Exactly half a year ago, during my last vacation I started doing a little music research focused on Eurovision Song Festival and since I am familiar with the winners, I decided that time has come to check out who were other contenders. I grew up loving my double LP recording with all the winners from 1956-1981 but did not really had resources to actually hear who were also-runners - today thanks to Internet its easy as pie and seems that there is whole cult of Eurovision fans with their opinions and favourites, so now it became kind of my hobby to carefully listen these old festivals and find out who actually would have been my choice for winner. Actually its really interesting, because I always loved something that apparently nobody else noticed and public favourites were in fact very rarely my own, so here is my own personal choice of what I consider the most interesting songs of the year. In most cases I didn't care at all for obvious but went for something that appealed to me, either because I found it pretty, trashy or irresistible otherwise. I truly loved when Eurovision contenders performed in their original languages because I believe it gave the whole festival truly international flavor and as I went along with my research, I discovered some truly interesting songs that I approached with completely fresh and honest ears, without benefit of TV show: I listen them as music.
1971:
Goeiemorgen morgen by Nicole Josy & Hugo Sigal
I always loved this, from the very first moment and I don't care how the song actually charted or what was the result of competition. It is cutest, sunny radio song that always makes me feel good.
1972:
I giorni dell'arcobaleno (The Days of the Rainbow) by Nicola Di Bari
This is a typical Italian melancholic ballad, kind that hugely influenced all the countries close by and even in my own Croatia we have a singer whose style and looks really close resemble Nicola Di Bari (Oliver Dragojević). It didn't do anything on Eurovision but I guess we are all so used to this sound that its impossible for us not to like this.
Als het om de liefde gaat (When it's all about love) by Sandra & Andres
I actually remember this playing on the radio during my childhood and we had our own cover of this. Its exactly kind of oompah-pah, circus ditty that used to be hugely popular back than (kind of sequel to "Puppet on a string") and I can't hear this without tapping my foot. The girl would later compete on Eurovision as solo artist in completely different disguise.
1973:
Chi sarà con te (Who Will Be With You) by Massimo Raineri
Just like Nicola Di Bari, Massimo was completely ignored on Eurovision and I honestly don't understand what was wrong with those people, this was million times better than majority of contenders that year, in fact I prefer this to the stupid song tat won and that girl with scary, intense eyes.
Baby baby by Nicole & Hugo
This is the same girl who I have just mentioned as my choice for the favorite Eurovision song of 1971. and its probably the rare example where I can't really separate music from TV show: they bursted on a stage so determined to give all they got that it exploded with such unforgettable performance and it is remembered to this day. Sure, lots of people are startled with choreography and costumes, but I don't think anything anything bad about it: they eclipsed almost all the other contestants that year and that's all that matter.
1974:
Si by Gigliola Cinquetti
Cinquetti almost won if not for that certain Swedish pop group and this is another rare example where I actually agree with the winning choice: Abba was great and nothing ever matches Waterloo although this song was deservedly in the second place. The girl is not really the best singer in the world and I can't help thinking what would somebody else with more charisma bring to this music, but I guess the melody is so pretty that it doesn't really matter and backing chorus helps a lot. Other interesting songs that year were by Greek singer Marinella and surprisingly, a rock band from Yugoslavia (Korni Grupa) were actually excellent, although completely ignored on Eurovision of course.
1975:
Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein (A Song Can Be a Bridge) by Joy Fleming
This was the year where for some reason I have a lot of favourites and although I always loved the Dutch winners, this is the top for me: Joy Fleming was a very typical example of that particular kind of performer we all know, chubby girl with a powerful voice who just blew everybody away with sheer power. Its really, really good funk-soul song and she was excellent singer, that this ended on the bottom of competition that year is just mind-blowing. She was not only the best but her song is excellent to this day.
Jennie Jennie by Lars Berghagen
As a singer, Berghagen couldn't hold a candle to powerful German volcano but he still placed much better that she did and I don't hold it against him because this melancholic little song somehow crept under my skin and I grew to really like it. In fact, I like the song so much that I even found surprisingly good Greek cover. Its not really a huge winner but more of a nice radio song that you singalong around the house while washing the dishes and it has a lilting quality to it.
1976:
Emor Shalom (Say Hello) by Chocolate, Menta, Mastik
According to my I tunes playlist, this is by far one of the most played songs on my computer so apparently I really like this one. There is something about girl trio with powerful, throaty voices that I simply find irresistible and this is the first time that I noticed Israel competing. There are few other favorites from that year but nothing matches my enthusiasm for "Emor Shalom". UK has traditionally making fun of Eurovision as something trashy and uncool but when they won this year, they were overjoyed with Brotherhood of Man and single sold in truckloads, I guess its not uncool if your country wins.
Un Deux Trois by Catherine Ferry
This is such a unpretentious, sunny little ditty that I believe its impossible not to like it. Its not the stuff that winners were made of, nothing big or bombastic here and no sweeping (or weeping) grand orchestras, just a cute little jingle with lots of hand claps and innocent feel to it.
1977:
De Mallemolen (The Merry-go-round) by Heddy Lester
1977 is the year where I carefully saved total of eight songs in my collection, so I guess this was one of the best years for me. The winning French song was nice and nothing wrong with it but since I am a bit tired of hearing it again, there are other contestants: I recognise Heddy Lester as something frequently played in Amsterdam's pubs when everybody gets tipsy and sings along. True, hard-core European schlager.
