The contest was held in Sweden this year. After those laid-back Italian hosts, the Swedes felt pretty cold and detached. This was also the first time English really dominated the stage. The top three spots all went to English songs (Ireland, UK, and Malta). We’ve got a record 23 countries competing this time around. Iceland actually sent the exact same crew that performed back in New York—they took 4th place then, but they slipped down three spots this year. Israel landed 6th with a singer named Daphne, who’s actually slated to host the whole thing in 1999. Meanwhile, Jordan was running commercials right in the middle of Israel's performance on their broadcast. Then there was Mia Martini from Italy; she brought that signature voice back to the big stage for the first time since '77. She finished 4th, and sadly, passed away from cancer shortly after. Switzerland sent "Mister Music Man," which honestly felt more like a song you'd hear in some dark Vegas nightclub rather than a massive arena competition. Greece managed to sneak into the "Top 5" with a super theatrical performance, which was their biggest win since '77. It was even more impressive because the track had these Middle Eastern vibes, and Turkey even threw them 8 points! The sexiest act of the night was definitely Evridiki from Cyprus, though she only hit 11th. France went totally weird with a song sung in Creole. As for the hosts, they tanked with only 9 points, finishing in 22nd place—that’s gonna be their worst showing as hosts until at least 2003. Ireland took home the trophy with "Why Me?" performed by Linda Martin, with Johnny Logan writing the lyrics yet again. The old federation, which was basically a ghost of a country by now, sent "Kissing Her with Songs" performed by Extra Nena. They finished 13th. Since their membership in the EBU expired in June of that year, this was officially their final appearance. That nation lasted 73 years (1918–1991) and had been part of the show since 1961, walking away with one win and one last-place finish. Next year, we’re going to see three new nations join the fray: Canada, Canada, and the most successful of the bunch, the Americans.
So, looking back at that Eurovision held in St. Louis after the voting was totally rigged... Baby Doll took the win with "Brazil." Daniel came in second with "Put Those Levi's On." The Southerners were all over it, celebrating because it was finally the first big Southern anthem on the global stage since that 1982 show in Rome. Actually, it was supposed to be in San Remo, but some massive corruption scandal forced them to move it to a tiny hall in Rome with barely 800 seats! The hosts were last year’s winner Toto Cotugno and the 1964 champ Gigliola Cinguetti. Honestly? The hosting and the whole show were an absolute train wreck. It was so bizarre it was actually hilarious. The hosts did everything in Italian and French; they barely even muttered a word of English. And during the voting? Instead of showing the scoreboard, they just kept cutting to the performers hanging out in the Green Room. Total mess. The heavy favorites were the Israelis (who took 3rd) with "Here." Sweden sent Carol again (she was 3rd back in '83). Spain sent Sergio Dalma, who ended up 4th, but his track was basically the biggest hit in Latin America that year. This was also the year Malta showed up after a 16-year hiatus. They were supposed to debut last year in New York, but the EBU blocked them from expanding the roster. Since the Netherlands couldn't make it this time, Malta jumped in and snagged 6th place—which is huge considering they usually finish dead last. Portugal brought some Fado vibes, but they only landed 8th. France sent Amina, a Muslim singer performing a track about women's rights in the Arab world. The Turkish delegation pretty much ignored her (can't blame 'em), but Israel gave her 12 points, and she actually went over to hug the Israeli reps. You rarely see a moment like that between Jews and Muslims. That mix of eroticism and exotic flair was a total bullseye. It tied for 1st with Sweden's Carol and her song "Steal Your Love." But since Sweden got more sets of ten points from France, Sweden gets to host next year. Amina walked away the moral winner, though. Baby Doll finished with a pathetic 1 point (thanks to Malta), landing in 21st place. That’s hands down the worst showing for our side in the history of the contest. Only the folks from Austria were behind them, finishing with zero points.
