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Interesting Facts about Eurovision Song Contest

Italy boycotted the 1981 Eurovision Song contest, saying that it was too old fashioned. The following year, France opted out with the excuse that the cost was too great for such "mediocre" results. Sour grapes perhaps?  Let's see - the last time Italy had won was in 1964, and not again until 1990.
I don't know why France was complaining. (They won in 1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, and 1977)

Mira Awad, a Palestinian singer and actress was caught in a tug of war (so to speak) when she performed at the 2009 Eurovision with her Jewish partner. Both Israel and Palestinian officials had put her on the spot and forced her to choose one or the other. Extremists on both sides even circulated a petition to force her to withdraw. She stood her ground and refused to quit.  She was strongly committed to dialogue and she "didn't want to walk out and slam the door. You can't solve anything when each is in his bunker."







Every day until May 8 I will be posting a music video of each one of the semi-finalists of the Eurovision Song Contest. On May 9, I will post the last three (my top favorites). Enjoy the videos!

Ugh. I've done nothing but sleep and lounge around for the best part of 3 days thanks to an increasingly bad cough, sore throat, blocked nose, headache, temperature, aching limbs, etc. Utterly ghastly. I've had no energy whatsoever and still feel as weak as a kitten. So i've missed out on lots of great things this weekend (don't ask, it's too disappointing to discuss!) but apart from the very lovely Dr Dazpanteloons looking after me, I've had a couple of things to cheer me up - firstly being an advance(ish) copy of Terry Ronald's debut novel "Becoming Nancy". I've tittered through chapter one so far and am already delighted at being reminded of Debbie Harry lyrics i'd forgotten as well as the main character having neighbours called Bette and Joan! Amazing. Full review when i've finished. The other thing that got me through was several watchings of below...

I adored Grey's Anatomy when it first started. Pick Me. Choose Me. Love Me. What's not to like? It started to lose me a little bit with Denny's ghost, but the stunning & shocking season 6 finale pulled me back and most of this year has been a delight. I was a bit apprehensive when i heard about the musical episode but it actually turned out really well. They managed to make it work within the Grey's Anatomy universe and while it wasn't better than Buffy - Once More With Feeling, it was way better than the disappointing Bitter Suite that Xena botched together some years back. Sure, I could have done without ANOTHER playing from the show of Chasing Cars, but the rest was all quite lovely. There were two definite highlights - firstly, the magnificent and funky Running On Sunshine (with the whole cast celebrating their often unconventional love lives). It gave a much needed ray of optimism to the episode and was delightfully entertaining to watch. The other highlight and perhaps one of the best acting/singing performances anywhere on television this season (yes even surpassing my beloved Darren Criss on Glee) was the surely emmy worthy Sara Rameriz taking on Phil Hanseroth's The Story. Sara (as Callie) put enough passion, nuance, emotion and pure vocal beauty into the song that she instantly made it her won and i've had it on repeat during my many lemon and honey drinks. Entirely heartbreaking, utterly captivating, totally award winning. SMITTEN.

Top 21 songs of the week:

21 ~ James Blunt, If Time Is All I Have (NE)
20 ~ Take That, Kidz
19 ~ Maroon 5, Never Gonna Leave This Bed
18 ~ Danny, In The Club
17 ~ Julian Velard, Love Again For The First Time
16 ~ le Kid, Oh My God
15 ~ Lady Gaga, Born This Way
14 ~ Rochella Danishei, Never Been Kissed
13 ~ Andreas Johnson, One Man Army
12 ~ The Moniker, Oh My God
11 ~ Take That, Happy Now
10 ~ JLS, Eyes Wide Shut
09 ~ Tove Styrke, High & Low
08 ~ Sanna Nielsen, I'm In Love
07 ~ The Wanted, Gold Forever
06 ~ Love Generation, I Dance Alone
05 ~ Same Difference, Best Mistake
04 ~ Andrea Lewis, She
03 ~ Eric Saade, Popular
02 ~ Kylie, Put Your Hands Up
01 ~ The Feeling, Set My World On Fire (1 week)

Coming tomorrow (health permitting!): Elouise, Maroon 5, Dalton Warblers...

Fram till i onsdags var Friðrik Ómar ena halvan i Euroband – Islands representant i Eurovision 2008. Efter onsdagens konsert på Göta Lejon vet jag bättre. Friðriks repertoar spänner över betydligt mer än eurodiscolåtar i ”This is my life”-stilen.

Initiativet till konserten var från Friðrik själv med bistånd av Isländska ambassaden. Han backades upp av ett 5-manna isländska band med brorsan som trummis samt tre svensk sångare, sångerskor. Repertoaren bestod till stor del av kända låtar av kända artister som Al Green, Ray Charles, Robbie Williams, Elvis och Fridriks favoriter George Michael och Queen. Friðrik överraskade också med egna låtar som ”Rosie” och ”I Want To Know” plus en ypperlig version av ”Stad i Ljus” (Tommy Körberg, ESC 1988).

En av kvällens gästartister var Yohanna som tog Island till en andra plats i Eurovisionen 2009 med ”Is It True”. Kul att höra och se henne igen. Det är ganska precis två år sedan jag träffande henne på en pre-Eurovision konsert i Amsterdam och då var hon väldigt ung, blyg och oerfaren vad det gäller framträdanden utanför Island. Idag utstrålar hon säkerhet, erfarenhet och har inga problem med att ta över scenen på egen hand. Sångrösten är fortfarande lika kristallklar.

I det avslappnade mellansnacket fick vi bland annat veta att Friðrik gjort 11 utsålda Elvis-konserter i Reykjavik, att ”Stad i ljus” är en jullåt på Island och att 2006 var ett dåligt år med hjärtsorg. Numera är Friðrik betydligt gladare tack var sin nya kärlek. Sedan ett år är Friðrik bosatt i Stockholm och det ska bli intressant att se i vilka sammanhang han dyker upp framöver.

Kvällens sista överraskning var när andra halvan av Euroband, Regína Ósk, äntrar scenen och tillsammans med Friðrik river av ”This is my life”. En låt som kan betraktas som en klassiker på dansgolven i Eurovisionssammanhang.

För ett litet land som Island ger Eurovision Song Contest en fantastisk möjlighet att visa omvärlden vilken artistpotential där finns. Förr eller senare hoppas jag kunna åka på en ESC-final i Reykjavik.



Foto, video: Lilian

Interesting Facts about Eurovision Song Contest

Eurovision was the brainchild of Marcel Bezencon, the director general  and committee chairman of Swiss television. He conceived of the idea to create one television programme that could be transmitted simultaneously to all European countries.  Actually it was based on the Sanremo music festival in Italy.

In the early years, Eurovision was considered a technological experiment in live television. It was an ambitious project since satellite television did not yet exist.

The first Eurovision Song Contest was held on May 24, 1956 in Lugano, Switzerland. Seven countries participated each; having submitted two songs. This was the only Contest in which more than one song per country was performed. ( Since 1957 all participating countries are allowed one entry each.)

The 1956 Contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland.