Boom Bang a Blog

Eurovision 1967: And the winner is...

2009-07-17T08:09:04Z

Jamie McLoughlin

The United Kingdom entered Eurovision for the tenth time in 1967. It already had five silver medals to its name, had hosted two technically impressive Contests, but that 'WIN' tickbox remained annoyingly blank.

Until this year.

Winner 1967: Sandie Shaw performs Puppet on a String for the United Kingdom (hurrah!)

With hindsight, sending an act as unsuited to the Contest as Kenneth McKellar to Luxembourg in 1966 was just the jolt the BBC needed to try harder than ever to win in 1967.

Realising that a pop star even more relevant to the charts than Kathy Kirby was in 1965 was the route they needed to take, Auntie had the tough task of finding a singer who was prepared to sip from the potentially poison chalice of Eurovision participation. But, by crikey, did they find one...

Your red, white and blue, God Save the Queen 1967 facts:

(a) Puppet on a String, the winning song, was Sandie Shaw's least favourite of the five shortlisted in that year's Song For Europe - but was the one her manager thought ideal for the competition in Vienna.

One song a week was performed by Sandie on Rolf Harris' Saturday evening BBC One show before the public voted for their favourite by postcard. Rolf himself performed the UK commentary on that momentous night in Austria (if anyone has a recording of it, I'd love to hear it).

Surprisingly, 'Puppet' was not the song much of the public expected to go to Austria. The most contemporary and catchy tune in the shortlist - and perhaps capable of taking the trophy in Vienna with even more points that Puppet on a String got - was the Song For Europe runner-up, Tell the Boys.

Will Rolf Harris ever age? The first three entries in A Song For Europe 1967 - Tell the Boys is the first one up.

When a barefoot Sandie performed on the big night in the ballroom of Vienna's Wiener Hofburg Palace, her mic failed for the first few seconds of the song. That, thankfully, was the only glitch of an otherwise superb performance. If she loathed the song as much as she said she did, it didn't show when it mattered. In later years, Sandie admitted she knew she had won before she even sang that first non-amplified note.

For a country who was making a habit of having a healthy lead in the voting slowly nibbled away as the latter juries were called, the UK's first victory was never in doubt by the time the second of the 17 juries which voted.

Once the sixth country (Switzerland) had been called, Sandie had 25 votes from a possible 60 and already enough to win the whole shebang. By the very end of the voting, runners-up Ireland had 22, fewer than half of GB's eventual tally of 47.

Puppet on a String spent three weeks at the top of the UK charts in April 1967 - as well as charts across the continent - a fact which probably exacerbated Sandie's hatred for Bill Martin and Phil Coulter's song rather than appease it.

Sandie seems to have become more relaxed about the Contest in recent years. A re-worked version of Puppet was made available on her official website for 60 days after her 60th birthday in 2007 and she announced a section of the votes in the 2005 UK heats. Age really does seem to mellow us all.

(b) However - Puppet on a String was not the biggest hit to emerge from the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. That honour went instead to the fourth-placed Luxembourgeois entry, L'amour est Bleu, performed by Greek singer Vicky Leandros and written by the composers of France's winning song from 1960.

Vicky's love is blue. Her sadness is beige.

Translated as Love is Blue, before the year was out, an instrumental version of it would be at the top of America's Top 100 Billboard charts - with cover versions aplenty sprinkled about the lower reaches of the same hitlist - but Vicky's version never became a stateside smash. However, she would return to Eurovision...

(c) Serge Gainsbourg was back in 1967, but still annoying his French compatriots by entering a song for Monaco this time. He must have been having an off day when he wrote Boum-Badaboum, although the countdown bit sung in French is rather funky.

If Doctor Who ever needed a French assistant...

It still came fifth.

(d) This was also the first year the production team interspersed the voting with shots of the green room to show the assembled acts nervously following the scores as they came in. 1966 winner Udo Jurgens can be seen clamped to Sandie Shaw's side throughout, although she appears oblivious to his presence. Poor fella.

You're not dreaming. That is the UK loads and loads of points in the lead.

(e) So, for the first time, the BBC would host the following year's Contest as title holders.

It needed something big to mark the occasion, something to set the 1968 competition apart from all the others that had gone before.

