917 songs have been sung in the Eurovision Song Contest between 1956 and 2003. In this blog I go through these songs in a random order and tell you what I think of them. What song would you like me to review?
In the 1990's I developed a notorious touch of death. Not once or even twice but four times a song that I had pointed as one of my absolute favourites crashed at the dreaded last place in the final results. In 1999 I had a very good prediction that Spain would do well, and then what happened?
Four years previously Spain had done all but win the contest with their magnificent entry Vuelve conmigo. The 1999 Spanish entry was for me a clear follow-up to that song and sure to do at least as well. The elements were very much the same. An enigmatic melody with tasty arrangement which with a good singer and spanish lyrics (among songs mostly sung in english) created a enchanting package, at least on its recorded version. With, for the first time, no orchestra but a backing track the song did sound very much the same in Jerusalem.
At the time I didn't see much wrong in the performance. Lydia Rodríguez Fernández had couple of flat notes here and there, but otherwise she managed to keep her voice in control and delivered the song all right to the audience. Later I've realized that the small faults in the performance ruined the overall impression. Still I think that the last place was far from deserved. My points 3/5.
Like Germany, Spain is one of the big European countries taking part in the Eurovision song contest, with surprising few victories. The reason for this might be that Spain has rarely tried to please the pan-European musical tastes and hardly ever moulded their entries to sound more like the entries from other countries. The 1980 Spanish entry is good example of this.
I remember very fondly the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest, which had only few (if any) bad songs and some of the good songs were the best in the whole Eurovision history.
The Spanish entry that year differed from the norm in many ways. Melodically the song was very dynamic, each verse was different with interesting tempo changes. The icing is gorgeous orchestral arrangement (which can be heard in all its glory in the recorded version of the song, here synched to the preview video).
This combined with stylish and flawless performance by a popular Spanish trio Trigo Limpio made this song wonderful example of the early 1980's Eurosong at its best. The 13th position in the final results (among 19 songs) feels a bit too low, but as I said, the competition in 1980 was tough.
Often a most nondescript song turns into a masterpiece on a Eurovision stage with a tasteful arrangement, possibly a good stage setting and most importantly with a passionate delivery from the artist. Sometimes a complete opposite happens, a song with a great recording loses all its appeal when seen in the actual Eurovision song contest. This happened, in my opinion, to the Spanish entry from 1972.
The recorded version of Amanece (here linked to the original preview video clip) sung by Jaime Morey is not that special either, but I cannot say no to a good quality stereo recording of a song with powerful orchestral arrangement and the adequate performance of Jaime Morey with just enough pomp and circumstance. An ok song and an ok recording among many great entries by Spain.
I of course didn't have the opportunity to see and hear the song in person in Edinburgh 1972, so I cannot say what the song really looked and sounded like, but the video recording of the song is a real let down. Jaime Morey is slightly too earnest and tries too much to impress the audience, but the song is not enough for the audience to be impressed about.
Decades before the HD, digital surround sound and home theaters the average sound quality of a television broadcast was not suitable for big musical experiences and the elaborate arrangement by the composer Augusto Algueró is lost on its way from the Usher hall stage to the home of a television viewer.
The result is rather forgettable and bland Eurovision entry and not one of the better Spanish entries of the 1970's. Between the two runner-ups (En un mundo nuevo from 1971 and Eres tú from 1973) this song is mostly forgotten.
Latino pop charmers like Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias stormed the world charts in the late 1990's making the Spanish rhythms fashionable and a good product to sell. However in Eurovision it took couple of years before the Spanish television TVE caught on and tried to use the formula in the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurosong 857 was first of several Spanish Eurovision entries trying to benefit the hype.
In the 1990's Spain had sent mainly ballads to the Eurovision song contest. These songs resulted both good placings (best being the 2nd place in 1995) and disasters (the last place in 1999). In the new millenium TVE tried to hit the jack pot sending a stereotypical latino charmer in tight trousers and white teeth to swing his hips on the Eurovision Stage.
22 year old David Civera delivered what he was commissioned to do. Looking comfortable on stage with his two backing dancers he did good job making the audience at the huge Parken stadium dance to the hot Spanish rhythms. The televoters, however, were not smitten as they were supposed to and awarded Civera and Spain enough points to climb to the 6th position in the final results, which must have been a disappointment for TVE. Spain tried to repeat the formula several times, but this sixth place remains the best position for a Spanish entry in Eurovision since 1998.
I have never been that keen on Ricky Martin or Enrique Iglesias and David Civera does not make me change my mind. Not his fault, but these Spanish swinging charmers are just not my cup of tea.
In a Twitter discussion I asked Jaana Pelkonen, the presenter of the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest and current member of the Finnish parliament to choose a song for my blog. She was kind to contribute with a Eurovision classic, the 263rd song to be sung in the contest. "The song needs no explanation. It touches me." Pelkonen reasons her choice. Eres tú became one of the biggest international hits ever from the contest even though the live performance left a lot to be desired.
The simple but effective lyrics lists things that the singer wants to compare her lover to. You are like a promise, fire in my heart, like a poem, a fresh rain, a guitar in the night and so on. With a beautiful melody by Juan Carlos Calderón no more is needed. The song became an instant classic, which went to be one of the rare Eurosong (or a song sung in spanish) to ever reach the top 10 of the American singles chart.
In the contest the song had many problems. The audio mix of the 1973 contest was horrible and the beautiful string arrangement was completely left out of the mix. We don't know if it was the bad sound or the wrecked nerves, but the lead singer Amaya Uranga had real problems keeping her act together especially with the higher notes. The singing group Mocedades (still active though with several line up changes during its 44 year career) did their best to support poor Uranga, but the overall performance was severly affected.
Even with these difficulties the result was still the second place (among 17 participants) with only four points less than the winner, so we can only guess what the result would have been like if the sound had been what it should and the soloist had kept her cool.
To hear the song in it is full glory I'd suggest you to go to Spotify to hear the recorded version of the song. That way you can hear the song as it is, one of the greatest classics ever to come from the Eurovision Song Contest.
