I don't know what inspired me to make this post, but I kept thinking about this today. It's no secret that France was one of the most successful countries in the early days of the contest. They won five times in the contest's first 22 years, the most of any country at that time. But since their last win in 1977, France has entered a 45 year drought, the second longest of any country in the contest (only Spain, who last won in 1969, has gone longer). Just last year, however, France put up their best finish in years, taking second place with Barbara Pravi's "Voila". Whatever happened to France? Why weren't they able to maintain their Eurovision supremacy? Was 1980 really the turning point that some people think it is? And does France have a win in their future? I don't have the answers to all these questions, but to attempt to give us an idea, we need to look at France's history in the contest.
Eurovision began in 1956, a time when the French language held more sway across Europe and the world than English did. English was only just beginning to establish itself as the new "Lingua Franca". Eurovision also began as a very strict and serious contest. It was an event where people would dress up in suits, sit in rows of seats, and listen to an orchestra. It was seen as a place for refined music. Not surprisingly, the "French Ballad" dominated the early contests. France themselves won the contest three times in six years with the songs "Dors mon amour", "Tom Pilibi", and "Un premier amour", all of which could be described as ballads. Even when France themselves did not win, often another French-speaking country won with a ballad, such as Lys Assia with "Refrain" for Switzerland in 1956 or Jean-Claude Pascal with "Nous les amoureux" for Luxembourg in 1961. Even when another country, such as Netherlands or Italy, won in their own language, it was done in the style of the French ballad.
Most people mark the end of the French ballad's supremacy to be 1965. That was the year that Luxembourg won with the song "Poupee de cire, Poupee de son". It was performed by budding superstar France Gall and written by the genius songwriter Serge Gainsb
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Her dad coached her, then songwriting powerhouse Serge Gainsbourg wrote the song she won with. The catchy song was “Poupee de cire, poupee de son” (Doll of wax, doll of sound). French song writer Gainsbourg was known for writing songs that had double sexual meanings, reading between the lines in a lot of his music revealed his overtly sexual nature. But this was a philosophical song more about a young girl not being sure of her identity, not sure of boys, not sure of the music biz. That France Gall (at 17 years old) won the contest in 1965 came as a complete shock to her, and it made her one of the great musical treasures of France until her death from cancer in 2018. The song is really upbeat and good for the era. Here’s my EP from ‘65:
https://preview.redd.it/nzmmafr5g4y61.jpg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32c543a2c1251c3bfe8850e97f814c38be089d56
I'm talking about how well it would do in this years contest (2019)
I'm actually a long time fan of the ESC so seeing this made me extremely excited!
Now I'm curious what your thoughts are about it (as I don't expect too many ESC fans in this sub).
You can watch their announcement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8LSngVNBw8
I'm Sietse Bakker and I'm the Executive Producer Event at the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 and responsible for all creative and event programming.
I have been working for the European Broadcasting Union since 2006, including as event supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2019 I was appointed as Executive Producer Event of the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, which would take place in the Netherlands but was, like many other events, cancelled due to the pandemic, for the first time in its 64-year history. After the cancellation we immediately decided to do all we could to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021.
And we're back, hosting the biggest and most complex TV show the Netherlands ever had. Looking forward to answer all your questions about it.
Proof: https://i.redd.it/cblp9fo74ly61.png
This may be the best kept secret I’ve ever had.
So, as many die hard Eurovision fans know, the full television broadcast of the 1964 contest is lost (presumably forever) and there have only been short glimpses of video footage from the contest.
I have spent months contacting each country’s broadcasting companies that aired the contest back in 1964 and asked if they had any footage remaining in their archives. Most of the companies responded with no luck, however a few months ago I was able to purchase a copy of a 3 minute long video of the actual TV broadcast from Finland.
The footage contains Gigliola Cinquetti being presented as the winner, the host introducing the award presenter, a shot of the Grand Prix medal, a shot of the audience, and about a minute and a half of Gigliola singing.
The issue I have is that after contacting Danmark Radio, I am not able to upload the footage to YouTube due to rights issues. This is something I really want the ESC community to see, but I do not know how this can be done.
I personally feel like an Entente+Reichspakt victory would be the best result for the ESC being created
They have participated once in 1980 and never again.