Laponia by Monica Aspelund
One of my favourites from 1977 and its so heroically sung (+ I love the language) that I find it irresistible. Its of course just Eurovision song festival but in my mind its almost like call to war and I could easily imagine Monica as some kind of Finnish Boudicia, leading warriors to fight Romans. I could chop the woods with this in the background.
1978:
Da li dou by Gemini
Portuguese pop artists were always amongst my favourites on Eurovision and although in all honesty this doesn't really stand out from lots of similar vocal groups of the 1970s (Greece had something similar previous year) this happy little song happen to be my choice for 1978. amongst contenders from Italy, Spain, Germany and France. And how can we forget Baccara representing Luxembourg!
1979:
Heute in Jerusalem by Christina Simon
Now we came to something that always bothered me about Eurovision - because its designed to quickly appeal to audience of millions unused to all those strange languages and performers basically have few minutes to catch everybody's attention (be it choreography, clothes or special effects) music is hardly important at all. The main focus here is something catchy enough that people won't forget at the end of the evening when all these contestants finish their moments in the spotlight. So it happens that everybody expects something memorable, almost fast-food while something like this incredibly pretty, jazzy and meditative ballad have no chance at all. This song and Belgium (which I also like very much) ended up humiliated with bottom place but for me composers André Heller and Peter Wolf have nothing to be embarrassed about, the song is stunning, I love it very much and find it one of the prettiest Eurovision songs ever.
1980:
Euro-Vision by Telex
Irish Johnny Logan might have won in 1980. but this shows what this spectacle is all about - mainstream pop with simple, little ditties that would appeal to housewives checking out handsome young singer. I grew up with LP that had Logan amongst winners so it came as nice surprise that there were other contestants who were far more interesting, including Dutch singer Maggie MacNeal and German Katja Ebstein. By far the zaniest and the most eccentric was this subversive trio from Belgium who poked fun at the whole spectacle and I think they were excellent.
1981:
Samson by Emly Starr
Not that I am specially partial to Belgium for any reason but this queen of Disco really appeal to me much more than winner and I could easily imagine this song being recorded by Donna Summer or Irene Cara - its seriously that good. It starts with cinematic, almost MGM fanfares and than it turns into irresistible Disco dance that I can't resist but wiggle a little. Don't forget I am child of true Disco era so I remember this kind of music from its original times.
Y sólo tú (And Only You) by Bacchelli
Another Disco and another extremely low placed song but for me this is million times better than the winner - its not only Disco but its sung in Spanish so it has really nice vibe about it and I usually play it on rewind several times. All my Spanish-speaking colleagues adore it and no wonder.
1982:
Hora by Avi Toledano
This was second place and if anybody asked me this would have been a winner. I understand it was a good year for Germany that finally won after competing since 1956 so finally they struck the gold with sweet, innocent Nicole who actually made quit a big splash around Europe with her little hit single (I even bought the whole LP) but now when I hear Israel, this is by far my other favourite of that year. Its kind of Disco-bar mitzvah music that immediately brings Israel in mind and I love it for that.
Halo, halo by Aska
This Serbian female trio was more or less very much ignored at home and media attention was usually focused on beauty of two sisters Izolda & Eleonora Barudžija who were very decorative indeed and backed our 1984. contestant on Eurovision (big hit and shameless copy of Shakin' Stevens) so I had pleasant surprise upon re-discovery of this little Disco ditty that ended up extremely low placed - I understand that Eurovision juries perhaps found this too bland but its mystery why it didn't chart even at home because the song is not any worse than other hits of the day we had back than. Surely girls were probably very nervous during live performance and they do appear kind of provincial amongst other contesters who were mostly far more glamorous but the song is not bad at all. Strangely enough, the one who will endure in music business was not one of the sisters but the blond Snežana Mišković who would metamorphose into full-blown rocker later.
1983:
Rücksicht (Regard) by Hoffmann & Hoffmann
Generally I find 1980s pop music boring because I lived trough these times and don't feel nostalgic about good old synthesisers at all. In fact, I breathed a sight of relief when "unplugged" phenomenon came later because these synthesisers and drum machines were killing me. The winning song of 1983. was actually a very good ballad sung by gifted singer but if I have to choose another favourite, it would be this German duo whose kind of song is not something that hits you over the head instantly but grows on you slowly.
Hi by Ofra Haza
Previous year Israel came second and guess what, this year they were second again. It is still extremely good place, nothing to be embarrassed for and we all remember wonderful Ofra Haza who was really very attractive, gifted young lady. But Israel had enough and next year they decided not to even compete. How Israel actually can even compete in something that I always understand as European TV spectacle was unclear until I found it has nothing with geography but with TV concept of European Broadcasting Area that covers such places as African countries bordering the Mediterranean as well as Jordan and Iraq. Not that I have anything against Israel but its kind of confusing.
1984:
Silêncio e Tanta gente by Maria Guinot
In 1984 I was teenager who actually watched this all very carefully and it struck me as unbelievable that such pretty song was completely ignored while inane Swedish guys in boots actually won. Spain, Netherlands and Italy also had good songs but this Portuguese lady was really my personal favourite and its just cute how I always loved something so left-field and unconventional, even though I was just a kid. Because I didn't know her name and who she was except that she represented Portugal some time in 1980s,it took me forever to actually find this song - I patiently browsed and browsed Internet until to my biggest relief I re-discovered Maria Guinot whom I still love to this day.
1985:
Didai Didai Dai (Aşık oldum) by MFÖ
Another of my discoveries, the excellent song by Turkish band that I still find irresistible and much more interesting than anything presented that year. Of course it ended up at the very bottom with almost no points at all, which just proves my theory that Eurovision obviously prefers different kind of music than me.
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