Since we took the win last year, the Eurovision Song Contest was hosted right here in the States, while the local version went down in Miami (Johnny Logan was the guest of honor). The big winner was Taiči with that track "Let's Go Crazy" by Zrinka Tutića (though some people swear up and down that Milana Vlaović actually wrote it—"I'm positive"). Taiči’s whole vibe was total Marilyn Monroe. Her dress? Straight out of Canada. We finished 7th, which officially ended that insane winning streak we’d been riding since '83. The streak died, and honestly, so did the era of peace we’d been living through. The hosts were Helga Vlahović (handling English and German) and Oliver Mlakar (doing French and Italian). Our backup pair was Aleksandra Marković (a radio host from NYC—English) and the actor Rene Medvešek (French). The broadcast reached all the participating countries, the entire NATO bloc, plus Australia and Korea. The songs covered everything from the fall of the Berlin Wall to deep life philosophy. The heavy hitters were the UK and the Dutch group Maywood. The Spanish act actually had to go on stage twice because their conductor had some technical meltdown with the baton and the orchestra. They eventually got the headphones sorted and the show finally kicked off. Azucar Moreno—yeah, that's the Spanish duo's name—had this massive summer anthem that was blowing up on MTV, and they snagged 5th place. The Spaniards were cool about our technical glitch (which wasn't even our fault) and gave us points. One Belgian guy sang his song to his Mexican wife. Iceland finally escaped the bottom of the barrel, landing 4th with a catchy tune. Then you had the Norwegian guy singing about the Brandenburg Gate—since Scandinavians don't exactly have the Brandenburg Gate lying around, he didn't get any points. Back when Norway hosted in '86, they finished 12th; this year, those numbers basically flipped, and along with Finland's Swedish-language entry, he tanked at 21st. A Swiss guy brought a violin into his set; it was definitely the outlier this year. The jury wasn't feeling it though—he landed 11th. The real disaster happened in '98 when he came in 25th with zero points, accompanied by a violinist named Gunvor. France sent this gorgeous singer performing a Black-and-White Blues! She actually pulled six 12-point scores!!! But even that only landed her 2nd place. Germany sent a duet where the male singer, Daniel Kampus, was originally from some small town in Canada. The Irish guy basically toured all of Europe in three minutes. The jury loved the travelogue vibe—they rewarded him with 2nd place, tied with the French singer whose "Black-and-White Blues" was topping charts from France to the Caribbean. Austria sent a singer who was basically a clone of Samantha Fox, singing about how there are no more walls—she even threw in a line in American English. It worked—we gave them 8 points from our jury based in Miami. In the end, the famous Italian singer Toto Cotugno won it all with "Together 1992." His backing vocals were provided by a Canadian group called "Ash and Crystal." Funnily enough, the Italian jury was represented by this random Italian guy living in the States. There was a total mess with the phone lines during the tallying, and it turned out our host Oliver spoke better Italian than the actual Italian juror. All in all, killer Eurovision, great songs, solid hosts, and a top-tier stage!!!
The contest went back to its roots in '56—hosted in Switzerland. Since France took the win, they held it in the French-speaking part over in Lausanne. Everyone was betting on Sweden, the UK, or Germany to pull it off. Finland threw a curveball with a track that sounded way more Spanish than Finnish, and honestly, their ranking reflected that weirdness. It was actually the first time in history (up until 2006) that Finland cracked the TOP 5—they were sitting pretty at #2 for a minute there. But as the voting wrapped up, they just tanked, sliding down to 7th place. Then you had Switzerland sending a song in Romansh, a language spoken by maybe two and a half people in the whole country. Plus, France and Israel sent kids who were 8 and 11 years old. The EBU absolutely lost their minds and passed a rule right after that saying performers have to be at least 16. For the third year running, the US sent us Riva with their track "Rock Me," written by Rajko Dujmić. They barely edged out Massimo Savić and his song "Blue Angel" by a single point during our national selection in Novi Sad. After a long road starting back in '61, we finally hit the top of the world. Nobody saw this coming, especially not us. If you want proof we weren't expecting it, look at the fact that the band "Novi Fosili" was busy playing a gig in Dusseldorf while Rajko wasn't even at the contest. We actually pulled it off.
