Results tagged “Ralph Siegel” from Boom Bang a Blog

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.

Hello again! Apologies for six days of non-bloggage on the Boom-Bang-a front, but I'm not long back from nine rather brilliant days of holiday in the United States - my first ever trip to that part of the world. Look, there I am in that picture below these words preparing to om-nom-nom a rather delicious pancake breakfast at a diner in Haight Ashbury, San Francisco.

That's all well and good, but is there anything Eurovisiony going on in the US of A?

Well, I did try to find some evidence...

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.