Over in London, those technical types at Television Centre were working on bringing the Eurovision Song Contest to the watching world in glorious tecnicolour.

Spanish public say "No" to Eurovision shocker

2009-07-16T18:12:34Z

Soraya, Spain's 2009 entrant, who finished last in the final in Moscow

A poll in Spanish newspaper El de Cordoba has shown that 68 per cent of those asked want the country to pull out of the Eurovision Song Contest. Just 20 per cent of those asked think Spanish telly should carry on having a go at the competition and we don't really know what the other 12 per cent thought. Presumably, they're more interested in how the footie team is getting on.

The lack of love for the event appears to stem from Spain's failure to come even close to claiming the trophy since the 1960s. But should winning be the only reason a country continues to enter the Contest? Is it worth staying at home while everyone else goes on a fun jaunt to the host city? If the UK hadn't had a return to form this year - would you have wanted the BBC to withdraw?

As always, we're glad of your comments.

Vote for your favourite Eurovision act of the 21st Century...

2009-07-16T14:32:48Z

Boom Bang a Blog has been concentrating on the Contest's history of late, but blogger WiWi is sticking with the present by asking visitors which of the (off the top of our heads) 300ish acts who have participated at Eurovision since the year 2000 is the best.

WiWi looks at one year at a time - and it's well worth a shufty. You can find out more here.

Eurovision 1966: Austrian man wins on third consecutive attempt, a Swedish swineherd takes silver and the UK flop with a man in a kilt

2009-07-15T08:38:50Z

Winner 1966: Udo Jurgens performs Merci, Cherie for Austria

The result of the 1966 Contest sticks out like a sore thumb compared to all its other sixties counterparts.

All of the nations who otherwise dominated in the Contest's first full decade did either badly or mediocre-ly at the Villa Louvigny, the venue for the 1962 event. Italy was last with its only nul points to date, France scored just one point to finish 16th, two-times winners and reigning champ Luxembourg was 10th and the UK a dismal ninth - which could have been an even lowlier 14th/15th were it none for the final vote of the night. Switzerland was the only country with a respectable record to do respectably - finishing sixth.

But the winner was a man who proved that if at first you don't succeed, try, try and try again...

Your 1966 fabulous facts.

(a) Udo Jurgens won the 1966 Contest with 31 points - also his age at the time he won. That total was almost twice as many points as the Swedish duo which claimed the runner-up spot.

It was a continuation of Udo's upward trend that began in Copenhagen in 1964 where he finished sixth with Warum nar Warum?. British entrant Matt Monro liked the song so much he had his manager, Don Black, put English lyrics to it. As Walk Away, it reached number four in the UK charts and the US Top 30.

In Naples in 1965 he finished fourth with Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen (catchy...) before making it to the top of the podium with the simple piano song Merci, Cherie. It translates as Thank You, Darling.

Udo is one of the few Contest winners to go on to have a stellar career. A legendary hitmaker in the German-speaking nations, a concert he held in Vienna in 1992 attracted 220,000 spectators, which still ranks as one of the biggest attendances for a live show, ever. He also had a huge hit with Germany's World Cup song of 1978, Beunos Dias, Argentina. He's still performing today at the age of 74, and the Jurgens song most British people will be familiar with is Reach For the Stars. Not the S Club 7 tune it's only possible to dance to while inebriated, but Shirley Bassey's UK number one hit from 1961.

(b) In second place was Sweden with the song Nygammal Vals, which either translates as New Old-Fashioned Waltz or The Hip Swineherder (Swedish sounds like a fascinating language to learn).

These two can come the pub with Boom Bang a Blog any time. And the flautist.

It was performed by the popular (in Scandinavia) jazz singer Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson (the one with the beard). Nineteen years later, Lill would host the Contest when it was held in Gothenburg, proving herself to be an extremely funny, self-deprecating lady, whom many fans still single out as the best presenter ever. You get a flavour of her cheeky minxishness in this performance - just look at her eyes while she's singing.

(c) Just one point behind the woman who would go on to host the 1985 Contest was the lady who would present the show in 1986.

She's going straight back to the library to work on that very serious essay once she's finished this song.

