|
|
|
|
 | "CONGRATULATIONS " |
| THE SHOW |
Fans
of the Eurovision Song Contest, do not have to wait until next May
to get their next dose of their favourite event. To celebrate the
fifty years of the contest, a special two-hour celebration show will
be broadcast live in thirty countries across Europe on Saturday 22nd
October 2005. The show called "Congratulations" is being
organised by the Danish national broadcaster DR and will be staged
at the Forum arena in Copenhagen. On the night, European viewers
will vote to choose the most popular Eurovision song of all
time. The fourteen songs taking part in "Congratulations"
were selected by fans across the world, who chose ten
of the songs by voting at the official Eurovision website (eurovision.tv.)
and an additional four songs were chosen by the Eurovision Song
Contest Reference Group, which organises the contest for the E.B.U. As well as the fourteen finalists, many other Eurovision favourites
will be performed, in medleys, many featuring their the original
Eurovision performers.
The fourteen songs
in contention to be selected as the greatest Eurovision song of all
time are listed below, and in the weeks building up to the event I
will be profiling each song in greater detail. At the moment it is
believed that video recordings of the original Eurovision
performances the songs in competition will used. You can find the
latest bookmaker's odds on the contest here.
Danish television has also opened up a special website for the
event; http://www.congratulations-info.com/
 |
Perhaps surprisingly the show will be hosted by two former
Eurovision contestants, both from outside Denmark; American
Katrina Leskanich and Latvian Reinars Kaupars.
Katrina Leskanich was lead singer with Katrina & The Waves
who won the Eurovision Song Contest for the U.K. in Dublin in
1997 with "Love Shine A Light". Now a solo artist, she participated in the Swedish
selection for Eurovision in 2005 but didn't
make it to the final of Melodifestivalen. Reinars
Kaupers is the lead singer of the popular Latvian
band Brainstorm, who finished 3rd at Eurovision in Stockholm
in 2000. In 2003 He co-host the contest in Riga with Marie N. |
The list of former Eurovision stars who will be
on stage in Copenhagen is now almost complete.
The biggest news for Irish viewers is that this
country will be well represented in Copenhagen. Two time winner Johnny
Logan is performing one of the intervals. Linda
Martin who won with "Why Me" in 1992, Charlie
McGettingan who was one of the duo who won with "Rock'N'Roll
Kids" in 1993 and Eimear Quinn, Ireland's most recent
winner in 1996 with "The Voice" will be teaming up to
perform their winners. They will be joined on stage by local star Jakob
Sveistrup who brought Denmark a Top 10 result in Kyiv in
2005 with "Talking To You". The other Irish winners
were invited but Dana, Niamh Kavanagh and Dana all had prior
arrangement and could not attend. The latest Irish additions to the
show are the "Riverdance" dancers who performed
Eurovision's most successful interval act in 1994, and 1997
presenter Ronan Keating, who will perform as part of the
show. The list of stars from other Eurovision stars looks like this
:
• Lys Assia who won the first Eurovision
for Switzerland in 1956 and also sang in 1957 and 1958.
• Mocedades who represented Spain in 1973 with the famous
"Eres Tu", finishing 2nd.
• Brotherhood of Man sang "Save All Your Kisses For
Me" and won for the U.K. in 1976.
• Nicole gave Germany its only Eurovision win in 1982 with
"Ein Biechen Frieden".
• Bobbysocks who gave Norway its first Eurovision win in
1985 with "La Det Swing".
• Sandra Kim sang "J'aime La Vie" for Belgium
1986 and is the youngest person to win the contest.
• Dana International gave Israel its third win in 1998
singing "Diva".
• The Olsen Brothers won with "Fly On The Wings Of
Love" for Denmark in 2000.
• Sertab Erener sang "Every Way That I Can" to
victory for Turkey in 2003.
• Ruslana won the contest for Ukraine in 2004 with
"Wild Dances".
