Tobson takes on Melodifestivalen 1987

Gothenburg was still getting better at hosting Melodifestivalen and this time they really made a mark on the competition as they decided to enlarge the final and present twelve songs instead of ten. A real success story. I'll state it at once: this is the strongest lineup ever in a final fully produced by SVT Göteborg (discounting 1975 with was a stellar year but masterminded by Stockholm).

Unfortunately the show in itself wasn't as glorious as the songs in competition. Gothenburg television had for many years relied heavily on their star Fredrik Belfrage - who was now hosting for the third time - and he felt tired and not really engaged. No wonder as he had already hosted several hours of morning television that very same day.

Luckily the show turned into a real nail biting finish as Lotta Engberg and Arja Saijonmaa fought it out to the bitter end. To the very bitter end, apparently. Years later, Arja still talked about the disappointment at losing.

Picture borrowed from oppetarkiv.se

12. Jan-Eric Karlzon / Flyktingen
Most of the 1980's national finals have this surprising moment when you really must ask yourself what the selection jury was thinking when they decided to include a certain song. In 1987, this is the one. Pathetic lyrics about a refugee fleeing violence and death before ultimately feeling joyful about being sent back to "his people". Drivel.
Grade: 0/5

11. Baden Baden / Leva livet
The boys are back following their commercial success of last year. This song is a lot less anthem-esque and far more straightforward pop but also pretty flat and repetitive and went nowhere. Pretty much like the career of Baden Baden after this participation.
Grade: 1/5

10. Robert Wells / Sommarnatt
Despite successful entries in both 1984 and 1985, Göran Folkestad's singing career never really took off and now he contented himself with being just the composer. His chosen performer was a scoop - a young piano player who was the New Hot Thing and who had recently been elected Sweden's sexiest man. Somehow he and the song never really gel - would Göran Folkestad have sung it better himself? - and this relative failure kept haunting Robert Wells for years until he reinvented himself with the Rhapsody in Rock concept.
Grade: 1/5

9. Style / Hand i hand
Style was performing a difficult balancing act between making chart-friendly pop while being a well-groomed Svensktoppen act. This effort falls somewhere in between the two fields and is arguably better than their 1986 effort without feeling particularly important. Made the super final on old merits alone.
Grade: 2/5

8. Anna Book / Det finns en morgondag
Just like the Robert Wells-case, it seems Anna and her song are oddly mismatched. The song isn't bad and the lyrics are pretty good but don't seem credible coming from a performer this young (and - in all fairness - this limited). Soon after the final, CBS terminated Anna's record deal.
Grade: 2/5

7. Paul Sahlin & Anne Kihlström / Ung och evig
An aggressively cheerful and jaunty dansbandschlager that probably was less aimed at winning and more had the objective of reviving Paul's career which had been non-existing since his 1980 entry Tusen sekunder. If so, the trick worked and gave him a few more songs on Svensktoppen. Why the technicians decided to more or less eliminate his duet partner from the sound mix remains a bit of a mystery but the whole thing is effective enough.
Grade: 2/5

6. Lotta Engberg / Fyra bugg och en Coca-Cola
Another song that felt perfect back then but failed to stand the test of time. Skara goes Tropical and all the fruits are made of plastic. Two lasting things came out of this song, though. Lotta Engberg was launched into a stardom that lasts to this day and the problem with song title including two registered trademarks led to SVT slowly beginning to revise its outdated rule book.
Grade: 3/5

5. Annica Jonsson / Nya illusioner
Annica was another one of those talented singers floating around at the Mariann label without ever getting a real breakthrough. This is a quality schlager with elegant verses, a slick chorus and an almost parodically perfect key change.
Grade: 3/5

4. Cyndee Peters / När morgonstjärnan brinner
A powerful ballad of a kind seldom heard before in a melodifestival. The meeting between a well-crafted song (penned by Bobby Ljunggren, Håkan Almqvist and Ingela "Pling" Forsman who would continue working successfully together for many years to come) and gospel singer Peters added gravity and depth to the final. Beautiful.
Grade: 4/5

3. Sound of Music / Alexandra
Sound of Music was about to fall apart later that very year but their final participation was excellent proof that you can be jaunty, cheerful AND contemporary at the same time. The lyrics, celebrating friendship between girls, also makes a welcome exception from all the songs about love and falls perfectly into the line of Nanne's later output.
Grade: 4/5