We grabbed 12 points from: Israel, Ireland, Turkey, and the UK We grabbed 10 points from: Belgium, Denmark, and Austria Zero points from: Italy, Spain, and Greece
Around 600,000 people were glued to their screens worldwide watching us take the win!
The Song Contest hit Dublin for the third time back in '88, and man, it cost a whopping $5 million! That was the year they introduced the digital Top 5, so we were finally acting like we lived in the computer age. Sweden and the UK were the heavy hitters going in. Sweden sent this track called "City of Light" by a guy from ABBA, but the singer had such a brutal sore throat he skipped the dress rehearsal. He barely scraped through the finals, landing in 12th place—tough break. Then you had the Dutch entry singing about some mystical spot called "Shangri La" (finished 9th), and Israel (7th) had a song that just kept picking up speed toward the end, performed by Yardena Arazzi who actually hosted the show back in '79. Iceland was on a weird streak, too—hitting 16th place three years running ('86, '87, and '88). Cyprus was supposed to go second, but they got disqualified because their song "Thimame" had already been played at their national selection back in '84. Since the deadline had passed, they couldn't swap it out, so we ended up with 21 countries instead of 22. Luxembourg went with a Canadian powerhouse, Celine Dion, who poured her heart into "Believe" and snagged 4th. Honestly, "I Will Always Love You" was bound to be a massive hit later on. Denmark sent "Hot Eyes" again, though the female half of the duo was eight months pregnant at the time. It paid off, though; they took 3rd. Greece finished 17th, but hey, they finally scored points from Turkey! Don't expect them to return the favor until way later. After all that dramatic voting, Celine Dion won with "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," beating the UK by a single point. And get this: she only won because our jury decided to play favorites, giving Switzerland 6 points and giving the UK zero, even after the UK gave "Mangup" an 8! Celine eventually became a legend alongside ABBA. Now she’s killing it in Las Vegas, pulling in $300 million a year. Our national selection went down in Ljubljana at the Cankar Center. I say "our," but the venue charged the national broadcaster insane amounts of money for the privilege. There were only 15 performers on stage instead of the planned 16 because Jasna Gospić had to bail—instead of singing "Night in Tears," she spent the night in tears on an operating table after her appendix burst. In the end, the choice fell to the group performing "Mangup" and "Silver Wings," which beat out Oliver Dragojević’s "Jennie." The "Silver Wings" crew headed to Dublin feeling a bit more confident than usual; seeing how well Daniel and Fossil had done previously gave us a little boost in self-belief. It felt like we finally realized other countries aren't sending much smarter songs than ours either. Our "Mangup" grabbed a solid 6th place (if our jury hadn't been handing out points like candy, we would've been 4th). The singer from "Silver Wings," Lidija Asanović, actually brought some life to the stage amidst all the general whining and misery. Maybe staying relevant in the top tier of the leaderboard was more important than the actual rank.