• Helena Paparizou is the most recent winner winner winning
in Kyiv in May with "My Number One".•
• Massiel who gave Spain their first
win in 1968 with "La La La".
• Marie Myriam who sang the most recent
French winner "L'Oiseau Et L'Enfant" in 1977.
• Gail Atari who sang
"Hallelujah" with Milk And Honey in 1978, winning for
Israel.
• Baccara who's "Parlez Vous
Francais" is still a Eurovision favourite after finishing 7th
in 1978.
• Bucks Fizz who famously won the the U.K. in Dublin in
1981 with "Making Your Mind Up".
• Richard Herrey was one of the Swedish trio who in 1984,
will be joining Bobbysocks in a medley.
• Emilija Kokić was the lead
singer of Riva who's "Rock Me" gave Yugoslavia its only
win in 1989.
• Birthe Kjær is a huge local Danish
favourite and finished 3rd in 1989 with "Vi Maler Byen Roed"
• Alsou gave Russia its best Eurovision result, finishing
2nd in Stockholm in 2000 with "Solo".
• Emilija
Kokic was the lead singer of Riva who gave Yugoslavia its
only win with "Rock Me in 1989.
• Fabrizio Faniello sang
"Another Summer Night" for Malta in Copenhagen in 2001,
becoming a Danish favourite.
|
Update October
20th ; unfortunatly local star Danish Birthe Kjær
who finished third in the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest with
"Vi Maler Byen Rød" who was supposed to perform in
the the "Congratulations" show suffered a heart
attack earlier this week, while filming another television
show. She is currently recovering in hospital. Tomas
Thordarson, who represented Denmark in 2004 with "Shame
On You" will replace her.
The "Finnish surprise" has also
leaked to the local media. The male choir Huutajat
("Shouters") will perform. They are renound for
singing very loudly, so it should be an interesting
performance. (Thanks to Jere
Purmonen for the information).
Dana
International Has also revelaed the outfit that she will be
wearing in Copenhagen. Apparently it's another Gaultier design
and you can see what it looks like on the right (picture
courtesy of Eurosong.be).
Work
inside the Forum has apparently now all but finished, and the
rehersals begin on today. Marty Whelan, who will commentate
for RTÉ on Saturday night will be broadcasting live from
Copenhagen on his 2FM radio show on Friday morning.
Below
The Forum in Copenhagen, inside and out.
|
|
|
THE FORMAT |
If various internet sites are to be believed,
this is how the show will run.
The Opening
After the traditional Eurovision Te Deum, Cliff Richard will open
the show on video telling a story about his experiences and 50 years
Eurovision Song Contest. Host broadcaster DR's radio orchestra will
play several songs including "Congratulations",
"Dinge Dong", "A-ba-ni-bi", "C'est Le
Dernier Qui A Parlé", "Dschinghis Khan" and finally
"Love Shine A Light", which welcomes the show's host,
Katrina Leskanich.
The contenders
After a video about the 50 winners of 50 years Eurovision Song
Contest, Carola (Sweden 1983, 1991) will announce the first of the
14 participating songs in the all-time favourites contest,
"Congratulations", which like the other songs will be seen
in the original Eurovision performance. Then Cliff Richard will
introduce Massiel (Spain 1968), who will present the second song
"What's Another Year". The hosts will announce the third
song "Diva". Dana International (Israel 1998) will
announce the fourth song, "Eres Tu". We will then get a themed video. "Ein bisschen
Frieden" will be introduced. Sandra Kim (Belgium 1996) will
announce "Volare". Bobbysocks (Norway 1985) will
introduce "Waterloo". The performance of the 1974 winner
will apparently be combined with a Finnish surprise (it wouldn't be
Eurovision without the Finns getting in there somewhere!).
