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Sunday, March 29, 2015
What's On TV (In Europe) Tonight (1969)?
It's the 14th Eurovision Song Contest, live from Madrid on today (March 29) 1969. Explains Wikipedia: "Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally."
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It's going to be refreshing to watch this instead of basketball later tonight. But hooray for UK! It's so excellent to be in the Final Four.
ReplyDeleteI think Salvador Dali might've done the official poster for this event. I'm pretty sure that's what the guy just said.
ReplyDeleteOK, up first is Ivan & 4M of Yugoslavia, with “Pozdrav Svijetu,” which translates from Croation to English as “Greetings to the World,” per Wikipedia. I just want to note that I don’t know how this competition turns out; I took a screenshot of the song order on Wikipedia, without capturing the voting results. (If you’re going to stay up to watch the tape delay of UK’s game, turn away from the screen now …)
ReplyDeleteThe Yugoslav singer looks a little like Robert Goulet. Presumably, this is Ivan. There are backup vocalists, but they are not being shown--I imagine the 4Ms are on tape.
ReplyDeleteThis song was fine ... performance was fine ... I would've guessed this song to be called "Good Morning" ... strong but not overwhelming ovation from the Madrid crowd ... I'm giving the Yugoslavs a 6 out of 10. I could imagine coming to enjoy hearing this song if it turned up on AM oldies radio in Zagreb from time to time.
ReplyDeleteUp next is Romuald of Luxembourg with "Catherine." This guy looks a little like Desi Arnaz Jr.
ReplyDeletePretty limp stuff ... 2 of 10.
ReplyDeleteMy rankings at the moment ...
Gold: Robert Goulet and 4M, Yugoslavia, "Greetings to the World," 6
Silver: Desi Arnaz Jr., Luxembourg, "Catherine," 2
OK, here we go ... Salomé from Spain is bringing it on “Vivo Cantando” (“I Live Singing”). She’s shaking it in a fringed, baby-blue dress, and male background vocalists are yelling "Hey!" every so often. This one's going to get a big hand from the home crowd.
ReplyDeleteI've given Ivan too high of a score.
ReplyDeleteCorrection: Salomé's in a pantsuit, not a dress. The 1969 desk regrets the error.
ReplyDeleteNo standing ovation ... it will be interesting to see if anyone gets a standing ovation ... some enthusiastic applause, however, from the tuxedos and evening gowns in the box seats ... this was a very good performance and pretty good song ... Spanish me in 1969 would've thought Salomé should've dropped the mike; game over ... 8 of 10.
ReplyDeleteCurrent standings:
ReplyDeleteGold: Salomé, Spain, "I Live Singing," 8
Silver: Ivan and 4M, Yugoslavia, "Greetings to the World," 6
Bronze: Romuald, Luxembourg, "Catherine," 2
The title of Spain's song is so outstanding that it might've even deserved a 9.
Here’s a boy from Monaco, singing about his mother. Some people are really going to like this thing.
ReplyDelete“Maman, Maman” (“Mum, Mum”) by Jean Jacques, however, does not float my boat ... 1 of 10 … no change in the standings …
ReplyDeleteOK, this thing has 16 songs, so I'm going to treat it like the NCAA tournament. We've heard four songs. Spain's Salomé with "I Live Singing" has won her way to the Final Four.
ReplyDeleteSouth Regional: Yugoslavia, Luxembourg, Spain and Monaco. Champion: Spain, Salomé, "Vivo Contando."
West Regional: Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and Netherlands
North Regional: Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and Norway
Midwest Regional: Germany, France, Portugal and Finland
OK, here to open West Regional competition is Ireland’s Muriel Day with “The Wages of Love” ...
ReplyDeleteThat's an uptempo pop triumph performed with real vim. It's going to be hard to beat.
ReplyDeleteAnd now here’s Italy’s Iva Zanicchi with “Due Grosse Lacrime Bianche” (“Two Big White Tears”).
ReplyDeleteDo love how the tempo picks up at the end, and one could imagine this performer being beloved ... not much challenge here. I give that one a 3.
