Category Archives: Eurovision Posts

Cookie Fonster Retells Eurovision 2004 (Final): Ethno-Bops, Balkan Ballads, and Future Hosts

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Intro Post

< 2004 Semifinal | 2004 Final | 2005 Semifinal >

Introduction

The grand final of Eurovision 2004 featured 24 countries that can be split into three groups: the Big Four, the top ten non-Big Four countries from 2003, and the top ten countries from the 2004 semifinal. The running order of the first two groups was determined before the semifinal, so the qualifiers were slotted into the remaining spots.

All 36 countries that participated in the contest televoted in this year’s final, even Monaco which used a backup jury in the semifinal. It was the only grand final in Eurovision history where all the points came from televoters. Ukraine won the contest for the first of three times, Serbia and Montenegro (S+M) made a strong debut with second place, and Greece scored third place for the second time. The top three countries all came from the semifinal, and the bottom three were all automatic qualifiers. This makes sense because the semifinal filtered out the less popular songs while the automatic qualifiers had no such filter.

As an opening act, Sertab Erener performed the reliable combo of last year’s winner and her latest single. I still far prefer the orchestral rearrangements of the previous winner, but this opening act reminds us that Sertab’s career has shined bright since winning the contest.

I won’t lie, I’ve started to warm up to Peter Urban’s commentary. He still sounds like he’s reading from a script at times, but he does what he needs to as a commentator and provides plenty of trivia and side remarks. Maybe that’s why he stuck around as the German commentator for so long. I already discussed the history behind this contest in my semifinal post, so there’s not much else to say—let’s get on with the songs!

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Cookie Fonster Retells Eurovision 2004 (Semifinal): A One-Night Event No Longer

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Intro Post

< 2003 Review | 2004 Semifinal | 2004 Final >

We’re well into national final season now and holy fuck, we’re being absolutely SPOILED with all those native-language songs. As well as the return of Petra Mede as a host! The more native-language songs a contest has, the more likely one of them is to win. This is shaping up to be such an exciting year.

Introduction

After Turkey won the contest in 2003, the enormous city of Istanbul had the honor of hosting a very special edition of Eurovision. It was the first whose copyright belonged to the European Broadcasting Union rather than the host broadcaster, the first to use the standardized Euro♡ision logo, and most importantly, the first to take place over multiple evenings: a semifinal and a final. Featuring a whopping 36 countries, it was the largest Eurovision contest up to this point, even if you count the non-qualifiers from 1993 and 1996 as participants.

This contest featured all 26 countries that participated in 2003, all five countries that were relegated after 2002, one country (Monaco) we hadn’t seen since 1979, and four newcomers. The new guys in this contest were Albania, Andorra, Belarus, and Serbia and Montenegro (which I’ll refer to as S+M to avoid confusion with the two countries it would later split into). S+M is a special case because they participated in 1992 under the name Yugoslavia but were then kicked out due to the Yugoslav wars. Yugoslavia renamed itself to “Serbia and Montenegro” in 2003 and by that point, tensions with the rest of Europe were cooled down enough to let S+M into Eurovision.

Fourteen countries—the Big Four and the top ten non-Big Four countries from 2003—made it directly to the final. The other 22 countries had to compete in the semifinal for ten slots in the grand final. In this post, I’ll discuss the twelve entries that didn’t make it to the final.

Two more fun facts: This contest was the only one where the semifinal took place three days before the final, instead of two and/or four. And this was the only contest from 1999 and 2010 not to take place in a country’s capital.

Even though I said I’m not a fan of Peter Urban’s commentary, I’ve decided I’ll give him a chance this time. This means I’ll be watching both parts of this contest with German commentary.

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Cookie Fonster’s Eurovision 2003 Deep Dive: An Ultra-Narrow Three-Way Battle

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Intro Post

< 2002 Review | 2003 Review | 2004 Semifinal >

Remember: every Eurovision contest from 2004 onwards will get two posts: one about the non-qualifies from the semifinal(s), and one about the final. Except for 2020, which I’ll split between the two cancelled semifinals.

