Tag Archives: endangered languages

Cookie Fonster’s Stances Concerning Eurovision 1989: Revisiting the Contest’s Birthplace

Posted on by
2

Intro Post

< 1988 Review | 1989 Review | 1990 Review >

Introduction

The final Eurovision of the 1980’s was the only year the contest returned to the country where it began: Switzerland. This time, it was hosted in the city of Lausanne. It had the same lineup of countries as 1987: every country that had ever participated except the three that start with M.

This contest featured the only victory of Yugoslavia, three years before the country’s collapse, and thus the only victory of a country that no longer exists. This puts Croatia in a strange position where they haven’t officially won the contest, but a band of theirs won for the country they used to be part of, and the contest took place in their capital the next year. This also happens to be the last contest with singers under 16 years old—two of them, in fact. The presence of preteen singers was highly controversial, so the next contest introduced the age rule. If that wasn’t enough, it’s the last contest where the final song performed won.

Fortunately, this should be the last contest for quite a while where finding commentary is a pain in the ass. I could only find it with Spanish commentary, so that’s what I’m watching. I also have an uncommentated version in higher quality so that I can better judge the songs. I know I don’t have to watch it with commentary, but postcards without anyone talking over them just feel so wrong. Plus, no matter which language the commentators speak, I can always tell when they (for example) mention ABBA or list the five singers who won for Luxembourg.

I have to say, I’m not a big fan of the previous winner singing their winning song at the start (which was also done in 1988). I liked it better when the contest opened with a reimagined orchestration of the previous winner. Plus, I didn’t come here to watch Celine Dion promote her new song, I came here to watch Eurovision! Anyway, the duo of Swiss presenters mostly hosted this contest in French, but they switched to English, German, and Italian a few times. Even a bit of Romansh, if I’m not mistaken! That is Swiss multilingualism at its finest.

Continue reading →

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

Posted on by
Reply

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!

Continue reading →