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."


Comments flow!

91 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. I think Salvador Dali might've done the official poster for this event. I'm pretty sure that's what the guy just said.

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  3. OK, 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 …)

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  4. The 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.

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  5. This 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.

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  6. Up next is Romuald of Luxembourg with "Catherine." This guy looks a little like Desi Arnaz Jr.

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  7. Pretty limp stuff ... 2 of 10.

    My rankings at the moment ...

    Gold: Robert Goulet and 4M, Yugoslavia, "Greetings to the World," 6
    Silver: Desi Arnaz Jr., Luxembourg, "Catherine," 2

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  8. 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.

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  9. I've given Ivan too high of a score.

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  10. Correction: Salomé's in a pantsuit, not a dress. The 1969 desk regrets the error.

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  11. No 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.

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  12. Current standings:

    Gold: 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.

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  13. “Maman, Maman” (“Mum, Mum”) by Jean Jacques, however, does not float my boat ... 1 of 10 … no change in the standings …

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  14. OK, 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.

    South 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

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  15. That's an uptempo pop triumph performed with real vim. It's going to be hard to beat.

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  16. Do 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.

    The Irish woman gets an 8.

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  17. 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.

    1 of 10.

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  18. 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.

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  19. Anyway, ...

    West Regional: Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and Netherlands. Champion: Italy, Iva Zanicchi, “Due Grosse Lacrime Bianche” (“Two Big White Tears”).

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  20. It'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.

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  21. These 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.

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  22. Now 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.

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  23. Nyah ... solid, but solid's nothing in the North ... 6.

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  24. OK, 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.

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  25. OK, 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.

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  26. North Regional: Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and Norway. Champion: Belgium, Louis Neefs, "Jennifer Jennings."

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  27. And, so, we’re down to the Midwest Regional. Here are our contestants:

    — 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.

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  28. Hmmm ... there's still an hour left in this broadcast. I wonder how this thing works.

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  29. The French entry is a stunner ... somewhere along the Marlene Dietrich-Peggy Lee spectrum ... she could sneak in to the Final Four ...

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  30. A very odd-duck 7. That could stick.

    Portugal?

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  31. So, here are Jakko & Laura, and ... well, I don't know what the heck is going on here.

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  32. You 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.

    Anyway, they're done. 1.

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  33. Midwest Regional: Germany, France, Portugal and Finland. Champion: France, Frida Boccara, “Un Jour, Un Enfant” (“A Day, A Child”).

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  34. OK, so my Final Four would be Spain, Italy, Belgium and France.

    Let'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?

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  35. 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 ...

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  36. Sorry aboutthelackofspaces...argh!...Ispilledaglassofwateronmykeyboard earlier today, and the space bar has been bawky ever since.

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  37. Now we have some words on the screen …

    LA 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.

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  38. 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.

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  39. OK, here are some people in suits at a table. They look serious!

    Luxembourg 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.

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  40. OK, that was the voting for the Spanish jury … three juries have apparently weighed in, and here are the vote tallies.

    Yugoeslavia 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 ...

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  41. No ... more voting ... Spain has just jumped ahead with seven total votes, and the home crowd cheers ...

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  42. Wait! They just took Spain down to six and bumped the UK to six!

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  43. Voting continues ... here are the current leaders ...

    France 7
    Spain 7
    United Kingdom 6
    Germany 5
    Switzerland 5
    Luxembourg 4

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  44. An Italian jury weighs in, and UK/Lulu soars to nine votes!

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  45. And here is the UK jury ... "Yes, hello, Madrid. London calling ..."

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  46. The UK can't vote for itself, so, with four UK votes, France leaps into the lead:

    France 11
    United Kingdom 9
    Spain 7
    Switzerland 7
    Monaco 6
    Germany 5
    Belgium 5

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  47. United Kingdom 15
    France 13
    Monaco 10
    Spain 7
    Switzerland 7

    Oh, man, is this Lulu thing going to win?

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  48. United Kingdom 15
    France 14
    Monaco 11
    Spain 10
    Switzerland 8

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  49. France 15
    United Kingdom 15
    Monaco 11
    Netherlands 11
    Spain 11

    Norway now weighing in ...

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  50. France 15
    United Kingdom 15
    Netherlands 12
    Monaco 11
    Spain 11

    And here's Germany ...

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  51. Spain gets three votes from Germany ... that's going to get a reaction ...

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  52. Yes, the home crowd feeling it now ...

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  53. Oh, my, UK gets only one vote from the Germans ... that's a blow for Lulu ...

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  54. But the French garner only one Alemania vote, as well!

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  55. So, after Germany’s votes, …

    France 16
    United Kingdom 16
    Spain 14
    Netherlands 12
    Monaco 11
    Switzerland 11
    Belgium 10

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  56. 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!

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  57. But NO! The Netherlands collect SIX GIANT VOTES from France! The Netherlands are now in the lead!

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  58. Netherlands 18
    France 16
    Spain 16
    United Kingdom 16
    Monaco 11
    Switzerland 11

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  59. Well, this is fantastic. I can totally see why this is so popular. The tote board is riveting.

    At 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 ...

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  60. 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) ...

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  61. Twenty-one minutes left in the broadcast ...

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  62. Do the suits at the table settle this thing?

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  63. Now we're seeing a picture of a giant medallion that reads:

    GRAND PRIX
    DE LA
    CHANSON
    1969

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  64. Now Salomé and Lulu have come onto stage, but I don't think they won.

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  65. Wait! Now here's Salomé doing a reprise of "Vivo Cantando," Spain's entry. DID SPAIN WIN?!?

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  66. No, 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?

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  67. Yeah, that appears to be exactly what's going on. Here comes back Dutch Joni Mitchell for more "Troubador."

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  68. That woman's really good.

    OK, at this point, I'm saying the final rankings should be Spain, Netherlands and then the UK ... here comes France ...

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  69. 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.

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  70. Less than three minutes left in the broadcast ... rousing hand ...

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  71. Wait. Credits? CREDITS ARE ROLLING! Who won this crazy thing?

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  72. I watched all 1 hour, 46 minutes of the 1969 Eurovision telecast, and I still don't know who won.

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  73. The end. I'm not even going to check the Wikipedia page. The end.

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    Replies
    1. From 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.

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