EuroNite - This Week 1995

Back to normality with the final EuroNite of the year, we arrive at 1995.


The UK Song For Europe lives long in the memory!  No-one was more astonished than me at the easy win enjoyed by Love City Groove with the imaginatively titled "Love City Groove".  If the UK were to send such an act in 2011, then it would be N-Dubz!  My televote went to the entry above, Samantha Fox with the equally imaginatively named group Sox and "Go For The Heart".  Not because I thought it would win, but it was the best song out of a rather average selection.


Love City Groove scored a landslide victory, but if there is one thing the UK doesn't do well, and that is "trendy".  Presumably the voters who gave their fivepenceworth to them thought "this is modern, this is trendy, this will do well!",  whereas I thought "this is rubbish, we've got no hope, what sort of a name is Beanz?".  I wasn't wrong as we trailed in 10th when we got to Dublin.


After 3 successive Irish victories they made sure it wasn't going to be a 4th as Eddie Friels "Dreamin'" was one of the most ordinary entries in their history.  The triumphant country on this occasion was Norway, although calling their entry "Nocturne" a song was almost contravening the Trades Description Act, as it was little more than a tune with a few words thrown in for good measure.  One of my least favourite winners, and thankfully the EBU saw fit to change the rules in it's wake.

Aurela Gaçe Wins In Albania

Managed to find a live stream courtesy of Kosovan Television, as the TVSH links were dead again.....

As NFs go it was of fairly standard quality, so I was quite surprised at how easily Aurela Gaçe won.  Receiving the 12 points from 5 of the 6 jury members (no televote remember) it was pretty much a one horse race from the start.  Alban & Miriam trailled in a rather distant second place, which was a shame as I felt they had the stronger entry,  Aurela being a bit shouty.  Wont qualify in any case, not a hope.

Albanian Final Tonight

Merry Christmas Everyone!!


Technical faults permitting - blast you TVSH for blocking the webcasts of both semi-finals, as the working properly links all mysteriously went dead prior to both broadcasts - I hope to be tuning into the Albanian NF this evening.  Looking forward to it, from the qualifiers I've heard so far I would expect the winner to be Alban Skenderaj & Miriam Cani with "Ende Ka Shprese" and nothing else.  As it is all jury and no televoting, any other outcome would be unlikely.  I will post the winner on here either later on tonight or tomorrow.

Latvia - Entries Online

Having listened to the Latvian entries (all 20 of them) I was rather stunned at what I considered to be the high quality of most of them.  Imagine my dismay when scouring the various Eurovision forums where very few shared my opinion.  Now, I'm not suggesting  I heard any potential winners here, far from it, but I felt the standard was very high and I'm not impressed with the general concencus of opinion "Boring" "Snoozefest" "Ordinary".  I have heard a hell of a lot worse over the years!!  I do agree with one thing, there could have been a couple of Lavian language efforts to vary the content.


The only entry that seems to gaining any favour is one of the very few I ditched before the 3 minutes were up, so poor did I consider it.  Lauris Reiniks, who I remember as one member of F.L.Y., has returned as a soloist with a song entitled "Banjo Laura".  I hate it.  I can only think that it is his popularity in Latvia that is carrying him on, because the song is awful.  If it should get the Latvian nod then it is a certain non-qualifier (surely Latvian TV aren't still paying for Marie Ns win of years ago....).  I would wager good money that the winner will be found elsewhere. 


Narrowed it down to three I like:


"Live On!" - Oksana Lepska
"Cinderella" - Ivo Grisnins-Grislis
"Summer Night" - The Secretz






The songs are all here: Latvian Pre Selection


****


No EuroNite this week due to a late work finish, back to normal on Wednesday 29th December.

EuroNite - This Week 1994

EuroNite once more, and we are back in Dublin.  This weeks flashback however is tinged with great sadness as this will be the first time I have watched the show since the brilliant Gerry Ryans sad passing back in April.  I was a huge fan of the great man and his death upset me greatly.