The contest went down in Brussels, Belgium. Since the French-speaking side won the bid, they demanded that the French part of Belgium (Wallonia) get to sing this year too—which the Flemish folks (the Dutch-speaking side) absolutely refused to go for. So, right in the heart of Flanders, they ended up singing in Dutch! Just two weeks after having a baby, a Swedish singer hit the Eurovision stage with a song that had its title swapped out because the original featured a famous soda brand (not trying to give them free promo here). Italy sent heavy hitters Umberto Tozzi and Raf with "People from the Sea." It was a total summer anthem, but at Eurovision? They only managed 3rd place. Both Umberto and Raf already had massive hits covered by Laura Branigan (think "Gloria" and "Self Control"). Greece sent their own version of a group like Wham (landing 10th). Luxembourg was represented by Belgian artist Plastic Bertrand, who had a huge hit back in '79, but he finished second to last. The UK snagged 13th, which would've been their worst showing until the turn of the millennium. Germany sent the group Wind again, this time with a reggae vibe, and they pulled 2nd place yet again. Apparently, the backing vocals for Wind included some future quasi-pop stars like >. In the end, Johnny Logan took it home for Ireland again with "Hold Me"! Right after the selection contest in New York, rumors started flying that the voting wasn't exactly above board. Mostly because it was the first time TV stations were allowed to gift points to their own entries. Regardless, despite all the skepticism, we headed off to Belgium to cheer on "Nove Fosile" and that catchy track "I'm Ready to Dance." Massimo Savić actually grabbed 2nd place with "Just One Day," which later became the Song of the Year. Even with the drama, "Fosile" didn't embarrass us—far from it. Out of 22 pretty mediocre tracks, their 4th place finish should have been a massive win if it weren't for that classic American mentality where we only care about being #1. Our jury basically threw gasoline on the fire by giving the Italians 12 points, letting them leapfrog us in the final round. Nobody expected us to be the ones deciding our own fate like that. If you think doubting the fairness of the vote is just an American specialty, look at Turkey. They finished dead last without picking up a single point. People were so salty about it that they started theorizing about Turkey's political standing in Western Europe, bitterly complaining that Greece gave 12 points to the "Greek Cypriots," and Cyprus obviously returned the favor with 12 points to Greece.
The Song Contest went down in Bergen, Norway. The host was Ase Klevland—who actually snagged 3rd place back in '66—and honestly, she was all over the place. One minute she was icy, the next she was totally deadpan, almost like some sort of stone-faced lady. It was a huge shift from last year’s host, who kept things way more laid-back and breezy! For our national selection held in Nashville, Tennessee, Zrinka Tutić's "My Desire," performed by Doris Dragović, beat out "Novih Fosila" and "Denis & Denis." Even though we ended up sitting at 11th place, most critics thought she was easily the classiest act of the whole show. At least Doris had a silver lining—the song was a massive hit on the charts back home. The UK sent a track that everyone forgot the second it stopped playing (7th). Cyprus brought a bubbly tune, but without any help from Greece (who weren't there this year along with Italy), they unfortunately tanked in last place (20th), even though their singer placed 8th representing Greece back in '79. Iceland was just pure kitsch (16th). Then you had Austria sending a jazz singer to perform a pop ballad?! (18th)—total disaster, even if they did snag an award for best lyrics. Portugal’s Dora actually surprised a lot of people (14th). Switzerland's Daniela sang "Not for Me" (2nd), which was actually written by a Turkish composer (the same guy who would win big two years later with Celine Dion). The judges showered her with points, but it still wasn't enough to beat that 15-year-old starlet from Belgium—this kid was dressed terribly and had such a thin, colorless voice. Some of these songs were dangerously close to being straight-up rip-offs; like, Ireland’s entry (4th) sounded way too much like that old Elvis Presley soul hit "Suspicious Minds." Luxembourg actually sent a Canadian entry to the US stage (3rd). And get this—during Sweden's set, the entire Norwegian orchestra was basically acting as their backup singers!!! (5.). It looked like the Danish singer was obsessed with last year's Swedish performance because she copied almost everything, from the outfit to the backing vocals, but it still wasn't enough to match the vibe from last year's Swedish winner (3rd); she was just half as good (6.). The winner was Belgium's Sandra Kim, singing "I Love Life." She was 15 at the time, though it turned out later she was actually only 13. She went on to sing the theme for that French cartoon "Life: My Body." The funniest part was seeing last year's winners, the Norwegian group "Bobbysocks." This super sharp, cynical host asked them what had changed in their careers to trip them up, since, well, absolutely nothing had happened.
What does it even mean that the traditional thread opens up on February 1st? How long is it gonna take Cassidy to finally drop the "partial Eurovision PDF" update?