Introduction

After winning last year, Latvia was put to the task of hosting Eurovision 2003. It seemed like a tall order and many people doubted it was possible, but just like Estonia, this little Baltic country managed to pull through. Predictably, Latvia chose to host in its capital city of Riga.

For presenters, LTV picked two of Latvia’s previous contestants: Marie N (2002) and Renārs Kaupers (2000). I’m surprised at this decision, because the last time a country picked two former contestants to host, it was so disastrous that some fans wanted Italy to never host again. Let’s hope the Latvian hosts do a better job!

This was the first Eurovision contest to feature 26 countries, which is today the standard number of countries in the grand final. Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, North Macedonia, and Switzerland were relegated. Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Portugal returned from 2001. Ukraine made their debut at long last, and would prove themselves a power player starting next year.

Turkey won this contest for the first time with an ethno-pop song, a genre that commonly won in the 2000’s. They won with 167 points, but two other countries came incredibly close. Belgium got 165 points with an imaginary language song, and Russia sent their famous girl duo t.A.T.u. and earned 164 points. Predictably, the Russians were not happy about losing to Turkey, but will I be happy about it? We’ll just have to see for ourselves. Terry Wogan’s commentary will once again guide us.

This contest is the end of three eras: it was the last one copyrighted by the host broadcaster instead of the EBU, the last one with a unique yearly logo, and the last one to take place over one evening. 2004 to 2007 had one semifinal, and 2008 onwards have two semifinals. This is good news for all the gaps in the map of Europe, because far more slots were now open. But it’s also the start of an era: this is the first contest where the scoreboard sorted automatically, which made the voting a hell of a lot more exciting.

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Unorganized predictions and hopes for Eurovision 2024

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We’re well into national final season now—six countries have released their songs so far and many more national selections are underway!

Holy fuck, holy FUCK, Luxembourg’s song this year is a total bop and I’m excited to see it on the Eurovision stage!!! It’s the first song revealed that truly clicks with me, but France and Ireland chose respectable efforts too. I love that France won’t be alone in sending a song en français this year. It means that France’s song won’t feel like the “token song in French” this year, as so often happens in modern Eurovision. As much as I complain that France cares too much about their language compared to other Eurovision countries, the truth is that I adore the French language.

Thank heavens Ireland didn’t choose that godawful boyband song from their national final. I’m not sure if “Doomsday Blue” has qualifier energy, but it was the best choice of the six. It’s got a nice varied pace and a mix of harsh and peaceful sections, unlike “Go Tobann” which is full-blast hectic.

As for the other three confirmed songs, Albania is disappointingly similar to their previous few entries and Czechia and Slovenia just don’t do much for me. Maybe a revamp could bring more life into some of them, but inevitably you won’t root for every single entry in Eurovision.

My dream 2024 German entry would be a German counterpart to “Cha Cha Cha” that hypes up the audience, but we sure as hell aren’t getting that. I wish I could say I’m rooting for one of the two German-language songs in Das Deutsche Finale, but from snippets I’ve heard of each of them, “Oh Boy” intrigues me by far the most. It’s total jury bait and will probably instill hope among German fans, but I still really fucking want Germany to embrace their own language again. Why is NDR still obsessed with the idea that radio-friendly pop does well in Eurovision, and so repulsed from German-language music? It’s about time a different German broadcaster takes on the contest.

I haven’t followed much of the other national finals, but I’d be excited if “Damdiggida” by Keiino represents Norway. Their song is infectious and full of personality, very Norwegian-sounding. It would be a fierce competitor especially for the televote. If they make it to Eurovision, I hope the juries give them more respect this year.