2. Arja Saijonmaa / Högt över havet
We all thought we knew where we had Arja - Finland's most famous export to Sweden - when she suddenly made a record for the Mariann label together with Lasse Holm and made a surprise appearance in Melodifestivalen. This ridiculously effective stomper - making full use of Arja's dramatic Finnish accent - left Sweden craving for more and made sure Arja would never be forgotten.
Grade: 5/5

1. Lena Philipsson / Dansa i neon
For the second year running, Lena was criminally overlooked by the juries. Wasn't she modest enough? She wrote her own songs, made her own clothes, demanded the right to do things her own way. Was that annoying for a segment of the audience? Just like her 1986 entry, "Dansa i neon" found eternal life as a pop evergreen that will remain for many years still.
Grade: 5/5

Conclusion:
For the second year running the juries failed to channel the public opinion in general and left Sweden with a winner that was good but no complete favourite. This was the last time that the jury was organised into age groups instead of having regional juries around the countries, maybe that's where the syntax error was to be found?

In a parallel universe:
Lotta only made it to 12th place in Brussels. My bet is that Lena, Arja or Sound of Music all would have had a reasonable shot at making the top five. Given that a ballad won the international final, maybe also Cyndee could have touched a few buttons around the continent.



Lena Philipsson / Dansa i neon (Sweden 1987 national final)

Big up for Belgium

The first semi final of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest is about to begin soon but whatever happens result-wise the best entry of the night is Belgium.

You already knew this, I've been praising this madly talented little Loïc ever since last winter. Of course he is my favourite.

But I also enjoy stating it since it's not quite every year that Belgium shows their better sides and enter something good or convincing. Very much like Austria, I tend to enjoy their entries but very rarely have them on my first place.

So just because I can, I'd like to share a couple of times when Belgium really got it right.

They had their moments already before the ESC went in colour. I don't know what kind of heartless creature you must be not to melt for Tonia and her fool-proof recipe for love. (She does get the guy in the end, you know.)



Tonia - Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel (Belgium 1966)

Louis Neefs is something of a monument to entertainment in his home country of Flanders. He competed twice at the ESC and while his first song turned into a real evergreen, it's the second one that is a minor masterpiece with it's wonderfully suggestive arrangement, complete with the kind of lazy trumpet that I love.



Louis Neefs - Jennifer Jennings (Belgium 1969)

Just like Louis Neefs, Ann Christy left the world far too early and with far too few commercial successes under her belt. This wonderfully breezy little song - according to the songwriter a tale of lesbian love - is one of my all-time favourites.



Ann Christy - Gelukkig zijn (Belgium 1975)

All hell broke loose at the Flemish final when Pas de Deux and their minimalist pop experiment beat all the pre-contest favourites and the debacle in Munich was possibly inevitable, but I wish more countries dared to this kind of thing. Think of this while you hear a number of pretty but mind-numbingly dull ballads in tonight's semi.



Pas de Deux - Rendez-vous (Belgium 1983)

There are more wonderful songs in Belgian song-book than this one, but if we talk favourites this jaunty yet aggressive plea for world peace must be included. A touch too much of everything and that's what I love the most about it. Liliane for president!



Liliane St-Pierre - Soldiers of Love (Belgium 1987)

Runner-up: Germany 1987

I suspect younger readers might think I have gone absolutely crazy when I admit to absolutely loving this song back in the day. Maybe some older readers will think the same.

This reggae light made of pure plastic in the Ralph Siegel factory really pleased Tobson aged 11. It was simple and catchy and slowly ate its way into your conscience. I kept singing it all summer and held it very dear for many years to come.

I'm not even sure exactly when it grew off me. Not every song from the 80's aged gracefully and this one seems to tick every box on the list of things hard to love.

There is also something about the faux cheerfulness in the appearance of Wind themselves that gets to me. And it feels sad knowing what fate had in store for backing singer Rob Pilatus as well.

In short I don't hate it but it does nothing for me anymore and that feels strange given how much I loved it at the time.

A deserved 2nd place?
No. If Johnny Logan absolutely had to win in 1987, then Gente di mare should have been in second place. Wind deserved a top ten but surely not a top two.

An extra bonus here is the lovely postcard - I loved that almost as much as the song.



