Monthly Archives: August 2023

Cookie Fonster’s Sentiments Surrounding Eurovision 1983: Welcome to the Heart of the 80’s

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Intro Post

< 1982 Review | 1983 Review | 1984 Review >

Introduction

Forty years before the publication of this review, Eurovision 1983 was hosted in Munich (München), a city that I have been to! This brought the contest to Germany for the second time out of three. The contest was presented entirely by one person (Marlene Charell) who made sure to say everything in German, English, and French. I admire her multilingualism, but she was infamous for her huge amount of language mishaps, in the presentation and especially the voting. I’m not sure why this contest didn’t have two hosts, like 1978 in France or 1979 in Israel.

France, Greece, and Italy returned after skipping last year, but Ireland skipped out for the first of two times, meaning the contest had a total of 20 participants.

This contest is one of the least talked about of the 1980’s. I’m not sure if the most famous entry is “Si la vie est cadeau” (Luxembourg’s most recent victory), or “Främling” (sung by a future winner from Sweden). It was also the first contest under the 12-point voting system where two entries got zero points: Spain and Turkey. I don’t have high expectations for this year, but that means if I like a good portion of the songs, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

The intro movie, focused on scenery from German major cities, is the first one whose background music isn’t traditionally orchestral; instead, something partly electronic that you’d hear at the start of an 80’s movie. How’s that for a breath of modernity? The contestants were introduced in something resembling a flag parade, minus the flags, another indication that we’re moving closer to the Eurovision we know today.

I watched this contest with British commentary, which will be my default choice up to at least 1986. Though I may twist things up if I want a break from Terry Wogan. One more fun fact: This was the first Eurovision ever broadcast in Australia, who would get to participate 32 years later.

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Cookie Fonster’s Feelings Over Eurovision 1982: Germany’s Time to Shine!

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Intro Post

< 1981 Review | 1982 Review | 1983 Review >

In a post about a contest that Germany won, there’s no better time to mention that I’ll be in Germany from September 9 to 18! I’m extremely excited about this trip and might write a bit about it on my blog.

Introduction

In the months leading to Eurovision 1982, it seemed like the contest was declining in popularity and prestige. Italy was absent just like last year, and France skipped because their broadcaster TF1 considered Eurovision a “monument to insanity”. This era was rough for Greece too. They withdrew from 1982 and 1986 with a song ready, and 1984 without a song ready, with no transparency or forewarning from their broadcaster. If you’re a pretentious fan who says things like “back in (insert decade before 2000 here), Eurovision was about REAL music”, plenty of people were just as dismissive about the era that you romanticize. You’re just blinded by nostalgia. (Thankfully, France returned in 1983 with a new broadcaster and hasn’t missed a contest since.)

In this sense, you may consider Eurovision 1982 like a party where the two most awaited guests couldn’t make it, and thus the others have to make do without them. It’s also like a party where your friends chose a bizarre location: the small spa town of Harrogate, England. The broadcast of this contest embraced the bizarrity of this choice by putting a “Where is Harrogate?” sketch at the start.

This year was most famous for Germany’s first victory, which was by a landslide. This meant Belgium would be the last of the original seven participants to take the crown. Since this was 17 years before I was born, I would say “I can only imagine what it was like to be German and see your country finally win”, but I actually have a story to tell about it. I’ll tell it when I review Germany’s entry, at the end of this contest.

I wanted to watch this contest with German commentary, but I’m sorry, Ado Schlier’s style of commentary (1980 to 1986) is so boring. So instead, I watched it with Luxembourg’s commentary from a woman named Marylène Bergmann, who was almost 25 years old. Her younger age should provide a fresh perspective on this competition, as well as train my French listening skills. From 1987 to 1991, Germany had a different commentator every year, and that should be more interesting.

Dear god… all this commentator talk made me realize that eventually, there will be a Eurovision commentator younger than me. That’s assuming there isn’t already one, but I didn’t find any from a Wikipedia search. Being 24 years old is weird, guys.

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Cookie Fonster’s Opinions About Eurovision 1981: I Hope You Like Disco

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Intro Post

< 1980 Review | 1981 Review | 1982 Review >

Introduction

Hosted in Dublin, Ireland, Eurovision 1981 had quite a different lineup of countries from last time. First off, the Mediterranean island of Cyprus (aka Greece’s Girlfriend) joined for the first time. No one talks much about Cyprus’s early entries, but their best result (and most iconic entry) is a second place in 2018. Although the island is divided between Greeks and Turks, Cyprus’s entries have only ever come from the Greek half.

