Results tagged “Germany” from Boom Bang a Blog

"Welcome one, welcome all. To paraphrase a football song, Eurovision's coming home." So began Terry Wogan's commentary for the first British Eurovision in 16 years. It doesn't make sense of course. Eurovision's home is Lugano in Switzerland, where it all began in 1956 - or Geneva, the headquarters of the European Broadcasting Union - or even Dublin, the city which had hosted six of the 43 Eurovisions prior to this point. But not really anywhere in the UK. However, there was no denying that the events which took place inside Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on May 9, 1998, constituted the most anticipated Contest of recent years. Two of the 25 entrants were making headlines across the Continent in the weeks leading up to the event - and one of them would go on to win the competition.

It also marked the end of the United Kingdom's run as one of the most successful countries taking part in the competition. After 1998, there were very few glimmers of hope to be found as Blighty sank further and further down the scoreboard. But we won't worry about that here. Come with us now on a trip to the Midlands, where the British Broadcasting Corporation decided to be as non-jingoistic as possible and employ an Irishman and a Swede to host its last Eurovision to date, the winning singer won a unique glass bowl by Susan Nixon, the postcard films were a work of quiet genius and everybody laughed at a middle-aged Dutch lady.

The film celebrating 40 Eurovision Song Contests which opened the 1995 event. Think of it as reminder of most of your Bluffer's Guides so far...

I wasn't impressed when Ireland won Eurovision for the third successive year in 1994. I therefore refused point blank to support the Irish squad who got to the World Cup in the USA that year (despite it being the tournament Graham Taylor couldn't lead England into) and, being young, naive and foolish, refused to like anything remotely linked with Ireland for the next 12 months. As I say, I certainly was young, naive and foolish as I have an Irish surname for a start.

Anyway, I'm sure you can imagine my reaction when smiley host Mary Kennedy appeared on stage at The Point - the only time the same venue has been used in two successive years - and welcomed viewers to "What has almost become the annual Eurovision Song Contest from Ireland."

I booed. Loudly. But the slightly smug tone Mary used when introducing everyone back to Ireland (again) would soon backfire on her. This was the year when some canny countries realised it was time to play the Irish at their own game. And win.

Loaded magazine once described the result of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest as having the most blatantly rigged juries since the original Rodney King trial. It's a brilliant analogy, but it is unlikely that the bean counters at Irish telly would have thought a third successive win for the country would be a financial plus.

Although hindsight and hopefully, maturity, has enabled me to see the 1993 Irish victor as a worthy winner, I'm afraid I am still perplexed how the ploddiest-of-plodding songs won in 1994 - and won by such an epic margin.

Not that it really mattered. The bit everyone remembers from 1994 came directly inbetween the entries and the voting.

That looks suspiciously like the rocket from Tintin's Destination Moon...

The home of the European Parliament finally became the home of the Eurovision Song Contest, the event had enjoyed 31 previous editions before it reached Belgium and the organisers were keen to show the millions of viewers what they'd been missing out on all this time. One thing they'd clearly been missing out on a woman called Viktor Lazlo (also the name of a character in Casablanca, curiously) with huge ear-rings hosting the show, so they hired her for the night.

It was arguably the most impressive and contemporary-looking production yet with some very late '80s dayglo pink contrasted with the pale grey used in both the stage and the suits of the orchestra members. There was also some flashy lasers zinging out from behind a big sphere at the whim of the director and the whole Contest did look as if it was finally being dragged towards a style that would sit more comfortably with the MTV generation. It has to be said, though, that the atmosphere and acoustics in Brussels' Palais du Centenaire (built for the 1935 Expo and in the shadow of the Atomium) was as flat as a crepe. At times, the performers sound as though they're belting a song out in a deserted out-of-town cash-and-carry in the hope that a passing sympathetic motorist will nip in and offer a round of applause.

Still, Eurovision wasn't remade in a day and the massive effort put in by Belgian telly to liven proceedings up would be built on over the coming years.

But sets don't sing and juries don't vote on the colour of the woodwind section's lapels - shall we have a shufty at the songs?

They had waited for a win since their first appearance in 1960. They had scored nul points in 1963, 1978 and 1981, three of the six occasions they had finished bottom of the scoreboard. They were destined to be the Contest's eternal no-hopers. Then, in 1985, twenty-five years after their first appearance, something amazing happened. Norway won the Eurovision Song Contest.