After break / themed video and the hosts will introduce "Fly
on the wings of love". Emilija Kokic & Riva (Yugoslavia 1989) will
introduce "Poupée de cire poupée de son". After another break,
Marie Myriam (France 1977) will introduce "Everyway That I
Can".
Sertab (Turkey 2003) will introduce "Ne Partez Pas Sans
Moi".
After a special message from Céline Dion, "Hold Me Now" will
be introduced. Cheryl Baker, one of the members of Bucks Fizz, will
introduce "Save Your Kisses For Me". Lys Assia, the winner of
the first ever Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, will introduce the
lastest Eurovision Song Contest winner "My Number One".
The voting
After the 14 songs, the first televoting window will open. After the
interval act (rumoured to be "Riverdance"), the first voting
session ends and a seven
minute medley will be performed by Dana International, Carola,
Alsou, Fabrizio Faniello, Richard Herrey, Birthe Kjaer and Marie
Myriam. After a break, Johnny Logan will take care of another
interval act performing a new song "When A Woman Loves A
Man".
After the top five has been announced, televoters have another four
minutes to vote for their all-time favourite. After a second medley,
the second televoting window closes and the infamous Nicole & Hugo (Belgium
1973) will say a word to the viewers. Ronan Keating will perform and
another themed video, the local favourites Olsen Brothers will perform
a small medley as well.
The winner
The winner of "Congratulations" will be known around
22.30 BST/23.30 CET,
which also marks the end of the two and a half hour show. Then it
party time!
|
THE CDs AND DVDs. |
To mark the event and the 50th
birthday of the Eurovision Song Contest there is also a
series of CDs and DVDs being released throughout Europe on October
17th. This is a great way of boosting your Eurovision collection as
there are 100 tracks on CD and DVD, many of which haven't been commercially
available for a long time.
 |
50
Years Of Eurovision CD1
This double CD contains all the winners from 1956
to 1980: 28 winners in total, as 1969 had a four way tie and 22
favourite non-winners
from the same period.
50 Years Of Eurovision CD2
This double CD contains all the winners and selected
favorites from 1981 to 2005; 25 winners
and 25 favourites.
50 Years Of Eurovision DVD1
This double DVD has the videos of all the winners from 1956
to 1980 and 22 additional "favourite" non winners from these
years. For many, this will be the first chance to see the 1956
and 1964 winners.
Congratulations DVD2
This double DVD has the videos of all the winners from 1981
to 2005 and 25 additional favourite non winners from these
years.
Congratulations Box set
This has both CDs and both DVDs (eight discs in
total) and will retail at a lower price than the individual discs.
At the moment these items are only available to pre-order from
www.eurovisionshop.tv
but I will add a link to be the website with the best price,
before the release date. You can now find the track
listing for the CDs here. |
|
THE CONTENDERS TO BE EUROVISION'S GREAT
EVER SONG |
Watch
a compilation video of the 14 songs competing here
(broadband) and here
(narrowband).
