Monthly Archives: July 2023

Cookie Fonster Inspects Eurovision 1978: Two Mischievous Nordic Competitors

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Intro Post

< 1977 Review | 1978 Review | 1979 Review >

Introduction

It might surprise you that Eurovision 1978 was the only contest ever hosted in Paris, France. However, French people who are sick of Paris getting all the attention are probably happy about that. This contest brought the number of countries to 20 for the first time—Turkey returned after two absences, and Denmark returned after eleven absences. This means it’s the first contest where Denmark’s entry was broadcast in color. This was also the first contest with two presenters and the first with a male presenter since 1956. The other presenter was female. The purpose of two presenters was so that Denise spoke French while Léon spoke English.

Most importantly, this contest was the first time Israel won. Since we’re talking about Israel, obviously there was controversy. When I read months ago about how Arab broadcasters handled this victory, I got a feel for how different life was, and how much bigger the world seemed, before the Internet. Most Arab countries played commercials during Israel’s entry and cut the contest short when it was clear Israel would win, but Jordan went the extra mile. Their broadcaster pretended there were technical difficulties, then claimed Belgium (the runner-up) won instead. Censoring the real winner would NOT have been possible today!

On the opposite side, this was the first contest with the twelve-point voting system where a song got zero points. This happened to the unluckiest country of 1970’s Eurovision: Norway.

I watched this contest with British commentary, done once again by our good friend Terry Wogan. The postcards were filmed live and feature contestants going up an elevator (or lift, as the Brits call it) to the stage, so they barely counted as postcards.

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Cookie Fonster Writes About Eurovision 1977: No More English for You

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Intro Post

< 1976 Review | 1977 Review | 1978 Review >

Introduction

Hosted in London, England for the fourth and last time, Eurovision 1977 had a lineup of 18 countries like last year. Yugoslavia skipped out, not to return until 1981, and Sweden returned, starting a streak of attendance unbroken to this day. It was almost going to be the first Eurovision with an Arab country participating, namely Tunisia. However, Tunisia withdrew before selecting a song. Despite many of them being in the European Broadcasting Union, Arab countries have been reluctant to join Eurovision due to Israel’s presence. Lebanon almost participated in 2005 and had a song ready, but withdrew for the same reason. The only Arab state to participate was Morocco in 1980, in a year where Israel skipped out.

In this contest, the language rule was brought back with an asterisk. If a country selected a song before the change was announced, it was exempt from the language rule. That’s why Germany and Belgium sang in English this year.

This contest was delayed by a month because the technicians were on strike. It was held in May instead of the then-usual April. Because of the strikes, there were no postcards this time; shots of the audience were put in their place, which just isn’t the same. I wanted to watch this contest with French commentary due to the winner, but I couldn’t find it, so I settled for German.

In the intro, when the German commentator mentioned Prince Charles of Wales, I realized that up to 2022, Eurovision took place within Elizabeth II’s reign. If only Eurovision ended before her death, it could be like the famous fact that Homestuck ran entirely within Barack Obama’s presidency.

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Cookie Fonster Summarizes Eurovision 1976: Backtracking to Traditionalism

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Intro Post

< 1975 Review | 1976 Review | 1977 Review >

Introduction

Eurovision 1976 was hosted in the Netherlands’ only city to host two Eurovisions: The Hague. It was the first contest presented by a former contestant, namely Corry Brokken, the winner of 1957.

The country lineup is a bit unusual this time, because Sweden skipped it for the third and last time. The reason is because their broadcaster didn’t have enough money to host if they won next year, so a change was made in response: for later contests, every participating broadcaster had to help pay. Once again, this is a rule change caused by a controversy, and it won’t be the last one caused by a country’s absence. That is also how the Big Five happened. Malta skipped this contest too, not to return until 1991, as did Turkey. On the other hand, Greece and Austria both rejoined this contest.

This contest is also notable for a high concentration of English. Of the 18 songs in it, seven are entirely in English, and two partly. The language is in entries from countries like Switzerland, Austria, and even Italy. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was why the language rule was reinstated next year. To the EBU, Italy singing (mostly) in English must have crossed the line. Speaking of English, I watched the contest with British commentary—appropriate considering the winner.