ReplyDeleteThe Irish woman gets an 8.
So now here's Lulu, and she's fantastic on "To Sir, With Love." But “Boom Bang-a-Bang" is just annoying, and the UK is not getting to the Final Four.
ReplyDelete1 of 10.
Finally, we have Lenny Kuhr of the Netherlands with “De Troubador” (“The Troubador”), and she's fine. This is a gutteral Joni Mitchell, and I give her some extra credit for her guitar and her commitment to the song. This is a 6.
ReplyDeleteI think I was too harsh on Lulu.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, ...
ReplyDeleteWest Regional: Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and Netherlands. Champion: Italy, Iva Zanicchi, “Due Grosse Lacrime Bianche” (“Two Big White Tears”).
Strong opener to North Regional competition as Sweden’s amiable Tommy Korberg lays down breezy "Judy, Min Van” (“Judy, My Friend”).
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to judge the crowd's true reaction, but they seemed a little lukewarm to Swedish Mac Davis. I thought it was quite good ... 7 of 10.
ReplyDeleteOK, and now here's Belgium’s Burt Bacharachish Louis Neefs with “Jennifer Jennings”. This is pretty good, too.
ReplyDeleteThese are a couple of flat-out ladykillers at the top of the North bracket. I hate this for Sweden's Tommy, but I'm going 8 for Belgium's Louis.
ReplyDeleteNow we have a Switzerland’s Paola del Medico with “Bonjour, Bonjour” (“Hello, Hello”). This is OK, but there's going to have to be a tempo change and tears in the last verse if she's going to make out of this regional.
ReplyDeleteThere's the tempo change!
ReplyDeleteNyah ... solid, but solid's nothing in the North ... 6.
ReplyDeleteOK, this regional wraps with Norway’s Kirsti Sparboe with “Oj, Oj, Oj, Sa Glad Jeg Skal Bli” (“Wow, Wow, Wow, How Happy I’ll Be”). The odds are stacked against her, but that is a great title.
ReplyDeleteGood start. Love Kirsti's blue and white dress--and her backup singers' white and blue skirts. I feel like I'm watching a UK intrasquad scrimmage.
ReplyDeleteOK, that performance had a lot going for it ... nice drum solo two-third through, and Kirsti really revved it up with some fancy dancing at the end. This regional was loaded with three legitimate Final Four contenders, and Kirsti wrung everything out of this song she could. Still, it's just a 7, and Belgium's through.
ReplyDeleteNorth Regional: Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and Norway. Champion: Belgium, Louis Neefs, "Jennifer Jennings."
ReplyDeleteAnd, so, we’re down to the Midwest Regional. Here are our contestants:
ReplyDelete— Germany’s Siw Malmkvist with “Primaballerina;”
— France’s Frida Boccara with “Un Jour, Un Enfant” (“A Day, A Child”):
— Portugal’s Simone de Oliviera with “Desfolhada Portuguesa” (“Portuguese Husking”), and
— Finland’s Jarkko & Laura with “Kuin Silloin Ennen” (“Like In Those Times”).
I don’t know any of these songs or singers, but it’s hard for me to imagine that “Portuguese Husking” is not going to get my vote here.
Hmmm ... there's still an hour left in this broadcast. I wonder how this thing works.
ReplyDeleteGermany's just OK. 3.
ReplyDeleteThe French entry is a stunner ... somewhere along the Marlene Dietrich-Peggy Lee spectrum ... she could sneak in to the Final Four ...
ReplyDeleteA very odd-duck 7. That could stick.
ReplyDeletePortugal?
On walks a tall, lovely woman in an emerald dress and giant gold earrings, along with some dude with an ornate stringed instrument and two female backup singers. These people look like they mean business.
ReplyDeleteClose but no cigar, Simone: 6.
ReplyDeleteSo, here are Jakko & Laura, and ... well, I don't know what the heck is going on here.
