Re-writing Eurovision History
Using iTunes tonight to tell me which are my favourite Semi Final tracks for Eurovision 2011 got me thinking. I have the CDs for the last 10 years on iTunes...
What could this piece of software tell me about my favourite tracks from years gone by. If it had been up to me, who would have won each year? Am I at all in tune with the European voting public? Have the winning tracks stood the test of time?
So this post takes each of the last 10 years and tells you which track from Eurovision I have listened to the most over the years which have followed... The results have been interesting, sometimes surprising and also a little bit revealing.
So imagine my surprise when I find that I have listened to this unassuming but powerful ballad from Israel more times than the winner! I remember on the night dismissing this as a retro-ballad that would have won in any year of the 1970s. I remember dismissing Shiri as a Farrah-Fawcett wannabe. But over the 6 years since, it is the song from the year that I come back to.
2002: SLOVENIA, Sestre: Samo Ljubezem
If only Scooch had realised that Slovenia had already been there and done it better. While Marie N scored a surprise win with 'I Wanna' for Latvia, iTunes reveals that Slovenia is my favourite from 2002 with hosts Estonia in second and a bunch of game old boilers from Sweden in third.
What I especially like about the Slovenian performance is that they come on to boos and leave to a standing ovation. Go Slovenia!
2003: RUSSIA, t.A.T.u: Nye Ver, Nye Bosye
OK so they didn't sing it well live. Screech more like. The whole 'are they or aren't they' lesbian thing was tedious to us in the West, but the booing at the start of their performance casts their attempt to stand up as gay icons in homophobic Latvia was actually ground breaking and brave. Again they finish their song to resounding cheering.
On the treadmill at the gym on full volume this track has got me to keep going for three more minutes on many an occasion and has been listened to far more often than the winner, Turkey.
2004: SWEDEN, Lena Philipsson, It Hurts
I will never ever forget Lorraine Kelly saying that this was a song about 'the love that dare not speak it's name'. Listen to the lyrics with that thought in mind and you can't disagree!
istanbul 2004 was the first Eurovision that I went to and I remember nothing of this song on the night. I have a vague memory that I was standing next to a Swede who belileved that this song was going to win. I remember dismissing it on first hearing as typical Scanda-pop. Clearly I am a fan of the sound as this has notched up twice as many listens as Ruslana's winning track for the Ukraine.
2005: ISRAEL, Shiri Maimon, Hasheket Shenish'ar / The Silence That Remains
After a blistering run of good form there was a definite feel about 2005 that it was Greece's turn to win. Elena Paparizou's song, outfit and performance reeked of an immense determination to win Eurovision and she romped home with a landslide win. My Number One is one of my favourite tracks and maybe my favourite Eurovision winner of all time.
So imagine my surprise when I find that I have listened to this unassuming but powerful ballad from Israel more times than the winner! I remember on the night dismissing this as a retro-ballad that would have won in any year of the 1970s. I remember dismissing Shiri as a Farrah-Fawcett wannabe. But over the 6 years since, it is the song from the year that I come back to.
2006: ROMANIA, Mihai Traistariu, Tornero
The winner from 2006 is my 31st favourite song from the year according to iTunes, yet on the night I cannot deny that I wanted Lordi to win as much as everyone else in Europe!
Time and my inner disco-bunny have left Mihai and his insistent throbbing baseline as my favourite from Athens. One big surprise in watching the video to this tonight... He's about 40 years older than I would have thought.
2007: CYPRUS, Evridiki, Comme Çi, Comme Ça
Veterans from the 1994 Contest, Evridki were one of the hottest of hot favourites going into the 2007 Contest. Cyprus must have thought they were well on their way to victory with all the hype and betting surrounding their chosen act. But drawn third in the Semi Final, this track fell at the first hurdle and did not qualify for the Final night.
In the end, Molitva won the night for Serbia. Marija Serifovic ties with France and Ukraine as my favourite tracks from the night of the Final.
2008: TURKEY, Mor ve Ötesi, Deli
Deli is not just my favourite track of 2008, it is by some distance the single Eurovision track which I have listened to the most. Bad news for Ani Lorak. The second most listened to Eurovision track on my all time list, was from the same year. Now is it just me or does this man have the most snoggable lips in Eurovision history?
2009: PORTUGAL, Flor-de-lis, Todas As Ruas Do Amor
I was surprised when I did my eve of Eurovision iTunes check in 2009 and found that Portugal was my favourite song at the time. Two years and it still is my favourite from the year with Turkey in a close second place. While Turkey is more typically Eurovision, I think that this cute Portuguese song is just a breath of fresh air in the contest.
2010: RUSSIA, Peter Nalitch & Friends, Lost & Forgotten
Well this shows you cannot judge a song on first impressions gauged from grainy video provided by the Russian national broadcaster alone. I dismissed this song within 10 seconds of the opening bars on first listen. The wonderful comedy in the lyrics and staging, the beautiful lilting tune, the voice, the photo, the snow, the sighing all added up to an act of pure unadulterated Eurovision genius.
I know there are those who rank this as the worst Eurovision song ever, but iTunes does not lie and I have listened to this track marginally more than the winner Lena, but more than twice as often as my third favourite, Lithuania.
There you have it then...
9 years and none of my favourites were actual winners! What do my 9 favourites say about me? A drag act, some punky lesbians, a song about sodomy, a power ballad, a disco floor-filler, an angst-ridden bit of Hellenism, a hot Turk with an indie vibe, a Portuguese song as sweet as a tart de nata and a bit of comedy folk action. In short, my kind of night out!
So now it's time for a drumroll please... Having demonstrated a taste in music which has been shown to in no way be a reflection of the wider voting European public, what is my most listened to song of 2011? I am either setting myself up for a huge disappointment or for once in a decade, as Jade Ewen once sang, it's my time...
2011: UNITED KINGDOM, Blue, I Can
With 10 more listens that Germany's foxy little number, I have absolutely fallen for this track and these boys. With 13 million record sales across Europe in their career and a bag full of Number One tracks, there is a strand of British Eurovision fans who have been given exactly what they wanted in Blue representing the UK (me included). If we come last with this we may as well pull out. Whether Blue can bring home win number 6 for the UK, we have only until Saturday to find out.
