Day 3: start of the 2nd semi rehearsals

Day three of rehearsals: the second semifinal has started. Nobody knows about the stage anymore. We try to keep you informed. For the time being, we’ll stick to the nine countries that rehearsed.

FINLAND: Expectations were obviously high with a big name like The Rasmus in da’ house. In black and yellow rain gear, the stars stood on stage between huge black balloons. Eurovision.tv praises the professionalism of the band members.

ISRAEL: It was quite exciting whether Israel would participate or not. However, the security issues died down. And so Michael Ben David stood on stage in white, surrounded by his dancers. Remarkable: eurovision.tv reports that there is good singing. That has not been done so far.

SERBIA: Konstrakta’s act is little different from what we saw during the national final. She has the healthy hair of Megan Markle, which she also sings about. She washes her hands regularly. The dancers around her carry towels. Everything to stay “In corpore sano”, in a healthy body.

AZERBAIJAN: It was to be expected: Azerbaijan has a standout act. Nadir Rustamli sings from a sort of staircase that looks like a grandstand. There is also a dancer in that stand. Halfway through the act, the stand is split in two and the dancer and singer can see each other.

GEORGIA: Circus Mircus represents Georgia. And clowns belong to a circus. A singer in a leather jacket and flying goggles, a man with an eye patch and a belly organ and a bassist who seems to have borrowed the hat from the Ukrainians. That last man has a beard of flowers. Many colors can be seen on stage. Surreal is how even the official site describes it.

MALTA: Emma Muscat performs in a dress covered with silver. She is flanked by four dancers. Later during the act, she sits behind a huge piano. She also uses the so-called B-stage, just in front of the green room. The sun springs into action and gives off its golden light during this act.

SAN MARINO: You can expect a striking act from Achille Lauro. He wears body stocking, cowboy boots and hat, a black boa and he is at a red rodeo. While you’d expect that with the title “Stripper,” the clothes don’t come off. Where there is smoke there is fire: that certainly applies to this act, which ends with a lot of pyro technics.

AUSTRALIA: Of course Sheldon Reily wears his jeweled mask. Surprising is the huge white suit he is also wearing. At the bottom of the suit is a huge tow. Eurovision.tv compares it to a wedding dress that drags on the floor. It almost seems as if Sheldon is staying in the clouds.

CYPRUS: Andromache is singing in a purple dress with what looks like a huge fan behind her. The dancers move around that fan. The fan is also used to display the graphics. Different colors are visible.

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70 years of Eurovision: twice the same winner

The Eurovision Song Contest is celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is a wonderful milestone. We at Eurovision Universe love diving into the history of the contest. That is why we are taking a closer look at the contests of the past 70 years. 1978 The 1978 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Paris. A record number of twenty countries participated. Although there were no new countries, Turkey, Greece, and even Denmark returned. Also new was the double presentation: Leon Zitrone and Denise Fabre hosted the show together. Every five songs, one of the two would announce which countries the viewer could expect. Jean Vallée participated for Belgium for the second time. This time, he had a ballad that was expected to score highly, perhaps even win. Ireen Sheer, a previous participant for Luxembourg, now sang for Germany. In the field of participants, we certainly must not forget Jahn Teigen. With his sunglasses and suspenders, he stood out quite a bit. A newspaper described Teigen as ‘The Singing Circular Saw’. He didn’t get a single point. There were big stars as well. Ricchi e Poveri participated for Italy. Rumour has it that the blonde singer of the group was wearing nothing under her dress. This rumor has never been confirmed. The ladies of Baccara, the Spanish duo that caused a sensation with “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie”, represented Luxembourg. The dance was fine, the singing somewhat less so. Nevertheless, they finished seventh. And then there was Björn Skifs, who enjoyed international fame as the singer of the group Blue Suede. Skifs opened his performance with the lyrics “Sorry I kept you waiting but… here’s the top of the bill”. After that, he opened his song with the lyrics “Röb min fös och hitte knö”. That isn’t Swedish, but it sounds like it. Skifs had forgotten his lyrics. Also noteworthy was the Greek singer Tania Tsanaclidou. She paid tribute to the recently deceased Charlie Chaplin. Armed with a bowler hat and walking stick, she sang her song to an eighth place. Izhar Cohen & The Alpha Beta Israel achieved a victory for the first time. Izhar Cohen & The Alpha Beta were added to the national final at the very last moment. No suitable performer had been found for another song (but more on that later). The song, “A-ba-ni-bi”, actually came from a children’s song festival. It was about a children’s game, the B-Language, in which every syllable is repeated, but with a B in front of it. The Hebrew word Ani (I) thus becomes “A-ba-ni-bi”. To this day, they do not know all of this in Jordan. The festival was broadcast, but the Israeli entry was not. When it turned out that Israel would win, it was decided in Jordan not to announce it. Belgium, which came second, was presented there as the winner. 1979 Jerusalem was the venue in 1979. Once again, two presenters did the work: Daniel Peer and Yardena Arazi. The latter had participated herself for Israel in 1976. Originally, 20 countries were to participate. Turkey, which already had a song, had to withdraw under pressure of the Arab oil-producing countries. Sandra Reemer participated for the Netherlands for the third time, now under the name Xandra and with a fake ponytail. Anita Skorgan returned for Norway. Former winner Anne-Marie David represented France. Peter, Sue & Marc also participated again; this time together with Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri, a trio that could be heard playing a rake, a watering can, and a garden hose as instruments. Also noteworthy was the act from Germany: Dschinghis Khan, with a song of the same name. This hymn of praise to the Mongolian leader can be called remarkable, to say the least. The striking act the group performed was meant to conceal the fact that the song contained phrases such as “Come on brothers, drink brothers, rob brothers” and “He fathered seven children in one night.”  Micha Marah participated for Belgium. For weeks, she sing six songs in preliminary rounds. Every week, one snog was eliminated. Eventually, three remained for the final. And of course, that very one song she didn’t like, ‘Hey Nanah’, turned out to be the winner. Micha Marah was so angry that the Belgian broadcaster feared Micha would withdraw. Backing singer Nancy Dee was ready to replace her. In the end, Micha sang after all. For Spain, the Peruvian Betty Missiego took the stage. She sang “Su canción”, but she didn’t do it alone. Four young schoolchildren sat cross-legged around her, to later flank her as a backing choir. These were perhaps the youngest children ever on stage. Gali Atari & Milk and Honey Spain came very close to winning. When the final jury had to cast their points, Betty Missiego had a one-point lead over host country Israel. But it was Spain that still had to vote. The Spanish jury gave 10 points to Israel. The group Milk and Honey, with singer Gali Atari, won with that. And the winning “Hallelujah” became a classic in the world of Eurovision. That came very close, by the way. The year before, the winning “A-ba-ni-bi” was the reserve candidate. Initially, “Hallelujah” was supposed to participate back then. However, no one could be found who wanted to sing it. How times change…