Wind - Laß die Sonne in dein Herz (Germany 1987)

Nobody's favourite but mine, part 4

Are you ready, folks? Here comes a fourth selection of songs I really liked through the years even though I have a nagging feeling I could be the only one. The former three episodes suggest that I am not alone at all, which leads me nicely onto the first song of the bunch.



Patricia Kraus - No estás solo (Spain 1987)

I never understood why anyone wouldn't like this one. It's original, energetic and pretty modern for it's time, and Patricia could be one of the coolest females ever. She is wearing a leather corset and enough rouge to suggest that she fell headlong onto the makeup-table only seconds before she had to enter the stage, still manage to look like that is the most natural thing ever.

It does take forever until she gets to a chorus but that's not the end of the world, is it? Clearly worth more than the ten points it had to content itself with.



Helen & Joseph - L-Imhabba (Malta 1972)

Malta had a tough start in Eurovision - for their first two entries they sang in their native tongue and ended in last place on both occasions. I can sort of see what the juries meant in 1971 but this adorable little gem would have deserved to be showered in points. The line where they sing about freaks, Hell's Angels and hippies is worth a top ten placing alone. Not to mention the more than impressive body language of the conductor during the instrumental break. And extra points for fashion, of course.



Park Café - Monsieur (Luxembourg 1989)

For the last few years that Luxembourg were in the contest they more seldom commissioned potential hit songs from French record labels - or did nobody want to provide them anymore? - and turned to local talent instead, mostly with pretty moderate success. Park Café entered something as unusual as a song inspired by a recent hit movie - "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" - and provided a far more jazz inspired sound than the audience was used to and the juries remained largely unimpressed.



Telex - Eurovision (Belgium 1980)

Belgium is clearly one of those nutty countries that you just don't know what to expect from. When you least expect it they will do something really crazy and unexpected and most of Europe will sit there with their jaws hanging between their legs, not knowing what hit them.

For some reason, synthesiser pioneers Telex - Belgium's own Kraftwerk but with a sense of humour - decide to throw themselves into competition with a song about the contest in question and a pronounced desire not to be understood and go through the voting without a single point. The stunt failed, the Belgians managed to collect a minor number of points and even avoided the last place, and the trio managed to thoroughly confuse their own fans in the process. What remains is a cute little masterpiece that is sure to make you smile. And when you're done smiling, check out their cover versions of Ça plane pour moi, Twist à Saint-Tropez or Rock Around The Clock. Genius!



Mrs Einstein - Niemand heeft nog tijd (Netherlands 1997)

When Dutch tv selected these feisty females internally they were presented like a group that were sure to rock the boat in a big way in Dublin. They sort of did. Not only were they nicknamed "Old Spice" - which I think was pretty witty - but most people wouldn't believe their ears. A full-tempo rip-off of Paul McCartney's Bond theme Live And Let Die that would leave people out of breath as well as in serious doubt of what the Dutch were thinking.

Only I really, really like it. I think it is fun and energetic and far superior to most entries the Dutch sent in during those eight long years they constantly failed to qualify. Old Spice for the win!

Nobody's favourite but mine, part 3

What fun it has been making the list of songs I thought I was the only person alive under God's divine sky to like and enjoy. Part 1 and Part 2, however, taught me many people share my odd taste so here we go with five more songs that somehow seemed to appeal to the mainstream of eurofans.



Rikki - Only The Light (United Kingdom 1987)

I was only 11 years old at the time and didn't really understand what the Swedish commentator meant when he implied the UK was in an outright downhill and no longer delivered anything really convincing to Eurovision. I thought this song was fun and catchy, and Rikki's backing group provided dance moves even I could manage. What was there not to love?

Besides, the Swedish commentator had no idea what a REAL downhill looks like, and neither did the UK until some twelve-thirteen years later. Rikki did end in a 13th place - the worst UK placing until then - but somewhere in Liverpool a real disaster called Jemini was just waiting to happen.



Marty Brem - Wenn Du da bist (Austria 1981)

This is actually a really lovely little song. Gentle, sensitive, heartfelt. It is well sung and is overall a rather catchy ballad. It just tries really hard to distract anyone from noticing. The composer was quoted as being unhappy with the confusing arrangement in the beginning of the song. Had I been him I would have worried a whole lot more about the performance as such. Where do I begin?