Another high quality concert, and one that Ireland were certainly not expected to win!  Having already triumphed 2 years in a row, it was likely that the head of RTE had already sold anything he could get his hands on to stage the concert for a second time - heaven knows what was going through his mind when Paul & Charlie carted off the prize with "Rock n Roll Kids".  On the face of it the Irish had sent a reasonable not-supposed-to-win effort, and I will be honest here that at the time I didn't much like it - but over the years it is one winner that has grown and grown on me, and I'm rather fond of it now!


There was decent opposition in the form of Elisabeth Andreasson & the late Jan Werner Danielson with "Duett" for Norway, which was my idea of the winner and remains one of my all time favourites.


Of course, the biggest hit to emerge from 1994 wasn't even in the contest - Riverdance.  Surely there has never been a better interval act than Michael Flatley and company.  Simply amazing, and no surprise it is as popular now as ever.

Switzerland - Anna Rossinelli Wins

The result of the Swiss National Final is now known, and it is congratulations to Anna Rossinelli who has triumphed with "In Love For A While".  On the downside It does appear that the Swiss Televoters and experts have plumped for a rather "safe" and Lena-Like option (suspect the contest will be full of Lena-a-Likes next year, you heard it here first).  What cannot be disputed of course is that it is a vast improvement on Michael van der Heides effort of 12 months ago.

I did think that all the pre-final favourites were nothing special, and looks like the televoters agreed.

Probable qualifier, but not a winner in my opinion.  I'll stand by my earlier assertion that we shall not be in Lausanne in 2012.

***

First UK rumour to surface seems to indicate that we may finally be returning to ways of old by internally selecting a well-known performer.  Last time we did this was with Frances Ruffelle in 1994 (of who more on Wednesday).

Names in the frame appear to be all female - Charlotte Church, Pixie Lott and Katherine Jenkins.  At least we know they can all sing!!  Although Charlottes reputation often proceeds her, she would be my choice of the three.  Pixie would secure the youth-vote and little else (not many grannies would have heard of her) and I haven't heard Katherine do anything but classical, which doesn't particularly inspire.

I am told to expect an announcement shortly, but knowing the BBC I am not holding my breath. 

EuroNite 1993 Part 2

A much enjoyable contest, with many high quality songs.  My hubby returned from his night out as I was was having a tuneless Sing-Along-A-Niamh moment as she belted out the reprise.  It was the correct winner, make no mistake.  The fact that Sonia came close to winning (another year when it went down to the last vote) took me, and I suspect many others watching, by complete but pleasant surprise.


At the other end of the scale, the song that ended up with the wooden spoon is curiously one of my all time favourites.  Poor Barbara Dex from Belgium has had a lot to put up with since 1993 (the joke about her outfit is wearing a tad thin), but I thought her song was fabulous and far more worthy than the 3 points gained.

EuroNite - This Week 1993 (and other news)

After a blank Wednesday last week, back to normal this week.  Our Euro-journey has reached 1993.  At the time I well remember being a little disappointed that Sonia had been internally selected to represent the UK as I was no fan of Stock-Aitken-Waterman-type music, and thought that all the pre-selection entries would be of similar fare.  I wasn't wrong, as 6 of the 8 songs were in that style, including the one above which was my second choice "Gonna Put A Spell On You".

I did televote for the winner (in line with 150,000 others), admittedly, however thought the standard of entries in our NF that year was distinctly average.  The fact that we almost won the whole thing with "Better The Devil You Know" (another year when it went to the final vote) took me by complete surprise.

*****

When is a semi-final not a semi final? Just when you all thought you had heard the last of the Ukrainian selections until the New Year (or a least until the televote selections had been revealed), it seems NTU changed the rules.


Do keep up with the next bit, it will be worth it...........


The semi finals were actually quarter finals it would now seem.  The 15 qualifiers as of right, along with the 5 televoted also-rans and, bizarrely, 4 others who didn't qualify either on the day or by the subsequent televote (including a timely reprieve for A.R.M.I.Y.A. I am pleased to hear) have been split into 3 groups of 8, of which 5 so far have qualified for, I assume, the NF (although who knows, maybe there will be even more qualifying rounds).  