Norway's Ase Kleveland looked less like an extra from The Liver Birds when she took on her next Eurovision-related job, but this very serious guitar-based number was Norway's best placing to date - and would remain so until the night Lill took charge of the scoreboard in Gothenburg, but we're getting ahead of you Eurobluffers here.

(d) As Boom Bang a Blog has already mentioned in a previous entry, 1966 saw Eurovision's first ever black entrant. Milly Scott sang the amigo-inspired Fernando en Phillipo for the Netherlands but only got two points - one each from Ireland and the UK.

(e) Denmark took a long break from Eurovision following the 1966 Contest. They wouldn't be back until 1978.

(f) And, oh, BBC, what were you thinking..? After sending a bona fide pop star to Naples to claim silver, what did Auntie decide to follow it up with? Yes, that's right, opera-trained Kenneth McKellar in full Scots regalia. To date, 1966 is the only time that the UK has had the plum draw of being the last song on stage in the running order - a surefire way to stick in the juries' minds, especially with an uptempo pop number. So what did we send? This... (oh, I can barely look).

Kenneth McKellar is A Man Without Love. He hasn't got very many points, either.

Kenneth's Song For Europe heat appears to have been wiped from the archives, which is a real shame, as one of the songs the public could plump for was Comes the Time, co-written by Ron Grainer, the man who composed the Doctor Who theme tune - and theatre director and raconteur Ned Sherrin. This needs to be heard - and quickly.

With the UK voting last - and unable to vote for itself, Kenneth was on a miserable three points before the penultimate jury of the night, Ireland, was called. Possibly recognising a fellow Celt, they awarded Kenneth the full five points, giving him eight points and ninth place. It would be 31 years before an Irish jury gave the British song maximum points again, but we're sure that's got nothing to do with politics (ahem).

Ninth place! The UK's worst ever showing after a seven-year run of either second or fourth-place finishers. What could the BBC possibly do to find a song that could bring that elusive Eurovision trophy home?

If only they could find a pop singer. A singer who was going through troubled times and needed a new project to provide an upswing in luck. A singer who never wore shoes on stage. A singer they could marry up with a song about that universal subject of marionettes, with a sound so equally universal it would appeal to almost every jury listening on the night.

But... where oh where would they find an act like that in time for Eurovision 1967?

Until next time.

And speaking of Kathy Kirby...

2009-07-13T11:21:34Z

Writing about the 1965 UK entrant made me a bit curious about the singer whom many people - including close industry colleagues - thought had died a long time back.

It turns out Kathy now lives a Garbo-esque existence in South Kensington, but the Daily Express managed to track down the now 70-year-old singer in March of this year for a very revealing interview.

Wonder what Brucie had to say about that?

Eurovision 1965: Ireland makes its debut in the year Europop is born

2009-07-13T09:04:46Z

Winner 1965: France's France Gall performs France's Serge Gainsbourg's superlative French pop song Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son. For Luxembourg.

Although the winner two year's hence tends to be credited for bringing an uptempo vibe to much of the Contest's victors that followed it, that's not strictly true. It really started in Naples in 1965 where an 18-year-old girl from Paris was invited by the executives of Luxembourgeois telly to pick one of the 10 songs they had on a handy shortlist as her choice to represent the Grand Duchy at Eurovision.

She chose what went on to be one of the most influential two minutes and 14 seconds in Eurovision history.

And as usual, it's 1965 in various nutshells.

(a) The winning song, allegedly booed in rehearsals for straying so far from the sort of song usually heard in the Contest at this point, was written by none other than Francophonic saucepot Serge Gainsbourg. He was still four years off his universal airwaves ban for the very naughty Je t'aime... Moi Non Plus, when he took the trophy with the song he penned for his god-daughter.

The winner was an allegory of how the music industry produces a long line of pretty young girls with pleasant voices maried up with the sort of tune the record buying public wants at the time - even if the voice behind the mic is singing about situations and experiences they're far too young to understand. The title translates as 'Wax Doll, Singing Doll'.