I would have loved to have a look inside the head of the Austrian choreographer. What can he have been thinking? Some heavy dancing would be nice. Backwards dancing would be even better. And somebody has to wear a helmet. Dancing has never been stranger.



Pas de Deux - Rendez-vous (Belgium 1983)

When the expert jury overwhelmingly voted Pas de Deux as winners of the 1983 Belgian final it would be a real understatement to call the studio audience enthusiastic. They whistled, booed and most left the hall before the winner's reprise was over. I guess Belgian audiences prefer heartfelt ballads about mothers to more experimental stuff.

And experimental it was, made to annoy rather than please, with it's distinct rhythm, it's intense brass arrangement and its constant repetition of one single line that doesn't really mean anything. It is close to what Greece is doing this year - presenting a set of rhythms and hooks rather than an old-fashioned song - but back in the early 1980's it was far too avant-garde to go down particularly well. At least the Spanish jury liked it and gave it eight points.



Baby Doll - Brazil (Yugoslavia 1991)

Just to make one thing very clear: there isn't the slightest hint of irony here, no tongue in cheek. I really think this song is fun and happening and that Baby Doll is a most spectacular performer. If you are looking for fine singing this will perhaps be slightly disappointing but it is not likely do bore you at least.

Since Yugoslavia had done well four years in a row I was convinced this one would be top ten material and was a bit shocked to see it end second last with only one point from Malta, beaten by a whole bunch of soporific ballads.



Vlado Janevski - Ne zori, zoro (FYR Macedonia 1998)

Not too surprising that a televoting audience that had lived through endless ballads with flute and violin and pretty harmonies and an Irish win-athon would go for something more cheerful and upbeat when they finally got the power in their hands, but it is a shame that they overlooked this last song on the night. Vlado is a really cool cat who wrote himself a really good song - a sort of Leonard Cohen of the Balkans - that would have deserved a lot more attention than this. At least they would have deserved a neighbourly top mark or two.

Absent friend: Turkey

When I was child and fell in love with this weird, wild and wonderful contest I quickly realised it was truly those weird and wild things that made the whole thing wonderful.

So how could I not love the Turkish entries? They didn't sound like anyone else, they didn't look like anyone else. Not even their flag looked like the others - so colourful, so stylish. They hardly ever scored any substantial amount of points, but that was less important.

Their whole joie de vivre attacked me and walked hand in hand with me through Euroland. How I loved the Turkish entries.



Seyyal Taner & Grup Lokomotif - Sarkim sevgi üstüne (Turkey 1987)

Ten years ago, Turkey took a radical turn and re-invented themselves in the ESC. Superstar Sertab Erener seduced the entire continent and the eternal loser blossomed into a success story. Cinderella got her prince and would never turn back again.



Sertab Erener - Everyway That I Can (Turkey 2003)

Since then most Turkish entries ended in the top ten, four of which even made the top four. Most impressive. Then suddenly - without a word of warning - Turkish tv decided to pull out of the competition, giving some really dodgy and sketchy excuses about the rules being unfair and them not wanting to be a part of this.

At first, I thought there was a hurt ego somewhere in the middle of this story. Turkey is a fast-growing economy that seeks financial and political influence in its region, and I thought maybe they would want to be treated like royalty also at the ESC. Why would they want to find themselves below the likes of France, Germany or Spain in this contest?

But then I spoke to some Turkish friends - good, intelligent and perceptive people - who suggested more sinister reasons for their country's absence.

Despite being a secular country, the current Turkish government has a mildly Islamist agenda. Knowing this, you can note that the country has not sent any female representative since 2009 despite that particular female gaining a good result.

My friends suspect that phasing out women was the first step, phasing out western cultural from the state television would be the next. I'm not saying this is the one and only truth, but this what my friends suggested and it got me thinking. If this is the case, we would probably have to wait quite a long time until we see another Turkish entry in this competition.

So in order to how my say in this matter, I decided to phase in a number of feisty and fabulous females made in Turkey. They rock. May they be back soon.



Ajda Pekkan - Petr'oil (Turkey 1980)



Klips ve Onlar - Halley (Turkey 1986)



Pan - Bana Bana (Turkey 1989)



Şebnem Paker - Dinle (Turkey 1997)



Pinar Ayhan & S.O.S - Yorgunum anla (Turkey 2000)



Sibel Tüzün - Süperstar (Turkey 2006)

PS! Just to be crystal clear - if anyone is in doubt - this is not a text against neither Turkey nor TRT. I hope for them to be back. And if anyone can add anything to this discussion - please leave a comment. DS.