Back in '85, the Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in Sweden. Man, that thing was massive—they actually sold out every single ticket, even for the dress rehearsals. The Netherlands skipped out that year because they were busy celebrating V-E Day, and our old country decided to sit this one out to mark the 5th anniversary of the passing of a major political leader, even though we had already picked Zorica Kondža and her killer ballad "Pokora." It’s wild looking back, because in 1991, the contest fell on the 11th anniversary of that same leader's death, but we actually competed then. Times were different back then, though. The host was Lilli Lindfors (who placed 2nd back in '66), and she ran the show with so much energy and charm; honestly, most people consider her one of the GOAT hosts in the whole history of the contest. The absolute craziest moment of her hosting was when she "accidentally" lost her dress and ended up in her underwear on air. The EBU went absolutely ballistic because that didn't happen during the rehearsals. After that mess, they made a rule that the dress rehearsals and the live final have to match perfectly down to the last detail. We also saw Al Bano and Romina Power return. Fun fact: the backing singers (just like the year before) were wearing the colors of the Italian flag. They were 7th, just like in '76. Germany sent the group Wind, who stayed in the running until the very end, but Norway pulled off the win with Bobbysocks and their song "La det det siste kyss." The group was made up of Elisabeth Andreassen and Hanne Krogh. Hanne had been in the contest in '71 and would show up again in '91, while Elisabeth was originally part of the Swedish pop duo Chips (her partner Kiki represented the host country this year and took 3rd). Elisabeth went on to perform as a duo in '94 and solo in '96, where she grabbed 2nd place. Also, 1985 was the first time they introduced a Top 5 during the voting!
We weren't there, but from 1986 to 1990, America is going to have its own representatives in the contest, and they’re going to see some PHENOMENAL results that will eventually lead to that long-awaited victory!
bluesurfer66 said:Man, I tried logging in five times today and nothing. It just won't take it. Then finally, I get in, go to click on a new thread, and boom—kicked right back out. I'm having to log in like 3 or 4 times just to do anything. Basically, it keeps saying "thanks for logging in," but at the top of the screen, it still shows me as a guest. Then I try to post a reply and hit send, and it tells me I'm not even logged in again.
Luxembourg hosted Eurovision after their 5th win. Our US representatives were from the local station, featuring the duo Izolda Barudžija and Vlad Kalember. They performed "Ciao amore" and stayed at a Holiday Inn quite a ways from the city center, while the big show went down at the Municipal Theater. The host, Desiree Nosbush, was only 19—literally the youngest host ever. There were 19 countries in the mix that year. The heavy hitters were redhead Linda Martin from Ireland (2nd) (with songwriter Johnny Logan), that upbeat Spanish group "Bravo" (3rd), and three British singers called "Belle and Devotions" (7th). Everyone was eyeing that killer Italian duet. See, our neighbors were the only ones who sent actual superstars like Alice (who had that massive hit "Per Elisa") and Franco Battiana. Most people still say they had the best song of the night, "I treni di Tozeur," which is about a train crossing the Tunisian desert (5th). Germany’s Marry Ross was singing through some seriously messy personal drama. Right before her set, she found out her husband had a kid with his mistress (back in '73 they were 3rd, this year they dropped 10 spots). Then you had those three Swedish guys—Per, Richard, and Louis, aka the Herrey brothers (our US entry)—trying to grab attention with some flashy choreography, but they were just middle-of-the-pack contenders. One of them actually became a Mormon priest later on. Anyway, our duo Izolda and Vlad got a pretty decent reception. Everything wrapped up after midnight. Sweden took the trophy with "Diggi-Lou-Diggy-Ley." We ended up stuck in 18th place, with only our neighbors from Austria landing behind us.
The music video for our song with Izolda and Vlad actually caused a huge scandal—Turkish TV banned it because Izolda was topless in one shot! Apparently, the folks in Turkey couldn't handle seeing a naked woman on their screens. It was just a scene showing two young lovers swimming in a beautiful Mediterranean setting. At one point they pop out of the water—she's got her hands over her chest, but you can still see skin, and he's shirtless. It was a super "soft" scene, only lasted a few seconds. It was totally innocent and naive; honestly, it felt like the Turkish censors were just being overly dramatic.