Out of the internally selected artists, I’m most excited for Marina Satti—she seems intent on sending a song that’s true to herself and should curtail the Swedification of Greece. The Netherlands and UK both made strong choices and I hope they deliver on stage. I’m happy the Netherlands has been embracing their language lately, but it makes my eye twitch that Germany can’t do the same.

I might make another post about my hopes for Eurovision 2024 at the end of February, we’ll see. But don’t expect anything too in-depth until I get to 2024 in my review series. Suffice to say, I have a lot to look forward to in my Eurovision trip.

Cookie Fonster’s Treatise on Eurovision 2002: Baltic Host, Baltic Winner

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Intro Post

< 2001 Review | 2002 Review | 2003 Review >

A few hours after this post is published, we’ll find out who Ireland will send to Eurovision 2024. National final season is shaping up!!! (Please tell me they won’t send Next in Line.)

Introduction

Eurovision 2002 began a brave journey through first-time host countries, which meant a lot of smaller, less experienced broadcasters were put up to this task. The first to take on this daunting challenge was Estonia’s ETV, who hosted the contest in its capital of Tallinn. It seemed uncertain at first whether ETV could host the contest, but they pulled through thanks to fundraisers and a loan from the Estonian government.

Once they were certain they could host the contest, Estonia decided to have some fun with it and themed it upon fairy tales, as we’ll see in the postcards. It was the first contest to have an official slogan, which is “A Modern Fairytale”. The rules of the contest were mostly the same as 2001, with one small change: the recap after all the songs were performed was done in reverse order, to reduce bias towards entries performed late.

All countries that were relegated from 2001 (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, North Macedonia, Romania, Switzerland) got to return this year, and six countries were originally going to be relegated this year: Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland. However, Portugal withdrew from the contest, which meant Latvia got to participate after all. Latvia went on to achieve the unlikely feat of scoring first place with one of the least popular winners in Eurovision history.

This year as a whole is something of a black sheep. It doesn’t have many uploads online compared to others in the 2000’s—I could only find British and Spanish commentary, so I went with Terry Wogan—and most of its songs aren’t well-remembered. I’ll come in with an open mind so we can find out together if this year was as bad as everyone says. The hosts are genuinely enthusiastic this time, which is a welcome change of pace.

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Cookie Fonster Slogs Through Eurovision 2001: Trying Too Hard to Impress

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Intro Post

< 2000 Review | 2001 Review | 2002 Review >

I won’t start writing my 2002 review until after MAGFest 2024 (January 18-21, I’m leaving on the 17th). This will be my fifth time at MAGFest and after the event, you’ll see content related to it on my YouTube channel!

Introduction

Denmark won Eurovision two oh oh oh,
so now was their second turn to host the show.
Copenhagen was chosen to stage this event,
an agreeable choice without too much dissent.
They chose a stadium capable of housing
a staggering audience of thirty-eight thousand.
Some say they wanted to outdo Sweden,
and indeed, this record still hasn’t been beaten.
That no one’s surpassed it is much for the best,
since the stage looked like merely a blip to most guests.

Austrians, Belgians, Romanians, the Swiss,
Cypriots, Finns, and North Mac had to miss.
Lithuania returned this year, as did Slovenes,
plus Bosnians, Greeks, Poles, and the Portuguese.
Of the new guys that poured in here since ninety-three,
Estonia became the first winner. Yippee!
It was twelve years ago, far too long in fans’ eyes,
when a country last received its first ever prize.
From this contest up until two thousand eight,
the winner would be someone new. Ain’t that great?

Every achievement last year by the Swedes,
the Danes were determined to beat and exceed.
The Swedish hosts may have seemed cheesy last time,
but they’re nothing compared to these hosts’ endless rhymes.
They hosted the song contest in rhyming pairs,
but I think my rhymes are more clever than theirs.
Since I wanted a breather from the BBC,
I watched this contest’s broadcast from RTÉ.
Marty Whelan still comments for Ireland today.
He’s much more respectful than Wogan, I’d say.
Now what are we waiting for? Let’s have some fun
and review Eurovision two thousand and one!

