Day 4: new sun troubles, a Swedish circle and many more

Today is the day of the stage again. Today the EBU has made an official statement about it: “During the technical tests in Turin, the production team has experienced challenges with how long it takes to adjust the “sun” to different positions in the time between the different performances. Together with the host station RAI it was therefore decided that the sun will remain in the same position during all 40 songs, to ensure a fair competition for all participating countries.”. What position that is, is still being discussed. So to be continued again. It is certain that a number of countries now have to make changes in their staging.

Meanwhile, 9 countries rehearsed for their performance in the second semifinal.

IRELAND: Brooke takes the stage in a bright blue suit. During her performance she is assisted by four dancers. They start the song lying on the floor! Ireland uses many floor projections. Brooke is also praised by Eurovision.tv for her strong voice. Pyrotechnics are used at the end of her performance.

NORTH MACEDONIA: Andrea stands alone on the podium for North Macedonia. She sings her song completely wrapped in black leather. In her performance she uses the lifting bridges over the water. Shadows of hands are visible on the LED screens. The sun is not only orange but also white and blue.

ESTONIA: Stefan starts his performance on the B stage. He is accompanied only by his guitar. Later in the song, he goes wild: then he uses the entire stage to present his performance. The two cowboys from the national final stayed home.

ROMANIA: WRS from Romania wears glittering wetlook trousers. He also wears a red blouse, but according to Eurovision tradition, that goes off. He turns out to be wearing a sleeveless shirt with glitter underneath. There is a lot of dancing. As a result, the Romanian likely gets a lot of attention from the crowd.

POLAND: The Polish competitor Ochman is also in black, he wears a black suit. He is assisted by four dancers, who seem to represent some kind of water spirits. Flashing light effects can be seen during the performance. The waterfall on the stage is also used… what else could we expect with a song about a river?

MONTENEGRO: Vladana has her entire performance on the B stage. She wears a blue dress during her performance. The background is also blue, with splashes of white as graphics. Vladana mainly remains in one place.

BELGIUM: The Belgian Jérémie Makiese impressed with his song. Jérémie is flanked by four dancers. He himself wears blue-grey trousers, a black shirt and a silver jacket, while the dancers wear black jackets. At the end of the act all the light falls on Jérémie, who is standing on a platform on which flames are projected.

SWEDEN: Cornelia Jakobs ranks high among the bookmakers. As the Swedes always do, Cornelia Jakobs also puts on the same act as during the national final Melodifestivalen. The starry sky at the beginning, the large, first green and then red, circular plate right behind Cornelia, even the silver-black clothing and the bare feet are the same.

CZECH REPUBLIC: The Czech group We Are Domi is the last to rehearse today. The group uses a lot of light, which makes you feel like you’re in a disco. Funny effect: the ‘sun’ on stage looks like a vinyl album here. Eurovision.tv mentions the cello-string guitar: the guitarist made it himself.

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70 years of Eurovision: small studios and lost footage

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. 1962 Eurovision traveled to Luxembourg City, the capital of Luxembourg. Everything was just a little too small in this small country. Luxembourg television received assistance from the German broadcaster ZDF. The presentation was in the hands of Mireille Delannoy. The same sixteen countries as in 1961 participated. Camillo Felgen took part for Luxembourg yet again. With a third place, he did much better this time than two years before. But the absolute top favorite was Germany. Dutch commentator Willem Duys introduced her with the words: “She looked as if she had just won the entire Grand Duchy in a lottery.” After hearing the competition, she was slightly less self-assured. Ultimately, she would finish sixth with her “Zwei Kleine Italiener.” However, she did have the contest’s big hit. The French-speaking countries were in charge this year. Luxembourg itself came third, Monaco second, and France won. A ballad by Isabelle Aubret about, of course, love. Aubret received 26 points with her “Un premier amour.” That was double the score of the runner-up. That year, there were even four countries that received no points at all! That was a first time. But that didn’t bother Isabelle Aubret; she won! 1963 Because France had had enough of organizing by then, the United Kingdom took over. The festival was held in various studios of the brand-new BBC Television Centre in London. Host Cathy Boyle was in one studio, the artists in another, and the orchestra in yet another studio. This made it look just as if the viewer was watching a pop music show from those days. Big stars tried their luck. Françoise Hardy participated for Monaco, Nana Mouskouri for Luxembourg, Carmela Corren for Austria, and Esther Ofarim for Switzerland. Hardy was deeply disappointed when she discovered that she wasn’t allowed to lip-sync. Mouskouri walked away crying and stamping her feet afterwards. She was nowhere to be found at the afterparty. Switzerland won. But then the Norwegian jury had to vote one more time. The jury spokesman spoke way too fast. Cathy Boyle had been unable to repeat the points. The second time, Norway suddenly submitted a completely different result. As a result, it was not Switzerland that won, but Denmark instead. An investigation by the EBU later revealed that the Norwegians didn’t cheat. When they were called, the points had not yet been ready. Esther Ofarim has always said that she was the winner. But it was ultimately the Danish couple Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann with the three-quarter time “Dansevise”. 1964 Copenhagen was the venue. Not much footage of this festival has been preserved. Only the opening scene and parts of the winner’s performance remain. Sweden did not participate. A musicians’ strike resulted in a withdrawal. The Swedes could not send a participant to their neighboring country. However, because Portugal made its debut, the number of participants remained 16. Host Lotte Waever hosted the show. It was held at the Tivoli Theater in Copenhagen. Big stars did not come to Copenhagen. That is to say: Udo Jürgens, who participated for Austria, only achieved international breakthrough later. A trio participated for Spain: the Uruguayan group Los TNT. That is not allowed. The two male members of the group were therefore relegated to a backing choir. The broadcast did not go smoothly. Midway through, a demonstrator managed to get onto the stage. He held up a sign reading ‘Boycott Franco and Salazar’, referring to the dictators of Spain and Portugal. Little of it was visible on television. However, photos were taken of the incident. It did not get exciting that evening. Italy won with 49 points. By comparison: the runner-up, the United Kingdom, had 17. It was sixteen-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti who captured the hearts of viewers and jury members. She sang the innocent “Non ho l’eta” (I am not old enough yet). It became not only the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, but also a worldwide hit. The EBU recently posted a video on the Eurovision YouTube channel with a complete reconstruction of the performance.

