714/917 Csaba Szigeti: Új név a régi ház falán (Hungary 1995)

Hungary is one of those new Eurovision countries (well, they started their Eurovision career 20 years ago, so the word "new" may sound exaggerated) who'd never really got their act together. They started extremely well with fourth place in their first year 1994. After that, however, in spite of some great entries they have never really reached the same heights.

After the smash start by Friderika and her Kinek Mondjam El Vetkeimet expectations were high on the second Hungarian entry in 1995. Instead of a tender ballad sung by a beautiful girl we got a dark man hidden behind the dark glasses singing somber ballad with a title that no-one outside Hungary attempted to pronounce.

Therefore it was no surprise that the song received mere three points and came to next to last in the final scoreboard. Most people, including me, forgot this song and started to wait for another Hungarian success entry, which so far hasn't come.

When random number generator draw me this song I of course had to listen to it again. I had a vague memory of the song being better than it's result and I was right. The song is a fabulous piano ballad starting from nowhere and rising to the great hights with a gorgeous orchestral arrangement that makes the live version way better than the recorded one. Csaba Szigeti does a great job interpreting the song and using every nuances from whisper to shout to making every word count.

My only complaint to the song is that the three minute maximum length (dictated by the Eurovision rules) cuts the song short just when I was waiting for something new to happen. I would have wished the song to settle down a bit and finish with the same whisper like quality it started with.

My points 4/5.

720/917 Aud Wilken: Fra Mols til Skagen (Denmark 1995)

The voyage between the Mols peninsula and the town of Skagen of Denmark is over 200 km long and it takes about 2 and half hours to drive by car, but only three minutes to sing a love song about. The Eurosong 720, suggested by my friend Asko Murtomäki, is a seductive ballad about a woman longing to be with her lover at the other end of the country. According to many a Eurovision masterpiece. I agree.

Denmark, who during the 1980's and early 1990's was known for bouncy pop songs, changed the pace dramatically in 1995. The song written by Lise Cabble is different from both the previous danish representatives and the other 22 songs that took part in the 1995 contest. The Danish themselves were rather hesitant, as the song was chosen as their entry with a very low margin.

However in Dublin the song stood up from the rest with its laid back atmosphere and sparse instrumentation. The interesting melody and the soulful voice of Aud Wilken was a perfect match and for once the Danish language sounds beautiful like italian to an enchanted ear. Her husky performance is at the same time thoughtful, passionate and seductive (without taking any of her clothes off).

If in the home front the expectations were not that high, the international audience took the song directly to their hearts. The song was among the favourites from the beginning and finally reached the fifth position only eight points short of the bronze medal. After the good result even the danes themselves realized the potential of the song and Fra Mols til Skagen became a big hit in the homeground.

For Denmark, who usually plays it safe in the Eurovision, to do something different really paid off. Fra Mols til Skagen is definately one of the most memorable songs of the Danish Eurovision history and the 1995 contest.

Lisa Cabble would return as a composer to Eurovision in 2011 and 2013, when her song Teardrops would win the whole contest. Aud Wilken took part in the Danish Melodi Grand Prix again in 2007 without success. She has only one solo album in her catalogue. Cannot understand why.

My points 4/5