It had been 26 years since Germany last hosted the Contest when Nicole's little piece of peace brought Eurovision back to the country in 1983, the first time Deutsch telly were hosting as title holders. Whereas the second Eurovision Song Contest had been staged in a tiny television studio, the 28th took place in the mammoth 6,000 seater-plus Rudi Sedlmayer Halle, the basketball venue built for the 1972 Summer Olympics.

A fair few pfennig seemed to have been spent on the show, which looked a lot more spectacular than the squashed-in feel of Harrogate the previous year, although the set did resemble the inner element of a toaster stuck over a bay windowsill, creating a seemingly tiny space for the acts to stand in.

There were 20 acts back on the starting grid in Munich, however, up from 18 the year before. Italy, Greece and France all came back - and Ireland surprised everyone by taking a year out. The 1980 champs were having a cashflow crisis at their national broadcaster and organising a Eurovision entry was one extravagance they couldn't justify.

But for everyone else who turned up, it was a rather fun year. For all the wrong reasons.

The opening sequence of Eurovision 1982 - can you guess where Harrogate is?

Perhaps it was because this was the seventh time Britain had hosted the Contest in 22 years and the novelty had worn off. Perhaps it was because money was scarce in 1982. Perhaps it just hasn't aged very well - but there isn't a lot to get excited about when considering Eurovision 1982.

When you consider past BBC productions, such as the glitzy affair of 1968 and the impressive handling of the 1977 show, there is absolutely no sense of spectacle to this Contest.

Perhaps that's because it was held in such a tiny venue. The Harrogate Conference Centre (pictured) opened in North Yorkshire shortly before the event and was an ultra modern facility for its time. Ideal, perhaps, for hosting a symposium on cork flooring or the AGM of Balloon Benders UK, but in hindsight, not for an event like Eurovision, which needs to loom large on the screen. The show ended up looking like a glorified Song For Europe, with a stage that was half Top of the Pops, half Pebble Mill at One.

As you may have already read, Israel had won both the 1978 and 1979 Contests, but when the Netherlands stepped in to host as a favour to the cash-strapped Israeli Broadcasting Authority, they inadvertently scheduled Eurovision for a date when the trophy holders remembered their fallen and couldn't possibly take part.

With the country who had had a stranglehold on the results at the end of the '70s now absent, there was a clear run for everyone else involved. Although, 'I' would continue to be a lucky initial for Eurovision's winner for the third year running.

With stepping in at relatively short notice, the Dutch production was nowehere near as grand as it had been in 1976. With The Hague's Congresgebouw (pictured, above) being used once more, part of the opening travelogue film from four years previous - featuring beckoning hands welcoming allcomers to Den Haag - was recycled to save a few gelder. While only those with long-term photographic memories would have made the connection in 1980, it's a bit easier to spot in the era of videos, DVD and a certain file-sharing website.

Thanks a bucketload or five to Boom Bang a Blog reader Darrell Frye, who has answered my question about what the miggins was going on in the postcard film that preceded the German entry at Eurovision 1979. To refresh your memory, it showed two rascals on the roof of a cottage, dangling a fishing rod down a chimney. You can see it for yourself at the beginning of this clip here.

It turns out it's a reference to the hugely popular German children's book, Max and Moritz, which tells of seven pranks performed by a pair of very naughty young pups.

Therefore, the Israeli mime artistes were performing the second of the seven tricks described in the book, which dates back to 1865.

Second Trick: The Widow II As the widow cooks her chickens, the boys sneak onto her roof. When she leaves her kitchen momentarily, the boys steal the chickens using a fishing pole down the chimney. The widow hears her dog barking and hurries upstairs, finds the hearth empty and beats the dog.

Y'see, Eurovision's not all daft pop, there's some European children's literature to learn about too. You can find out more about Max and Moritz's behaviour, which would no doubt earn them as ASBO today, right here.

A major press conference was held in Germany this week over Deutschland's preparations for next year's national final.

In similar fashion to the way the BBC eventually paired up a performer with an Andrew Lloyd Webber song, nine unscreened weeks of casting will begin in Cologne at the end of this month, with the judge's choices then going forward to an eight-week X-Factor style elimination programme in February and March next year.