Are you still with me?? 


(By the way, Jemchug, who caught the ear in week 3 with "Hero" have made it safely through.)

Switzerland NF

One week tomorrow sees the first National Final of the season, in Switzerland.  Having heard all the entries a number of times now, I still cannot find a single one that would be good enough to qualify for the contest proper, no matter what the Swiss televoters select.  The only one I thought was half decent was Sarah Burgess with "Just Me".  The other selections are moderate at best, and am at a loss why anyone would think "Come What May" by The Glue, or "Home" by The Colours & Ilia are even remotely good enough to represent Switzerland in Dusseldorf. And as for an act by the name of Polly Duster, one word - avoid.


I think that the main problem here was the web selection.  How many of the better entries of the 300+ songs may have been a) eliminated by a few votes or b) not even heard.  There were far too many songs for anyone to reasonably listen to properly, and it would have served far more purpose if they had got some music professionals to whittle it down to say 50 maybe before releasing the selections online.  


In conclusion it is safe to say we will not be in Lausanne in 2012.

Finnish Entries Online

Have spent today working my way through the Finnish pre-selection entries just released online.  It was hard work as they are all much-of-a-muchness this year.  Managed to listen to most of them all the way through, only a couple were so bad I was forced to abandon them before the end.


Slight preference for a couple of the Finnish language efforts - Johanna Iivanainen, Milana Misic and Sami Hintsanen (I suspect the winner will be one of those), however if the Finnish voters prefer boy-bands then expect Automatic Eye or Father McKenzie to figure (I didn't like either for what it's worth).


Listen to them all here: Finnish Pre-Selection

Ukraine - Last Semi Final

The last of the Ukrainian semi finals was every bit as enjoyable as other weeks, that is of course if you ignored the comedy-outfits/headgear sported by three of todays finalists.  Congratulations to Tatyana Vorjeva, whose song "Vse Resheno" I thought was outstanding, Denis Povalyj and his effort "Aces High"(this song was good enough on it's own and did not warrant the daft looking pilots outfit complete with inflatable life jacket), and Jamala with her shout-fest "Smile", (or "SMIIIIIIILLLLLLLLE!" more accurately, see above).


The other qualifiers courtesy of the also-ran-televote will be announced next Sunday.


*****


Early notice, no EuroNite this week due to a late work finish.

I just added a couple of links to the sidebar, and if you are a lover of all things EuroSong then I strongly recommend visiting both sites.  Both offer Eurovision related albums/songs for download, and since I first discovered www.eurovisionalbums.blogspot.com at the beginning of the year my IPod has been abused heavily make no mistake! Three cheers for Jason Ray (aka "JR") for all his hard work!

EuroNite - This Week 1992

Despite a slight panic in the last week, I will be able to partake in EuroNite 1992.  Missing DVD turned up on Sunday (yes, really) afternoon.  Such is the shocking state of Royal Mail in Crewe they are having to send posties out 7 days a week (our post regularly turns up after 3pm in an afternoon which is disgraceful).


At the time of the 1992 contest I was somewhat of a Michael Ball fan, so more than a bit happy that the BBC had seen fit to revert to their old ways of internally selecting the performer.  However, his statement after the event when asked if he would do it all again "...I would rather stick needles in my eyes.." infuriated me.  I don't care how many times he claims he said it only in jest I will never believe him, never.  I heard him make the comment, and he meant every word. As for "One Step Out Of Time", well I did televote for it (despite MB not liking it much as I recall) and I genuinely thought we had a great chance of winning in Malmö. 


The contest itself (oh how I cringed when Harald Treutiger described Eurovision as the "..biggest gameshow in the world...") was a vintage musically.  Great show, including probably my most expensive EuroSong purchase ever.  From the preview videos I picked out "Nei eda Ja" by Heart 2Heart for Iceland as my winner, and when I tracked down a copy of the CD single on Ebay several years ago I was convinced I would get it cheaply on the premise that no-one else could possible want it. How wrong was I, and instead of the £5 I thought it would cost me I had to go to £18 to secure my purchase (I have no idea if it is worth that, but I haven't seen another since so assume it is fairly rare).  The UK gave Iceland their 12 points, proving my hearing wasn't on the wane - pity no other country could be persuaded to part with their top mark similarly.