(Phew… this poem was so tough to write. Also, if you’re reading it out loud, stress the third syllable of Copenhagen.)

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Cookie Fonster Recaps Eurovision 2000: The (Second) Year of Radio Guitar Pop

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Intro Post

< 1999 Review | 2000 Review | 2001 Review >

Introduction

The first Eurovision contest of the new millennium was the fourth of six (soon to be seven) in Sweden, the second of three in Stockholm, and the first of two in the Globe Arena (now called the Avicii Arena). It featured the biggest in-person audience thus far, a whopping 13,000. From this point onwards, ten to twenty thousand became a typical Eurovision audience size, though Denmark would try outdoing it a year later.

The lineup of participants now featured four countries that would automatically qualify every year to keep the contest afloat: the UK, Germany, Spain, and France. This rule was implemented before the 1999 contest but applied to 2000 onwards. I suspect this was done because the EBU didn’t want to risk France’s relegation, which would have happened in 2000. The Big Four/Five rule was controversial then and it’s just as controversial now. Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Portugal, Poland, and Lithuania were relegated, while Finland, North Macedonia, Romania, and Switzerland returned after missing last year. Russia came back after two years of absence and Latvia made their debut, which bumped up the number of participants to 24.

Latvia made a strong debut with third place, Russia scored their first of four second places, and much to the audience’s surprise, Denmark won for the first time in 37 years with “Fly on the Wings of Love”, sung by the oldest singers to win the contest.

Thanks to a sponsorship by Microsoft, this was the first Eurovision contest broadcast on the Internet, which meant Americans could finally watch Eurovision live without going overseas. (EDIT: Two months later, a friend of mine showed me an RTÉ video that proves Eurovision 1997 was also broadcast online.) Unfortunately, not all viewers got to enjoy the contest in full. The Netherlands cut their broadcast short because of the Enschede fireworks disaster which killed 23 people, then re-broadcast the contest a month later.

I’ve heard that every year when the Eurovision hosts are revealed, some fans scream “can Petra Mede come back instead?” Since I’ve seen snippets of her amazing hosting, I’m having the same thoughts as I sit through the presenters’ cheesy, blatantly scripted gags.* At least I have Terry Wogan with me to snark about them! Well, not literally, because he died in 2016.

* Credit where it’s due, the Swahili part got a laugh out of me.

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Cookie Fonster Relives Eurovision 1999: The Death of the Language Rule (and the Birth of Me)

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Intro Post

< 1998 Review | 1999 Review | 2000 Review >

Please enjoy my first Eurovision review of the new year! I wonder how far I’ll get when the 2024 contest happens? I don’t think I’ll catch up, but maybe I’ll reach 2015 or so. Remember, I’ll be in Malmö and/or Copenhagen during the contest.

Introduction

An audience filled with flags, cheerful hosts accompanied by electronic music, a stage full of flashy light effects, seemingly endless pleasantries before the contest properly begins… yep, the first Eurovision contest after I was born isn’t far from what we know it as today.

Eurovision 1999 took place in Israel just as it would twenty years later, in its capital city of Jerusalem just as it did twenty years earlier. The number of participating countries was reduced from 25 to 23, so seven countries were relegated (Finland, Greece, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland) and five rejoined (Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, Iceland, Lithuania). Lithuania had last participated in 1994 and Hungary wouldn’t rejoin until 2005. Perhaps this decrease in participants was done to allow for commercial breaks between the songs, which were filled by mini-interval acts for the live audience and non-commercial broadcasters.

This year featured two massive changes to the rules: (1) the orchestra was abolished and (2) just like from 1973 to 1976, the language rule was abolished. Technically, the orchestra wasn’t fully abolished, but broadcasters could now opt out of providing one, which is what Israel did. From this point onwards, all Eurovision entries were sung entirely over a backing track.

