The collapse of the Soviet Union
and the disintegration of Yugoslavia created a whole new set of
countries in Europe, and curiously they wanted to enter the song
contest. This left the EBU with a bit of a problem, there only being a
finite amount of time in the universe. The solution was "Kvalifikacija
za Millstreet", a qualifying round for the new nations. Croatia, Bosnia
& Herzegovina, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia
fought it out with the top three scorers making the starting grid of
the Grand Prix. Furthermore, the five lowest scoring entries in the
contest itself would be 'relegated' and barred from entring next year's
competiton.
Fantastically named Mark Thomas look-alike Tony Wegas, singing for
Austria for the second year running, exploded onto the stage with an
impressive enough cod-rock number that sounds a bit like an up-beat
version of Lionel Richie's "Hello". Finland went for a moodier sound,
which is what they do best. They also brought two accordions, just to
make sure they impressed us sufficiently. The result was a sort of more
melancholic "Those Were the Days", though it wasn't nearly as good as
that description suggests.
There's some choreographer in Israel who deserves the same sort of
kudos as Ossi Runne, Ralph Siegel or Roland de Groot, and they were at
work again this year. The song was no-where near their best, but it was
performed with the sort of earnest passion and love that Israel do so
well. An added bonus this year comes in the form of an earnest pianist
who sings and plays with an almost robotic fervour, staring intently at
the one camera and never looking at her hands. Half a minute before the
end she gets up and joins the swaying chorus with a sixth individual
appearing at the last moment to squeeze in on the climactic team photo.
For a country with a long-standing animosity to the Turks, Greece do an
excellent Turkish. Keti Garbi, in her side-less dress, twists and
shimmies through a delightful blend of Mediterranean ethnicity and
glitzy '90s lounge-dance-pop. Spain returned to greatness this year
with a sassy, groovy rap entitled "Hombres": all brass stabs and
soaring keyboard-fill choruses, it is stylishly delivered by the slinky
Eva Santamaría.
Most of the rest of Europe went with cod-rock and power-balladry, with
Brian May-like guitar solos in plentiful supply. But the winner on the
night was Ireland, with a piece of anodyne Radio 2
fodder. It's easy to see how it won: it does what it does very well,
with a commercially viable modern-soul sound that would induce wet
dreams in Simon Cowell. It makes it rather a grand number for
Eurovision, but doesn't stop it being a rather ordinary and tedious
song in its own right.
For each year's songs we apply our points in the 12-10-8 style of the
modern contest, irrespective of how the voting functioned at the time.
In brackets is the position the song came on the night:
HERE
ARE THE VOTINGS
OF THE AVIEW JURY:
|
12pts
(11th)
|
ESP |
Eva
Santamaría
"Hombres" |
10pts
(9th)
|
GRE |
Katerina
Garbi
"Ellada, Chora Tou Fotos" (Ελλάδα, χώρα του φωτός) |
8pts
(24th)
|
ISR |
Sarah'le
Sharon & The Shiru Group
"Shiru" (שירו) |
7pts
(17th)
|
FIN |
Katri
Helena
"Tule luo" |
6pts
(14th)
|
AUT |
Tony
Wegas
"Maria Magdalena" |
5pts
(5th)
|
NOR |
Silje
Vige
"Alle mine tankar" |
4pts
(15th)
|
CRO |
Put
"Don't Ever Cry" |
3pts
(=22nd)
|
DEN |
Tommy
Seebach Band
"Under stjernerne på himlen" |
2pts
(4th)
|
FRA |
Patrick
Fiori
"Mama Corsica"
|
1pt
(6th)
|
NED
|
Ruth
Jacott
"Vrede"
|
As mentioned, Ireland won the European voting. The UK came second (of
course), with Switzerland third, Sweden seventh, Malta eighth, Portugal
tenth, Italy twelfth, Iceland 13th, Bosnia & Herzegovina 16th,
Germany 18th, Cyprus 19th, Luxembourg 20th, Turkey 21st, Slovenia
joint-22nd and Belgium 25th. Estonia, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia did
not start. Turkey, Denmark, Slovenia, Israel and Belgium were relegated.
|
Our winner, Eva Santamaría.
Greece's Turkish delight.
The fantastically named Tony Wegas.
Finland's Katri Helena.
Israel, obviously.
Europe's winner, Ireland (again).
|