Nul points: Turkey 1987

After the spectacular double-zero in Munich 1983 came a few leaner years in Euroland where no song was left without points. If it was because the juries were more understanding or because the competing countries became less daring may be debatable, but all entries were awarded for their efforts.

Maybe the Turks were lured into a fraudulent feeling of security, that you were among friends at eurovision, and that among friends you would dare show your real self.

Think again, Turkey.

Seyyal Taner, backed up by Melis Sökmen and her band Lokomotif, were apparently the light of every party in Brussels and started to stand out as something of a dark horse beforehand. Could a knockdown contribution like this be the sensation of the year?

Of course not. The juries didn't understand anything. Who did those Turks think they were?

Nul points?

I don't understand what the juries were thinking. In my book, it is always better to stand out from the others and be brave, bold and different. Seyyal's melody was clearly one of the best of the year.

Had entries like this managed to win jury approval instead of rejection, and had the juries dared to encourage the more spectacular entrants, it is quite possible that the audience interest in the ESC would not have dropped like it did during the 90's.



Seyyal Taner & Grup Lokomotif - Şarkım sevgi üstüne (Turkey 1987)

ESC reject: Yugoslavia 1987

Josipa Lisac was still in her teens when she first entered a Yugoslav national final for Eurovision. She never won, but manage to turn into a megastar - a monument of pop art with a very special place in domestic showbiz.

She is not only a singer, but also an actress and a style icon with her very own sense of fashion.

When she returned to the Yugoslav final in 1987, Josipa was the sensation of the evening with her modern sound, great presence and a most flamboyant hairdo (that would be outright dangerous if worn in public during rush hour).

This didn't matter much as the juries remained unmoved and left her in ninth place, sending super bouncy Novi Fosili off to Brussels instead, where they equalled the best Yugoslav placing until then.

Since then, Josipa the Great has not bothered to enter any national selections again, but her 1987 selection entry has turned into an evergreen, also covered by Slovenian singer Nuša Derenda.



Josipa Lisac - Gdje Dunav ljubi nebo (Yugoslavia 1987 national final)

Song Of The Day: Austria 1987

Gary Lux is a real eurovision trooper who sang solo twice, sang in a group once and acted as backing singer no less than three times. He should have a medal for his devotion and endurance.

Not that he ever came home with a real success under his arm. In 1983 and 1985 he was tipped to do a lot better than he did in the end, and in 1987 he only scored a humble eight points.

Rightly so, most people would say. They would use words like "tedious", "insignificant" or "hopeless" to describe this soft little pop ballad. And I have to admit it is no real blockbuster. But I like it anyway. It has a certain something, a touch of je-ne-sais-quoi, that makes me really fond of it.

I like the vague and soft intro, and I like the tone of Gerhard's voice. There is something about the bridge and the saxophone break. And how it finally falls back into the same vague but pleasant little part that keeps running like a red thread through the entire song.

I wouldn't give it twelve points, certainly not. But I would never push fast forward either.



Gary Lux - Nur noch Gefühl (Austria 1987)

ESC rejects: Germany 1987

One of my main rules in Eurovision is never to argue with success. If the winner of a national final meets with success at the ESC, then it was the right choice. Regardless if I like it or not.

One of the numerous examples of where this rule feels slightly out of place is the 1987 German final, held at Nürnberg. The winner was a happy but insipid pseudo-reggae by Ralph Siegel that, in all fairness, sounded far more interesting back then than it does now.

For me, the natural choice would have been Bernhard Brink, a long-standing institution in German showbiz, failing over and over again in winning German finals.

Even if he is not quite looking like a pop star, his song is fresh, very 80's and not too obvious. It would have been very interesting to know what the juries would have made of it.



Bernhard Brink - So bin ich ohne dich (Germany NF 1987)

I have another little favourite as well, and that one is actually also penned by Ralph Siegel (like oh-so-many of the songs in German finals back in the day). This one feels nothing like Ralphies usual output, however.

This would not have been out of place in Brussels either, with its wistful and frail verses leading into an not too obvious but engaging chorus. I would never in a million years have guessed this to be a Siegel/Meinunger product.

