# My Very First EuroVision Song Contest...come make your predictions!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 13, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940 "2003-05-13T13:18:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/41 "2003-05-14T13:51:40Z")

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Ahh I’ve just seen that TATU are representing Russia. I’ve yet to hear one song even the Irish ones as I dodged You’re a Star\* like the plague.

- We had a clone of the pop idol format to find our singer /song.

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**Author:** ![Anahita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9a28c/32.png) [@Anahita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anahita)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/42 "2003-05-14T13:54:48Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by garius \*  
> \*\*i bet you any money she’d be a really clingy girlfriend though.  
> \*\*

Based on what??

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**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/43 "2003-05-14T16:18:14Z")

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Damn, beaten to the Gina Geeeeee comment!

I fancied the arse of Johnny Logan when he won the with “Hold Me Now” and went around sighing about him for weeks! When he came out to present the award the next year, everyone was slagging me, and I was very embarassed. Aaaah, the difference beween 11 and 12 is so much more than a year… :snick:

I now have Gina Gee in my head and am trying to drive it out with the lovely Katarinas “Let your love light curry” instead…

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**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/44 "2003-05-14T17:12:07Z")

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Johnny Logan…I used to fancy him as well. Sigh…those were the days…

Last year he was at the German pre-show. Yikes! There was enough arse to go around for you and me, **Iteki** , but he had squeezed it into metallic-blue pants.

That and he had his hair combed over his head to cover the bald spot on top.

Please Hold me Now.

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**Author:** ![ouisey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@ouisey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouisey)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/45 "2003-05-14T18:27:09Z")

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I’ll never forget how thrilled I was when Buck’s Fizz won for “Making Your Mind Up”

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**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/46 "2003-05-14T18:36:42Z")

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Yes, Chairman Mao?

Uh … “Sing Rittle Birdie?”

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**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/47 "2003-05-14T21:10:22Z")

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I’ve looked at the list of Euro-vision winners since 1956, and I only recognize ONE song: Abba’s “Waterloo,” which was a big hit here in the states, as it was everywhere else. Otherwise, I don’t know ANY of those songs (though I recognize quite a few of the artists).

My question is, were most of the Euro-vision champion songs huge hits in Europe? Or just a handful of them?

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/48 "2003-05-14T21:52:55Z")

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Oh, God, this train is like a threadwreck, or something.

So much tacky shit being linked, it’s just glorious. I just googled Gina G, and yes, she looks alright.

I saw Anahita’s list of past winners, and it occurred to me Holland hasn’t won since 1975! Clearly, we’re overdue for a victory. 😉

And just what the hell happened in 1969?

> [@](#):
>
> 1969-Tied for first: Lulu (Britain) “Boom bang a bang,” Lennie Kuhr (The  
> Netherlands) “De troubadour”, Frida Boccara (France) “Un jour, un enfant”, Salome (Spain) “Vivo cantando.”

FOUR countries tied for first? That’s too much to be a coincidence. What’s the story here? Was there some sort of war to avoid?

Ironically, the greatest Eurovision entry EVER didn’t even win. I’m of course talking about **Tozzi & Raf** ’s 1986 classic _Gente di Mare_, the Italian entry in the year Belgium’s **Sandra Kim** won with the simply vomit-enducing _J’aime la vie_.

Other than that, just reading those past winners made me ill. The Hedleys, Bucks Fizz, GAAAH! Somebody shoot me now. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/49 "2003-05-14T21:54:30Z")

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Astorian: Eurovision winners tend to be at least top 10 hits in most European countries. Some will even get to the #1 spot in all of Europe, for weeks on end. Like Johnny Logan’s “Hold me now”.

Excuse me, I need to go an hurl now.

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**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/50 "2003-05-14T22:00:44Z")

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Well, in Finland, this contest is pretty much biannual, so there’s no fun this year - not even seeing the press crow about some Greek musician’s cousin’s friend’s mother saying that Finnish entry might win and this being a certain sign that this year Finland’s entry is not going to be scored like the crap it is.

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**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/51 "2003-05-14T22:01:27Z")

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I remember the one year when my friend wanted to vote for “those two sorry old geezers” but couldn’t get through and thought something was wrong with the phone line.

