tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91766471008712535622023-11-15T05:24:51.499-08:00Thoroughly Good EurovisionListening to every Eurovision song ever performed and blogging about it. <br>
It's like the Classic FM Hall of Fame, only worse.Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-15780467249161190092008-06-07T08:13:00.000-07:002008-06-09T04:17:52.127-07:00# 39 Zemrën E Lamë PengI'm wondering whether I'm a little biassed when it comes to this song. Zemrën E Lamë Peng is a potent reminder of a time when in the run up to the 2008 contest when I found myself working on a special Eurovision-related project myself. I had this track playing in my ears morning, noon and night. The song is a convincing one, with a heart-wrenching set of chord progressions which communicate painJon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-79037731806266508612008-06-07T07:55:00.000-07:002008-06-09T00:05:00.052-07:00# 38 Hear my pleaIf there was an eastern Europe bias in the results from the 28 country strong semi-final this year, Albania didn't benefit from it.This was to be the second year running Albania had failed to get through the semi-final stage ending up with a disappointing 17th place. A shame really as "Hear My Plea" sung by Aida & Frederik Ndoci is, based on a very simple comparison with their previous Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-5032084253136180682008-06-07T07:27:00.000-07:002008-06-07T07:50:36.294-07:00# 37 Zjarr E FtohtëOh deary me. Every time I watch this video I feel terribly sorry for Luiz Ejlli singing Zjarr E Ftohtë for Albania in 2006 whose performance to get the country through the semi-final that year.Don't get me wrong, the boy can sing and doesn't suffer from any obvious on-stage nerves in terms of his voice production (quite possibly the result of having participated in the "Albanian" Idol equivalent.Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-76120863274828580412008-06-04T12:20:00.000-07:002008-06-04T12:45:14.559-07:00# 36 Tomorrow I GoAs the Thoroughly Good Eurovision bus makes its long and windy journey through the myriad of offerings, there are one or two things are slowly becoming clear to me. I am beginning to enjoy this massive process rather more than I thought I would. And I'm beginning to remember useless facts, useless scores and random song titles. I am, at last, embracing the inner geek.Take Albania's efforts, for Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-3810951450778664542008-06-03T09:38:00.001-07:002008-06-03T15:05:59.686-07:00# 35 Image of YouThe Albanians certainly went to a great deal of effort selecting their artist to represent the country at their first ever Eurovision in 2004. Seventeen year-old Anjeza Shahini beat twenty-nine other hopeful representatives in the RTSH (Albanian TV) song festival (Festivali i Kenges) with her song "Imazhi yt". What makes the Albanian song quite interesting is that it began life as something a Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-11055973618705301332008-06-02T10:01:00.000-07:002008-06-02T10:19:11.997-07:00# 34 FightAt last, a vague sense of self-satisfaction as I complete a smallish chapter in this riduclously unwieldly Eurovision-related blog. Yes, this is the final contribution from Moldova (until some time in 2009) and on that basis I am feeling a little bit smug.Natalia Barbu performed for Moldova in 2007 with "her" song Fight, a vast improvement on Loca from the previous year, but something which Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-61804102543707538192008-06-01T10:32:00.000-07:002008-06-01T10:39:20.237-07:00# 33 LocaOne of the problems with setting myself the challenge of listening to every Eurovision song and then blogging about them, is that I do have to write about the ones I don't like. That's quite a challenge when the damn blog is prefaced "Thoroughly Good". After all, in a way, what's the point if I don't like them? (It's about being "thorough", that's what it's about. Geddit?)Still, in pursuit of a Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-40147608831789079392008-05-30T09:41:00.000-07:002008-05-30T09:59:35.123-07:00# 32 Boonika Bate DobaTalkon's correct. Moldova does have an impressive past when it comes to Eurovision (or at least their first contribution stands head and shoulders above the rest at least) as this, their debut performance in 2005 clearly demonstrates.Boonika Bate Doba - translated as "Grandmama beats the drum"- is edgy and fresh and sufficiently different from