I was gutted, naturally, when Ireland walked off with the Grand Prix.  Mind you with the King Midas of Eurovision, one J Logan, behind it maybe I shouldn't have been too surprised.  Not one of my favourite winners if I'm honest.

Good news.  My DVD has finally turned up.  Only took 10 days to arrive first class from Barnsley....


Means Wednesdays EuroNite is sorted thankfully.

Ukraine Qualifier - Week 4

Another excellent show, ruined by the so-called experts putting through the three of the more moderate entries.  One that was overlooked is the one above, a stunning performance by Dash who should have been a certainty with her entry (would go close in their NF as well).  Both the song and the delivery were out of the top drawer and one has to wonder whether there is a slight, erm, fixed element to the selection process so far....


I understand that some of the non-qualifiers will be put through courtesy of a Ukrainian televote, so it may not be the last we hear of "No One Knows".  Fine, fine song.

Enjoyed last nights EuroNite, musically speaking of course.  It is hard to disagree with Terry Wogans priceless remark "It was a sorry day for us all when this man won last year", but I am right about one thing - a few glasses of Dry White really does numb the pain of the most excruciating voting sequence in the contests history.  Luckily my husband was spared the sight of me drunkingly rambling "..shut the *** up you Italian ***...", as he came back from the pub just as Carolas wind machine was being cranked up for the reprise.


I am no fan of either of the tied winners, then or now.  The best songs (in my opinion anyway) were also rans (as ever).  Dulce Pointes is my favourite Portuguese entry ever by some distance, and I also liked Maltas effort "Could It Be" (still sounds to me as if it was written for a Disney movie).  Pity that the broadcast was spoilt by Toto Cutugno and a set cobbled together with rusty girders.


******


A slight panic ahead of next Wednesday.  Every January I do a quick audit of all my Eurovision DVDs, making sure they are all in their correct boxes and arranged in order.  Last time I did this there were three missing (I occasionally am too tired (or drunk possibly...) to remove the disc from the player), and although two were quickly located the other one, 1992, was nowhere to be found.  I remember last time that one came around my hubby had the manflu and didn't go out, so I was banished to the bedroom to get my weekly Euro-fix.


I used an old DVD player we had in the spare room instead of carting our main one upstairs, and I'm sure I must have forgotten to take the disc out.  Said DVD player is now missing (I am told it was believed broken and taken to the tip - didn't anyone check what was in it first?), and so I am one disc down.  Ordered a replacement 2 weeks ago, and although I am told it is on it's way it has still not arrived (I wont bore with the shocking state of Royal Mail in my part of Cheshire).  Fingers crossed it appears before next Wednesday.....

EuroNite - This Week: 1991

After last weeks hiatus we are back to normal with a Wednesday EuroNite.  Following on chronologically we arrive at 1991.  Both "Song For Europe" and the contest proper live long in the memory - for the wrong reasons though.  If I was after Paul Curtis's blood after "Give A Little Love Back...." the previous year, I wanted his head on a plate after he managed to perform the same trick for a second year - that is, somehow triumph with one of the worst efforts the UK has had the nerve to enter (and I include Jemini and Kenneth McKellar in that), leaving two far more worthy efforts with runners-up spots only.  Hell, how I despise "Listen To Your Heart" by a rather tuneless, to put it politely, Samantha Janus.  Utter rubbish, and for me the lowpoint of any UK entry ever.

The better songs that finished 2nd and 3rd were, "Lover Come In" by Brendan Faye, and "Little Bit Of Heaven" by Lorraine Craig (below, and receiver of my 5 penceworth).  I'm not suggesting that either would have brought the UK victory in Rome, but both were a cut above the piece of rubbish (and lets face it, it is utter rubbish) the televoters decided on.

