face. Beautiful melody, and she really has tons of stage presence. I can't decide if I like that gown or not, though: Please register in order to view this content BTW.. I am swede... I didn't know that other song that Clodagh did was second to Jack In the Box, they both sound quite similar, to be honest. But I have to admit, I rarely hear a song from Clodagh that I don't like. I think she's quite underrated as a singer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I Am A Swede Posted November 20, 2011 Members Share Posted November 20, 2011 Yes, there was a big increase in countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union. All the Eastern European countries suddenly became available. As for Iceland, it was, I believe, more technical difficulties that prevented them from entering earlier. They finally solved those problems and entered for the first time in 1986. Here's a list of all participating countries and the year of their debut: 1956: Belgium. France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland 1957: Austria, Denmark, United Kingdom 1958: Sweden 1959: Monaco 1960: Norway 1961: Finland, Spain, Yugoslavia 1964: Portugal 1965: Ireland 1971: Malta 1973: Israel 1974: Greece 1975: Turkey 1980: Morocco 1981: Cyprus 1986: Iceland 1993: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia 1994: Estonia, Hungary. Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia 1998: Macedonia 2000: Latvia 2003: Ukraine 2004: Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Serbia and Montenegro (as one country) 2005: Bulgaria, Moldova 2006: Armenia 2007: Czech Republic, Georgia, Montenegro, Serbia (as independent states) 2008: Azerbaijan, San Marino Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I Am A Swede Posted November 20, 2011 Members Share Posted November 20, 2011 ESC has over the years provided us with quite a few.....hrm.... memorable performances. Here are some truly golden oldies: Belgium 1973: Please register in order to view this content Yugoslavia 1968: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZC8dNlBd0M&feature=related Finland 1976: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GRHrYqq0TM Germany 1979: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOsoNuKCEJY&feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Max Posted November 20, 2011 Members Share Posted November 20, 2011 I'm so sorry that I'll probably contribute very little to this thread. I certainly don't intend to be rude; it's just that I know so little about most of these songs. I was wondering how the original 1968 version of MacArthur Park--performed by Richard Harris--fared at Eurovison. (On the Billboard Hot 100, this song peaked at #2, and a disco cover version by Donna Summer went to #1 a decade later.) That's fascinating that another artist first recorded "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," a #2 hit for Diana Ross & the Supremes & the Temptations in 1969. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I Am A Swede Posted November 20, 2011 Members Share Posted November 20, 2011 I don't think it's rude at all. Feel free to contribute as much or as little as you want. As for your question, the song MacArthur Park was never featured at Eurovision. Songs that appear in the ESC are written directly for the contest, and are not permitted to have been performed or published before. Their running time is also restricted to a maximum of three minutes, although many songs are longer than that when they later appear as singles, and are performed in shortened versions at the contest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted November 20, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2011 Thanks for this... i was trying to think how to concisely explain to Max how it all worked, and that summed it up really well. Virtually every Eurovision song is released as a single after the contest, just not before. And Max... take a listen to some of these, since I don't like 99 percent of modern music, this is how I've found many songs I never heard before.... so it's like having new music, without it being new. Nicole and Hugo.... perhaps the most ridiculous song and even more ridiculous looking duo to ever grace the Eurovision stage. My face gets hot with embarrassment every time I see them. I've only been researching and getting into Eurovision songs in the last couple of years, is there regulations on who can perform a song for a certain country? Because I saw the Telecast of the 1975 German finals on youtube, and Jurgen Marcus lost out ot Joy Fleming, but then, it seems he represented Luxembourg the NEXT year, what's up with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Max Posted November 21, 2011 Members Share Posted November 21, 2011 I Am A Suede, thank you so much for explaining precisely how Eurovision works. Alphanguy, I know exactly what you mean when you say "it's like having new music, without it being new." It's great to broaden one's horizons, which is why I eagerly look forward to each and every song that will be posted in this terrific thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I Am A Swede Posted November 21, 2011 Members Share Posted November 21, 2011 I don't think there's any general rule regarding that. It's up to each