Before AMERICAN IDOL there was EUROVISION, a singing competition between European countries. It's still going strong.
In 1969 the winner was Lulu representing the U.K.with this song. Makes you wonder just how bad every other nation's entry was. I mean, "The Unicorn Song" couldn't beat this?
I'm only sorry LaKisha Jones didn't do this during British Invasion week as a tribute to mentor Lulu. As you listen to it, imagine her.
And now ladies and gentleman, the WINNER of the 1969 international EUROVISION competition...
France did win. Five times, which is the second best record.
ReplyDeleteI am actually French, and thus deeply wounded by your remark.
I wouldn't be surprised if that was the best song in the contest.
ReplyDeleteI am mainly imagining LaKisha in that dress.
ReplyDeleteI was living in Spain in 1974 and got to see the entire contest on TV. The winner that year was an unknown Swedish group named ABBA (one of my favorite groups of all time). They won with their song, Waterloo. By the end of competition they had played that song about 1000 times (750 on just the last day) and I was ready to stick a hot poker in my ears.
ReplyDeleteAlaskaray
look at the latest winner of the Eurovission song contest http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NG3bzjVz_A rock hallellujah
ReplyDeleteWow. Now I understand why my older British friends can't stand Lulu and won't acknowledge what an awesome singer she is.
ReplyDeleteEven here, though, you have to admire her committment; even singing this, she performs it as if it's the greatest song in the world...which took some serious acting chops.
Phillippe,
ReplyDeleteI didn't know France won five times. My apologies. No offense meant. I've removed the sentence.
Thanks for keeping me honest.
You've all seen the notorious clip (I hope) of Jimi Hendrix on the Lulu show in '69? They were supposed to do a duet, but Jimi went into "Sunshine of Your Love" instead. No fool, he.
ReplyDeleteI've always admired Lulu, Rab...after all, she knows Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone (for the benighted few, the dynamic duo of ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS).
ReplyDeleteOkay, the song is a joke, but her voice is fine and she's as cute as lace panties.
ReplyDeleteYou would be surprised with the songs that not only wins but participate in Eurovision. Shame on us. By the way, Eurovison is now a show... well, a very cheesy show. Greetings from Barcelona!
ReplyDeleteBoom Bang a Bang thank you for that Ken.
ReplyDeletePS. she could wash windows with those eyelashes.
Dude, you have to get over this silly silly obsession with American Idol. It's really weird and def. detracting from your blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Ken
ReplyDeleteYou know how many shots it will take to get that horrid tune out of my head?
Loved those dance moves though. No way her leg would fly off...
But aside from the cheese -- what's cool is the contestants sing original songs. And bad as this one is, it's got more life to it than the endless torpor that typifies Idol and its copies.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the Unicorn song :) I was mad this last St.Patrick's day because for the first time that I remember I didn't hear it once. What's up with that?
ReplyDeleteRobin
One of those French wins was the equally cringeworthy "Poupée de Cire, Poupée de Son" written by uber-perv Serge Gainsbourg and sung by a very innocent 17 year old France Gall in 1965, that you can see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OHJEm2IwLw
ReplyDeleteTo mark his success, Gainsbourg then wrote a song, "Les Sucettes" for young France that gives a whole new meaning to double entendre. She later claimed that she had no idea that the song could have any other meaning and that she hid in her bedroom for months after finding out. Have a look at an early video made for French TV and see what you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TVPYrCdP-k
Ireland has won the Eurovision song contest more than any other nation. I think we've won it 7 times with some great songs. We stopped trying to win it when it became to costly to keep hosting it each year, and thus the end of Eurovision began. Also, Riverdance was launched on Eurovision the same year we hosted it and won it.
ReplyDeleteThis must be the inspiration for Monty Python's "Boom Tiddle Tiddle Bang Tiddle Tiddle," no?
ReplyDeleteTo correct what Jim wrote a couple of posts above, France Gall is French but won the Eurovision .. for Luxemburg !
ReplyDeleteAnd Ken, I wasn't that wounded by your remark, I should have precised that I wasn't entirely serious in my post, one way or another.
You can put your comment back, it actually made me smile; if you don't, at least insult the Germans, we French really hate them... and they just won once !
Jim,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting the France Gall links. I spent four years in Turkey (age ten to fourteen) and heard that song on the radio THOUSANDS of times. Never sure what it was about. (a doll or some shit?) But what really blew me away after seeing the clip was what a wretched singer France Gall was. She wouldn't make past the first round of auditions on AI. But she was cute as a button and that 60's look which was in vogue during my pubertive (my word not in any dictionary) years still is a major "scwhiinng" factor for me.
That song is only appropriate for 6-year-olds and drag queens.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe just 6-year-old drag queens.
how can one explain the marvel that is the eurovision song contest? i do not think it is possible. for those of us who get it, however; and as a member of the official lulu fan club; and for mary hopkin and sandie shaw and clodagh rodgers and even cliff richard - to the nay-sayers and the doubters my comment is
ReplyDelete(in a french accent) nil points
aka
FEH!