The summer stretches out in front of us. Yes, Junior Eurovision awaits us like a beacon guiding us towards Christmas, onwards to the National Finals, and then the pilgrimage to Austria in 2015… but what can we do until then to keep the Eurovision spirit alive?
How’s this for an idea? One thousand three hundred and fifty six songs have been sung ‘in Contest’ at Eurovision. That’s a lot of music, but not so much that we can’t listen to them all. With a bit of dedication and community support, could we celebrate our Song Contest through those musical jewels?
Yes we can! Over the next year, in the run up to the 60th Edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, join us in our project to listen to every single song that has taken to the competitive stage at the Song Contest. From ‘De vogels van Holland‘ opening up the 1956 Contest, through to the reprise of ‘Rise Like A Phoenix‘, follow Ewan as he writes up his thoughts on each song at EveryEurovisionSong.com.
If you head over to the site just now, you’ll find one song from every year of the Contest already posted. We’ve got a rough schedule for each day of the week, and it goes something like this…
Sundays: Songs from the fifties and sixties.
Mondays: Songs from the seventies.
Tuesdays: Song from the eighties.
Wednesdays: Songs from the early nineties.
Thursdays: Songs from the late nineties up to around 2005.
Fridays: Songs from 2005 to 2010.
Saturdays: Songs from 2010 to present day.
We’ll be jumping around the years and the running order to bring you a good mix of songs to listen to, and as we’re using Tumblr to host the project, it’s easy enough to share the posts, add your comments, and get involved.
Every Eurovision Song – have we listened to your favourite song yet?
Highlights From The First Sixty Songs
As well as daily posts on EveryEurovisionSong.com, we’ll be posting regular highlights and updates here on ESC Insight over the summer and during the 2014/15 season. Let’s start with some of the top-rated songs from the first batch, which you will recall selected one random song from each year of the Contest. Naturally we’ve got a big spreadsheet in the back office tracking all the data and songs, so who has done well and scored a seven or higher n our incredibly subjective scoring system?
Every Eurovision Song – Top Sheet #1 (click for full size)
Iceland 2013: Ég á Lif, by Eyþór Ingi
The first song in Icelandic since 1997, and it carries a huge amount of emotional punch because of that. Eyþór is a commanding presence on stage, and the appearance of the backing singers enhances the story being told here. The official video is actually quite sad, but this is a song that demands to be heard live.
And in no way is it an Icelandic version of ‘I am Cow’ by the Arrogant Worms (YouTube link). That’s not the reason there is no English language version, okay?
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Austria 1965: Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen, by Udo Jürgens
The second of Udo Jürgens three songs at Eurovision (he debuted in 1964, and won in 1966) is a classic chanson song, delivered by a stiff upper lipped male singer. Props at Eurovision in the sixties are still very much practical but rare, so Jürgens’s performance at the piano stands out. Unlike today’s musicians, the piano was mic’ed up alongside the orchestra, so he could play away to his broken heart’s content.
It’s actually a really nice song, slow but not too slow, with just enough emotion coming through that builds to a great ending. It would feel a bit of a throwback if it appeared today, but a classy throwback. More of this please!
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Germany 2005: Run & Hide, by Gracia Baur
Lordi will perfect the formula for a ‘non-traditional’ song to win the Song Contest in 2006, so 2005 shows off just how stranded a perfectly good pop-rock song without anything special for the PR to work with can be at the Contest.
Still, I like this, it’s ticking all my boxes. Strong repetitive choirs (good for Eurovision), attacking guitars with proper bar chords, a band who doesn’t care a single vote about camera angles, and Gracia is very easy on the eye for the Dads watching at home (especially Gracia’s first jump down from the podium).
Yes, by this point in time I was a Dad, and I was still (just) watching the Contest at home. Your point is?
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Netherlands 1967: Ring-dinge-ding, by Thérèse Steinmetz
If something happens it’s a “Ring a ding a ding a day” sings Steinmetz. Yes, we’re into the music that has lots of repetitive phrases that work in multiple languages so the international juries can understand what’s going on.
