Tobson takes on 1995

Tomorrow I will start reviewing this year's entries - one per day - so this series will take a little break after this post. I set my watch back 20 years exactly and evaluate what I think of this, the 40th contest since the start.

In all fairness, I had a feeling already back then that this edition would perhaps not come to stand out as one of the strongest ever, but I still made a fair effort to really like the songs and the final in itself.

There was good reason to try to stay in good spirits. Despite the anniversary, interest was low from many broadcasters and you could almost sense the risk that somebody would get vocal and openly suggest that the contest would be scrapped altogether.

What talked against anything like that happening was the fact that the UK had made a close-to-heroic effort to breathe new life into their national final and seemed determined to keep the show on the road. Sweden's entry had become the biggest hit back home for several years and the new broadcasters seemed very keen to keep participating.

In the next two years the wind was about to turn and more countries would start making more visible efforts again. But what about the songs of 1995? This is how I rank them twenty years on.

23. Belgium - Frédéric Etherlinck / La voix est libre
A cool voice and a cool presence are completely wasted on a song that best can be described as a completely washed-out Patrick Bruel-reject.
Grade: 1/5

22. Portugal - Tó Cruz / Baunilha e chocolate
This could have been a good entry with a bit of an effort - there is a good hook that shows up now and then and the gospel approach is welcome - but it just never takes off. It builds up and builds up but never reaches any climax and then suddenly ends.
Grade: 1/5

21. Hungary - Csaba Szigeti / Új név a régi ház falán
Just like Portugal, this one is almost good but fails big time in its construction. When the chorus finally arrives after a long dull verse - it takes far too long - nobody cares anymore and already started hoping for the next song.
Grade: 1/5

20. Iceland - Bo Halldórsson / Núna
What all the songs at the bottom of my list have in common is a concentrate of the big problem with the Eurovision Song Contest in the mid-90's: had anyone just bothered to add some temper and a little bit of endeavour it could all have been so much better. This one is slick but lacks any passion to make it come alive.
Grade: 1/5

19. Ireland - Eddie Friel / Dreaming
Nice but far too old-fashioned and also lacking in visible conviction: the performer and his backing singers all sing like they did it in their sleep without adding any personality to the song.
Grade: 2/5

18. Germany - Stone & Stone / Verliebt in dich
A fresh attempt at more modern music, completely wrecked by an inexplicably shaky performance. These people apparently had contacts within the music business, why insist on singing it yourself (when you can't)?
Grade: 2/5

17. Bosnia-Herzegovina - Davorin Popovic / Dvadeset i prvi vijek
A pleasant little jazz ditty, performed by a seasoned performer who got his Eurovision trip as a gift from the local tv company. A nicer touch would have been setting him up with a stronger entry - now he agreed with most that the selected entry wouldn't stand much of a chance anywhere.
Grade: 2/5

16. Russia - Philipp Kirkorov / Kolibelnaya dlya vulkana
Packed with the action and drama and conviction most of the earlier songs in the list lacked. Had all of this been paired with a slightly more user-friendly entry it could have carried way further than this.
Grade: 2/5

15. Malta - Mike Spiteri / Keep Me In Mind
It means well, this song. It wants to be an emotional rocker but isn't much more than a standard ballad that also comes to a very abrupt end. Good voice but not too engaging.
Grade: 2/5

14. Israel - Liora / Amen
Felt much better back then, but turned out to be nothing but one last shout from the once so successful Israeli formula of the 80's. Today it is still nice but falls in the deep shadow of greater songs like "Hi", "Olé Olé" and "Hallelujah".
Grade: 2/5

13. United Kingdom - Love City Groove / Love City Groove
I would love to rank this one higher and give an extra point for the effort - but this first true rap entry in the history of the contest didn't age particularly well. Time not only sank its teeth into this one but totally ground it down to nothing of what is once was. And the orchestra does nothing to help.
Grade: 2/5

12. Austria - Stella Jones / Die Welt dreht sich verkehrt
In a year as full of half-hearted ballads as 1995 was, a song like Austria's is sure to liven things up a great deal. Bouncy and fun even if not quite as sensational as the people on stage would like us to think it is.
Grade: 3/5

11. France - Nathalie Santamaria / Il me donne rendez-vous
One of my top favourites back then is given a very energetic performance but would have needed more colour to break through. Why is everyone dressed in black? Later on in life I also realised that the song is little more than a re-write of early Patricia Kaas hits - most notably "Mon mec à moi" - by the same writing team.
Grade: 3/5

