Eurovision songs of the past

[alphanguy74]

I had never heard Du ar den ende, It's a lovely song, and I would have liked it better had someone else been singing it. I will say that it does suit her voice much better...what bothers me about her voice is her stacatto, almost halting phrasing style, if you know what I mean? I have also never seen the dress thing, what a prank to pull! How was that receieved? Did people frown upon such tomfoolery?

[I Am A Swede]

Well, I think the audience enjoyed it very much, but the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) maybe not so much.

She didn't do it during the dress rehearsal, and I think that after this stunt it was written in the rules that the dress rehearsal and the actual show had to be exactly the same.

This was Terry Wogan's (legendary commentator from the UK) reaction:

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[Huntress]

Lys Assia, winner of the very first Eurovision Song Contest back in 1956, is taking part in Switzerland's national final for the 2012 edition, which is due to be held next week. Assia is 87 years old and competes with a song written by Ralph Siegel, "C'était ma vie".

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[alphanguy74]

Huntress... that is absolutely amazing! 87 years old.

[I Am A Swede]

She does sound remarkably good for an 87-year old (I'm a bit worried how it will sound live though), and I'm all for nostalgia, but seriously......

[I Am A Swede]

I don't know how common it is for two songs to share the same title, and in two different languages! But this is exactly what these two songs do:

UK 1985, Vikki Watson "Love is" (4th place)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35PeRoQ7Msg

Sweden 1998, Jill Johnson "Kärleken är" (Swedish for "Love is") (10th place)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_kc9E9mg3I

Everyone knows that in 1996 the Spice Girls stormed into the charts worldwide with their hit "Wannabe", but I doubt that many know that ESC had it's own Spice Girl wannabe as early as 1966.... Here's Tonia from Belgium singing about a little pepper and a little salt ("Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wpib5tzLu4

[I Am A Swede]

Here are some very famous artists who participated in the ESC in the beginning of their careers:

Nana Mouskouri, "A force de prier", Luxembourg 1963, 8th place

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHdG1XdjCEg

Julio Iglesias, "Gwendolyne", Spain 1970, 4th place

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Olivia Newton John, "Long live love", UK 1974, 4th place

Cèline Dion, "Ne partez pas sans moi", Switzerland 1988, 1st place

[I Am A Swede]

Since the current voting system was introduced in 1975 16 songs have gone away from the contest without receiving any points at all. (In some cases that was very much deserved) Here are a few of those songs.....

Norway 1978 (Jahn Teigen, "Mil etter mil")

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Spain 1983 (Remedios Amaya, "Quien maneja mi barca")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8Kxse79VsM

Austria 1991 (Thomas Forstner, "Venedig im regen")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6TUwsF3LHk

United Kingdom 2003 (Jemini, "Cry baby")

Switzerland 2004, semi-final (Piero & The Music Stars, "Celebrate")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU56oDF38TQ

[alphanguy74]

Goodness, the 1983 spain entry made my ears bleed! And Jemini.. is that their name? Never heard of the group before, but neither one of them can sing. It sounds like a high school talent contest. the Norway entry is the singer... the song itself is quite nice, I think it would have fared better had it not been sung by such a drama queen.

[I Am A Swede]

I actually don't think the Spanish song is that bad now. Back then it almost shocked the audience, because the songs were usually very bland during the 80s. I think it would have done much better nowadays.

As for Jemini from the UK.... From what I read their earpieces malfunctioned so they couldn't hear the music and that caused them to sing completely out of tune.

[alphanguy74]

They certainly wouldn't have had that problem with an orchestra. Having said that..... any singer REALLY worth thier salt wouldn't have to have the track in their earpiece...at that point, they should know the song and the key well enough to sing it completely acapella, the notes of that song should have been burned in their brain by then.

[I Am A Swede]

Oh, I agree. Their performance left a lot to be desired. I just don't think they would have been quite so horrible if they didn't have those technical problems. They would probably still have been bad, but on a lesser scale.

In all likelihood nerves played a part as well. More so for her than for him. She looks like she wants to be anywhere except on that stage.

[alphanguy74]

I've been reading and hearing various things... some people were all outraged and thought they were sabatoged. I'm thinking, yeah, sabatoged by lack of talent! LOL Another thing an expereienced singer would have done, if your earpiece goes out, you rip the earpiece out, and cover one ear with your hand (Robin Gibb has always done this to hear himself better) I saw Mary Wilson live one time whee her earpiece went out, and she used her hand, and sang right on the money... she even told the audience, "I hope you all can hear me, because I sure can't". WE could hear her.. it was just her earpiece. That's why I like stage monitors instead of those earpieces. I also wonder if HER starting out bad threw HIM off... I know I cannot sing a single note on pitch if someone singing next to me is off key.

[I Am A Swede]

I mentioned a few posts ago that the songs in the 80s were mostly bland and forgettable (compared to that interesting entry from Spain 1983...). Here are some examples of what I meant. They're not bad songs, just a bit dull.....

Switzerland 1982

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JWPqwQWIH4

Germany 1988

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f9WTlaKEj0

Austria 1989

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Spain 1984

[alphanguy74]

I like the 1982 Swiss entry the best out of that group. Thomas Forstner... he is so beautiful I don't think I can take it. When he signs in a higher key, vocally, he reminds me of Christian Anders. Ah... I also remember having that hairstyle, I may go back to it before too long.