A Swede who lives in Finland and who is lost in Euroland - the wonderful world of Eurovision
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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Shake it like Seyyal

More than one thousand entries has performed on the Eurovision stage, then just try to imagine how many more have fought it out in various national finals through the years. Trying to pick one or a few favourites out of this bunch is somewhat difficult, to put it mildly.

But one singer who always works for me is Seyyal Taner, who did her thing with energy, style and zeal for Turkey back in Brussels in 1987.

"Sarkim sevgi üstüne" was in no way designed for Eurovision back in the 80's, where you should be pretty streamlined and elegant to stand a chance. Seyyal, backed by Grup Lokomotif, entered the set in the way a grand piano would dive into a swimming pool. With a big splash.

Brussel reports suggest that the Turkish delegation made a very positive impact throughout rehearsals and press gatherings, attracting quite a lot of positive attention, making more than one believe that something this different could actually stand a chance.

On the night, however, the juries made everyone snap out of the illusion and left Turkey in last place without a single point on the scoreboard.



Sadly enough, 1987 should have been Seyyal's year of revenge after losing out very narrowly in the 1986 Turkish national final with the stomper "Dünya". Nothing indicates that "Dünya" would have done any better on an international level as it is pumped with the same energy, roughness, positivity and bounciness as the 1987 output.

And, of course, the whole package is nicely wrapped up by a somewhat over enthusiastic choreographer. I would have loved to be present at the rehearsals when he/she came up with the dance routine.



Love them or loathe them, but what I really adore about Seyyal's entries is that she truly devotes herself to what she is doing. She is singing and dancing her heart out, not just singing politely because someone asked her nicely.

With a little bit more devotion à la Seyyal, nobody could at least ever describe Eurovision as dull.

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