As Eurovision fans the world over look at the big circle on the calendar for September 1st, never forget the rich musical history that the Eurovision Song Contest has. Part of the goal of our ‘Every Eurovision Song’ project is to rediscover some of the classics from the past, and tracks that you really should listen to once more.
If we can find a few new ear-worms in the back catalogue, so can you!
TIme once more for the a few of the highlights from the last batch of songs. Don’t forget you don’t need to wait for the highlights, you can follow along every day at EveryEurovisionSong.com!
Every Eurovision Song, week 10 & 11 gallery
Right then, on with the diamonds from the history of the Contest… and Italy.
Norway 1960: Voi Voi, by Nora Brockstedt
Well this is frustrating. After a bit of crash-boom opening that grabs the attention, ‘Voi Voi‘ wanders into a bit of a mash. I love the lyrics here, and they do sound like ‘early sixties’. But the music, the orchestra, the composition… That part of the equation is ever so slightly wrong and drags down the whole performance.
I wish Norway had taken those lyrics, twisted them a little bit, and paired them with a far better composition to capture the same energy and modern feeling. It feels like there is a hit song lurking just under the surface. Actually, not just a hit song, but a hit song that would have a chance of longevity through the decades.
Norway landed a fourth place with their debut, and Brockstedt would be back in 1961 (‘Sommer i Palma’). That track pushed back to a more traditional sounding chanson than challenging the pop music sound. Norway would have to wait until 1985 for their first victory (with ‘La Det Swinge’). I can’t help feeling that they missed their chance to win on their debut…
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Switzerland 1970: Retour, by Henri Dès
Yes it is an unfortunate still frame that YouTube has chosen, but go on, hit play. I was tapping my foot immediately.
‘Retour‘ is just bonkers. It has that insane beat that screams ‘mad psychadelic chase’ in a kids film; it has the ba-bar-bar bah-bah’ so everyone can sing along; and Dès has a pitch perfect presence and performance on stage.
It’s distant but completely in the moment. It knows this is pastiche but it takes itself just seriously enough to sell the song.
If you want an example of a song where the performance risks everything on a high-wire presentation that could go horribly wrong but doesn’t… This is it. Where ‘Cake to Bake‘ failed in the 2014 Contest, ‘Retour‘ succeeded in 1970.
I can’t help smiling, I can’t help a tiny bit of ironic head-banging, and I am so singing along. I think I have found one more guilty pleasure from the Eurovision archives.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Italy 1985: Magic Oh Magic, by Al Bano & Romina Power
Let’s be clear here. Once you add up all the elements of ‘Magic, Oh Magic‘ there’s only one possible conclusion. This entry is utterly painful.
From the opening shots of the backing dancer in Sarah’s wedding dress from ‘Labrynth’ to the cheating chorus lyrics of woa-woa-woa, there is no respite.
Some Eurovision performances can pull this off. Those that do know they are bad and play on this. I think that Bano and Power are convinced they have a stylish winner here.
Power starts the lead vocals off with an off-key sliding note and doesn’t really make up for it. Bano strolls in like the typical older ‘Swiss Tony’ you always get when you have four female Italian singers on stage. He’s so confident in his snake-oil charm that he still has his reading glasses on! On top of that, you have the backing singers dressed as the Italian flag?
‘Magic, Oh Magic‘ isn’t even switched on enough to try and camp it up.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Greece 1995: Pia Prosefhi, by Elina Konstantopoulou
‘Pia Prosefhi‘ would be the sort of song that I would label ‘Eurovision’ in my formative years. Making good use of the staging to create a dark and traditional space, it brings a traditional sound to the Eurovision stage. A sound that was unlike anything in the charts, or on the radio during the rest of the year, the native language folk inspired numbers always caught my ear.
Looking back on the Greek entry now, it’s a strong outing for this style of song, but it does have flaws. Any song that relies on a slow burn needs to have a starting place that leaves enough room for the vocals, the music, and the intensity to build up to a climatic ending. Konstantopoulou starts with too much punchy energy for me. The pacing is slightly off. If the song had started at a slower pace, then the transformation over the three minutes would have been far more impressive. As it is, when you reach the chanting wails near the end of the song, there’s no more in the tank, it can’t build on the previous verse and chorus.
This means no big crescendo, because it has already reached that level. Then the song just ends.
Start this song thirty seconds before it does and finish it thirty seconds before the actual end. Then it could have been a masterpiece of the traditional style. Instead, it’s just quietly appreciated.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Estonia 2002: Runaway, by Sahlene
‘Runaway‘ might have been better called ‘Runway’. This is one of the earliest songs to make good use of the ‘satellite stage’ that we’ll start to see more of in the stadium era of Eurovision. Strictly speaking we’re back to putting the singer out front (as Eurovision did in the fifties), with the caveat that the band in the background are not the orchestra.
We’re also deep into the ‘Swedish Schlager’ sound of pop music at the Song Contest as well. We’ve even got a Swedish singer drafted in at the last minute. While it’s a great pop song, it doesn’t have anything ‘nationalistic’ around it. Stadium era Eurovision minimises this tradition, instead focusing on crowd pleasing anthemic presentations. IN that sense this Estonia is the sound of things to come. It’s annoying and cheery in the same breath, it looks like everything and nothing in the same camera shot, and the country is almost immaterial.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Hungary 2007: Unsubstantial Blues, by Magdi Rúzsa
You know when people say that Eurovision is all about the dancers, the pyrotechnics, fixed political voting, and why should anyone bother?
This is why they should bother.
Hungary is not the sort of country that can gather cultural diaspora votes. If they can rock up to the stage with an incredible song, a powerful singer that can fill the entire stadium, and score an easy qualification and a Top Ten on the Saturday night; then nobody else has an excuse.
And I use the phrase ‘rock up’ very carefully. Here’s one of the rare Eurovision songs where the studio version is competent, but the live performance is a huge improvement on the submission for the Eurovision CD. The studio version biases towards the bluesy side of Rúzsa’s nature. It’s nice, but not an immediate ear-worm that can survive the three minute crucible of the Contest.
Congratulations to Rúzsa for reaching into herself, pulling out her love for Janis Joplin, and just letting rip on stage in the faded jeans and white tank top of “I don’t care about fashion, I’m just here to sing a little song.”
This is how to do Eurovision. With conviction, passion, belief, and just a little piece of your heart on show.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Who’s Next On The Stage?
You can follow the project every day at EveryEurovisionSong.com, or check back here on ESC Insight for the weekly highlights. For those of you interested in the count, the project has now reviewed 306 songs… which leaves 1050, and we’ll be doing our best to finsih them all by the time we get to Vienna and the 60th Anniversary Show!
Hungary 2007 – Was and still is an ace of a song. One of my favourites.
However did you notice that the background they are using is very similar to The Netherlands 2014. The route motive on the stage and on the screens behind and there is also similarity in some of the shots(and if YLE would have kept it more to close ups and less to wide shot, I believe Hungary would have done even better than what they did)