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70 years of Eurovision: small studios and lost footage

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. 1962 Eurovision traveled to Luxembourg City, the capital of Luxembourg. Everything was just a little too small in this small country. Luxembourg television received assistance from the German broadcaster ZDF. The presentation was in the hands of Mireille Delannoy. The same sixteen countries as in 1961 participated. Camillo Felgen took part for Luxembourg yet again. With a third place, he did much better this time than two years before. But the absolute top favorite was Germany. Dutch commentator Willem Duys introduced her with the words: “She looked as if she had just won the entire Grand Duchy in a lottery.” After hearing the competition, she was slightly less self-assured. Ultimately, she would finish sixth with her “Zwei Kleine Italiener.” However, she did have the contest’s big hit. The French-speaking countries were in charge this year. Luxembourg itself came third, Monaco second, and France won. A ballad by Isabelle Aubret about, of course, love. Aubret received 26 points with her “Un premier amour.” That was double the score of the runner-up. That year, there were even four countries that received no points at all! That was a first time. But that didn’t bother Isabelle Aubret; she won! 1963 Because France had had enough of organizing by then, the United Kingdom took over. The festival was held in various studios of the brand-new BBC Television Centre in London. Host Cathy Boyle was in one studio, the artists in another, and the orchestra in yet another studio. This made it look just as if the viewer was watching a pop music show from those days. Big stars tried their luck. Françoise Hardy participated for Monaco, Nana Mouskouri for Luxembourg, Carmela Corren for Austria, and Esther Ofarim for Switzerland. Hardy was deeply disappointed when she discovered that she wasn’t allowed to lip-sync. Mouskouri walked away crying and stamping her feet afterwards. She was nowhere to be found at the afterparty. Switzerland won. But then the Norwegian jury had to vote one more time. The jury spokesman spoke way too fast. Cathy Boyle had been unable to repeat the points. The second time, Norway suddenly submitted a completely different result. As a result, it was not Switzerland that won, but Denmark instead. An investigation by the EBU later revealed that the Norwegians didn’t cheat. When they were called, the points had not yet been ready. Esther Ofarim has always said that she was the winner. But it was ultimately the Danish couple Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann with the three-quarter time “Dansevise”. 1964 Copenhagen was the venue. Not much footage of this festival has been preserved. Only the opening scene and parts of the winner’s performance remain. Sweden did not participate. A musicians’ strike resulted in a withdrawal. The Swedes could not send a participant to their neighboring country. However, because Portugal made its debut, the number of participants remained 16. Host Lotte Waever hosted the show. It was held at the Tivoli Theater in Copenhagen. Big stars did not come to Copenhagen. That is to say: Udo Jürgens, who participated for Austria, only achieved international breakthrough later. A trio participated for Spain: the Uruguayan group Los TNT. That is not allowed. The two male members of the group were therefore relegated to a backing choir. The broadcast did not go smoothly. Midway through, a demonstrator managed to get onto the stage. He held up a sign reading ‘Boycott Franco and Salazar’, referring to the dictators of Spain and Portugal. Little of it was visible on television. However, photos were taken of the incident. It did not get exciting that evening. Italy won with 49 points. By comparison: the runner-up, the United Kingdom, had 17. It was sixteen-year-old Gigliola Cinquetti who captured the hearts of viewers and jury members. She sang the innocent “Non ho l’eta” (I am not old enough yet). It became not only the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, but also a worldwide hit. The EBU recently posted a video on the Eurovision YouTube channel with a complete reconstruction of the performance.

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