The first winner of post-orchestra and post-language rule Eurovision was none other than Sweden with “Take Me to Your Heaven”, who would become the biggest power player till the present day. Iceland scored second place with another pop song in English, and Germany combined four languages to reach a respectable third place. One more fact: This was the first Eurovision with three presenters, which would be the most common amount from 2010 onwards. One of them sang Israel’s entry in 1992, “Ze Rak Sport”.

I frankly don’t have high expectations for these next few years of Eurovision. I’m bracing myself for a bunch of cheesy Eurodance, painfully off-key singing, and nonsensical English lyrics. Maybe Terry Wogan’s commentary will make it more bearable, we’ll see.

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Bonus Eurovision Post: My favorite entry from each country 1956 to 1998

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Introduction

For quite a while, I wanted to do a special bonus post once I reached a cutoff point in my Eurovision blog post series. That is to choose my favorite entry from every participating country so far. I’d say there is no better cutoff point than 1998, since that was the year after which two rules were abolished: the orchestra and the language rule. It’s where I mentally draw the line between classic Eurovision and modern Eurovision.

Quick disclaimer: I’ll only choose favorite entries from countries that competed with at least three songs from 1956 to 1998. That means I won’t include Morocco, Lithuania, Romania, or North Macedonia. I’ll go through all these countries in alphabetical order and I’ll list my favorite entry of theirs in bold. Since I obviously can’t remember how all 1,600+ songs in Eurovision history sound, for countries where my favorite isn’t immediately obvious, I’ll consult the wonderful recap videos by SchlagerLucas to refresh my memory.

There’s no particular reason I wanted to publish this post on Christmas, other than that I don’t have much to do today. I went to see family yesterday and I’ll see more of them tomorrow, but I’m not doing much on the day itself.

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Cookie Fonster’s Eurovision 1998 Reflections: Dana, Guildo, and Other Such Icons

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Intro Post

< 1997 Review | 1998 Review | 1999 Review >

Please enjoy my last Eurovision review of 2023! I will review Eurovision 1999 after the new year. For the rest of this year, I’ll focus on getting other projects done and finding jobs, since I was recently fired from my latest one. Luckily I already paid for my Eurovision trip, including flights, tickets, and a place to stay.

Introduction

In many ways, Eurovision 1998 was the end of an era for the contest. It was the last year where countries had to sing in their own languages, the last year with an orchestra, and until 2023, the last contest to take place in the United Kingdom. Fifteen different British cities applied to host the contest, and the winner was the second largest city in the UK: Birmingham. But it was also the start of an era for the contest: it was the first where most results came from televoting and it kickstarted a trend of LGBT visibility. More trivially, it was the first year where the names of countries appeared on screen during the songs.

Five countries were relegated from this contest (Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Denmark, Iceland, Russia) and five returned from 1996 (Belgium, Finland, Israel, Romania, Slovakia). Italy willfully skipped and North Macedonia made their proper debut, after not qualifying in 1996. Israel famously sent Dana International, the first transgender person to ever compete in Eurovision, and she won the contest.

As with the last two years, the female presenter handled the voting while the male presenter had a different job. In 1996 it was watching over the green room, in 1997 it was the interval act, and in 1998 it was commentary. That’s right: this year, Terry Wogan both hosted and commentated on this contest!* I’m glad he got to host before he became bitter about the contest. Even if I could understand every language in Europe, I would still think the only acceptable way to watch the contest was with British commentary, so that’s what I did.

Interestingly, neither of this contest’s hosts are native to the UK: Terry Wogan is Irish and Ulrika Jonsson is Swedish. However, both had been working for years as BBC presenters. The contest featured four other Eurovision hosts as a special guest. Their, or should I say her name is Katie Boyle, whose hair had gone gray but looked sharp and confident as ever. It’s weird to think she outlived Terry Wogan by two years.

* As far as I know, the only other people who did that were Léon Zitrone (1978) and Graham Norton (2023).

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