Israel returned after skipping last year, and Yugoslavia returned after skipping the last four years. On the other hand, Morocco left never to return again, and Italy skipped the contest for the first time. It wasn’t for political reasons or lack of money—Eurovision just wasn’t very popular in Italy. It was the first of Italy’s several absences in the 1980’s and 1990’s, culminating in a hiatus from 1998 to 2011.

This contest had one of the narrowest victories yet: with their famous band Bucks Fizz, the UK beat Germany by four points. This was the closest Germany had come to tasting victory, but they would take home the prize next time. With the narrow race between the UK and Germany and the many returning contestants, including the winner from 20 years prior, it seems this will be a very interesting year! Because of the winner, I watched the contest with Terry Wogan’s British commentary.

The postcards in this contest were notable because they didn’t just feature the singers of each song: also the composers and writers, exploring Dublin together.

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Cookie Fonster’s Thoughts on Eurovision 1980: Oddball Year, Normalball Winner

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Intro Post

< 1979 Review | 1980 Review | 1981 Review >

Introduction

Before I begin, I’m obligated to say that “normalball” is totally a real word. If you think it isn’t, there’s probably something wrong with you.

In many ways, Eurovision 1980 was the opposite of a normalball. First off, it’s the only contest since 1958 hosted neither in the previous winner nor the United Kingdom. Israel wasn’t willing to host after winning, and neither was Spain (the runner-up) nor the UK (the usual fallback). So instead, the Netherlands stepped in and hosted a low-budget show in The Hague, in the same building as 1976. This was the last time until 2023 that the previous winner didn’t host the contest, and the last contest hosted in the Netherlands until 2021. Unlike the last two years, this contest had only one presenter, and she almost entirely spoke Dutch.

Another oddity that this was the only Eurovision with an Arab country participating, and the only one with an African country. The country is Morocco, which participated for the first and only time due to Israel’s absence, which was itself due to Israel’s Remembrance Day. Turkey returned after skipping last year, and Monaco withdrew, only to return in 2004 to 2006.

In terms of the winner, this contest was the opposite of the opposite of a normalball, or more concisely, a normalball. Johnny Logan won for Ireland with “What’s Another Year”, the first of many Irish ballads to win in the 80’s and 90’s. It was the second of Ireland’s seven victories, and first of Johnny Logan’s two victories—three, if you count the song he composed in 1992.

This contest didn’t have proper postcards, but in their place is something I found super cool. Before each song, a presenter went on stage to introduce it in its country’s native language, accompanied by a slideshow of photos in the corner. Now I wish Eurovision did that every year. I watched the contest with German commentary.

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Cookie Fonster Demystifies Eurovision 1979: Dschinghis Khan and Some Other Stuff

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Intro Post

< 1978 Review | 1979 Review | 1980 Review >

Introduction

Eurovision 1979 was the first of four contests hosted outside Europe: three in Israel and one in Azerbaijan. The one contest hosted in Turkey was in its European portion. Both 1979 and 1999 were hosted in the Jerusalem International Convention Center, meaning they’re tied for the southernmost Eurovision contest; 2019 was a little further north, in Tel Aviv. It was also the easternmost host city until 2012, when Azerbaijan hosted. The introduction sequence gave me a feel for the enormous history of Jerusalem. It’s a holy city for three major religions, it’s been fought over by many nations and empires, and it’s the subject of a dispute today.

All countries returned from last year, except for Turkey—their Arab neighbors pressured them to skip it, even though they had a song ready. It was Monaco’s last time participating until 2004. Israel won the contest twice in a row, becoming the third country to do so after Spain and Luxembourg. However, the most famous entry is Germany’s “Dschinghis Khan”, a cult classic to this day.

This contest was hosted by two presenters, again one male and one female. The female presenter was a member of the trio that sang for Israel in 1976. As a change of pace, I watched this contest with French commentary. Before the songs began, the commentator suggested the viewer to get a pencil and paper and rate every song like the juries do. As it so happens, I am doing something similar on a strange, newfangled device called a “laptop”.

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