And in case there is any doubt - that is praise.



Cassy - Aus (Germany NF 1987)

Tobson's Winners: 1986 - 1990

For me, personally, these five years are the most important in Eurovision history. Possibly not the best. I can't tell. I know them by heart, the songs and the performances, I grew up with these songs.

Even the bad ones feel like old friends. I can understand them, explain their weaknesses. Like them a little bit anyway. Forgive them for not being masterpieces.

It also makes picking out favourites even harder. It is like selecting one favourite among your children. Almost.

What I am trying to say is that for every favourite picked in this chapter, there are several other candidates close behind in the running. One day I will dissect these years in detail here on the blog.

But now for my personal winners.

1986 - Germany



Ingrid Peters - Über die Brücke geh'n (Germany 1986)

1986 offers one of my favourite selection of entries ever. Here is a wide range of styles and moods, many really good choruses and a heap of really good performances.

Switzerland and Luxembourg offer very strong songs, Turkey is a real gem, Portugal has a great pop number, France and Norway are fun, Yugoslavia is tender and the list goes on.

But this German song is like a wonder of elegance and craftmanship. It has a large and breezy sound, it has a very strong handle of a chorus and it is brilliantly sung by Ingrid Peters.

In retrospect, the lyrics are also touching, as a love song between the "two Germanys" to build a bridge, to understand each other and to have a peek over the wall.

Less than four years later the wall would crack down, and you could see right through it.

Real winner:
Sandra Kim - J'aime la vie (Belgium)


1987 - Turkey



Seyyal Taner & Lokomotif - Sarkim sevgi üstüne (Turkey 1987)

Another year bursting full of personal favourites. Belgium, Italy, Yugoslavia, Finland, Cyprus, Spain, Norway... the list is neverending.

But the Turks knock the socks off everyone. Mainly because they were really doing what I have already pinpointed as my favourite asset: they do their thing without trying to be loved by everyone.

They were loved in Brussels throughout the week, seen as a possible surprise act, appearing on stage like a musical thunderstorm, breaking every rule concerning how you should sound, look and act on the eurovision stage.

That earned them a big fat zero in the end. Not one of the twenty-one juries considered this entry worthy of a single point. Even the famously neutral SVT commentator made a remark how strange he found that verdict.

If you were different during the late 80's, the juries would punish you. These days, standing out from the rest is an asset. I like the new world order better.

Real winner:
Johnny Logan - Hold Me Now (Ireland)


1988 - Luxembourg



Lara Fabian - Croire (Luxembourg 1988)

Out of these five years, I find 1988 to be a somewhat weaker edition compared to the others. Anyhow, there are a few songs that are absolute top class. Like Israel. Like Turkey.

And like Luxembourg, introducing Lara Fabian, in a few years time set to be a huge household name in the entire French-speaking world.

This is an attempt at the classical French ballad again, the kind that would just walk in and floor all competition. But despite being powerful and lyrical, it didn't quite make it all the way.

She was beaten by another icon to be of French song, Céline Dion. Her career needed the victory more, as it apparently opened doors for her American career. But Lara's song is stronger. My winner.

Real winner:
Céline Dion - Ne partez pas sans moi (Switzerland)


1989 - Italy



Anna Oxa & Fausto Leali - Avrei voluto (Italy 1989)

I almost had to call this a tie in the end. How can I judge which one is better, this one or Finland? And then we have Turkey a very close third. And Spain a very close fourth.

But there is a raw, untamed energy and wrath in this song that I find overwhelming. Also this one breaks out from the eurovision formula in a nice way that proved a bit too much for the juries.

But the juries have possibly never been less up to the task than in 1989. They hardly do a single thing right, the entire voting is a mess. The final result is a farce.

Yugoslavia won with a happy song, but hardly their most convincing effort ever. More commercial songs, like Sweden, Austria and Germany, were left behind. When the winning team is welcomed on stage, the audience gives them a glacial reception with no cheers and no applause.

Rather a revealing image of where the ESC was heading for the next couple of years.

Real winner:
Riva - Rock Me (Yugoslavia)


1990 - Israel



Rita - Shara barechovot (Israel 1990)

Late 1989 had shaken Europe and by 1990, the landscape looked different. New times with no possibilities, and maybe this made the juries a bit braver again.

They did favour more classical songs like Ireland and Iceland, sure, but also gave high points to daring choices like France and Spain.