The day after that, the Olsen Brothers were #1 in Germany with _Fly on the Wings of Love_. Quelle surprise!

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/52 "2003-05-14T22:09:56Z")

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Thanks for giving me another horrific song in my head, Einmon. I love the Danes, but the Olsen Brothers ought to be taken out and shot for that piece of dreck. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/53 "2003-05-14T22:20:29Z")

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And here I was thinking nothing could be worse than “ooh ahh just a little bit” 🙂

At least you foreign people didn’t have to suffer through the rendition of “Smoke on the Water” mixed with “I can’t live without music” by that blind woman I mentioned earlier.

Excuse me while I dip my head in bleach as those three songs are playing a medley in my head now. Thank you, myself, for remembering.

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [May 14, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/54 "2003-05-14T22:41:07Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by astorian \*  
> \*\*My question is, were most of the Euro-vision champion songs huge hits in Europe? Or just a handful of them? \*\*

I seem to recall the song “Erestu” from the 1973 competition hit it big in the US., but that’s the only other one that’s jumped the Pond apart from “Waterloo” that I know of. Eurovision songs tend to be fairly uninteresting fare (if not downright awful) and thus don’t exactly fly off the shelves (at least in the UK), although there have been some notable exceptions – “Puppet on a String” (which won), “Congratulations” (which didn’t) and a few others.

I missed last year’s contest but saw the one the year before, in which the best part of the evening was the presentation by Aqua while the votes were being counted. [sub]Mmmm…breasts…[/sub] The worst part was the Vogonesque poetry from the two presenters, which made me want to nail my head to a coffee table just to avoid hearing it. Fortunately I decided to just change the channel while they were on instead.

[sub]\<wanders off humming “My Lovely Horse”…\>[/sub]

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**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/55 "2003-05-15T09:49:26Z")

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It also should be noted for any of the Non-Euro’s lurking in this thread that the world has to thank the Eurovison for Riverdance and any Michael Flatley off shoot. Riverdance was originally done during the time that the votes were being counted. It was about 5-10mins long and absolutely amazing. If only we knew then what we were dropping on the world maybe we could have stopped it somehow 😉

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**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/56 "2003-05-15T11:25:20Z")

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Argh! For mentioning Flatley, I will now sick Frizzle Sizzle on your ass!

(For those unfortunate enough to remember: they were the 1986 Dutch entry, wearing long unshapely dresses. Barefoot, they song “Alles heeft een ritme” [Everything has rythm]. Well, everything except them, it seems. I tried googling for a picture, but couldn’t find a decent sized one. This is probably for the best.)

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**Author:** ![Einmon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Einmon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Einmon)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/57 "2003-05-15T11:46:20Z")

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Complaining about _my_ innocent allusions to qualitative worthy contributions to the Eurovision like the esteemed Olsen Brothers and _then_ reminding me of Frizzle Sizzle (why the heck do I remember for that matter???)

What’s next? Do I have to bring up [Dschingis Khan](http://www.bide-et-musique.com/song/2267.html)? Do I really? Hey, they made fourth place…

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**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/58 "2003-05-15T11:50:49Z")

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Power to all our friends!!  
Annie:

> [@](#):
>
> Just to get myself in the mood, I watched a tv program about Dana recently. She’s looking quite good actually.

thats what a lifetime of puritanical repression of human impulse will do for you. Either that or She’s a robot. Or one of David Ike’s Lizard rulers.

I am a eurovision geek. My personal favourite eurovision entry was Linda Martin’s first effort (back in 1985) “Domino”.

Terry Wogan half-pissed commentary is a classic every year. I love looking at the programmes about the worst entries. Good Lord, what were people thinking?

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**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/59 "2003-05-15T11:58:35Z")

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“Domino”? where did I get that from?

It was of course, “Terminal 3”.

[http://members.fortunecity.com/mcdeil69/ire.htm](http://members.fortunecity.com/mcdeil69/ire.htm)

Here’s a good link for all of Ireland entries.

And thank god noone has heard of Eddie Friel since.

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**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-very-first-eurovision-song-contest-come-make-your-predictions/174940/60 "2003-05-15T12:00:53Z")

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Nor that fella who sang “Millenium of Love”. Good Lord he needs a punching.

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