Customer Reviews

Eurovision Song Contest

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One of TV's greatest phenomenon's and longest running show's, The Eurovision Song Contest reaches it's 50th edition in 2005 and (ironically for a BBC show) Carlton Books are publishing this remarkable book to mark the occasion, in conjunction with the European Broadcasting Union.

Author John Kennedy O'Connor has wonderfully captured the spirit of this annual tele-visual kitsch fest in a lavishly illustrated book spanning the entire history of this much maligned show that started as a one off event in a small Swiss theatre in 1956, with just seven competing nations, and is now a two-day event featuring upwards of forty countries, some from well beyond Europe's borders.

Covering all the highs and lows of the competition and including intriguing and little-known backstage gossip and anecdotes, O'Connor's style is wonderfully entertaining and provides a genuinely interesting and slightly ironic tribute to the contest and the stars and songs that have featured in it over the years. The book is divided into two distinct sections. The monochrome era of the show from 1956-1967 is covered in double page chapters; whereas the colour broadcasts from 1968 all get four pages each. The entries and results for every year are included alongside numerous and very rare colour and black and white photographs of the artists as well as artwork for all the winning singles, together with their international chart history. Most fun of all, O'Connor has compiled a fascinating "Eurofacts" section that covers all of the trivial statistics that fans crave and that intrigue the general viewers. If you want to know what colour scheme is best to wear if you want to win - you'll find it here! Most people know which nation won the most contests, but which country finished 16th most frequently? Which nation is best at choosing the winner, or worst for that matter? Who conducted the most number of entries and for the most number of nations? It's all here and a lot more.

I really enjoyed the style and wit of this author. He has successfully managed to produce an in depth look at the contest without taking it all too seriously and yet write a genuinely enthusiastic and fascinating history of the competition that everyone loves to hate. His flair with words is wonderful and makes for a very entertaining read. Here's to another 50 years of fun!

I've never cared for the Eurovision song contest. A few good songs - even a few great songs - have emerged from it, but the vast majority of Eurovision songs are of a questionable quality. So why did I buy this book? Well, I saw it at a very low price when I was hunting for bargains and my instant reaction was No! But on further reflection, I realized that it might be useful to me. First, the statistical information might occasionally be useful to me as a reviewer. Second, the actual story of Eurovision, especially the dubious voting practices, might be of interest in itself. Reading about Eurovision wouldn't force me to actually listen to any of the music, so I decided to buy and do not regret the purchase.

There are between two and four pages devoted to each year's contest from 1956 to 2006, plus a Euro-stats section that brings together all kinds of statistics, some of which are more useful than others. One of the tables shows which countries have competed most frequently. Only Germany has entered every contest, though it failed to pre-qualify for the final in 1996. Britain (in 1956 and 1958) and France (in 1974 and 1982) have each missed two contests. France's omission in 1974 was due to the death of their president a few days before. Other statistics show how many times each country has won or finished last in the main contest. Statistics are also shown for individual performers, composers and conductors, as well as for pre-qualifying (which the book incorrectly calls semi-finals - even if this is the official term, it`s still wrong). One of the intriguing aspects of the pre-qualifying is that it offers no real guide to how those songs will do in the main contest, even relative to each other.

The very first contest was staged in 1956 and featured just seven competing nations although three other nations including Britain declared their interest too late, so were excluded. That first contest allowed two entries from each nation, since when one per nation has been the rule. From the very first contest, the music performed at the contest has mainly steered clear of popular trends although there have been exceptions. Even when internationally popular songs made their debut at Eurovision, they didn't always win, though Abba proved that they do occasionally. Did you know that Volare began life as a 1958 Eurovision entry, coming third under a different title? The winning French entry succeeded in France but nowhere else.

Voting controversies are an integral part of Eurovision. The first major controversy occurred in 1963 when, it seems, there were problems with the Norwegian jury. After trying to cast their votes at the appointed time, they actually cast their votes at the end, but some of the numbers were different. With their original votes, Switzerland would have won instead of Denmark. Another controversy came in 1968 when Britain's Cliff Richard lost by a single point to the Spanish entry. This time, the Germans were suspected. (Surely not revenge for a different type of contest two years earlier?) Controversy over votes has been a feature of Eurovision ever since, and not just about individual entries. Much has been said about political voting. We know that some countries will always vote for their friends and against their enemies. Being just a song contest supposedly unconnected with politics, this type of voting is frowned upon but surprises nobody. As this book only covers the period to 2006, it necessarily omit's the 2007 contest, in which eastern European countries voted almost exclusively for each other, resulting in the total domination of the contest by these nations. I've heard talk of splitting this contest, already unwieldy, into east and west, but I don't know if it will actually happen. Meanwhile, they keep changing the voting system in the hope of minimising corruption.

The book also gives an insight into the rules governing the contest. Apparently, the rules are (or at least were; rules can always change) strict about the language used to sing the song, but not about the nationality of the performer. Yes, Eurovision is a world unto itself.

From a musical perspective, Eurovision is as irrelevant as it ever was, but with all its shortcomings - or maybe because of them - it has a fascination all of its own. This book does a good job of reflecting on the contest's ups and downs, but doesn't tempt me to investigate the music further.