Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Loreen of Sweden is the 15th previous Eurovision song contest winner who has decided and/or managed give it another try. Only Ireland's Johnny Logan has managed to win twice, as we all know. One can't really do a ranking however as the contest had changed so much from the 1950's with maybe a dozen songs to the approx 40 we have these days. In coming days I will feature the winners who decided to come back  after  winning the contest as there also many winners who have won with their second or third try.   Just like Lys Assia for Switzerland, also late Corry Brokken (1932-2016) did three years in a row for the first three editions. Her placement in 1956 is unknown but she won in 1957 with Net also toen and came back again the year after with Heel de wereld, that didn't impress the juries who gave her only one point and shared last place or 9th. That makes her the only Eurovision artist ever who has finished both first and last! On top of that she also hosted the Eurovis...

Loreen of Sweden is the 15th previous Eurovision song contest winner who has decided and/or managed give it another try. Only Ireland's Johnny Logan has managed to win twice, as we all know. One can't really do a ranking however as the contest had changed so much from the 1950's with maybe a dozen songs to the approx 40 we have these days. In coming days I will feature the winners who decided to come back after winning the contest as there also many winners who have won with their second or third try.   We start of course with late Lys Assia (1924-2018), who didn't come back once but twice and indeed three years in a row, or the first three editions of the newborn contest representing the first host nation Switzerland. She won the first one, kinda flopped the second one but came back once more and almost won, placing second 3 points short of winner's 27. Italian Domenico Modugno and global hit Volare placed 3rd with only 13, so it was really between Lys and winner...

Italy took its well deserved third victory - finally! - at the Eurovision song contest 2021. Over the years several other Italian entries would have been worthy winners. In this series I will go through all of them from the worst ranking to the winners. Sanremo 1857 was won by Nunzio Gallo and Claudio Villa both performing Corde della mia chitarra (Strings of my guitar). It was Villa's already second win but Nunzio Gallo took it to Eurovision and it was to become the longest ever entry with 5 minutes and 9 seconds causing Ebu to set a 3,5 minutes maximum length to the songs that later became the 3 minutes we know today. Despite or because of the length he only placed 6th out of ten.  Nunzio Gallo (1928-2008) from Naples started as opera singer and later moved to pop and won the very first Canzonissima with Mamma , and the year after also Sanremo and ended up at Eurovision. And year after that he wins also Festival di Napoli. And as always he ends up also in films, like all big n...

Lys Assia, the first ever Eurovision song contest winner took part in the first three editions representing her native Switzerland (just like Corry Brokken did for the Netherlands).  However Lys holds the record of four entries as she sung both songs in 1956.  Das alte Karussell wasn't a hit, but Refrain won the whole thing. The year after she was back with L'enfant que j'étais finishing 8th and finally in 1958, third year in a row and she took Giorgio to the second place losing closely to France's Andre Claveau 27-24. Those two were real runaway favorites, as third placed Italy's Domenico Modugno's Volare only got 13 points.... Giorgio became a hit also in Italy and is played still today in its various cover versions and ... other things . Had it won, it could have changed Eurovision already before 1965 for more uptempo songs..... Maybe... Lys started her career as a dancer but switched to singing in early 1940's. In 1950's and 1960...

I was to publish Lys Assia today in the series of Eurovision winners - was it worth returning? but instead today we have the sad news of her passing away in the age of 94. Tonight we remember her with her winning song .... She was a true Eurovision fan til the end and one real Diva, in a positive way. Rest in peace, the legend lives on.... Les jours s'en sont allés  Et nous avons grandi L'amour nous a blessés Le temps nous a guéris Mais seule et sans printemps Je cours en vain les bois, les champs Dis, souviens-toi  Nos amours d'autrefois?

Eurovision song contests 1956-58 have two artists in common, Swiss Lys Assia and Dutch Corry Brokken. Lys managed to win in 1956 but Corry only placed 7th (apparently) with Voorgoed voorbij .  But she was back the year after and won with Net als toen . She was a runaway winner with her 31 points vs runner up's 17. (Lys only scored 5 and placed 8th out of 10).  But Corry didn't stop there. She was back again for the third time in a row in 1958 as previous winner with Heel de wereld and got only one point and shared last place. This didn't have any effect in her succesful career in the 1950's and 1960's. She stopped her musical career and started studying law and became an attorney in late 1970's, after having presented the Eurovision song contest 1976 in The Hague. She was also the Dutch spokesperson in 1997 after a brief comeback to music business with an album Nooit geedacht in 1996 and performing live again. She died in 2016 at the age of 83. 

How have the winners of Eurovision ending with a "7" have been over the decades? Some iconic stuff here really. Let's have a look... 1957 The Netherlands won their first win of many to come shortly. A very clear win (31 points to France's 17) for Corry Brokken and Net als toen In 1967 United Kingdom won with Sandie Shaw 's Puppet on a sting . An evergreen and back then a very uptodate sound. And she was barefoot. Something unheard just years before when the artists were still in tuxedos and evening gawns. And another very clear victory (47 points to Ireland's 22)   In 1977 France won for the last time so far. I'm sure they didn't think it would take this long to win again having used to win every few years really. Marie Myriam 's L'oiseau et l'enfant is one of the most loved Eurovision tunes ever, and for a reason.  In 1987 Johnny Logan . Hold me now . The first ever double winner (and so far only) Do I need to say mo...