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Martijn

70 years of Eurovision: twice the same winner

The Eurovision Song Contest is celebrating its 70th anniversary. That is a wonderful milestone. We at Eurovision Universe love diving into the history of the contest. That is why we are taking a closer look at the contests of the past 70 years. 1978 The 1978 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Paris. A record number of twenty countries participated. Although there were no new countries, Turkey, Greece, and even Denmark returned. Also new was the double presentation: Leon Zitrone and Denise Fabre hosted the show together. Every five songs, one of the two would announce which countries the viewer could expect. Jean Vallée participated for Belgium for the second time. This time, he had a ballad that was expected to score highly, perhaps even win. Ireen Sheer, a previous participant for Luxembourg, now sang for Germany. In the field of participants, we certainly must not forget Jahn Teigen. With his sunglasses and suspenders, he stood out quite a bit. A newspaper described Teigen as ‘The Singing Circular Saw’. He didn’t get a single point. There were big stars as well. Ricchi e Poveri participated for Italy. Rumour has it that the blonde singer of the group was wearing nothing under her dress. This rumor has never been confirmed. The ladies of Baccara, the Spanish duo that caused a sensation with “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie”, represented Luxembourg. The dance was fine, the singing somewhat less so. Nevertheless, they finished seventh. And then there was Björn Skifs, who enjoyed international fame as the singer of the group Blue Suede. Skifs opened his performance with the lyrics “Sorry I kept you waiting but… here’s the top of the bill”. After that, he opened his song with the lyrics “Röb min fös och hitte knö”. That isn’t Swedish, but it sounds like it. Skifs had forgotten his lyrics. Also noteworthy was the Greek singer Tania Tsanaclidou. She paid tribute to the recently deceased Charlie Chaplin. Armed with a bowler hat and walking stick, she sang her song to an eighth place. Izhar Cohen & The Alpha Beta Israel achieved a victory for the first time. Izhar Cohen & The Alpha Beta were added to the national final at the very last moment. No suitable performer had been found for another song (but more on that later). The song, “A-ba-ni-bi”, actually came from a children’s song festival. It was about a children’s game, the B-Language, in which every syllable is repeated, but with a B in front of it. The Hebrew word Ani (I) thus becomes “A-ba-ni-bi”. To this day, they do not know all of this in Jordan. The festival was broadcast, but the Israeli entry was not. When it turned out that Israel would win, it was decided in Jordan not to announce it. Belgium, which came second, was presented there as the winner. 1979 Jerusalem was the venue in 1979. Once again, two presenters did the work: Daniel Peer and Yardena Arazi. The latter had participated herself for Israel in 1976. Originally, 20 countries were to participate. Turkey, which already had a song, had to withdraw under pressure of the Arab oil-producing countries. Sandra Reemer participated for the Netherlands for the third time, now under the name Xandra and with a fake ponytail. Anita Skorgan returned for Norway. Former winner Anne-Marie David represented France. Peter, Sue & Marc also participated again; this time together with Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri, a trio that could be heard playing a rake, a watering can, and a garden hose as instruments. Also noteworthy was the act from Germany: Dschinghis Khan, with a song of the same name. This hymn of praise to the Mongolian leader can be called remarkable, to say the least. The striking act the group performed was meant to conceal the fact that the song contained phrases such as “Come on brothers, drink brothers, rob brothers” and “He fathered seven children in one night.”  Micha Marah participated for Belgium. For weeks, she sing six songs in preliminary rounds. Every week, one snog was eliminated. Eventually, three remained for the final. And of course, that very one song she didn’t like, ‘Hey Nanah’, turned out to be the winner. Micha Marah was so angry that the Belgian broadcaster feared Micha would withdraw. Backing singer Nancy Dee was ready to replace her. In the end, Micha sang after all. For Spain, the Peruvian Betty Missiego took the stage. She sang “Su canción”, but she didn’t do it alone. Four young schoolchildren sat cross-legged around her, to later flank her as a backing choir. These were perhaps the youngest children ever on stage. Gali Atari & Milk and Honey Spain came very close to winning. When the final jury had to cast their points, Betty Missiego had a one-point lead over host country Israel. But it was Spain that still had to vote. The Spanish jury gave 10 points to Israel. The group Milk and Honey, with singer Gali Atari, won with that. And the winning “Hallelujah” became a classic in the world of Eurovision. That came very close, by the way. The year before, the winning “A-ba-ni-bi” was the reserve candidate. Initially, “Hallelujah” was supposed to participate back then. However, no one could be found who wanted to sing it. How times change…

Read More »
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