10. Norway - Secret Garden / Nocturne
A beautiful instrumental tune with strings and whistles and a key fiddle was really right in time during these days of an expanding market for new age-music. Original enough to convince the juries, but I would have enjoyed its victory more had there been a chorus.
Grade: 3/5

9. Slovenia - Darja Švajger / Prisluhni mi
Classy and well sung - very much like Darja's second entry reminiscent of a number of good Bond themes - but ultimately relying a bit too heavily on its impressive vocal performance.
Grade: 3/5

8. Sweden - Jan Johansen / Se på mig
A fine pop ballad in a suggestive arrangement that I would possibly have liked that little bit more now hadn't it been a huge summer hit played everywhere until you felt no greater need to listen to it any time soon again.
Grade: 3/5

7. Greece - Elina Konstantoupoulou / Pia prosefchi
Clean-cut and elegant, haunting and convincing, beautifully performed.
Grade: 3/5

6. Croatia - Magazin & Lidija / Nostalgija
There hadn't been an awful lot of opera singers at Eurovision for a few years when this mix of opera and schlager hit my ears. A pretty large dose of kitsch, but all of that is forgotten every time they reach the adorable chorus.
Grade: 3/5

5. Turkey - Arze Ece / Sev!
It's a bit of a complicated ride, this one. At least people tell me so, that they find it hard to find any kind of handle here. I just love Arzu Ece, so it all falls into place. And the song is cute too.
Grade: 3/5

4. Cyprus - Alex Panayi / Sti fotia
The closest you would get to real pyrotechnics before those came into use: every inch of this performance is vibrating and pulsating. In a year deeply lacking in dynamics it is a mystery that this one didn't to better.
Grade: 4/5

3. Denmark - Aud Wilken / Fra Mols til Skagen
An impopular choice on home ground that made little impact on the Danish charts back then. An almost hypnotic entry, sensually whispered between the banjo and xylophone parts. Phenomenal.
Grade: 4/5

2. Spain - Anabel Conde / Vuelve conmigo
A real power ballad, cleverly constructed and building into a big finish that almost reaches the strength of a tropical storm. Too bad that Anabel's career never lived up to the promise of this song, but it still is one to cherish.
Grade: 5/5

1. Poland - Justyna / Sama
The masterpiece of the year opened the contest and scared the juries stiff. Described by somebody as "a Björk record played in reverse", complete with deep lyrics and notes almost impossible to hit. Took some time to break into but by quite some margin the song that means the most to me out of all the songs on offer in 1995.
Grade: 5/5



Justyna - Sama (Poland 1995)

Tobson takes on 1979

Being a eurovision host could be demanding back in the day. Israeli television had not yet switched to colour - and was reluctant to do so for political reasons - but were now required to produce a state-of-the-art tv event in full colour.

Which they did quite splendidly. The stage set was minimalist yet very impressive and the postcards between the songs - where actors carried out mime performances to evoke something typical about the upcoming country - were seen as very ingenious.

The big question mark for me is of course how the Turkish entry would have scored had TRT not decided to pull out of the competition at a late date. My guess is it would have stayed in the lower regions of the result, but you can never be too sure about anything.

The general standard of songs is high, which makes this ranking hard. Many songs I like will still end up lower than expected in this list, often marred by substandard performances.

19. Monaco - Laurent Vaguener / Notre vie c'est la musique
A very easy last place to spot. If this was the best thing Monaco could find, I'm not surprised to see them drop out of the contest for the following 25 years. A really weak rocker paired with an out-of-breath performance from a singer that can't sing. Vaguener later said the entire entry was a disaster and I can only nod my head and agree. One of the worst ever.
Grade: 0/5

18. United Kingdom - Black Lace / Mary-Ann
AllMusic called Black Lace the band with the least street credibility in the world and I won't argue with that description. Five years before inflicting "Agadoo" on the world, they did their worst to look and sound like Smokie, in particular like their hit single "Oh Carol". Not much by any standard.
Grade: 1/5

17. Ireland - Cathal Dunne / Happy Man
Very much your typical Irish entry - a soft and harmless male ballad. Pleasant. Won't disturb you. Doesn't hurt. But doesn't contribute a whole lot to the world either.
Grade: 1/5

16. Switzerland - Peter, Sue & Marc with Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri / Trödler und co
Possibly the longest group name in the history of the contest. This is a cheerful and upbeat little song with a silly but likeable performance. Nice but not enough to stand a chance in this lineup.
Grade: 2/5

15. Luxembourg - Jeane Manson / J'ai déjà vu ça dans tes yeux
An almost perfect attempt at a glamorous, expensive and luxurious soul ballad - the only problem is that it never fully takes off. Later it transpired the song had been released on record already back in 1967 with different lyrics and would most probably have been disqualified had it won.
Grade: 2/5