Twenty participants will be selected by Germany's answer to Noel Edmonds, Stefan Raab, who has already written three Top 10-placed entries for his homeland, the most successful one of which he performed himself.

The German public will ultimately choose the winner - and they will also select the song for the winner to sing at some point before the final. German telly must have been impressed by the way the UK managed to turn its fortunes around in Moscow, going from last place in 2008 to fifth the following year. Sadly for Allemagne, their second-last place in 2008 could only befollowed up for 20th position in Russia this year with the actually-rather-good Miss Kiss Kiss Bang (pictured, above). If the effort put in by the BBC paid dividends this year, hopefully it'll do the same for Germany.

Winner 1979: Milk & Honey featuring Gali Atari perform Hallelujah for Israel

Let's get the negative stuff out the way first. Boom Bang a Blog has never really enjoyed the 1979 Contest. It has a very dreary atmosphere, too much of the action is in long shot and, at times, feels like the inspiration for The Fast Show's Channel 9 series of sketches. However, when it comes to the mysterious twilight world of Eurovision fandom, I'm very much in the minority with that opinion. The general concensus is one of a marvellous, groundbreaking production packed with memorable songs. That said, the idea of only dressing the stage with a really big gyroscope was an inspired one. It's just a shame it doesn't get to do very much gyroscoping as the show progresses.

One thing 1979 does have in its favour, though, is a very close, exciting voting sequence and a winner which many people remember today. It also has - arguably - the worst song the UK ever sent to the Eurovision Song Contest, but we'll get to that in a bit.

The following clip is shown to students of TV production everywhere. It's the feed from industry legend and maverick, the late Stewart Morris, a stalwart of big BBC productions, as he directed his team through the hairy final moments and winning reprise of Eurovision 1977 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London.

PLEASE BE AWARE! Mr Morris does not hold back on his language, so don't click on this clip if easily offended by extremely salty words.

Our favourite bits are where he's screaming at someone to make the flags start revolving and the moment he realises the end credits have gone missing.

That's how the Contest ended, but let's delve a little deeper into how it all began in 1977...

The 20th Eurovision Song Contest came from Stockholm and it was very, very blue. The set was blue, the scoreboard was blue and the presenter's dress was blue. Debutantes Turkey were also blue, albeit in more abstract fashion - and we'll get to them later.

This was also the first year that 'douze points' was awarded at the Eurovision Song Contest. The voting system had been thoroughly overhauled to make everything as fair as possible, ABBA had suddenly made the Contest seem a credible sorta-thing for pop groups to enter and the viewing figures were going through the roof across the continent.

All 1975 needed was another top-drawer, bespoke slab of prime European pop to take the trophy and the Contest could maybe, just maybe, become the event songwriters of every calibre would sweat semi-quavers to be part of.

The judges went for this:

Winner 1975: Teach-In perform Ding Dinge Dong for the Netherlands

Winner 1957: Corry Brokken performs Net Als Toen for the Netherlands

This is not an example of pioneering cinema from the late 1800s. This is footage of the second Eurovision Song Contest, staged in Frankfurt, Germany, in March 1957 and someone clearly put the grainiest quality film stock they could find in the machine which recorded this momentous event for posterity.

Here we are - the 40th, 41st and 42nd songs taking part in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. If you've been following our blogbits since we introduced Monentenegro and Czech Republic all those days ago, you should now have your favourites and possibly spotted a winner.

But don't choose until you've heard the last three songs on offer, beginning with our Teutonic chums.

GERMANY
Alex Swings Oscar Sings!: Miss Kiss Kiss Bang

Boom Bang a Blog has a pound each way on this. It's quite possibly the most under-rated entry of the year.

United Kingdom: Andy Abraham - Even If

Eh up, it's us.

As you may have heard on our blogcast with the rather smashing Professor of Eurovision, Phil Jackson, Andy Abraham's Even If is touted as the UK's best entry for some considerable time.

Anyone who witnessed Andy's progress on The X Factor will also be aware this is the most reliable set of lungs to be carrying the UK entry since Jessica Garlick in 2002.

Even If is a generous slab of funky pop - although rather dated - and has the potential to have far more oomph live than on disc - which is the right way round where this Contest is concerned.

It was looking OK for UK until the middle of March. Then they did the draw.