However, the demanding and experimental pop lament from Israel prooved too much and Rita landed the second worst result of the Jewish state until then. It does take a few listenings, admittedly, and maybe the juries simply didn't have the time to break into it fully.

But this is a lovingly crafted little masterpiece of a song, belted out with gusto and conviction. Maybe not the song you whistle in the shower the next day, but a very fine piece of pop art.

Real winner:
Toto Cutugno - Insieme: 1992

Songs only I like: Portugal 1987

To put one thing straight from the start - it is not like I'm not used to standing alone with my love for Portuguese entries. It seems they almost always go way over the heads of the typical eurofan, and just as often they hit the bull's eye with me.

There are so many Portuguese entries I really adore and would have wished a lot more points as well as fans.

As for this one, I could perfectly well be the only person alive thinking this is a wonderful little song as I can't remember a single person speaking up in its favour ever.



Nevada - Neste barco a vela (Portugal 1987)

At least three juries liked it as well, giving it a grand total of 15 points and an 18th place among 22 competitors.

I find this original, ethnic, melancholic and beautiful. There is something very attractive about the melody line and the whole thing being very much in minor. I also really like the deep voice of the male vocalist.

Of course this one was doomed from the word go, especially back in the 80's where you had to look and sound like the mainstream to have any chance of good scores, but maybe that is only one more factor that works in its favour in my book.

Again - if anyone out there thinks this is a good one, please leave a comment and let me know. I'm sure Nevada would appreciate it as well.

Mrs Peace from Belgium

One more blog entry about Belgium 1987 before I knock it off... But the winner of the 1987 BRT Eurosong really deserves a special mention.

Aged 11, Soldiers of Love knocked my socks off, to be honest. I loved it from the word go, from the opening seconds of that precious preview clip.



Liliane Saint-Pierre - Soldiers Of Love (Belgium 1987 preview)

There were many things in this entry that easily appeal to children - most notably the presence of kids in the clip, but also the easily retainable chorus and the very distinct choreography. Me and my friends copied it and made the same movements everytime we heard the song or sang it ourselves in fake Flemish.

When the final came around, Belgium was one of my firm favourites and the live performance didn't let me down. It was slick, dramatic and very likeable. And yes, the guitars were still used as rifles.



Liliane Saint-Pierre - Soldiers of Love (Belgium 1987)

Most adults seemed not to be as blown away as me and my friends, however. The commentators expressed a bit of doubt over our beloved choreography and ridiculed the lyrics that hit a note within our childish minds. Swedish radio commentator said that "now the song is over, Mrs Peace from Belgium can march on home and go to bed".

These days I can see how Liliane and friends over emphasise the peace theme and their naïve approach can obviously be a bit too much for the average viewer. But on the other hand, Liliane has stood the test of time surprisingly well.

In the long run, the things that stand out as a bit too much are often the ones that survive in the long run. Today, this entry stands out as a charming child of its time, and feels more fresh than several more polished entries from 1987.

And I still sing along in fake Flemish when I am sure nobody can hear me.

Runner-up: Bart Kaëll almost made it

Let's stay in Belgium 1987, but go back a few months to the Belgian national final. Interest was high and BRT put on a good show with many strong candidates in what must rank as one of the best Belgian national finals ever.

Of course the Flemish needed to impress - their entries had done rather badly all through the eighties, while the walloons had managed three consecutive top five placings - including a victory.

Now BRT had to follow up the victory and, as the head of delegation would say in Brussels, be visitors in their own country. (1987 is the only Eurovision ever where the hosting broadcaster did not have its own entry - RTBF hosted the event, BRT sent in the participating entry.)

In Eurosong 1987 one of the hot favourites to win was young Bart Kaëll, who took part for the second time after a few years of struggle in the business.



Bart Kaëll - Carrousel (Belgium NF 1987)

His self-penned entry is nothing short of a mega schlager - the kind that eats its way inside your head and stays there until you feel the need to go and take a shower. Too bad for Bart, there was a second, even stronger, song of the same genre in the running. Liliane Saint-Pierre was sent to Brussels, where she managed an 11th place.



Liliane Saint Pierre - Soldiers Of Love (Belgium 1987)

Bart didn't have to stay sad for long - Carrousel turned out to be a big hit and the real start of a career that still goes on.

