Tag Archives: piano ballads

Cookie Fonster Actually Revisits Eurovision 1966: The First Woman Not to Wear a Dress

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Intro Post

< 1965 Review | 1966 Review | 1967 Review >

Introduction

My original review of 1966 was titled “Cookie Fonster Revisits Eurovision 1966”, which wasn’t entirely accurate because I was watching the year for the first time. Now that I am watching it for the second time, the old title is accurate, hence the title “Cookie Fonster Actually Revisits Eurovision 1966”.

We’re back in Luxembourg City, once again in the tiny Villa Louvigny, but this time the place is decorated much better. There’s a cute spiral staircase to the right of the stage and an elaborate chandelier behind the stage that looks nice in black and white. The presenter is different too: this time, her name is Josiane Shen, and she seemed to have a slightly bigger career than the last Luxembourgish host.

The lineup of countries was exactly the same as 1965, so once again we have 18 participant countries. Only two got zero points, and both are surprising ones: Monaco and Italy. In third place came a beautiful guitar tune from Norway, in second came a fun but bizarro jazzy waltz from Sweden, and in first place came Austria with an Udo Jürgens ballad. For him, third time was the charm! I should also mention that this was the first year where the EBU enforced a language rule, so it’s rather amusing that the winner had a few phrases in a different language thrown in.

I can’t find British commentary for this year, so I’ll watch with French commentary. François Deguelt commentated for France this year—he’s the singer of the wonderful “Ce soir-là”. He said at the start that he had to fill in for Pierre Tchernia who was unavailable and that he hoped he could comment the show in the same fashion.

I absolutely love the orchestral reprise of “Poupée de cire, poupée de son” at the start of the show and I’m pissed that rearranging the winner at the start of the show wasn’t done every year. Josiane gives us a short, no-nonsense introduction, then the first song begins.

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Cookie Fonster’s Eurovision 1994 Rundown: The Interval Act Steals the Show

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Intro Post

< 1993 Review | 1994 Review | 1995 Review >

We got the first confirmed Eurovision entry early this time, before even the list of participating countries: “Mon amour” for France. It’s a nice song that blends classic and modern styles, but its score will come down to how well it’s staged.

Also, I’m telling you in advance: the contests from 2004 onwards will get two posts each. One for the semifinals, where I review the non-qualifiers and the presentation of the semifinals, and one for the final.

Introduction

I was originally going to call this post “ireland op plz nerf” before I settled on something less ridiculous. After being the fourth country to win Eurovision twice in a row, Ireland became the first to host twice in a row and put on Eurovision 1994 in Dublin. When the contest ended, Ireland became the only country to win three times in a row and the first to win six times.

Despite the repetition in the contest’s winners, the lineup of countries was way different from last time. This was the first Eurovision to use a relegation system to limit the number of participants: the seven lowest-scoring countries from last year were locked out to make way for newcomers, at least in theory. Cyprus, the seventh lowest-scoring country, got lucky because Italy willfully quit the contest. This means that seven countries didn’t return from 1993 (Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Turkey) and seven joined for the first time (Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia).

The relegation system doesn’t seem fair to me and I’m guessing it’s what drove Italy and Luxembourg away from Eurovision. It also broke Belgium’s perfect attendance, leaving only Switzerland and Germany as having attended every year… for now. The newcomers were a lot more successful than last year; Poland even got second place, by far their best result to date. On the other hand, Lithuania’s first entry got zero points and they didn’t return until 1999.

An interesting fact about one of the hosts: Cynthia Ní Mhurchú originally worked as an Irish language teacher. It shows with how confidently she spoke Irish on stage, and because she looks like a teacher. A sad fact about the other host: Gerry Ryan died in 2010, at only 53 years old, to the shock of his entire country.

The most famous thing part of this contest was actually the interval act. It was a folk dance performance called “Riverdance” and it’s perhaps the best known Eurovision interval act, rivaled only by “Love Love Peace Peace” in 2016. I’m quite excited for it! Oh yeah, I watched the contest with British commentary.

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Cookie Fonster Excavates Eurovision 1986: The Youngest Winner Ever

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Intro Post

< 1985 Review | 1986 Review | 1987 Review >

Sorry this review took so long! I went on my big trip of this year (to Germany) a few weeks ago, during which I temporarily lost interest in writing Eurovision posts. Then I made a video about an event I went to during the trip. But now I’m back in the saddle, and hopefully I can balance this project with my MLP reviews (and real life of course).

Introduction

When the historically unlucky Norway finally got to host Eurovision, they went all out and splurged tons of money to make the best show they possibly could. They set up elaborate events throughout the week and invited some of the country’s royal family, a first in Eurovision history. For the presenter, they chose Norway’s 1966 singer famed for her deep, soothing voice: Åse Kleveland. Five Norwegian cities bidded to host the contest, and the winner was Bergen—the northernmost host city in Eurovision history. The easiest way for the record to be broken is if Iceland someday won the contest.

Oh, that’s right! Speaking of Iceland, this contest was the first time they got to participate. They were the last newcomer until the influx of ex-communist countries that began in 1993. Yugoslavia and the Netherlands returned after skipping last year, Greece withdrew after sending an entry, and Italy withdrew without an entry. The winner was both a first timer and record breaker: Belgium with Sandra Kim’s “J’aime la vie”, the youngest winning singer at 13 years old. A controversy surrounding her age almost got her disqualified, as we’ll later learn. However, contestants of any age were still allowed to perform for a few more years. The age limit of 16 wasn’t enforced until 1990.

As for the opening of the contest, the little multilingual song Åse sings is so goofy but so sincere. Her speech afterwards is sincere in the right way too. She says in English that the most important part about international contests is to participate, but it’s undeniable that nothing tastes sweeter than victory. Then she says the same thing in French. She loyally followed the guidelines for presenting the contest but still gave it some of her own personality, which I admire.

The postcard format combines a frequent theme—scenery throughout the host country—with literal postcards, like the kind you’ll send a friend when on vacation. It’s the only contest to take the term “postcard” this literally. Yet again, I watched the contest with Terry Wogan’s British commentary.

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Cookie Fonster Peeks at Eurovision 1984: The Era of Crazy Presenters

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Intro Post

< 1983 Review | 1984 Review | 1985 Review >

Two days ago, Belgium was the first country to confirm their representative for Eurovision 2024: a singer from Brussels named Mustii. Going by his discography, he’ll probably send a song in English. I’m looking forward to what he’s got in store!

Introduction

Hosted in Luxembourg for the most recent time, Eurovision 1984 had 19 countries participate. Ireland returned after skipping last year, whereas Israel and Greece skipped, due to a national holiday and the broadcaster’s lack of interest respectively. Sweden narrowly won with the first of two Eurovision songs in Swedish. Ireland got second place with a song composed by a prior winner and sung by a future winner.

This contest had the youngest presenter in Eurovision history, at only 19 years old. The presenter’s style is just, oh my god. You have to see it to believe it. She switches back and forth between English, French, German, and Luxembourgish and makes tons of irreverent side remarks, exactly like you’d expect a 19-year-old on TV to do. For people who can only speak one of those languages, this must be like hearing someone from the Philippines alternate between English and Tagalog. I don’t know why this analogy came to mind, but it did. Considering the language mishaps of the last presenter, as well as the next presenter’s famous underwear incident, it’s safe to say we’re in the era of crazy presenters.

The contest begins with a montage of Luxembourg set to an orchestral medley of all five of their winners, plus “L’amour est bleu”, proof that Luxembourg was a Eurovision powerhouse. Oh, how I missed these medleys. As with last time, I watched the contest with British commentary.

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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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