14. Israel - Milk & Honey / Hallelujah
The ultimate proof that some songs just won't stand the test of time. Very happy, very likeable. But I never feel the need to listen to this one. Alongside "Ein bisschen Frieden" one of the winners I care the least for while still acknowledging them to be good songs.
Grade: 2/5

13. Denmark - Tommy Seebach / Disco Tango
A good song suffering from an almost painfully miscalculated performance. A dance song with nobody dancing, with the possible exception of Debbie Cameron doing her thing among the backing singers. Could have been fantastic with a different staging.
Grade: 2/5

12. Belgium - Micha Marah / Hey Nanah
A very bouncy song that the performer herself famously hated and tried her best to avoid singing. I disagree both with her and the juries placing this one last - it always gets me in a good mood and has me singing along in bad Dutch.
Grade: 3/5

11. Netherlands - Xandra / Colorado
When there was no free choice of language, titles like this one were pretty common and people sang about anything that sounded "international" and "understandable". This is another song that is close to perfect in its studio version only to fall apart in a slightly chaotic live performance.
Grade: 3/5

10. Austria - Christina Simon / Heute in Jerusalem
ORF used to have a thing about selecting entries that would stand out and bring something musically different to the contest. I never paid off but some of those entries are really classy and lovely little songs. This one was too slow and too pretentious and was never anything but shark feed but if you take your time to fully listen it is quite a gem.
Grade: 3/5

9. Greece - Elpida / Socrates
A good song but I can't really put my finger on where it goes wrong in the live version. The orchestral arrangement feels clumsy and the singers seem to have problems to keep up with the rhythm.
Grade: 3/5

8. Italy - Matia Bazar / Raggio di luna
Quirky and personable, performed by an established act, and yet totally overlooked by the jury for no apparent reason. Maybe too low-key to stand out from the rest, but had the jury set out to reward original entries this one should have done a lot better.
Grade: 3/5

7. Norway - Anita Skorgan / Oliver
The studio version has a very polished, contemporary sound that the orchestra completely fails to reproduce and the backing singers may seem louder than what is called for, but this is still a good song - and who wouldn't love Anita Skorgan?
Grade: 3/5

6. Portugal - Manuela Bravo / Sobe, sobe, balão sobe
As a composition, this is pretty odd in its construction with it's long verse and then an ever-repeating chorus. But what does it matter when Manuela sells it this well? Catchy and energetic as well as a really good opener.
Grade: 3/5

5. Sweden - Ted Gärdestad / Satellit
Like several others I have mentioned, the Swedish entry would have needed a more solid stage performance and what is a very powerful studio version is reduced to something considerably smaller live. But why this one flunked so mercilessly in the voting, I'll never fully understand. Catchy and altogether pretty adorable.
Grade: 3/5

4. Finland - Katri Helena / Katson sineen taivaan
Finland's finest Katri Helena brought along dramatic strings, a suggestive verse and gave a really convincing vocal performance.
Grade: 4/5

3. Spain - Betty Missiego / Sú canción
So perhaps I'm just a sentimental fool. In theory, I find this too polite, too calculated, too sugary sweet and then there is the old trick with the kids doing the backing vocals. And yet it gets me every time. Most convincing and very easy to find yourself humming along to.
Grade: 4/5

2. Germany - Dschinghis Khan / Dschinghis Khan
This is the one time when Ralph Siegel really worked his magic and got every piece to fall into place. A crazily effective hook, perfect visuals, perfect staging and a song most people will have ringing in their heads for a long time after hearing it. A real classic.
Grade: 4/5

1. France - Anne-Marie David / Je suis l'enfant soleil
Again my favourite is the dramatic French ballad. It has a haunting melody, it tells a dramatic story and it has Anne-Marie David. What is there not to love? How could this not be my number one? Not the strongest big ballad of all time but my personal winner of 1979.
Grade: 4/5



Anne-Marie David - Je suis l'enfant soleil (France 1979)

Runner-up: Russia 2012

You can say a lot of things about the Russian entries through the years, but they have been anything but square and boring. Recently they have, but they didn't use to be.

Russia bent the rules and pushed the limits and often added a rock star element as well as a general feeling that you never knew what to expect from them.

And when we thought we had seen it all, they enter a bunch of grandmothers singing happily about throwing a party for all their children and grand-children where the cat is happy and the dog is happy too. And everybody sing boom boom together.