There were no boos on the night after France performed, except in France itself - the nation was fuming that two of its most blossoming talents had hawked their wares (and won) for Luxembourg instead. Gainsbourg did go on to write a Eurovision entry for his homeland - but it would take him 25 years to do so. His relationship with France (the singer) soured somewhat after he wrote a rather suggestive song under the title 'Lollipop'. France - who went on to record with Elton John - sang the song in all innocence, then went into hiding when she realised what her scallywag of a godfather was up to.

As well as being the first Eurovision entrant to win with a pop song - France also became the first winner to do her utmost to wash her hands of the Eurovision associations at the earliest opportunity. Now 61, she still refuses to talk about the Contest and - despite continued success on the Continent - her winning song never finds its way onto her concert setlists.

It's a shame, as the song has become something of an evergreen in the French-speaking nations and is much appreciated by students of Gainsbourg's work as a brilliant piece of mid-60s European pop music. Even indie kings Belle and Sebastian covered it on their live Fans Only DVD.

You can even hear Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son played in Lark Lane's extra-trendy Negresco bar on occasion. The haunt of many a Hollyoaks cast member, I bet even the management aren't aware they're pumping out a Eurovision winner for the clientele on a regular basis.

There hadn't been a single song like Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son in the Contest until 1965. From 1966, the event was full of 'em - but nothing ever came close to matching this peerless piece of perfect pop.

(b) Six points behind Luxembourg's French Reserves once all the votes were in was - you've guessed it - the UK. Their fifth silver medal in eight appearances so far, it was just unfortunate that the showstopping I Belong - brilliantly belted out by former NME British Female Vocalist of the Year, Kathy Kirby, hadn't been entered in 1963 - the year she earned that particular accolade, as it would most likely have swept the board in Television Centre.

Why didn't Eric Robinson wait until she was in front of the mic before striking up the band?

This was also the first time the UK was drawn to sing from the dreaded second spot in the running order. Blighty would only get this draw a further two times in the 20th Century - it has only been in the 21st that we've been stuck to this accursed singing slot like glue.

Rumour has it that a rather disgruntled Kathy vented her spleen at France Gall backstage after the show, as she was convinced I Belong would walk it. If such an encounter did go on, it's a pity nobody was around to film it.

(c) And this was the year that Ireland said hello to Eurovision.

This significant debut meant that there were two English language songs in the 18-strong line-up for the first time and there was a fierce domestic heat staged in Dublin as every showband and soloist worth their salt wanted a slice of the Naples action.

After a series of heats, the honour of performing Ireland's maiden song was local hero Butch Moore with I'm Walking the Streets in the Rain. Clearly, a man who has visited Glasgow regularly.

He's well butch. And he's singing for Ireland.

Walking the Streets in the Rain? That is butch. Especially if you haven't wrapped up properly. Mr Moore finished a very respectable sixth - but there were far richer pickings to come for Ireland's songwriters. And mostly - but not always - deserved.

(d) The other highlight of the 1965 Contest was the absurd, incomprehensible scoreboard. Instead of displaying a number next to each entrant to register their points, the designer had the ingenious idea (ahem) of making it look like 18 thermometers laid horizontally on top of each other. Every time a country scored points, its temperature went up.

The Spanish jury's excellent taste in popular music is represented on the strangest scoreboard a Eurovision set designer has ever conceived.

It's a wonder France Gall was able to reprise her winning song at all. That temperature of 32 must have left her feeling positively feverish.

iTunes has yourEurovision needs met - but it will set you back over £60

2009-07-12T08:34:51Z

This attractive young couple are quite obviously listening to Eurovision music on their iPod.

Regular uses of the iTunes store will be aware that the online ditty emporium regularly lumps together a shedload of tracks from a certain genre under the umbrella title 'iTunes Essentials'.

Well, they've only gone and done a Eurovision version.

Called 'Eurovision Party', the user has the option of buying any one of four sections, with the complete set costing just over sixty non-Euro pounds.

All the usual suspects can be found in the list, be it Jade's entry from this year, Bucks Fizz, ABBA, Celine Dion or more recent successes such as Lordi and Katrina and the Waves.

But there are a few surprises tucked away in there as well. From Boom Bang a Blog's recent squint at the 1964 Contest, you'll find both the Italian winner and Matt Monro's silver medaller - despite I Love the Little Things rarely appearing on the artist's compilation albums.