individual country. Many small countries, like Luxembourg and Monaco, have almost always been represented by artists and composers from other countries. Most of them from France, but Spanish disco duo Baccara represented Luxembourg in 1978, and their winning song in 1972, "Après Toi" (my all-time favourite Eurovision song by the way) was performed by Greek-born Vicky Leandros, to name just a few examples. Here in Sweden we had a rule that you had to be a Swedish citizen to represent us, but I don't know if that is still the case nowadays. A few Swedish artists have represented other countries over the years though. One member of the Norwegian group Secret Garden, who won the contest in 1995 was Swedish for instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted November 21, 2011 Author Members Share Posted November 21, 2011 Thanks... that pretty much clears it up. I can see how tiny countries wouldn't have the pool of composers and artists to draw from. I knew that the selection process is different in each country, because in the German finals, each song was sung by a different singer, and whichever song won was sung by that singer in the contest. When in the UK... it seems that singer is chosen FIRST, and then on national TV, all the entries are performed by that one singer, THEN the song is chosen. (At least in 1970 and 74 that was the case) Many times I like the preview videos better than the actual performance at the contest. But these preview videos can drive me batty, because it seems that in several cases, the version presented is different from the recorded version of the song. for instance, the preview of "Eres Tu" I love much better, because it has that cold ending.... and I can't seem to find that a version with the cold ending has ever been released on record: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s3BIX0duKs And another one I love is "That's What Friends Are For", where I like the version on the preview video far more than the recorded version. So I emailed Jimmy Swarbrigg and asked him about it (I was wondering if it was an alternate version or single version or something) and he told me at the time they made the preview video, they hadn't recorded the studio version yet, so they lip synched to the audio from the Irish finals telecast. He was aggravated that the telecast of the Irirsh finals doens't exist anymore, but at least the audio survives... he said they had a 100 piece orchestra for the broacast (which explains why I like it so mujch better) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLiTkF1XvF4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Huntress Posted November 21, 2011 Members Share Posted November 21, 2011 Yes, even these days it is quite often the case that songs are completely overhauled between the national pre-selection and the contest – most notably, the arrangement is changed and the songs get translated to English. Since 1999, countries are no longer required to sing in their native language. Some examples: Albania's 2010 entry was called "Nuk Mundem Pa Ty" in the pre-selection and was then changed to "It's All About You" for the final ESC version with a complete different arrangement. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xGoPlYF2OOM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qgeklMIc6_k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Iceland's 2008 entry was called "Fullkomið líf" in the first editions of the pre-selection. In the national final, the duo presented the song in English in a different arrangement. The arrangement and parts of the lyrics were again changed for the final ESC version. <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sYOw1q3HjNE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BYkhR8idx8U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I Am A Swede Posted November 21, 2011 Members Share Posted November 21, 2011 ESC has changed tremendously over the years, from a rather formal affair with dressed up people and performers standing still on stage and just singing to what nowadays more resemble a rock concert. It's gone from this: Please register in order to view this content to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGTINfM-wI0&feature=related Quite a change, isn't it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Huntress Posted November 21, 2011 Members Share Posted November 21, 2011 Will I be punished when I say that I don't like a single Greek entry from the last decade? Along with Turkey and Armenia, Greece has been ranked too high far too often. I especially dislike both of Sakis Rouvas's entries. I can't stand artists who rely too much on their backing singers and can barely be heard while performing some circus act on stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I Am A Swede Posted November 21, 2011 Members Share Posted November 21, 2011 You won't be punished by me, that's for sure. I totally agree with you! I love most of the Greek entries from the 90s, but the last decade have been horrible. Personally I think Sakis Rouvas' "performance" for Greece 2004 that I posted above is far more cringeworthy than Nicole and Hugo, the dynamic duo from Belgium 1973. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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