 |
|
ITALY 1958 - ”Nel Blu
Di Pinto di Blu (Volare)” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Domenico Modugno |
|
Music composed by Domenico
Modugno |
|
Lyrics written by Franco
Migliacci and Domenico Modugno |
|
Finished 3rd at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 33/1 |
Read more about the song here |
|
|
|
| LUXEMBOURG 1965 - ”Poupée De Cire,
Poupée De Son” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
France Gall |
|
Music and lyrics by Serge
Gainsbourg |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 33/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| UNITED KINGDOM 1968 - ”Congratulations” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Cliff Richard |
|
Music and lyrics by Phil
Coulter & Bill Martin |
|
Finished 2nd at Eurovision |
| Bookmakers' Odds : 5/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| SPAIN 1973 - ”Eres Tu” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Mocedades |
|
Music and lyrics by Juan Carlos Calderon |
|
Finished 2nd at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 40/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| SWEDEN 1974 - ”Waterloo” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
ABBA |
|
Music composed by Benny
Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus |
|
Lyrics written by Stikkan Anderson |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 4/9 (favourite) |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| UNITED KINGDOM 1976 - ”Save All Your
Kisses For Me” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Brotherhood Of Man |
|
Music
and lyrics by Tony Hiller, Lee Sheridan and Martin Lee |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 13/2 |
Read more about the song here |
|
 |
| IRELAND 1980 - ”What's Another Year” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Johnny Logan |
|
Music and lyrics by Shay
Healy |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 14/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| GERMANY 1982 - ”Ein Biechen Frieden” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Nicole |
|
Music composed by Ralph Siegel |
|
Lyrics written by Bernd Meinunger
|
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 20/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| IRELAND 1987 - ”Hold Me Now” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Johnny Logan |
|
Music and lyrics by Sean
Sherrard (aka Johnny Logan) |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 10/1 |
Read more about the song here |
|
 |
| SWITZERLAND 1988 - ”Ne Partez Pas
Sans Moi” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Celine Dion |
|
Music composed by Atilla Sereftug |
|
Lyrics written by Nella Martinetti |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 20/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| ISRAEL 1998 - ”Diva” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Dana International |
|
Music composed by Syika Pik |
|
Lyrics written by Yoav Ginai |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 10/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| DENMARK 2000 - ”Fly On The Wings Of
Love” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
The Olsen Brothers |
|
Music and lyrics by Jorgen Olsen |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 16/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| TURKEY 2003 - ”Every Way That I Can” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Sertab Erener |
|
Music composed by Demir
Demirkan and Sertab Erener |
|
Lyrics written by Demir Demirkan |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 40/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
 |
| GREECE 2005 - ”My Number One” |
|
Performed at Eurovision by
Helena Paparizou |
|
Music composed by Christos
Dantis |
|
Lyrics written by Natalia Germanou and Christos Dantis |
|
Finished 1st at Eurovision |
|
Bookmakers' Odds : 14/1 |
Read more about the song here |
 |
As well as
a couple of surprise inclusions such as the 2005 Eurovision winner, which
has made little impact since its victory in Kyiv in May, and the
similarly low profile 1988 winner (probably chosen for the singer
rather than the song), the list does not include many
internationally successful Eurovision songs like "Puppet On A
String", "Apres Toi", "Hallelujah", Making
Your Mind Up" and "Ooh Aah (Just A Little Bit)". The
selection of "Waterloo" as favourite is hardly surprising, but those
hoping for an ABBA reunion in Copenhagen, are
likely to be disappointed. as are
Eurovision fans in the United Kingdom and France, as
the Copenhagen show is not likely to be shown in those countries.
The lists of countries and broadcasters confirmed as showing the show is below.
 |
1. Andorra (RTVA) |
16. FYR Macedonia (MKRTV) |
| 2. Austria (ORF) |
17. Malta (MT/PBS) |
| 3. Belgium (RTBF/VRT) |
18. Netherlands (TROS) |
| 4. Bosnia & Herzegovina (PBSBiH) |
19. Norway (NRK) |
| 5. Croatia (HRT) |
20. Poland (TVP) |
| 6. Cyprus (CyBC) |
21. Portugal (RTP) |
| 7. Denmark (DR) |
22. Romania (TVR) |
| 8. Finland (YLE) |
23. Russia (C1R) |
| 9. Germany (ARD) |
24. Serbia & Montenegro (YRT/RTS/RTCG) |
| 10. Greece (ERT) |
25. Slovenia (RTVSLO) |
| 11. Iceland (RUV) |
26. Spain (RTVE) |
| 12. Ireland (RTE) |
27. Sweden (SVT) |
| 13. Israel (IBA) |
28. Switzerland (SFDRS) |
| 14. Latvia (LTV) |
29. Turkey (TRT) |
| 15. Lithuania (LRT) |
30. Ukraine (NTU) |
CD &
record covers from the ESC
Record Covers Website
|
|
|
|