And it even has the English version of Vicky Leandros' 1972 winner from Luxembourg, Apres Toi. Under the translated title Come What May, it reached number two in the UK charts. That made me part with 79 non-Euro pence.

You can find out more here.

Eurovision 1964: Italy win by a 32 point margin and Portugal joins the Nul Points Club on its first attempt

2009-07-10T13:53:04Z

Winner 1964: Gigliola Cinquetti sings the rather beautiful Non Ho L'eta for Italy in a painstakingly restored clip by this man here. Good work, 1947dave.

This - as far as we are aware - is the only video excerpt which exists from the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest. It's a crying shame as, by this point, the Contest was not the snoozefest of overly dramatic ballads it was threatening to be at birth, but was just beginning to be populated with chart-friendly tunes almost guaranteed to be a hit with record buyers back home.

Despite winning in London and putting on what looks to be a visually cracking show for the home leg in Copenhagen's famous Tivoli Gardens, Eurovision's favour was rotting in the state of Denmark. Three years after this production, they would embark on a self-enforced 11-year absence from the competition.

It is suggested that changes at the top in Danish television saw executives who did not see TV as something to be wasted on something as frivolous as 'entertainment' and a long period of very, very serious broadcasting ensued. That attitude and the fact no complete recording exists of the 1964 Eurovision could well be linked. Its absence has also been connected with a fire at the TV station's archive in the 1970s. It seems like we'll never really know, although a full audio recording of the event survives.

But enough about what we can't show you from 1964. Come this way for the bits we can tell you...

Health and safety would slap a bannister on that staircase these days.

(a) This is the only other bit of Eurovision '64 known to exist, which gives you an idea of how the show began and what the stage was like. Annoyingly, no shots of the scoreboard seem to exist - and considering the impressive result recorded on said board by the end of the show, that's a crying shame.

(b) The 1964 Contest is the only one so far to have been interrupted by an onstage protestor. Once the Swiss entry had been performed, a student with a placard reading 'Boycott Franco and Salazar' - referring to the then dictatorships in Spain and Portugal - got in front of the cameras. The production team cut to a shot of the scoreboard.

(c) Gigliola Cinquetti was 16 years old when she represented Italy with Non Ho L'Eta. The song is said to translate as 'I'm Too Young to Make Love', a racy sentiment for such a beuatiful tune. At the end of her performance she received a thunderous response from the Tivoli Gardens crowd. So much so, she had to pop back on stage again for a second bow to the audience before the applause came to an end. From that moment on, the result was sealed.

From Volare in 1958 onwards, the Italian entry was time and time again coming through as the big hit from each Contest, so 1964 brought the victory they very much deserved.

(d) Which must have been a kick in the shins for the UK entrant. One of the biggest stars to ever sing for GB - although it tends to be forgotten that he did - Matt Monro was eventually touted as the closest Britain ever got to producing its own Sinatra. He already had the Bond theme From Russia With Love under his belt by the time he took to the stage in Denmark.

The song I Love the Little Things was written by the legendary Tony Hatch, the man who still earns a quid or two whenever the theme tune from Neighbours wafts over the airwaves. This was also the year Hatch's theme for Crossroads would make its TV debut and his portfolio went on to include Petula Clark's Downtown, Don't Sleep in the Subway and I Couldn't Live Without Your Love, plus the themes from Emmerdale Farm, Sportsnight and The Champions. His contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest finished a very, very distant second to the winner.

Matt Monro sings for the UK (audio only). A surprisingly shaky performance from the normally reliable vocalist - but you can tell at the end that the crowd still loved it.

(d) The Dutch entrant, Aneke Grohl, hailed from Indonesia.

(e) Portugal made its Eurovision debut in 1964 and are still entering to this day. Antonio Calvario's Oração failed to score a single point from the juries. Forty-five years later, the Portuguese still await their first top-five placing.

(f) Italy's win redefines the word 'crushing'. Gigliola won with 49 points out of a possible 75. The UK was second with just 17. This meant Eurovision was off to the home of the San Remo Song Festival - the event which inspired the creation of the Song Contest itself. And poised to join in the fun there was a country who would go on to dominate the event in later years.

Over in Dublin, Ireland was preparing its Eurovision debut...