ReplyDeleteYou know how the Mamas & Papas and Sonny & Cher would almost go vaudeville-ish every so often? I think that's what Jakko & Laura is doing.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, they're done. 1.
Midwest Regional: Germany, France, Portugal and Finland. Champion: France, Frida Boccara, “Un Jour, Un Enfant” (“A Day, A Child”).
ReplyDeleteOK, so my Final Four would be Spain, Italy, Belgium and France.
ReplyDeleteLet's see how this show actually works out. There's more than 57 minutes to go on this YouTube video. Do they pare to finalists and make them all perform again?
We have a middle-aged woman in a ginger pants suit on stage now, explaining something or another (and being translated). I have no idea what she's saying, ofcourse ...
ReplyDeleteSorry aboutthelackofspaces...argh!...Ispilledaglassofwateronmykeyboard earlier today, and the space bar has been bawky ever since.
ReplyDeleteNow we have some words on the screen …
ReplyDeleteLA ESPANADIFERENTE
And then …
LOS CUATRO ELEMENTOS
FOUR ELEMENTS
LESQUATRE ELEMENTS
Andthen …
AIRE
AIR
AIR
Andthen…
TIERRA
EARTH
TERRE
Andthen…
AGUA
WATER
EAU
And…
FUEGO
FIRE
EAU
Well,OK,we’ll seewhat’sgoingon with this tomorrow.
From there we have some video of fire, water, earth and air against some spooky music. They must've been counting votes during this interlude.
ReplyDeleteOK, here are some people in suits at a table. They look serious!
ReplyDeleteLuxembourg 1 vote … that doesn’t sound good … Spain 1 vote … Italy 1 vote … OK, maybe this is better for Luxembourg than I imagined … UK and Switzerland 2 votes … Netherlands and Switzerland 2 votes … Germany 3 votes …
Hmmm … now people are clapping …
Spain 2 votes … 2 more votes … this is a different man calling out votes … hmmm? … whoa! Reino Unido is up to six votes …
I don’t have any idea what’s going on.
Germany is up to five votes!
ReplyDeleteOK, that was the voting for the Spanish jury … three juries have apparently weighed in, and here are the vote tallies.
ReplyDeleteYugoeslavia 1
Luxemburgo (Luxembourg) 1
Espana (Spain) 3
Monaco (Monaco) 2
Irlanda (Ireland) 0
Italia (Italy) 1
Reino Unido (United Kingdom) 6
Paises Bajos (Netherlands) 2
Suecia (Sweden) 0
Belgica (Belgium) 2
Suiza (Switzerland) 2
Noruega (Norway) 0
Alemania (Germany) 5
Francia (France) 1
Portugal (Portugal) 2
Finlandia (Finland) 1
It appears to me there are four representatives in suits of juries, so maybe one maybe there is just one more set of votes to come in. But there are still 40 minutes to go in the broadcast … hmmm ...
No ... more voting ... Spain has just jumped ahead with seven total votes, and the home crowd cheers ...
ReplyDeleteWait! They just took Spain down to six and bumped the UK to six!
ReplyDeleteVoting continues ... here are the current leaders ...
ReplyDeleteFrance 7
Spain 7
United Kingdom 6
Germany 5
Switzerland 5
Luxembourg 4
An Italian jury weighs in, and UK/Lulu soars to nine votes!
ReplyDeleteAnd here is the UK jury ... "Yes, hello, Madrid. London calling ..."
ReplyDeleteThe UK can't vote for itself, so, with four UK votes, France leaps into the lead:
ReplyDeleteFrance 11
United Kingdom 9
Spain 7
Switzerland 7
Monaco 6
Germany 5
Belgium 5
United Kingdom 15
ReplyDeleteFrance 13
Monaco 10
Spain 7
Switzerland 7
Oh, man, is this Lulu thing going to win?
United Kingdom 15
ReplyDeleteFrance 14
Monaco 11
Spain 10
Switzerland 8
Wow! The Switzerland jury just gave the Netherlands four votes; for the moment, Paises Bajos is suddenly T3, four strokes back of leader UK.
