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

I have to say this... the 1962 Luxembourg song..... they got Dracula to sing it?

Don't be mean to Camillo Felgen!!

He had participated two years earlier as well, and done something very rare. His song that year, "So laang we's du do bast" was not in French like most entries from Luxembourg. Instead he sang in Luxembourgish. It's a small language belonging to the German language family.

It was not a success though and he ended up last, with only a single point. Luxembourg went back to singing in French, and did not attempt another song in Luxembourgish until 1992 when Marion Welter sang "Sou fräi". It didn't work that time either, and she ended up third from bottom. But this time they persisted, and the next year, their song, "Donne-moi une chance de te dire", while sung mainly in French, incorporated a few lines in Luxembourgish. It ended up in 20th place of 25 entries, and Luxembourg hasn't entered Eurovision since then.

Since this year's ESC is featuring a few performers who have their best years behind them ( ), I thought it would be nice to look at a few examples of the exact opposite. Nowadays you have to turn 16 the year you enter ESC, but that rule wasn't always in place.....

12-year old Gili Natanael (with Galit) for Israel 1989:

11-year old Nathalie Pâque for France 1989:

12-year old Jean Jacques for Monaco 1969:

13-year old Sandra Kim for Belgium 1986 (the youngest ever winner of the Eurovision Song Contest):

I think EBU did the right thing with the age limit. Many experienced performers have talked about the intense pressure during the contest, and I don't think young children should be subjected to that.

Songs in French and English have dominated the Eurovision Song Contest over the years. Amazingly enough songs in German have only won twice, 1966 and 1982. Here are some of the many non-winning songs in German over the years:

Switzerland 1975 - Simone Drexel "Mikado"

West Germany 1980 - Katja Ebstein "Theater"

Austria 1985 - Gary Lux "Kinder dieser Welt"

West Germany 1989 - Nino de Angelo "Flieger"

The way the mistress of ceremonies pronounced the conductor's name it sounded like "Wolfgang Rutabaga". I like Katja Ebstein, but Mimes? That alone guaranteed a loss. I like her 1970 performance best. The verses lack real direction melodically, but the chorus is outstanding, and her costume, even more outstanding:

Having said that, the recording of the song is MUCH better.... the organ parts being played by piano in the competition really hurt this song, IMO. The verses are much more interesting to listen to with that organ:

Edited April 9, 201213 yr by alphanguy74

That is a great, classic Eurovision song.

Katja is the most successful performer in the ESC without ever actually winning the contest. She participated three times (1970, 1971 and 1980) and placed in the top 3 on every occasion.

After the fall of the Soviet Union and the eastern bloc in the early 1990s those countries expressed a wish to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest. So in 1993 a mini pre-contest contest was arranged with 7 countries (4 from Eastern Europe and 3 from desintegrated Yugoslavia): Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. The top 3 in this mini-contest qualified for the big contest later that year, and after a tight voting the lucky ones were Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Croatia

Slovenia

A few more personal favourites of mine from past contests:

Turkey 1997 - Sebnem Paker "Dinle"

Belgium 1990 - Philippe Lafontaine "Macedomienne"

Greece 1980 - Anna Vissi "Autostop"

Luxembourg 1961 - Jean-Claude Pascal "Nous les amoureux" (One of the best of the early winners in my opinion)

(Couldn't find a decent video of him performing the song)

After Finland's victory in 2006 Portugal became the longest-running competitor without a win in ESC history. They entered for the first time back in 1964, and are still waiting for that elusive first win. That doesn't mean that they haven't hade any good songs through the years though.....

1969: Simone de Oliveira - Desfolhada Portuguesa (15th place)

1982: Doce - Bem Bom (13th place)

1991: Dulce Pontes - Lusitana Paixao (8th place)

1996: Lúcia Moniz - O Meu Coracao Nao Tem Cor (6th place, Portugal's best result ever)

2008: Vania Fernandes - Senhora Do Mar (13th place) This one should have won! A fantastic song and performance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfZWEs37P6Y

Here's my favorite from Portugal... my only complaint is he RUSHED the song in the first verse, singing a full beat ahead of the music, he found the groove after that, but it was one heck of a shaky start:

Only one artist has managed to win the ESC twice (Johnny Logan, 1980 and 1987), but there have been others who tried....