Three Eurovision top three places for the UK between them - and they're back on the road for the first time in 20 years

2009-07-10T10:06:43Z

Boom Bang a Blog isn't exactly beside itself with excitement over this news, but you may have heard that Sir Cliff Richard and his merry band of backing minstrels, The Shadows are back together and on the road for the first time in 20 years.

Marking 50 years since their first adventures in showbusiness, the tour takes in dates in Ireland and the UK (including one at Liverpool's Echo Arena as well as a jaunt to the Continent for appearances in France, Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia. Heaven knows what rock'n'roll mischief Cliff and the lads will get up to on the tour bus, but let's hope someone installs a discreet webcam so we can all have a look.

Cliff took second place at Eurovision in 1968 - and was third in 1973. The Shadows then came second in 1975. You'd think that with all that pan-European support, they's have been able to muster up at least one win between them.

Still, we'd defy anyone to give this a single point if it turned up on the Eurovision stage:

Shudder.

Eurovision 1963: Denmark win, the Swiss are suspicious - and an entrant who would go on to sing with Blur

2009-07-09T11:08:14Z

There has never, ever, been a more controversial result to a Eurovision Song Contest than that which took place in 1963 - but it tends to be overlooked in the documentaries which get trotted out about the event. In fact, 'controversy' is a word which hangs around the staging of this particular Eurovision more than any other.

But let's consider the positives. The BBC did pull off a technically impressive production in its Shepherd's Bush HQ, then just three years old. Every act had a different stage set-up to perform their song from, be it a simple archway, a backdrop of clustered metal hoops, pools of light on a darkened set - or even superimposed visual effects.

And that's where the first finger of suspicion points. Each act looks completely different - but there was only a short space of time between each song to redress the stage. It has long been mooted - but never confirmed - that the BBC pre-recorded the performances before the broadcast. There is also a suspicious lack of microphones on show and an almost complete lack of audience response. Even Katie Boyle was based in a separate studio with the Contest's first ever electronic scoreboard - and a smaller share of the spectators.

However, that controversy is absolutely nothing compared to what happened with the final vote of the night.

Winners 1963: Grethe and Jorgen Ingmann perform Dansevise for Denmark - complete with BBC swirly spiral effects

We'll return to the voting brou-hah-ha momentarily, but here are your 1963 facts.

(a) Many of the acts competing in London were fledgling performers who went on to such bigger and better things that very few people remember they took part in Eurovision. Nana Mouskouri was by far the best known of these. The Greek-born vocalist couldn't sing for her homeland as they weren't entering at this stage, so she sang for Luxembourg instead, looking not unlike a young Mrs Merton. She came eighth.

Finishing in fifth place for Monaco was the sultry gorgeousness of the now legendary Francoise Hardy. Thirty-two years before she married her smoky tones with the estuary vocals of Blur's Damon Albarn on an alternative version of Parklife's brilliant To The End, she sang L'Amour S'En Va. A surprisingly up-to-date number for the Contest in this era - that's probably why it didn't do very well with those darned un-hip juries.

And destined to be the most upset singer of the night, Swiss representative Ester Ofarim. Five years later, alongside husband Abi, she would be atop the world's charts with the rather quirky Cinderella Rockafella, but in March 1963 the Israeli-born singer was runner-up in the Eurovision Song Contest with the ever so moody T'en Va Pas.

(b) The UK was represented for the second year running by Ronnie Carroll. He also finished fourth for the second year running. The song was Say Wonderful Things, the first performed of the night - and those backing singers do look like they're miming. Which is very naughty and against the rules.

Ronnie never returned to Eurovision, but he did stand as an independent candidate in the 1997 General Election. He didn't win. Presumably, he came fourth in the polls.

(c) And we have to mention Italy - who finished third - for showing us what Facebook looked like 46 years ago. Once again, the Italian entry went on to be by far the biggest hit of all the songs taking part.

(d) But what about this controversial vote? As the scoring progressed, Katie Boyle called Oslo from her Bacofoil-plastered studio and the audience and viewers very clearly heard the results from the spokesperson. However, Katie then announced she would have to return to Norway at the end of the voting sequence for a reason that was never specified and the original scores from Oslo stayed up on the board.