anything else heard in the contest without alienatingJon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-30439304606626422342008-05-29T09:34:00.000-07:002008-05-29T09:47:25.221-07:00# 31 Century of LoveWhilst I'm still able to look at the 2008 contest without breaking out in hives, take a look at Moldova's splendid little effort from this year, Century of Love sung by Geta Burlacu. The version above is the one from their national selection show. I'll confess that I fell for this song big time the moment I saw the national selection video but, just as with quite a lot of acts this year, the Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-30383967874907723502008-05-26T14:04:00.000-07:002008-05-29T00:17:43.347-07:00# 30 Even IfIf ever there was a song to continue my self-indulgent stroll through the endless hours of songs which graced the Eurovision stage, it's this one.Forty-eight hours after Andy Abraham gave a sterling performance in Belgrade of a song I loved the first moment I heard it in rehearsals nearly three months before, I like a lot of people am left feeling bereft. Watching the video back now I'm still Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-30153514548479210122008-03-10T12:08:00.000-07:002008-03-10T12:34:34.394-07:00# 29 Ding Dinge Dong Today saw quite a startling discovery in terms of Eurovisionness (if that's a word).I reckoned the time had come to reveal a seminal Eurovision song to the world. It is Teach-In's Ding Dinge Dong (or is it Ding A Dong? I really can't be sure even though I have researched it in three different places) from the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest which saw my interest in Eurovision reignited.Around aboutJon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-45783688457045582772008-03-06T12:23:00.001-08:002008-03-06T12:37:32.744-08:00# 28 MacédomienneChris clearly understands what this week has been about. And his suggestion was a song I'd forgotten all about. Listening to it did, at first, raise a smile if only because I recalled how I'd rather taken to it's solitary tone so quickly when I heard it in 1990. A couple of minutes in however, it did rather tap into the dark side.That's the thing about this song. As marvellously indulgent the Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-34114948759568742122008-03-04T10:04:00.000-08:002008-03-04T10:21:16.699-08:00# 27 I can't live without musicMaybe it's because I am in a spectacularly foul mood today and ready to hit out at anyone who dares to come near me that I've picked out this shameful example of Eurovision hideousness. It's a cautionary tale about what happens when people start letting their woeful lack of understanding about tv performances spiral out of control.Just imagine it. What we need is someone singing this song whose Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-60329998708290136842008-02-29T03:50:00.000-08:002008-02-29T03:53:32.481-08:00# 26 InvincibleI look at this video of Carola singing "Invincible" for Sweden in 2006 and think only one thing. Let's throw as much as we possibly can at the lighting budget and pour the rest into the rental of the wind machine assuming, of course, there's something left over from the costume work. It should come as no surprise that this particular song actually makes my skin crawl. Don't get me wrong. It's Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-89883488258146536582008-02-27T13:00:00.000-08:002008-02-27T13:14:36.583-08:00# 25 Better the devil you knowAs requested by Chris, stalwart commenter on this still relatively new blog, I am indeed moving on from Italy 1974 to something slightly more predictable and a little more recent. Well, I say recent I do actually mean from fifteen years ago. Sonia, bounced up and down on the Eurovision stage in 1993 singing her perky number "Better the devil you know" and coming in a marvellous second place in Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-18346399786299565562008-02-25T00:47:00.000-08:002008-02-25T01:01:23.470-08:00# 24 SiAnother confession needed for the latest Thoroughly Good Eurovision video. This isn't something I'd actually heard that many times before, still less realised it originated from the 1974 contest. I didn't stumble on the song trawling the internet either. My attention was drawn to Gigliola Cinquetti singing "Si" for Italy solely because of a meeting I was in with a new colleague in which I ended Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-46389310036390517642008-02-14T10:45:00.000-08:002008-02-14T10:52:00.845-08:00# 23 Eighties coming backBless this bunch of laid back Estonian representatives from 2003. Their's was a good song, with a fresh sound (possibly imitated from other bands I can't quite put my finger on right now) that offered something of a relief from all the others on offer in the 2003 Contest.Simple, yet effective. Well executed. In tune and a tub-thumper to boot.Shame it came 14th that year.Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-53632316161135916252008-02-13T00:39:00.000-08:002008-02-13T00:51:24.283-08:00# 22 GoHere's an example of something the UK does best. The recipe is really quite straightforward.1. Get a good song with a convincing sound. Keep the idea simple. Don't let it get out of hand.2. Get a reasonably low-key singer who can carry a tune. He may not necessarily immediately appear young and hip or, indeed, made for television. The key thing here is making sure he can deliver the song.3. Make Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-42222227283886806502008-02-08T10:32:00.000-08:002008-02-09T02:48:12.648-08:00# 21 BoogalooI've got guilty pleasures on the brain, clearly. So, seeing as I have, now seems to be a good time to reveal another one. Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats for Sweden's contribution to the European pop music canon. A song called Boogaloo sung by the adorable, if colour-blind, Ms Lotta Engberg. The song didn't do badly in the ranking (it came twelfth the year Johnny Logan won with his Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-40283626156593786302008-02-07T09:31:00.000-08:002008-02-09T02:48:29.721-08:00# 20 Ka' Du Se Hva' Jeg Sa'I make no apology for the fact that this song, sung by "Hot Eyes" in the 1988 Eurovision does much to stimulate the over-production of serotonin in my simple, naiive mind. It has nothing to do with the fact that Denmark ranked 3rd at the end of the contest behind Celine Dion and the UK's Scott Fitzgerald. Quite apart from being one of the most difficult song titles to pronounce, Ka' Du Se Hva' Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-53133092938378089652008-02-05T09:58:00.000-08:002008-02-09T02:48:47.724-08:00# 19 Children kinder enfantsJon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-52777573581578904692008-02-01T10:30:00.000-08:002008-02-09T02:51:58.311-08:00# 18 Ole OleIsrael's song from 1985. The perfect little Friday night party song. High octane, tight skinned drums and simple but colourful dance routine. I defy anyone who listens to this not to feel their heart rate increase just a little bit when the string players do their stuff in the final few bars of the song. And, in case you didn't already know, the lead singer, Izhar Cohen, had previously won the Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-88155653292545357402008-01-30T10:13:00.000-08:002008-01-30T10:15:56.619-08:00Interval Feature # 1Not for the first time over the past five years do I find myself asking the question “Why is the Eurovision so terribly important to me?” It’s a question I unexpectedly found myself asking a week before the 2002 Eurovision in Tallinn, Estonia. It was a moment which left an indelible mark.I remember exactly where I was sitting and what I was doing at that moment. Sat at my grey desk, overlooking aJon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-27891698911176709472008-01-26T10:04:00.000-08:002008-01-28T06:48:25.862-08:00# 16 No estas soloRoll up, roll up for my most favouritist song in the Eurovision Song Contest ever. No estas solo, sung by Patricia Kraus', represented Spain in 1987 at a contest which oozed visual style both in it's presenter Viktor Laslo and the set. It makes me tingle watching it. And yes, I do watch it in its entirety from time to time even now. Kraus' performance is powerful, even if her make-up is a little Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9176647100871253562.post-45641247612453624932008-01-26T09:26:00.000-08:002008-01-27T12:22:42.483-08:00# 14 Poupee de cire, poupee de sonIf ever there was a song which defies the Eurovision stereotype most people thrust upon the television show. You might listen to this for the first time and think "What the bloody hell is this nonsense?" This "nonsense" was the song which won for Luxembourg in 1965, sung by a 17 year-old understated glamour-puss France Gall and written by none other than Mr Serge Gainsbourg himself. I always Jon Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17508436820205261983noreply@blogger.com2