Do not let me get started on the contest proper...... I have mentioned previously of my loathing of T Cutugno, and it is due in the main down to his "antics" throughout this broadcast.  From gatecrashing Gigliola Cinquettis reprise of "Non Ho L'Eta" at the start, to his utter incapability to speak any language other than Italian (did he not understand the job description for crying out loud) by the end, he remains to this day my most hated host by a zillion miles.   Thank god for Blossom Hill I say!!!!!  Hopefully I wont be feeling quite as much pain by the end of the night.

I have also been made aware only this week that I should keep an ear out for an unguarded remark made by Scrutineer Frank Naef after declaring Sweden had won one of the most contreversial votes ever.........

Ukraine Qualifier - Week 3

I have to admit that I really, really enjoyed all 7 of this weeks songs, it was a great show.  Considering the previous weeks were all of fairly modest fare, this presentation would have been worthy of their National Final.  There is a strong chance that the Ukrainian representative in Dusseldorf will come from either Shanis, Matias or, my favourite Jemchug (below).  I absolutely loved their song "Hero", and feel it must have a great chance (it becomes the 3rd pre-selection song to make it onto my IPod).  Matias, on the other hand, appears to be some sort of Ukrainian teen-idol, and although I felt his song was possibly the weakest of the selection, you just knew he was a certain qualifier.  If the Ukrainian tele-voters are all teenage girls, then he would be a stonewall certainty in the final.

Romania & Ukraine

Spending my Sunday morning listening to all 13 Romanian selections, and I am very pleased to report that the standard is surprisingly high (except for one - a wretched entry called "My Facebook Girl" which was absolutely torturous - avoid at all costs).  After a third placing in Oslo undoubtedly the Romanian confidence will be sky high.  I've narrowed it down to three selections:


Direcția 5 - "Cinema Love"

Hotel FM - "Change"

Claudia Pavel - "I Want U to Want Me"

The link to hear all of the songs is here:  Romanian Selections  The final is on New Years Eve.


Also, got the third instalment of the Ukrainian qualifiers to look forward to this afternoon.  Hopefully the standard will be slightly improved on the previous two weeks, and for the first time I will get to see all 7 entries, not just the 3 songs going forward to their NF. It can be seen here Ukrainian TV

No EuroNite Tonight

On only about a dozen times a year does a late work finish proclude me from have ing one of my Wednesday EuroNites.  Today is such a day.  If I went ahead and watched 1991 along with A Song For Europe, I probably wouldn't be in bed until well into the early hours!!!  Normal service will be resumed one week from now.

Webjoker - The Winners, And Other MF News

Well, I didn't manage to pick either of the two Swedish Webjoker qualifiers, and short of a complete miracle, I would think it unlikely that either Julia Alvgard (above) or Jonas Mattson will be seriously involved at the business end of Melodifestivalen.  Well done to both artists regardless, beating over 300 others is no mean feat.


In other MF news, I was delighted to hear the Elizabeth Andreasson has received a wild-card entry.  I am a massive Bettan fan of many years, and cannot wait to hear her new song.  It wil be a true highlight for me this season.  I'm confident it must have been a very decent song for her to be persuaded to perform, and as I said I cannot wait to hear it.

3 More Qualify in Ukraine

I was rather hoping the quality would improve from last weeks offering, how wrong was I.  Cannot find anything to like about Bahroma (a Radiohead-wannabe performance, frightful), Ivan Berezovskiys or Eduard Romanyutas tuneless efforts.  I cannot imagine for one minute one of them would be good enough to represent the Ukraine in Dusseldorf (unless they are hellbent on not winning).


Fingers crossed next weeks qualifier is a little more inspiring.

Webjoker - The Final 5

Spent this morning having another listen to the final 5 left at the end of the Swedish "Webjoker" pre-selection process.  This is where unsigned artisits / writers entered songs by the thousand in an attempt to gain two golden-wildcard-tickets to Melodifestivalen 2011.  I'm glad I haven't a chance to vote, because none of them strike me as particularly outstanding, let alone anywhere near good enough to win (even after a second listen).


If I have to narrow it down to 2 I will go for "Don't Stop" by Engla and "Tusen Natta" by Swedish boy-band Billy.  The Swedish televoters will probably have a different opinion I daresay.