At the end of the voting, Switzerland had effectively won with 42 points while Denmark was in second place with 40. Then Katie called Norway back in to repeat its scores.

This time around, Norway gave its neighbour Demark two points more than it had announced previously - and two points fewer to Switzerland. The two countries at the top of the scoreboard switched places before the viewers' eyes and Katie announced this new result as the official one. But why? How?

Over the years, the explanation given for this was that Norway had misread the rulebook and had too many people in its jury. This was only realised at the last minute so that jury had to be downsized and the votes from the remaining members recounted. However, the very public about-turn on its scores, giving its Nordic chum first place in the process - has always been a Eurovisiony hot potato. Especially in Switzerland - the only country ever to have been shown as winners on the scoreboard but then had the glory cruelly snatched away.

It's a good job they're neutral.

My, my, the UK's 2009 Eurovision representative, Jade Ewen, is back with a new single

2009-07-08T12:20:57Z

This may seem like an innocuous piece of news, but believe Boom Bang a Blog, it doesn't happen very often. Jade Ewen, the silky-voiced songstress who finished a well-fought fifth for Blighty in Moscow in May is back with her follow-up single. It's rather rare for UK representatives, especially unknowns, to have any sort of new material to come back at the tune-buying public with so soon after their Eurovision adventures.

This couldn't be more different to It's My Time - except both titles do have one word in common. The single is My Man, it got its first play (plus an interview with the lady herself) by Trevor Nelson on his Radio 1 show at the weekend, couldn't be further away than her Eurovision entry in terms of beats per minute - and you can't help but think this is more the type of music our girl wanted to get into the industry to record.

A further report on Jade's latest musical endeavours, plus a link to My Man, can be found here.

What do you think of My Man? Boom Bang a Blog always likes to peruse through your comments, be they good or bad.

Eurovision 2010 hosts Norway already looking for the song to bring them two-in-a-row

2009-07-07T12:26:08Z

NORWEGIAN broadcaster NRK has confirmed that the Fornebu Arena (usually called the Telenor - but as that's a sponsor's name it's had to be changed to something non-commercial) will host the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest next May.

The Fornebu Arena in Oslo will host Eurovision 2010

And why waste a press release on just one bit of news? That's obviously what next year's hosts thought as well - so they've also launched the search for just the right tune to represent Norway on home soil in just over 10 months' time.

The Melodi Grand Prix 2010 (MGP) is open to composers who live in Norway or have a permanent Norwegian address prior to September 1 this year. A Norwegian songwriter can join forces with a non-national, but if you were to represent that songwriting team in a pie chart, the slice marked 'Norwegian' must be at least 50 per cent. Which means groups of three or more co-composers will have to get their calculators out.

And just to keep those rulemakers even busier, all entries must be in by September 1 and on audio CD only. MP3s will be chucked into the nearest elegant-yet-functional Scandinavian litter bin, regardless of whether it contains a potential winning song.

If you meet the NRK citeria and have a song which you think could win for the home team in Olso, then you can download the registration form here.

Could your tune be as successful as this? It's Norway's maiden win from 1985 - Bobbysocks with La Det Swinge.

It translates as Let It Swing. No, really.

Eurovision 1962: Does the year end in an even number? Then it's France's turn to win

2009-07-07T09:28:25Z

The Villa Louvigny in Luxembourg was one of the few auditoria large enough in the home of the 1961 winners to stage the Contest - and it was here the same 16 countries as the year before showed up on March 18 to do melodic battle.

It was not one of the most exciting Contests in the event's history. It had an atmosphere flatter than a pancake run over by a convoy of steamrollers and France consolidating the sort of reputation Ireland would gain notoriety for 30 years later by winning for the third time in five Eurovisions.

However, despite having neither debutantes nor maiden victors, there were a number of firsts at the 1962 competition which have become traditions continuing well in to the 21st Century.

Winner 1962: Isabelle Aubret performs Un Premier Amour for France

So, here's Eurovision 1962 in conveniently lettered facts:

(a) This was the first year the juries ranked their songs, rather than spreading 10 votes out between all the acts on show. Despite them having 15 songs to choose from, they were only allowed to select a top three; with three points for a jury's preferred song, two for its second choice and one for the ditty they had in third place.