The 1957 Eurovision song contest winner for the Netherlands Corry Brokken has died. She's one of the very few artists who sung at the Eurovision three years in a row and she won with her second attempt. The year after she came last so she hold the record of being first and last. She also presented the contest in 1976, and was the Dutch spokesperson in 1997.

Lys Assia, Eurovision winner anno 1956 has arrived to Malmö 2013 and is meeting fans in the Press Center and apparently recovered from pneumonia she had last week and was even hospitalized. Let the party begin!

How's the flow?  All in your head is the song Lys Assia is trying to get to Malmö 2013 bringing along a group of rapper-dancess under name NewJack. This Ralph Siegel penned song is a lot of fun and much better effort than her last year's power ballad C'etait ma vie . If and when she gets to the Swiss final and if she wins she'd return to the Eurovision for the 4th time after 55 years break, and 57 years after winning the very first edition back in 1956 with Refrain . And this would be Ralph Siegel's 21st Eurovision entry.... Real veterans here! Oh, and the "fans" will hate this with all their heart just because it's written by Siegel. So this blog is going to give it all its support!

Just what I feared. The stress of the Swiss national final and all the holabaloo around it and especially after it - that she mainly caused herself I would like to add, read more here - was too much for the 87-year-old legend.  She has undergone some examinations and needs to rest. After all she has a heart surgery lass than a year ago. And just think if she had won.... It was propably to everyone's best, especially hers, she did not win. Blogilkar wishes a speedy recovery, Lys!

It looks like the grand old lady Lys Assia didn't take easy her defeat in Saturday's Swiss final. Not that the song would have been dated - I must say I think she did it surprisingly well and even if the song isn't maybe exactly my cup of tea it suited her and it was a whole package - and people didn't vote it because of that but first she attacked the voting system but admitted then that these are the times and styles. And she has a point that this is supposed to be a song contest and not a dance contest but..... the biggest thing of all: One of the panelists used "Du" instead of "Sie" when addressing her. OMG! How dared he? Didn't he know who she is? She felt so humiliated she went speechless, if you believe her. Well, she has a point there, too, but... But can't she just gracefully step back and retain the last of her dignity before she makes a complete fool of herself? And maybe demand the apology in private as no one noticed until she b...

Tonight the Eurovision 2012 season starts for real when we will have the first national final.   Die grosse Entscheidungsshow – Eurovision Song Contest 2012 will be aired live on SF1 at 20:05 CET from Bodensee Arena in Kreuzlingen. The line up is pretty solid (even if someof my favourites didn't make it) and it's hard to predict the outcome. I guess the live performance and the stage presense is crucial once again. Three songs in French. Sosofluo and Ze Flying Zezettes Orchestra both follow nicely Anna Rossinelli's acoustic sound while Eurovision legend Lys Assia goes totally nostalgic. Canadian Katherine St-Laurent sings bits in French in her classic Eurovision ballad. One song in Italian. Chiara Dubey is sweet and fragile with her acoustic song. Flirting with Italian are I Quattro with boombastic tenor pop heard about zillion times before - and most of them better. (I would have preferred this tenor pop in the line up) Patric Scott & Fabienne Louves offer c...

The very first Eurovision winner back in 1956 Lys Assia has been the guest of honour in several past Eurovision finals and gatherings and has often expressed her wish to do it again. And now, at the tender age of nearly 86 she is at it for the 4th time aiming to win for the second time. The song is written by two Eurovision legends Ralph Siegel and Jean-Paul Cara. And here's the offering C'est ma vie . I wouldn't be surprised she would go all the way to Baku as ... well, she's a legend. Out of respect she might get to the Swiss final. And once there win it. For the same reason. But time will tell... Here's some Eurovision history for you: Lys Assia: Refrain (1./1956), Das alte Karussell (1956), L'enfant que j'ètais (8./1957), Giorgio (2./1958). Ralph Siegel: Dschingis Khan (4./1979), Theater (2./1980), Johnny Blue (2./1981), Ein bisschen Frieden (1./1982), Jean-Paul Cara: 1,2,3 (2./1976), L'oiseau et l'enfant (1./1977), Humanahum (3./1981)...

Today 52 years ago, March 3, 1957 the second Eurovision song contest in the history took place in Frankfurt, Germany. Corry Brokken won for the Netherlands with Net als toen . Ten countries took part on a Sunday night in a TV-studio. Every country had a 10 member jury sitting at home and each of them awarded one point to their favourite entry. Corry won the hearts of 31 members of 90 and won easily over France's Paule Desjardins who got only 17 votes. Italy broke one Eurovision record: their song Corde della mia chitarra lasted over 5 minutes but only 6 jurors preferred it, maybe the other grew bored before it was over? Denmark caused a scandal with a long kiss by the singers in the end of the song..... And Corry? She started studying law in 1976 and became a judge in 1988! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahDVVvR2198