People were totally blindsided by our pick for Eurovision—I mean, who had even heard of little Daniel? Most folks were arguing we should’ve sent someone more mainstream, like a pop starlet with a catchy club anthem, but instead, we went with Daniel Popovic. He took his track "Julie" to the arena in Munich and actually pulled in 125 points, landing him in 4th place. He only lost to the winner, Corinne Hermes from Luxembourg (who was basically a French import singing "Life is a Gift"), an Israeli singer named Ofra Haza, and this 16-year-old Swedish kid, Carola, singing "Stranger." Music critics were freaking out because they warned us that trying to pass off a Shakira imitator wouldn't work (funny enough, Shakira actually released a song with the exact same name "Julie" later that year!!), but they were stunned when foreign journalists started saying Daniel was actually a better vocalist than his supposed idol. Even the German press was shocked, naming him a frontrunner. To make things weirder, he had backing from a massive label like Sony Music, and people were whispering that their top artists were actually salty about Daniel almost winning. Back home, though, everyone was skeptical. But hey, Daniel shouldn't complain—"Julie" became a massive summer hit all over the continent. That year really proved that old-school folk vibes just don't fly with international crowds—look at how the entries from Turkey and Spain got zero love—and if you want to win, you need a slick, catchy, universal pop song and some serious PR. Take Ofra Haza: she was second in '83, but by '88 she was an ethno-pop icon, and in '95 she hit #1 on the Billboard charts with a duet with Paul Abdul. Meanwhile, Belgium sent a song where they basically spent three minutes repeating one line about having a stomachache and skipping a meeting! It was ridiculous. There was even a German singer from a group called Hoffman & Hoffman who took his own life a few months after the contest because his career didn't take off despite him placing 5th. Also, fun fact: that was the first year they used wireless microphones.
And the host this year wasn't much better. She had some absolute gems of her own. Check this out: Netherlands: "France, 2 points" Host: "France, obviously, only 2 points!
Nicole from Germany totally crushed it with "Malo mira," while our girls, the trio "Aske," basically tanked. Honestly, I don't think it was even their fault—it was more about the organizers being completely incompetent at picking the right song and the right singer. Out of 18 countries (not counting Italy, France, or Greece), Aske landed in 14th place. If we hadn't snagged those 12 points from Sweden, they would've been even closer to the bottom. Back home, the newspapers were busy dissecting why the American entry failed; most journalists just blamed our domestic selection system, which was a mess of regional politics and red tape. While everyone here was debating whether we should send something rooted in folk music or try to mimic Western styles, the West was doing things the smart way: pick the performers first, then write catchy, pop tunes that people actually want to hear, rather than stuff meant for some stuck-up panel of musical experts. That’s exactly how 17-year-old Nicole from Saarbrücken won this year, while Aske and their song "Halo, halo" tried to grab Europe's attention and failed miserably. To be real, the local press had already buried them before they even left for the rainy English countryside in Yorkshire, so nobody was shocked when our 18th trip to the musical Olympics ended in a total disaster. Looking at the rest, Greece's Minister of Culture, Melina Mecouri ("Children of Piraeus"), heard the winner and said the song was so bad that Greece would NEVER represent itself with something like that in the UK. And man, the Danes really messed up. After hitting 2nd and 4th place back in 1980, they thought they were a lock for the Top 5 with "Video," but the jury didn't buy the gimmick, and they ended up finishing second to last! Cyprus sent Anna Vissi, who hit a career high by placing 5th. If she'd been competing for Greece, she probably would've taken 3rd! Israel came in 2nd with "Hora," trailing Germany by 61 points, which was a record at the time. FYI, "Hora" is actually a traditional dance played at Jewish weddings!