One more thing: The postcards feature each participant exploring their countries, enclosed by a circle of all the participants’ flags in order. Helpful for knowing which song is next!

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Cookie Fonster Nitpicks Eurovision 1975: The Year of Songs About Songs

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Intro Post

< 1974 Review | 1975 Review | 1976 Review >

During this quiet season of Eurovision news, I have to admit I said a little “yesssss” when Serbia confirmed they’ll participate in 2024. Why are the former Yugoslav countries so much better at using their own languages than most others?

Introduction

We’ve reached the 20th year of Eurovision! The 1975 contest was the first of six (soon to be seven) Eurovisions hosted in Sweden, and the first of three hosted in its capital: Stockholm. This contest had 19 countries total: all returned from last year, France and Malta rejoined, and Turkey made its debut. Unfortunately, due to Greeks and Turks’ conflict over Cyprus, Greece skipped out this time. For the same reason, Turkey skipped out when Greece rejoined the next year. It took until 1978 for Greeks and Turks to participate in Eurovision together.

Turkey has a mixed history in Eurovision—they scored poorly at first, but their results gradually improved as fans started to enjoy their style of music. Turkey won in 2003 and scored second place in 2010, but their last time participating was in 2012. It’s generally accepted that Turkey’s absence is due to anti-LGBT sentiment in their government, which is a huge tragedy. Aside from this topic, this contest saw the Netherlands win with one of the most beloved 70’s Eurovision songs: Ding-a-Dong. It was the first opening entry to win a Eurovision contest, and the Netherlands’ last victory for 44 years. The UK scored second place, as you’d expect from them. Germany had one of the lowest scoring entries, but today their song is a fan favorite.

Speaking of Germany, I watched the contest with German commentary. The commentator called it the “Eurovision Schlager Wettbewerb” which is so much cooler of a name than what Germans normally call it: the Eurovision Song Contest. I’m now pissed that the name “Eurovision Schlager Wettbewerb” isn’t in common use. It sounds so badass!

The contest’s broadcast opened with a super cheesy wordless skit about the history of Sweden, with blatant green screen effects. Then we get to the show itself! It was the first Eurovision where the presenter dominantly spoke English over the host country’s native language. There was also the obligatory French, of course. The contest featured postcards where each contestant painted themselves holding their country’s flag, which is rather cute. One more thing: this was the first contest to feature the “12, 10, 8 to 1 points for each country’s top 10 songs” voting system that’s been consistently used (with some variation) to this day.

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When is my Eurovision 1975 review coming out?

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It’s been a week since I released my review of Eurovision 1974, although before then, no Eurovision review has taken me more than four days to release. What’s the holdup, you might ask?

Every time I have done a blog post series, the first few months are a frenzy of releasing posts super fast. After that, my output simmers as I start to put more thought into each post. And that’s basically what’s happened with my Eurovision posts. After my 1974 review, I paused to work on other projects, then started writing my 1975 review yesterday. As of this writing, I’ve reviewed 7 songs out of 19. Hopefully it’ll be out in the next few days.

Cookie Fonster Plows Through Eurovision 1974: The Most Famous Contestant Ever

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Intro Post

< 1973 Review | 1974 Review | 1975 Review >

Today, Malmö was confirmed as the host city for Eurovision 2024, matching the host city after last time Loreen won. Since it’s at the southern tip of Sweden, it’s a convenient location for people in nearby countries like Denmark and Germany.

Introduction

Aside from the victory of Sweden’s ABBA, one of the most famous bands in the history of the world, what else is notable about Eurovision 1974? Quite a few things.

Because Luxembourg declined to host twice in a row, it took place in the city where I was born: Brighton, England. I have not been there since I was a baby. The contest happened to be in the year my father was born. If those coincidences weren’t crazy enough, I was born in a year where Sweden won with an upbeat pop song in swing rhythm and major key too (1999).

This contest is one of only two that France skipped, because their president Georges Pompidou had recently died. This also meant Anne-Marie David, the previous winner, couldn’t give ABBA their prize; the BBC director Charles Curran did so instead. France did have a song ready, and I’ll review it as a bonus. This is far from the only year where a country selected a song but then withdrew. I view those withdrawn songs similarly to the canceled 2020 contest—they’re the “what could have been” of Eurovision history.