It was as a direct result of this innovation that Eurovision's most infamous contribution to popular culture was born.

(b) Inevitably, four songs out of the 16 never got within sniffing distance of any jury's top three. Therefore, Eurovision's first ever 'nul points' were achieved in 1962. The four nations suffering this embarrassment in front of millions of viewers were Belgium, Spain, Austria - the three of them performing consecutively in the running order - along with two-times Contest champions thus far, The Netherlands.

It is purely through cruel chance of the draw that Fud Leclerc, the second act on stage, became the very first Eurovision entrant to go home with the same number of points on the scoreboard that he started with - absolutely none.

Fud Leclerc performs Tom Nom for Belgium. Eurovision's first ever 'nul points'.

(c) The British entry in Luxembourg was performed by Ronnie Carroll, former husband of That Was The Week That Was star Millicent Martin. It was called Ring-a-Ding Girl and was a severe slippage in standards compared to the credible chart success of Are You Sure? twelve months previously. Written by the same team behind 1959's Sing Little Birdie it sounded out of date even in the pre-Beatles era, bit still managed to finish in equal fourth place with 10 points.

It tied with a song from Yugoslavia about cigarettes. Fancy.

(d) Although France hadn't quibbled about hosting in 1959 and 1961, the prospect of hosting its third Eurovision in 1963 was a bit too much for the accountants at French telly to handle.

So, who do you turn to when you can't host a Song Contest? That's right; the BBC. And the UK snatched up the chance to bring Eurovision back to Britain. They had a brand spanking new Television Centre just open for business in the heart of London and this was a heaven-sent opportunity to show off to their broadcasting colleagues across Europe exactly what their very expensive box of tricks could do.

(e) Oh, just one more thing from 1962. It's the interval act. Someone really should have had a quiet word with him beforehand.

Fifty per cent of ABBA - Eurovision's most famous winners - to play Hyde Park

2009-07-06T07:48:38Z

It may be 27 years since ABBA recorded new material - but Eurovision's most famous champions still have a hold over audiences and headline writers across the globe.

Today, Benny - the man who came up with most of the tunes - releases his first English language album in the UK for years. The Benny Andersson Band is a group of musicians who concentrate on the more traditional side of Swedish music. In a BBC interview with Jonathan Ross last week, Benny made it quite clear that if you turn up at one of BAB's live shows expecting to hear melodic pop fresh from an ABBA-shaped mould, you'll be disappointed.

A fan produced video of Story Of A Heart from YouTube

However, the first single from the album - and its title track - The Story of a Heart, with lyrics by his fellow B in ABBA, Bjorn Ulvaeus, does sound a lot like the sort of stuff the lads anf their wives/ex-wives were coming up with towards the end of their career (especially The Visitors album), when the pull of musical theatre which eventually led Benny and Bjorn to co-write Chess began to blur with their pop songwriting.

But ABBA fans need not despair. Oh, no...

Benny and Bjorn will be in London's Hyde Park on September 13 to take part in a live concert with special guest vocalists performing the biggest hits from the ABBA songbook.

Called Thank You For The Music... A Celebration Of The Music Of Abba, it will be hosted by BBC Radio 2 and Boom Bang a Blog is going to stick its neck out and bet you all 20p that Elaine Paige is one of those belting out a tune. But probably not Voulez Vous.

It's the closest Britain is ever going to get to have an ABBA reunion concert. There were rumours that the Swedish superstars would reform to fill the 50 slots in the O2 concert schedule left vacant by Michael Jackson's sudden death - but Benny himself said in his Jonathon Ross interview that wouldn't happen.

Boom Bang a Blog is certainly going to try for a ticket to the Hyde Park show (assuming it's not a turn-up-with-your-picnic-and-a-blanket job with it being a BBC production). It all sounds marvellous fun.

Could blogging be the way to go in the Eurovision world?

2009-07-05T16:17:29Z

There's a really interesting article here about the adventures of digital journalist Ewan Spence at this year's Contest in Moscow and how his reports, tweets and podcasts became preferable to many web users over the official coverage from the BBC.

Maybe it's time Boom Bang a Blog made its way to the Contest proper.

I'll have to ask me mum.