EUROVISION'S 100 MOST IMPORTANT SONGS Update: #35-31.

EUROVISION’S

100

MOST ESSENTIAL SONGS

(1956-2015)

Now that the dust has settled on another fabulous Eurovision Song Contest, it’s time to look back on the most important and influential songs that have competed over the last 60 years. All of the winning songs are included, as well as other noteworthy entries from the most watched music contest in the world.

#35

MY NUMBER ONE

HELENA PAPARIZOU

Greece -2005

Eurovision turned 50 in 2005. Host city Kyiv welcomed a record 39 countries. Greece had been waiting 31 years to secure a victory at Eurovision. This was the longest wait ever. That record would be broken the following year. Helena Paparizou, who was actually born and raised in Sweden, had already represented Greece as half of the duo Antique. They finished 3^rd in 2001. At the time, that result was the highest placing for any Greek entry. Paparizou delivered Greece its 1^st victory 4 years later. Conversely, all of the “Big 4” countries occupied the bottom 4 positions on the leaderboard.

#34

CONGRATULATIONS

CLIFF RICHARD

United Kingdom -1968

Since 1958, there has been criticism of the ESC’s inability to select the best song on the night. While no winning entry is afforded unanimous approval, there are some questionable outcomes. That a catchy song so in step with 1960s pop such as “Congratulations”, performed by 1 of the leading British music artists, could fail to collect 1^st prize baffled many viewers. To rub salt into the wound for poor Cliff Richard, he finished in 2^nd place, losing by just 1 point to the forgettable “La La La”. His song started as the 1 to beat and was written by the writers of the previous year’s winner “Puppet On A String” (Bill Martin and Phil Coulter). It did, however, reach #1 in the UK and Europe as well as going Top 5 in Australia and New Zealand.

#33

EIN BISCSCHEN FRIEDEN

NICOLE

Germany -1982

Germany was 1 of the 7 countries that competed in the inaugural ESC in 1956. The country competed as West Germany and endured a long wait to finally bring home a win. Nicole’s entry, with a title meaning “a little peace”, charged ahead of the competition. It became only the 2^nd winner sung in German. The song was co-written by Ralph Siegel, who has seen 22 of his songs spanning the years 1974 to 2015. Over the decades, he has written entries for not only his homeland Germany, but also San Marino, Montenegro, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Nicole’s song is so far his only winner.   

#32

NON HO L’ ETA

GIGLIOLA CINQUETTI

Italy -1964

After creating the idea of Eurovision, the Italians had failed to achieve better than 3^rd place (twice) until 1964. Aged 16, singer Gigliola Cinquetti finished with 49 points. Her song’s title means “I’m not old enough”. Her nearest rival on the leaderboard earned 17 points. Italy secured its 1^st ESC victory. Despite entering several high quality songs, Italy has only achieved 1 other win: in 1990. 

#31

WHAT’S ANOTHER YEAR?

JOHNNY LOGAN

Ireland -1980

Johnny Logan is 1 of the amazing success stories of Eurovision. His record-breaking success began in 1980 with the Irish entry “What’s Another Year?”. Logan delivered a ballad that proved popular. His win in 1980 gave Ireland its 2^nd win, 10 years after its 1^st victory. Logan would be back before the end of the 1980s.

 

Another update coming tomorrow with 5 more songs.