The outcome could well be the happiest piece of televisual genius we have seen for years. The women of Buranovo smiled and sang slightly off-tune while baking bread in the huge oven they had brought along for the occasion. Irresistible and the last Russian entry to feel warm and inclusive and really mean it. Maybe the song isn't all that but these are three minutes you won't forget. I for one love every second of it.

A deserved 2nd place?
In a song contest where songs are given points because they are great songs - no. At this very time and place - yes. Babushki for everybody!



Buranovskiye Babushki - Party For Everybody (Russia 2012)

Runner-up: United Kingdom 1977

To hit rock bottom is to go as low as you can go, and the BBC probably felt pretty close to that when they had to tell the EBU as well as the other participating countries that the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest had to be cancelled.

The final was supposed to be held on April 2 at Wembley, but at this time people going on strike were about as common as rain or fog or sunrises. The BBC technicians went on strike and only a matter of hours prior to the respective delegations travelling to London, the contest had to be put off.

A similar problem had occurred already at the national final, which in the end was never televised but only broadcast on radio. If the eternal striking had any influence on the result isn't clear (at least not to me) but the winning entry was a good-hearted, light-weight nod towards the state of British society. If it isn't working, then rub it out and start it again.

Or postpone it, at least. Europe had to wait five weeks until the contest was given its green light and went on air on May 7 instead. The delay probably meant that a few more modern entries had already peaked in the charts, and some juries may have grown tired of them before the final.

The UK delegation seemed to be forgiven for the long wait, and Europe generously voted the home team into second place and made the song a bigger hit on the continent than in the UK charts.

A deserved 2nd place?
Not really, no. I personally like it quite a lot and find it really pleasant, but it is more a fun performance than a really solid song. There were other songs that would have deserved these points better - Germany, Greece, Italy - but Lynsey de Paul's smile and the sight of Ronnie Hazlehurst conducting the orchestra with an umbrella puts me in a very forgiving mood.



Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran - Rock Bottom (United Kingdom 1977)

Tobson takes on 1998

In this very popular series where I rank all participating songs of the ESC of a given year we have today reached 1998 - the last contest to date hosted by the BBC.

(This is my blog. If I say a series is very popular then it is. Do you understand me?)

The late 90's were exciting times as the contest had started to gain popularity and a certain buzz again after many years of falling ratings and a real lack of hit songs among the participants. Or to put it like one of the Swedish tabloids: what's the point of a hit song contest that doesn't generate any hits?

Big changes were about to happen. For 1998, most of the countries introduced full-scale televoting and the next year there would be free choice of language as well as no orchestra.

In general, 1998 was a pretty good year with a good selection of songs. Good but not outstanding. Which makes it a little bit easier to make this list.

25. Spain - Mikel Herzog / Que voy a hacer sin ti
Mikel has a good voice but the song is so dull that I don't know where to begin to look for words describing just how mind-numbing these three minutes are. My personal motto is that if you can't be good, it's always better to be bad than to be dull. Take note, Spain.
Grade: 0/5

24. Greece - Thalassa / Mia krifi evesthisia
It's the "better be bad than dull"-rule that saves Greece from last place. This really is fantastically bad, going in all directions at the same time as it goes nowhere. A sad day for Greek music to have this represent them, but as with all truly bad songs it does have a certain entertainment factor.
Grade: 0/5

23. Turkey - Tüzmen / Unutamazsın
A pretty passionate performance isn't always enough to make a song interesting. Sometimes it just makes you wonder where that passion comes from. This song just goes on and on and feels a whole lot longer than three minutes.
Grade: 1/5

22. Malta - Chiara / The One That I Love
I will never forget my surprise when this one almost won. All I heard and saw was a dull standard ballad where all these televoters must have found something truly captivating.
Grade: 1/5

21. Romania - Mălina Olinescu / Eu cred
Originally a sweet little song that suffered from an overblown orchestral arrangement that triggered the singer to become really shouty by the end.
Grade: 1/5

20. Finland - Edea / Aava
An intriguing set-up and an exciting soundscape are quite successful in blocking the sight and make you forget how little of a song really goes on here. When singer Marika Krook failed to deliver the final high note, all that remained were three minutes of wait without any climax.
Grade: 1/5

19. Cyprus - Michalis Hatzigiannis / Genesis
Another pleasant piece of music that never really takes off and another singer that tries to compensate for the lack of development in his song with vocal power. Gets a bit chaotic by the end.
Grade: 2/5

18. Germany - Guildo Horn / Guildo hat euch lieb
Unlike Cyprus, this one is chaotic on purpose and gets away with it. A funny package but not really a terrific song in any way.
Grade: 2/5