ReplyDeleteFrance 15
ReplyDeleteUnited Kingdom 15
Monaco 11
Netherlands 11
Spain 11
Norway now weighing in ...
France 15
ReplyDeleteUnited Kingdom 15
Netherlands 12
Monaco 11
Spain 11
And here's Germany ...
Spain gets three votes from Germany ... that's going to get a reaction ...
ReplyDeleteYes, the home crowd feeling it now ...
ReplyDeleteOh, my, UK gets only one vote from the Germans ... that's a blow for Lulu ...
ReplyDeleteBut the French garner only one Alemania vote, as well!
ReplyDeleteSo, after Germany’s votes, …
ReplyDeleteFrance 16
United Kingdom 16
Spain 14
Netherlands 12
Monaco 11
Switzerland 11
Belgium 10
Now France's votes ... BOOM! ... SPAIN IS TIED FOR THE LEAD! ... I'VE BEEN TO BARCELONA, AND I HAD SPAIN IN MY FINAL FOUR! ... I'M TOTALLY ROOTING FOR SPAIN!
ReplyDeleteBut NO! The Netherlands collect SIX GIANT VOTES from France! The Netherlands are now in the lead!
ReplyDeleteNetherlands 18
ReplyDeleteFrance 16
Spain 16
United Kingdom 16
Monaco 11
Switzerland 11
I don't know who this is, but they JUST GAVE SPAIN TWO VOTES! T1 FOR ESPANA!
ReplyDeleteWell, this is fantastic. I can totally see why this is so popular. The tote board is riveting.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment:
France 18
Netherlands 18
Spain 18
United Kingdom 17
Monaco 11
Switzerland 11
Belgium 10
Helsinki on the line, so all of the leaders are in play here ...
Nobody saw this coming … just one vote for the UK from Finland … for the moment, we now have a four-way tie for first … a lot o fthe Finnish votes are going to also-rans (Ireland got three; Sweden got three) ...
ReplyDeleteAnd Finland awards NO OTHER VOTES TO THE LEADERS!
ReplyDeleteFrance 18
Netherlands 18
Spain 18
United Kingdom 18
Switzerland 13
Monaco 11
Belgium 10
Ireland 10
Twenty-one minutes left in the broadcast ...
ReplyDeleteAre we out of national juries?!?
ReplyDeleteDo the suits at the table settle this thing?
ReplyDeleteNow we're seeing a picture of a giant medallion that reads:
ReplyDeleteGRAND PRIX
DE LA
CHANSON
1969
Now Salomé and Lulu have come onto stage, but I don't think they won.
ReplyDeleteWait! Now here's Salomé doing a reprise of "Vivo Cantando," Spain's entry. DID SPAIN WIN?!?
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think so. Here's Lulu back out to do some more "Bang-a-Bang." This thing is not as bad as I originally thought, but it's no "Vivo Cantando." What the heck is going on? Is this some kind of sing-off for the championship?
ReplyDeleteYeah, that appears to be exactly what's going on. Here comes back Dutch Joni Mitchell for more "Troubador."
ReplyDeleteThat woman's really good.
ReplyDeleteOK, at this point, I'm saying the final rankings should be Spain, Netherlands and then the UK ... here comes France ...
She's excellent, too. I'm sticking with Spain, but I'm going to be OK with either France or the Netherlands winning if one of them does.
ReplyDeleteLess than three minutes left in the broadcast ... rousing hand ...
ReplyDeleteWait. Credits? CREDITS ARE ROLLING! Who won this crazy thing?
ReplyDeleteI watched all 1 hour, 46 minutes of the 1969 Eurovision telecast, and I still don't know who won.
ReplyDeleteOh, for Pete's sake.
ReplyDeleteThe end. I'm not even going to check the Wikipedia page. The end.
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikipedia: Four countries won the contest, the first time ever a tie-break situation had occurred. However, there was no rule at the time to cover such an eventuality, so all four countries were declared joint winners.
Delete