Eurovision’s Semi-final #2 happens this evening, but I won’t be reporting on it until tomorrow. So today, I want to take a look at all kinds of everything related to Eurovision.
Sweden has surged into lead as the favorite, based on their performance in the semi-final on Tuesday. Sweden is no stranger to winning. Their first victory actually came exactly 40 years, when the song Waterloo, sung by the group ABBA, won the title. Here’s a look at the 3 minutes that changed their lives and propelled ABBA into long-lasting stardom; they are still the most successful group ever to win Eurovision, based on records sold, etc.
Click to open ABBA’s 1974 Eurovision performance in a new window
One thing that’s interesting to note about their performance is that at that time all the groups performed along with a live orchestra, and for ABBA”s song Waterloo, the conductor dressed up like Napoleon. Cute.
You may also note that this 1974 performance was fairly tame by today’s standards; no wind machines, no flashing spotlights coming out of the floor (very popular this year), no trapeze artist, no hamster wheel. Things have changed in 40 years.
Anyway, we’ll see if Sweden can continue as the favorite heading into the final, though things may shift in the betting pools after tonight’s semi-final. I had no idea before yesterday how many sites there are with predictions and odds on winning Eurovision. As it it turns out, betting on Eurovision is considered one of the biggest events for betting worldwide, after World Cup Soccer and the American Superbowl. Who would have thought. The odds shift constantly, of course; the Netherlands has today made a big surge to into third place in the polls, but Sweden seems to be holding firm today as the favorite to win, according to most of the websites and articles I’ve looked at today.
Of course, the predicted winner in any particular article also depends on which country the writer is from. I’ve read one article that predicts the UK will win — but that was an article on the BBC website, so I’m not sure they are entirely unbiased. I mean, I read another article there the yesterday which described the UK as the “most successful” country ever to compete in Eurovision. They were careful to define success as not being restricted just to winning the competition (the UK has won 5 times), but also placing in the top 10 (which the UK has done 15 times).
And apparently some (in Britain) say that the UK singer, Molly Smitten-Downes, may have a bit of an edge since she hails from Leicester. You see, within the last year, competitors from Leicester have walked away with the titles in reality TV shows in Britain such as The X-Factor, The Great British Bake Off, and The Great British Sewing Bee. In fact, just the other day Mark Selby, “the Jester from Leicester“, staged a thrilling comeback to defeat the defending champ and win The Crucible, the most important title in the sport of snooker. So maybe the Leicester charm will work for Molly. But I still am not convinced she’s ever going to be the favorite to win on everybody’s chart this year. 😉
Of course, there have been years — albeit not recently — when the UK act actually was the favorite to win. They’ve been coming in toward the bottom the past few years, but back in the 1960s and 1970s they were a powerhouse.
Take 1969 for example. The surrealist Spanish artist Salvador Dalí designed the publicity materials for the competition that year, as well as designing a metal sculpture that stood on stage. Perhaps that somehow explained the surrealistic outcome of the 1969 competition. There were 16 entries that year, and the UK entry got 18 points, good enough on the scoring system for 1st place that year. Problem was, France and the Netherlands and Spain also got 18 points that year. Yup, there was a 4-way tie for first place.
Now, no one had ever considered that possibility, and so there was nothing in the rulebook to say how to declare just one winner if there was a tie. So, all four acts were awarded the title. Few were happy about that decision, though. In fact, in 1970, Austria, Finland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden all decided to protest the so-called “voting scandal” and chose not to compete. In the resulting reduced field, the UK singer, Mary Hopkin —who had had a big hit in 1968 with the song Those Were the Days — was the the odds-on-favorite to win, performing the song Knock, Knock.
However, all kinds of everything can happen on the way to the title. Literally. An unheralded young singer from Ireland, Dana, singing a song called All Kinds of Everything took the competition by storm and unexpectedly walked away with the 1970 title. Here are two version of that song: Dana’s original 1970 performance, and a 40th anniversary performance by her in 2010.
That was the first time Ireland took the title, BTW, but it would not be the last. In fact, if we define success at Eurovision by number of titles actually won, then we discover that while the UK and Sweden have each won 5 crowns, the most successful country at Eurovision is actually Ireland, with a total of 7 wins.
OK, enough of the past. Tune in (here) tomorrow for a report on the Eurovision 2014 Semi-Final #2, including an update on how Ireland did. Unlike the UK, which doesn’t perform until Saturday night, Ireland will show off its latest song tonight.
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P.S. As part of looking up links for this post, I listened to Sam Bailey, the X-Factor winner from Leicester. Here’s a link to her audition performance – it’s another Susan Boyle kind of moment. Plus in keeping with my bringing you all kinds of everything today, I’m going to sneak in another link here to a song she performed at a later stage in the competition, where she is singing a song that is not quite a crazy Broadway show tune … but close. Enjoy. 😉