17. Slovenia - Vili Resnik / Naj bogovi slišijo
When there are too many ballads in the same line-up it is very easy to just disappear among the rest and be nothing more than just another ballad. Just like Slovenia. Quite a good one, well performed, but with nothing that makes it feel special.
Grade: 2/5

16. Hungary - Charlie / A holnap már nem lesz szomurú
The orchestra was present for the last time, and hearing what it did to this pretty decent little blues song you don't miss it a terrible lot. Good song, poor execution.
Grade: 2/5

15. Belgium - Melanie Cohl / Dis oui
Happy and light-weight, but apparently exactly the kind of song Europe needed at this time. In my mind it's happy and clappy for three minutes without leaving much of an impression.
Grade: 2/5

14. Portugal - Alma Lusa / Se eu te pudesse abraçar
Cheerful and likeable (except for the tiny detail that the lead singer is clapping her hands out of rhythm), but yet another of those pretty un-remarkable song this line-up is full of.
Grade: 3/5

13. Estonia - Koit Toome / Mere lapsed
Another ballad, soft and tender like a lullaby. What saves this one from being just another ballad is the star quality of Koit Toome, still young but already a very good singer.
Grade: 3/5

12. Ireland - Dawn Martin / Is Always Over Now?
After having won four times in recent years with various ballads, it was almost as if the televoters around Europe suddenly said in unison that they had had it with Irish victories. This one isn't bad at all, but the voters remained unmoved.
Grade: 3/5

11. France - Marie Line / Oú aller?
A strong, contemporary song that I expected to finish really high on the night, at least until I saw this car crash of a performance. Would have deserved more points than it had but I clearly prefer the studio version.
Grade: 3/5

10. Switzerland - Gunvor / Lass' ihn
It's old-fashioned, I can acknowledge that, but a nul-pointer? What I hear and see is a pleasant little schlager in a slightly modernised arrangement - and again Egon with his violin - and I feel genuinely sorry this one didn't make it into the top ten of a single country. At least Gunvor made it into my top ten, if that makes her feel any better.
Grade: 3/5

9. Norway - Lars Fredriksen / Alltid sommer
A shameless rip-off from Boyzone's "Picture of You", but the Motown vibe works well with the orchestra and provides some temper and tempo in this line-up.
Grade: 3/5

8. FYR Macedonia - Vlado Janevski / Ne zori, zoro
A touch of Leonard Cohen added to a sophisticated arrangement with dramatic strings and an exotic tone in guitars, this is a song that has grown a lot on me through the years. Stylish and solid.
Grade: 3/5

7. Sweden - Jill Johnson / Kärleken är
One of the best ballads of the year suffered from a slightly nervous performance and a catastrophic styling that neither suited the singer nor the song. Is it possible that bad styling makes the singer ill at ease and has a negative impact also on an artistic level?
Grade: 4/5

6. Poland - Sixteen / To takie proste
Another good, contemporary effort that seemed very promising in the previews but then failed to ever really take off during the live performance. And maybe it just needed a listening or two too many to work in a televote?
Grade: 4/5

5. United Kingdom - Imaani / Where Are You?
Slightly reminiscent of "Missing" by Everything But The Girl, the home entry was the most chart-friendly song of the year, performed with a confidence and self-assurance most UK entries have lacked since.
Grade: 4/5

4. Slovakia - Katarina Hasprová / Modlitba
Original and soulful, beautifully sung, left with a ridiculous grand total of eight points (that they quite possibly had traded with Croatia anyway) when it really deserved a steady stream of appreciation from all corners of the continent. Slovakia's finest to date.
Grade: 4/5

3. Israel - Dana International / Diva
Just like when a certain Conchita won sixteen years later, some critical voices claimed the victory depended on hype alone. This is of course ridiculous. The Israeli effort was brave, infectious and had a very strong and hit-friendly chorus. A most deserved success.
Grade: 4/5

2. Netherlands - Edsilia / Hemel en aarde
If it hadn't been for the phenomenon that was Dana International, Edsilia would have been the winner and rightly so. Powerful, dynamic and one heck of a performance - vocally and visually.
Grade: 5/5

1. Croatia - Danijela / Neka mi ne svane
What can I say? Loved it when it won the Dora final - at the time when most online fandom just saw it as a disappointingly ordinary ballad - and I kept loving it ever since. There is nothing ordinary about this. The dress trick is the icing of the cake but the real treasure here is all that drama bubbling under the surface. A lovely, lovely song.
Grade: 5/5



Danijela - Neka mi ne svane (Croatia 1998)

Tobson takes on 1990

It's not time to dig into this year's entries just yet - I will need some more time to listen and evaluate and find eventual pros and cons there - so I thought I'd throw myself headlong into another year that has meant a great deal to me.

