491/917 Izhar Cohen: Ole ole (Israel 1985)

In 1985 Israel used a seemingly perfect recipe to create a perfect eurosong. Put together the singer who won the contest in 1978 with the composer who made the winning song of the 1979, add some singing dancers and make the song and the choreography emulate the two preceeding and higly succesful Israeli entries. In the preview video the song looked and sounded like a given winner. What could go wrong?

Quite a few things actually. Olé olé (written by Kobi Oshrat, who had composed Hallelujah six years previously) surely was a irresistibly catchy song and Izhar Cohen was still, seven years after his Eurovision victory, charismatic performer. Although the singing and dancing worked well together for Israel in 1982 and 1983 (Israel did not take part in 1984), this time the elements fitted together with unease. With a breath taking dance steps the backing group had hardly time to sing their few lines in tune, and the result sound more like shouting than singing. The wide white smiles that the group was able to present during their other activities did not look genuine anymore and the feeling "do we have to this again" could be read on their lips.

Watching the Gotheburg contest today the overall performance by the Israeli enseble seems ok, but I remember that in 1985 my reaction was quite similar,  "the same thing again?". I may not have been the only one who thought that too much is too much, and that the entry was far from the perfection I was expecting after seeing the preview video. The song finally settled at 5th position, which must have been some kind of disappointment to the Israeli delegation, which was looking for the victory by the team that had secured the two previous victories.

I find the song a bit dated but still an enjoyable track, of which I prefer the studio version.

My points 3/5.

242/917 Jaime Morey: Amanece (Spain 1972)

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.

My points 2/5.

691/917 Martin Durinda & Tublatanka: Neverending song (Slovakia 1994)

Ever since the countries from the so called "East-Europe" started to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest from 1993 (with the exception of Yugoslavia, which of course took part already from 1961 on) there is one genre of music that has never done well no matter how good the song actually was. That is the east european rock. One of the first brave countries to try in that vein was Slovakia, which had its song crash and burn in 1994.

I also have dismissed this song for 20 years until the random number generator tossed it at me and I had to listen to it again, maybe for the third or fourth time ever since the actual contest. I don't remember exactly how I reacted to the song then, but now Neverending song by Tublatanka is well crafted, well performed and heavenly arranged poprock song, that in a perfect world would have gathered points from left and right.

But the world is not perfect, and in the Eurovision Song Contest justice rarely prevails. This song with its 19th place in the final results (of total 25 songs) was the first of many east european rockers that would find itself at the bottom of the pile.

My points 4/5.

905/917 Esther Hart: One more night (Netherlands 2003)

The Dutch Eurovision entries from the 1990's and the early years of the new millenium were a collection of peppy and in principal perfect popsongs that in paper should have provided the country with good final results. The 905th eurosong, the Dutch entry for the 2003 Eurovision song contest is a good example.

At first view the performance works very well on stage. The artists are enthousiastic but also very competent to give a well rehearsed choreography and pitch perfect singing at the same time. The song itself is like a rerun of the 1999 Dutch entry (written by the same songwriter team), which was my favourite song four years earlier. What could go wrong.

The televoters were rather hesitant to share my view. The 13th place among 26 participants must have been a big disappointment to the Dutch team, which apparently had put a lot attention and money to make the entry as perfect as possible.

Now, 11 years later, it is quite easy to see what went wrong. In their pursuit of perfection, Esther Hart and his team had created a rather cold and indifferent entry. Already at second view the flawless choreography starts to irritate, and the wide smile on everyones faces seem rather forced. There is not even the intriguing Dutch language to give warmth and personality to the song. The choice of language saved many Dutch entries from the 1990's from mediocrity.

The song itself is catchy and fun but not an evergreen quality. In all an entertaining but rather disposable Eurosong.

My points 2/5.

420/917 Yiannis Dimitras: Feggari kalokerino (Greece 1981)

Nowadays when even the simplest love song is cluttered with background dancers, trapeze artists or figure skaters it is nice to be reminded of a song, that didn't need anything else than a singer, piano player and a rose to make an impact. That song was performed as the 420th Eurovision entry ever.

The Eurovision Song Contest of 1981 could almost be called an Eurovision Disco Contest, because almost half of the songs used to some extent the fashionable disco rhythms in their songs with mostly questionable results. Therefore the songs like the Greek entry were refreshing and welcome.

Feggari kalokerino was a marvellous piano driven ballad sung by the composer Yiannis Dimitras in a very convincing yet relaxed way. Without any backing singers he carried the song brilliantly on his shoulders singing with tenderness and personality that really didn't need any superfluous extravaganza to back him. Young female pianist and a simple rose on top of the grand piano was the perfect finishing touch for this Eurovision pearl.

The song received deserved 8th place in the final results and it remained for a long time one of the best results of Greece in the contest. To me it is a warm memory of the 1981 contest.

My points 4/5.

56/917 Wyn Hoop: Bonne nuit ma chérie (Germany 1960)

Nowadays it some times refreshing to hear a Eurovision song composed to the rhythm of a classic dance f.eg. waltz or tango. In the early decades of Eurovision this was more commonplace. The 55th eurosong was based on the rhythms of a latin dance bolero.

Wyn Hoop was only 23 years of age when he took part in the Eurovision Song Contest, that took place in London. His entry Bonne nuit ma chérie was a tender lullaby where the singer puts his love to sleep promising he will never forget or leave her.

To me everything is in place in this entry. The song is easy going, yet gentle song where the latin rhythms is used tastefully without clashing with the idea of a lullaby. The arrangement is superb and the young singer gives a confident and at the same time very relaxed performance on a stage.

This song continued Germany's good streak in the early years of Eurovision with 4th position in the final results and Wyn Hoop would continue to have a good career in the German showbusiness until the end of the 1970's. After retiring, he has written articles and books about sailing and travelling.

My points 4/5.

762/917 Celia Lawson: Antes do adeus (Portugal 1997)

Portugal has always been one of the most interesting countries and their entries are eagaerly awaited every year even though the points awarded to the Portuguese entries have seldom correlated with their quality. However, it is obvious that sometimes the bad placing in the score board is justified even for Portugal.

In my opinion, the 1990's was exceptionally strong for Portugal with interesting and appealing entries almost every year. The 1990's awarded Portugal also their so far best result when fresh and fun O meu coração não tem cor sung by Lúcia Moniz climbed to the 6th position in 1996. Two years later my personal favourite, group Alma Lusa got to the respectable (but in my opinion too low) 12th place.

But the song between these two is to me one of the most forgettable Portuguese entries ever. Unfortunately for Portugal the juries (and the televoters who took part in five of the 25 participating countries) were unanimous: No-one was interested and, accordingly, no points at all were given to poor Célia Lawson. It was no confort to her, that the Norwegian singer Tor Endresen suffered the same fate and the last place was shared between Portugal and Norway.

I cannot blame either Ms Lawson or the Juries. She sang well (and was supported by weird backing speaking choir hiding behind dark glasses) and tried to give her all to the song. Juries also did their job well: The song was utterly uninteresting and even though there were even worse songs taking part, I can imagine that at the time of voting not many members of the juries remembered what the song was like.

The blame goes, therefore, to the composer. German born Thilo Krassman was the conductor, who conducted with the smile the portuguese entries in seventies and then again in the nineties. 1997 was the last time that the amiable veteran conducter took part in the Eurovision Song Contest and Antes do adeus was his only composition that took part in the international final. It is sad that he could not end his Eurovision career with a better song and better result.

My points 1/5.