If I rush home from work on Monday night I should be home in time to catch the streamed telecast which is avaialable here:   svt.se/melodifestivalen   (after clicking the link scroll down to see/hear the final 5).

Why Do We Sometimes Get It Wrong...

Had a great nights entertainment last night, EuroNite 1990 (my husband returned from our local social club just in time to catch me sticking two fingers up at the unseen Finnish Jury spokesperson giving Italy victory).  However, in common with other countries the UK have an uncanny knack of leaving their best chance of winning at home, and 1990 was no exception.  Where I had no problems with the sentiments expressed in Emma Booths ozone-friendly effort, it was essentially a rubbish song.  And for a Song Contest that is a problem I'd say.  The right and proper representative was the runner-up, the one below, John Miles "Where I Belong".  In melody, structure and performance it is light years ahead of "Give A Little Love Back To The World", yet got less than half the votes (including 5p worth from yours truly I clearly recall). I always suspected though, that the outcome would have been the same even if the decision had been left to juries and not televoters.  Big shame, this song is one that got away for certain, and would have been a major player in Zagreb.

 

...and after much searching, here is Euro-Cat!

A bit remiss of me yesterday that when mentioning the Swiss Webvote I didn't supply the link.  This is it:  Swiss Webvote - it only takes few moments to sign up, and a email link to activate.  Each person gets 4 votes only to distribute to either 1 entry (like I did) or a maximum of 4 entries.

Wednesday Night Is EuroNite - 1990

Wednesday nights mean only one thing in my house - EuroNite - the one night a week I spend reminiscing in front of a contest past (and the odd UK Song For Europe as well).  I have copies of all contests from 1965-2010, and watch them chronologically throughout the year.  Hubby is booted out of the house (doesn't need much persuading) so I can have the lights off, a solitary candle lit, and a glass or 7 of dry white while wallowing in glorious nostalgia.

I am currently at 1990 (been scouring the net for a piccy of Euro-Cat to no avail), meaning one of my most loathed winners (and performer come to that).  The insufferable Toto Cutegno.  Why is it, when Italy had so many fantastic entries in other years they win with a big-headed egotist.

My idea of the winner that year was this one - Iceland. Call it Eurovision-by-Numbers, or formulaic Euro-pap if you must, but I absolutely loved it then.  I have a great nights entertainment to look forward to (ignoring the one that won of course).

A Swiss Struggle....

Signed up to participate in the Swiss pre-selection process - I almost wish I hadn't as it turns out that their web-selection contains in the region of 300 (yes 300) entries.  Talk about being over-faced, I barely knew where to start.  Thought the easiest way would be to disregard anyone I hadn't heard of (roughly 95% of the performers) and work backwards.  Listened to efforts from DQ, Todomondo and (bizarrely) multi-Irish NF participant Maggie Toal (who has two entries would you believe) - my patience was finally rewarded when discovering that an old favourite Swiss-Euro-Songstress of years past, Mariella Farre has also entered.  I thought that as long as she retained a shred of her undoubted ability from back then my search would stop here - and stop here it did.  My 4 votes have all gone her way, whether in vain or not remains to be seen.

It's never too early.....

It may only be the beginning of November, but pre-selection processes are already underway in a number of  countries.  Announcements have been already made by many other countries as well (I understand the current count of countries intending to be in Dusseldorf currently stands at 31). The first of 5 pre-qualifiers for the Ukraine NF took place on the 31st October, and although the standard was not particularly mind-blowing, I did pick one of the three qualifiers out, and this song has the dubious honour of being the first pre-selection effort to find its way onto my IPod this season.  This is Kristina Kim with "Victim Of Love"

Welcome!

Hi, this is my new blog all about my love of the Eurovision Song Contest.  Been an obsessive follower since 1976, when as a 3 year old got totally carried away by Brotherhood of Mans victory in The Hague (I'm not the 3 year old they sing to in the song by the way, if only, what a story that would make!).


From the early pre-selection to the main event itself I will be posting my comments all the way to Dusseldorf and beyond! Enjoy!!