I was 14 back in 1990, very happy to see Yugoslavia host the contest. Yugoslavia had for years been one of my fetish countries that I always liked, always supported, always cheered for.

They had such good songs and such a pretty and unusual flag, and judging from their preview clips it seemed to be a country where everyone were always happy and cheerful and playful. I was blissfully unaware of the things cooking underneath the surface and was just very pleased with the show offered to the world by Televizija Zagreb.

A number of years - perhaps 1985 to 1990 - have been so formative to me, that many of the songs feel like old friends. They are hard to rank and even the bad ones have redeeming qualities in my eyes. But if I had to rank all 22 songs of 1990, it would look a bit like this.

22. Sweden - Edin-Ådahl / Som en vind
This song never meant a lot to me, really. It was a disappointing winner of the national final and I never understood the fuss about it. Not bad, only very insignificant.
Grade: 1/5

21. Ireland - Liam Reilly / Somewhere in Europe
Pretty much the same case as with Sweden. Not a bad tune, but completely let down by the forced travel-log lyrics that try to squeeze in every thinkable square, street, hill or field you could ever imagine in Europe.
Grade: 1/5

20. Switzerland - Egon Egemann / Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus
Good in parts. I like the powerful intro, the chorus is catchy and the violin break adds character. Just too bad that the different parts don't come together very well. And Egon is not the right performer to paint over the cracks either.
Grade: 1/5

19. Norway - Ketil Stokkan / Brandenburger Tor
A very cheerful approach to the recent fall of the Berlin wall. They mean well and the song isn't bad as such, but contributing such a feather-weight song about an event of such gravity must be the most out of place ESC entry celebrating anything or anyone since Sweden's Forbes ended in last place with their ode to the Beatles back in 1977.
Grade: 2/5

18. Germany - Chris Kempers & Daniel Kovac / Frei zu leben
Another effort that probably means well but just shoots over the goal. Given Ralph Siegel's usual eye for detail, it is odd that he chose two performers that don't match each other vocally (and who don't really seem to like each other a whole lot either). If Norway is too cheerful to suit the matter, then the German entry is too stiff.
Grade: 2/5

17. United Kingdom - Emma / Give A Little Love Back To The World
Singing cheerful songs about difficult subjects were very much the order of the day back in 1990, and Emma wanted to save the world with her little song. Inoffensive but easily forgotten.
Grade: 2/5

16. Netherlands - Maywood / Ik wil alles met je delen
A good song let down by a really lacklustre performance, which in itself is inexplicable. Maywood had been successful for at least twelve years and were very experienced performers. Maybe they felt this being perhaps one of the last opportunities to shake some life back into their career got the better of them?
Grade: 2/5

15. Austria - Simone / Keine Mauern mehr
Another song about that famous wall. Not bad, but again too light to seem to take its subject seriously. The lyrics could be about a first kiss or cotton candy just as well as about a capital political change in Europe.
Grade: 2/5

14. Greece - Christos Callow & Wave / Horis skopo
This one doesn't really work either but I always had a soft spot for this chorus. A better performance would have been good - who thought up that strange arrangement for the backing vocals? - but it didn't deserve the bashing it got.
Grade: 2/5

13. Cyprus - Anastasio / Milas poli
Cyprus did their best to sound like the current pop songs you heard in the charts, but the song doesn't live up to the high ambition. Especially the chorus falls a little bit flat. And if I call the performance a complete styling disaster it would still be flattery.
Grade: 3/5

12. Denmark - Lonnie Devantier / Hallo Hallo
Denmark on auto pilot. The same type of song, the same type of chorus, the same type of singer that they had already entered many years in a row. Not a bad package but the whole concept was getting a bit old by then.
Grade: 3/5

11. Finland - Beat / Fri?
Finland's first entry in Swedish is far better than most people think. It's catchy little ditty and Beat look striking in white. The lyrics are equally poor to several others this year but the group's diction isn't very good - they mumble quite a few of the words - and that actually works to their advantage.
Grade: 3/5

10. Italy - Toto Cutugno / Insieme: 1992
A good winner, a quality winner. Well sung. But in retrospect it stands out as a competent but fairly anonymous winner - it would have been more fun with a colourful or more modern or more personable winner. But not a bad one at all.
Grade: 3/5

9. Portugal - Nucha / Há sempre alguém
Another of those years when the juries totally neglect the Portuguese entry and I can't see why. This one is personable and should be pretty accessible. Second last? Unbelievable.
Grade: 3/5