Cheery, inoffensive, and with a fair bit of singalong-ability, it’s an easy track to listen to, but it ticks all the Eurovision clichés. It’s not aged well at all, but I can’t help smile and sing along with it. So I guess that’s a good thing?
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Bosnia & Herzegovina 2002: Na jastuku za dvoje, by Maja Tatić
Someone’s a fan of ‘Bat Out Of Hell’? There’s a delightful mix of bombastic pop and soft rock lyrics that is infectious. There’s an energy as well, and you feel that everyone is being pulled along by Tatić’s enthusiasm for the song.
The switch into English for the last run through is not as jarring as it could be, and gives the song a lot of momentum as it comes to a close. This really works in the live environment of the Contest.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Turkey 2008: Deli, by Mor ve Ötesi
Yeah, the rocker in me loves this number. If it had been a 100% jury vote it wouldn’t have stood a hope, but with a 100% televote in operation, the Turkish band could gather more than enough votes from a mix of diaspora and rock fans to comfortably be in the Top Ten.
What we’ve got here is nicely accessible guitar rock. It doesn’t particularly push that genre, but just by being on the Eurovision stage it pushes the Contest towards a more mainstream boundary. Not only is it a good rock number, staying in Turkish appealed to me then for the sense of romanticism that a non-English song can give me. This ticked all the boxes for me then, and is still a really good song now.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr)
Some Thoughts As The Project Starts
There are two points from the first batch of songs that I have listened to that I want to mention here, if only to show what a project like this can do.
The first is the ability to discover (or in some cases re-discover) a song. ‘Run and Hide‘ is a good example of this. Since listening to it again for Every Eurovision Song, it’s shot up in my ‘songs played in the last week’ chart. The second is a bit more respect for ‘Na jastuku za dvoje‘. The live version has far less English and less of an emphasis on ‘Fairytales about love‘ than the studio mix I am used to.
You might know the names, you might even recognise many of the tracks, but have you really listened to the rich tapestry of Eurovision’s musical history? As the Danes would say…
#JoinUs at Every Eurovision Song!
Great idea!
I know I’ve gone through most (if not all) of the contests in the past, but this seems like a nice way to listen to the songs again and see how many I still like and remember.
Although I do have this strange reflex reaction against the “producer-led running order”, instead of going through the songs in chronological order 😉
Nice one – all I have to do is catch up with what’s gone before in your archive… 🙂
Martin, it”s not a huge archive, one for every year to start with, then the announcement post, then you have 304 a day (on average) going forward.
304 a day? I love Eurovision as much as you but even I’m not that committed! lol
Typo, three or four 🙂
I can cope with that – this is a manageable way of seeing all the entries WITHOUT watching every ESC in full.
Just watched “Oui, Oui, Oui, Oui”…
Great idea! I’ll be following this, enjoying each and every post. 🙂
Already rediscovered Italy 84 and have been listening to it on loop ever since. Was indeed odd and arty on stage, but the composition is so rich and unusual for ESC. And Battiato is a genius.
One thought from the “First 60” posts: some of your comments could equally apply to many other entries from that same country.
e.g. Italy not engaging with audience – as if it were a camera run-through (e.g. 1984), Spain failing to build on initial potential during a song (e.g. 1963) and Portugal lacking hooks (e.g. 1966).
This is awesome and already killing my work productivity :D. Personally discovered Estonia 2004 (so good if not for the poor signing live-but then again I really like neo-folk music). Also greatly enjoyed Telex. Looking forward to this keeping me from getting too Eurovision withdrawal depressed in the upcoming year!
You are nuts doing this,nevertheless I can appreciate the efforts:)
In the last 3 days I manage to go through all the posts in the archive(crazy,aren’t I) and now I only have to go through the the ones from 10th of June onwards-Starting with Denmark 1985(yes, that how far I am).
I have 738 out of the 1356(some in more than 1 version), and I would have all of them if I wouldn’t have deleted some of them just because I didn’t like those I have deleted.
I can’t comment on tumblr or reblog, but I am enjoying this project of you.Even though I still don’t like some of the songs.