1968 Isabelle Aubret - "La Source", 3rd place (Isabelle won in 1962 for France with "Un Premier Amour")

(This song was inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film "The Virgin Spring"!)

1979 Anne-Marie David - "Je Suis L'Enfant Soleil", 3rd place (Anne-Marie won in 1973 for Luxembourg with "Tu Te Reconnaîtras")

(Personally I think this song is better than her winning song from 1973)

1985 Yizhar Cohen - "Olé Olé", 5th place (Yizhar won in 1978 for Israel with "A-Ba-Ni-Bi")

(Typical Israeli entry, but not one of their best)

2008 Charlotte Perrelli - "Hero", 18th place (Charlotte won in 1999 for Sweden with "Take Me To Your Heaven"

(Perhaps not a winner, but certainly deserved better than 18th place!)

And since the introduction of the semi-final in 2004, a lot of good songs missed out on advancing to the big final.

Some examples:

Glennis Grace / "My Impossible Dream" (Netherlands, 2005, 13th place in the semi-final)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BALtXHH9Umw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ich Troje / "I Follow My Heart" (Poland, 2006, 11th place in the semi-final)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K3BUErdeHAk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sílvia Night / "Congratulations" (Iceland, 2006, 13th place in the semi-final -> she was booed before her performance)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cik9WOwF4SI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sabrina / "Danca Conmigo" (Portugal, 2007, 11th place in the semi-final)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4y9bCR-9aIA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Eiríkur Hauksson / "Valentine Lost" (Iceland, 2007, 13th place in the semi-final)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/trjc4NIKPf4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hind / "Your Heart Belongs To Me" (Netherlands, 2008, 13th place in the 1st semi-final)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C2Ty9TAJusA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Tamara, Vrcak and Adrijan / "Let Me Love You" (FYROM, 2008, 11th place in the 2nd semi-final)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/U1zveFx0N9g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe

Kuunkuiskaajat / "Työlki Ellää" (Finland, 2010, 11th place in the 1st semi-final)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nQ6hKDGOmts" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Kristina / "Horerohnie" (Slovakia, 2010, 16th place in the 1st semi-final)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cWAuSgkG44I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Miro / "Angel Si Ti" (Bulgaria, 2010, 15th place in the 2nd semi-final)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZMJGB_mL2Jw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I think Glennis Grace's problem is that she sounded like Whitney Houston in bad voice. It's always not good when you imitate an iconic singing style of a major star, because it always ends up falling short.

And since the introduction of the semi-final in 2004, a lot of good songs missed out on advancing to the big final.

Some examples:

Sílvia Night / "Congratulations" (Iceland, 2006, 13th place in the semi-final -> she was booed before her performance)

The booing had more to do though with her off-stage behaviour than with the song if I'm not mistaken.

The biggest shock for me was that this song failed to reach the final in 2006:

Not only was it a good song (in my opinion), but Kate Ryan was a well-known performer with international hits behind her. I was absolutely convinced she would reach the final.

Edited April 29, 201213 yr by I Am A Swede

Since the Eurovision Song Contest has been around since 1956 it is not surprising that we have lost some of the artists that have entertained us through the years. Here are some, but certainly not all, of the performers that have passed away:

Frida Boccara (1940-1996), "Un jour, un enfant", France 1969

André Claveau (1915-2003), "Dors mon amour", France 1958

Grethe Ingmann (1938-1990), "Dansevise", Denmark 1963 (together with her then husband Jørgen Ingmann)

Toše Proeski (1981-2007), "Life", Macedonia 2004

Ingvar Wixell (1931-2011), "Absent friends", Sweden 1965

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGP069PtnHI