8. Luxembourg - Céline Carzo / Quand je te rêve
A fine song from the producers behind Dalida - one of my all-time favourite singers - that would have needed a more convincing live performance. This one also works a lot better in its studio version where it can happily ignore the three-minute-rule and let the tempo change by the end flourish into two minutes of brilliance.
Grade: 3/5

7. Belgium - Philippe Lafontaine / Macedomienne
The beauty of growing older is that you can suddenly appreciate songs you discarded completely in your youth. Where my teen self just heard a boring monotonous ballad, I hear a moody and most melodic love song, very delicately performed.
Grade: 3/5

6. Turkey - Kayahan / Gözlerinin hapsindeyim
Back in the day when Turkey had to contribute spectacular masterpieces in order to even get close to a top ten finish, a gentle and laid back attempt like this one would stand a chance similar to the one of a snowball in hell. Gentle, likeable and original.
Grade: 3/5

5. Iceland - Stjórnin / Eitt lag enn
Iceland's first really good placing and a firm favourite of mine at the time. It is still charming and appealing, but also a late shot at the Scandinavian successful sound of the 80's, enhanced by an energetic and stylish performance.
Grade: 3/5

4. Yugoslavia - Tajči / Hajde da ludujemo
The last sigh of the host country as a happy, carefree place where songs could be bouncy and whimsical without any looming shadows anywhere. Tajči was pure dynamite and the chorus with its "čokolada" hook is the happiest of the year.
Grade: 4/5

3. Spain - Azúcar Moreno / Bandido
I didn't understand at the time just how bang-up-to-date the Spanish entry was with its pumping house piano and its groundbreaking mix of dance culture and folklore. Remembered for the technical hiccup at the start of the performance, but it also launched these sisters into stardom in the latin music world. Highly deserved.
Grade: 5/5

2. France - Joëlle Ursull / White And Black Blues
One of the biggest problems with the juries were that they were often put together very randomly, not necessarily by people interested in pop music. Had the 1990 jury been a bit more hit friendly, Joëlle would have been the runaway winner and could have pushed the ESC in a more interesting musical direction. A shame. This would have made a perfect winner.
Grade: 5/5

1. Israel - Rita / Shara barechovot
I didn't understand this one at all when I was 14 and was pleased that the juries held them back. Today I think the juries should have seen what I didn't: what a bold and daring entry this is, beautifully sung by Rita. Intriguing, sophisticated, sexy, tasteful. Not the song I would have wanted to win, but my personal favourite.
Grade 5/5



Rita - Shara barechovot (Israel 1990)

Tobson takes on 1975

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think many ESC fans would hold up Stockholm 1975 as their all-time favourite contest ever held. Mainly, I would guess, because of a slightly poor visual presentation.

Sveriges Radio were very careful not to pour too much glamour into the event, as they knew that would anger some pretty vocal parts of the audience, and forty years later that lack of extra effort shows. How long did it possibly take to design that stage set, for instance?

Nevertheless, for me as a child it was a magical year, one I longed to know more about and perhaps even see one day. (This was way before any video copies of older contests were available.)

Song-wise it's not a bad year at all, actually. And since I am that kind of nerd who likes to rank and put things (and songs) in order, I decided to share my ranking of every song of the 1975 ESC.

19. Ireland - The Swarbriggs / That's What Friends Are For
Not bad as in really bad, but too ingratiating and annoyingly sweet somehow. All the lyrics do is stating the obvious for three minutes without ever giving us any reasonable chorus.
Grade: 1/5

18. Norway - Ellen Nikolaysen / Touch My Life
Beautifully sung, but also a perfect example of when verse and chorus won't gel and your entry fails to go anywhere. The most interesting thing in this entry is Ellen's dress, creating the illusion of her having deep craters in her body.
Grade: 1/5

17. United Kingdom - The Shadows / Let Me Be The One
Not a bad song in its own right - I used to like this one quite a bit back in the day - but I can't stand the lazy performance. Close to somnambulant UK performers who don't give a toss and yet get showered in points are not my cup of tea.
Grade: 1/5

16. Malta - Renato / Singing This Song
The reversed case from the UK: a very energetic and zealous performance of a pretty weak song. I prefer it that way around but before it's over I turn all grumpy Finn on everyone and wonder what on earth they are all so happy about.
Grade: 2/5

15. Portugal - Duarte Mendes / Madrugada
The Portuguese were so pleased with their revolution, they decided to write a song about it. In fact, they would keep writing songs about it for a few years. This is nice and melodic and likeable, but never left much of an impression on me (while great friends of mine claim this is Portugal's best entry of all time.)
Grade: 2/5