And to add something juicy at the end - these days he is in a long-standing relationship with Luc Appermont, the very presenter who introduces him in the clip above. (At least if Wikipedia is to be trusted.)

Scoreboard extravaganza: Brussels 1987

It will come as no news to faithful followers of this blog that I am a tiny bit of a eurovision nerd. Along with that title comes a love for all details that could seem insignificant, but that will send me into a spin.

Scoreboards are one of these things I love more than most.

Hereby, I kick off a series where I share some of my favourite scoreboards through the years, and the first one is the first one I remember at all.



The 1987 ESC, produced by RTBF and held in Brussels, was the first one I saw from beginning to end, aged 11. It was the first voting I followed live and this scoreboard left a lasting impression.

It looks modern in the old-fashioned way of the mid-80's, and it showed the placing for each country after each round of voting. It had flags and was above all very easy to read.

I can't help but wonder how it looks in the eye of the younger fans. Does it have a certain charm à la curiosity shop or does it only look old?

Also - note that the countries are written in French! A nice touch, and it has only been done once again since 1987 (two years later in Lausanne). I wonder if even France would have the scoreboard in French these days...?

Yugoslavia 1986: Boby was only no. 2

Novi fosili is one of my all time favourite groups to come out of former Yugoslavia. Always smiling, always energetic, always with choruses that would stick to your mind like a chewing gum under your shoe.

In the Yugoslav national finals of the 80's, they were the neverending story, taking part almost every year, always ending close to the top.

In 1986, they competed for the fourth time, this time with the title "Boby no 1". However, Boby had to content himself with being number two. Doris Dragović was unstoppable at the Jugovizija final in Pristina. And rightly so.



Novi fosili - Boby no 1 (Yugoslav NF 1986 - this clip is not from the NF)

The new phosils didn't have to wait for long - their big moment in Eurovision was just around the corner. At the 1987 Yugoslav final in Belgrade, they won and were sent off to Brussels, scoring an excellent fourth place - the best Yugoslav showing until then, equal with 1962 and 1983.



Novi fosili - Ja sam za ples (Yugoslavia 1987 preview)



Novi fosili - Ja sam za ples (Yugoslavia 1987)

Angie Dylan would have deserved to win

The youngest participant in the 1987 Belgian preselection, organised by the Flemish broadcaster BRT (later VRT), was 17-year old Angie Dylan.

Her song was also the most youthful and modern one in the running, with a pulsating rhythm and an energetic brass section in top form. One look at the juries was enough to tell that this was far too much to go down with victory.

Angie also had to face cheerful Bart Kaëll (ending in second place) and the unstoppable Eurovision mutant monster that is "Soldiers of Love" by Liliane St Pierre.

She also had to face her own lack of experience and stage confidence. Too bad, as her song remains one of the best ones ever rejected by Belgium. (And Flanders have rejected more good songs that they have selected, mind you.)

Had she competed in a less competitive year, maybe Angie would have had a chance of winning. Too bad, she - and above all her song - would have deserved a victory.



Angie Dylan - 17 (Belgium NF 1987)

Wow... Thank you, readers!

I just have to thank you all who pass by once in a while to read what I scribble down. I made this blog public Wednesday this week (even if some posts are older than that) and today, Saturday, I have had already more than 500 pageviews!

Fantastic! This calls for a bit of a celebration! How about champagne for everybody?



John Terra en groep - Champagne voor iedereen (Belgium national final 1987)

Schlager of the day: Nya illusioner

These days, I am not the biggest fan of the pop schlager as phenomenon. I want the world to go on and I want the ESC to incorporate new styles, representative of the times we live in rather than the past.

But schlager through the years makes me nostalgic and happy.

And one that pops up fairly regularly in my head is this forgotten pearl from the 1987 Melodifestival held in Gothenburg. Annica Jonsson was the hopeful debutant at the microphone, who finally had her chance in the spotlight.

Annika had tried at least once before, but in 1985 her entry "Stjärnljus" was rejected by the committee.

Maybe she didn't quite believe in the song, maybe she didn't really want to be a singer, but Annika displays quite a lack of focus when it is her turn and she sings the wrong lyrics at least twice throughout the song. She didn't qualify for the super final and the song was pretty instantly forgotten.

But I still love it. Chirpy, upbeat, classical. My schlager of the day.

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.