Greece made its debut in this contest this year. The country has a reputation for embracing its ethnic music in Eurovision, but not quite as much in recent years. They’ve won the contest only once, in 2005, and their best results after that were three third places.

The voting system returned to each jury distributing ten points between each country, but only for one year. 1975 would bring us a system closer to what we know today. I watched the contest with commentary in German, from the non-participating Austria. Because there was no Austrian jury, the commentator offered for viewers to pick their own favorite via phone. (Also, postcards are back!)

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Cookie Fonster Recounts Eurovision 1973: A Breath of Linguistic Freedom

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Intro Post

< 1972 Review | 1973 Review | 1974 Review >

Introduction

The 1973 edition of Eurovision was hosted once more in Luxembourg City, this time in the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg. Unlike other Eurovision contests, the orchestra performers surrounded the singers this year, seated in vertical rows. That, together with the bold 1970’s style font, gave this contest a uniquely charming presentation. This contest had 17 participating countries, since Austria and Malta left from last year and a new country joined. It was the first Eurovision participant outside of Europe (but inside the European Broadcasting Union): Israel.

There’s no two ways about it—Israel is a highly controversial country. I don’t consider myself qualified to talk about political issues, but there are several instances of Israel-related drama in Eurovision that it’ll be hard to avoid discussing. In all my blog posts, I try to keep a neutral tone when discussing controversial topics, and the same will hold for Eurovision drama. Still, with four victories and many other iconic entries, Israel has become an integral part of the contest’s history.

The most notable change from prior contests is that for the first time, the language rule was lifted. Countries could sing in any language they chose for the next four years. Sweden and Finland jumped at the opportunity to sing in English, but Norway went the extra mile and sent a song using almost every participating country’s language. I feel like this change was made for the sake of the Nordic countries, which had a strong English-language music scene. When more non-Nordic countries started singing in English in 1976, the rule was reinstated the next year.

It’s unusually hard to find commentary on this contest because Belgium’s performance is blocked on YouTube everywhere except Belgium. With a VPN, the best I could find was an upload with British commentary, marred with lots of white noise. I watched that in alternation with an uncommentated archive on Mega. This was the first of many Eurovisions commentated on TV by Terry Wogan, who was famous for his deadpan humor. That’s why I wanted to access this contest’s British commentary so badly. I had never even used a VPN before writing this post!

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Cookie Fonster Listens to Eurovision 1972: The Year of Romantic Duets

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Intro Post

< 1971 Review | 1972 Review | 1973 Review >

This time of year, the only real Eurovision updates are countries gradually confirming they’ll join next year (including the ones that were pissed), plus the host city selection. Fans are already speculating on who will win 2024 based on whatever patterns they can scrounge up, a clear sign of this news drought. If you’re following these posts, I hope it’s helping lessen your post-Eurovision depression!

Introduction

Since tiny little Monaco didn’t have any buildings suitable to host Eurovision, the United Kingdom stepped in yet again and brought the 1972 contest to Edinburgh, Scotland. This is the only Eurovision hosted in Scotland, and the only one hosted in a part of the UK other than England. Also related to Celtic nations, it’s the only Eurovision with an entry sung in Irish. It had the same 18 countries as last time and the same “1-5 points per juror” voting system as last time, and this time Luxembourg won. I watched it with German commentary… well, mostly. The upload I found alternated between British and German commentary when the voting began, probably because parts of the German commentary were missing.

Unlike the last two contests, this didn’t have any postcards between songs, just pictures of the singers on the big screen. The cards in 1970 featured the singers in their respective countries, in 1971 tourist destinations in those countries, so maybe the Eurovision staff decided they weren’t doing this time. Clearly, they changed their minds in not too long.

I guess I could give a few additional facts, like “this was the first contest where no songs got the same score” or “this is the first time two winners in a row had the same songwriter” (both true), but then I’d sound like a trivia section on a fanmade wiki, especially on the website known as… shudder… Fandom. Let’s just begin!

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