14. Spain - Sergio & Estíbaliz / Tú volverás
Every time this one starts, I like it but then it feels like it goes on for five or six minutes. They stand there and sing and sing and sing without anything much happening. Pleasant but forgettable and clearly the weakest song Juan Carlos Calderón ever wrote for the ESC.
Grade: 2/5

13. Israel - Shlomo Artzi / At va' ani
Another one I'd like to like more than I do. Shlomo has an intriguing presence, shy but intense, and he sings with passion and conviction, but the song feels like a promising demo version in need of development but never quite finished.
Grade: 2/5

12. Sweden - Lars Berghagen / Jennie Jennie
I like this one a great deal, really, but some songs should stay in their own language even if you're allowed to perform in English. The clumsy, direct translation takes every single emotion of the original and stomps on them with its trendy platform shoes.
Grade: 2/5

11. Finland - Pihasoittajat / Old Man Fiddle
I like also this one more than you'd suspect from it's place in the ranking. I enjoy the true musicianship, the violin and the commitment of bringing less commercial music into this contest, otherwise hugged by greedy record companies. But this is also a tv show - your audience can actually see you - and the zero effort for presentation takes this one down a notch or two.
Grade: 3/5

10. Switzerland - Simone Drexel / Mikado
Catchy, nice, pleasant. An impressing effort by a 17-year old songwriter, I must say. Maybe it didn't age terrifically well, but the chorus always gets me to sing along.
Grade: 3/5

9. Yugoslavia - Pepel in Kri / Dan ljubezni
The last song in Slovenian to be heard at Eurovision before the country re-appeared as an independent state has grown into a real evergreen on home ground. Understandable with it's excellent singalong qualities, but I'm always missing a final je-ne-sais-quoi in this package.
Grade: 3/5

8. Monaco - Sophie / Une chanson c'est une lettre
I'm so easy, as Juliana Pasha would say. Wave a dramatic ballad in French at me and I will surrender at once. Too bad that the chorus doesn't quite live up to the promise of the explosively emotional verses, but Sophie handles both of them with ease.
Grade: 3/5

7. Luxembourg - Geraldine / Toi
If this was the Eurovision Overblown Accent Contest, Geraldine would win by a mile over other strong contenders like Ireen Sheer or even Baccara, but I just love her for it. Her song is also a weird mishmash that starts out as ballad before putting on its best boots and start marching off to Tipperary. Strange and confusing but most loveable all the same.
Grade: 3/5

6. Turkey - Semiha Yankı / Seninle bir dakika
Turkey's debut was an emotional and heartfelt ballad that only the Monegasque jury bothered to award any points at all to. Semiha is really giving it her all and this is an altogether lovely song that would have deserved so much more. However, I like the preview version better. The new arrangement for the final makes the whole thing feel heavier and more overblown than it needs to be.
Grade: 4/5

5. Germany - Joy Fleming / Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein
Rainer Pietsch kick-starts the orchestra and Joy Fleming erupts like a tropical storm and the ESC never knew what hit it. One of the most soulful efforts of all time and one you're unlikely to forget. Had they toned down the volume just a bit, maybe there would have been more points. But then again, it would be less memorable.
Grade: 4/5

4. Belgium - Ann Christy / Gelukkig zijn
Another stunning song that was totally overlooked by the juries. I loved this one from the word go, with it's lovely instrumental opening, through the soft verse and the big chorus. Ann Christy was also a magnificent performer and even if she was unhappy about the change of language midway through the song, it doesn't bother me much. A classic.
Grade: 4/5

3. Netherlands - Teach-In / Ding-A-Dong
It takes skill and craftsmanship to write and short and snappy little song about nothing and still make it feel meaningful. The original lyrics actually mean something but unlike Sweden's Lars Berghagen, the Dutch threw it all overboard when translating the song into English. It means very little but sounds fantastic and is delivered in a most convincing way.
Grade: 4/5

2. France - Nicole Rieu / Et bonjour à toi, l'artiste
See what I wrote about Monaco and guess what a song like this will push me into. This isn't even particularly dramatic, more understated and minimalist, perfectly performed by a very sensitive singer. One of the best French non-winners of all time.
Grade: 4/5

1. Italy - Wess & Dori Ghezzi / Era
I heard this one on the radio when I was perhaps eleven or twelve and was almost literally knocked over and nothing has changed since. One of the most intriguing ESC entries I know, direct and enigmatic at the same time, too much and yet tasteful. My winner.
Grade: 5/5



Wess & Dori Ghezzi - Era (Italy 1975)