And we’re back in London. France didn’t want to host for the third time, so the BBC hosted on their behalf. Once again, we’re joined by the same set of countries as last year, making it the third year in a row with no additions or withdrawals.
We’re once again greeted by Katie Boyle, who hosted back in 1960 (and will host several times after this).
Right away, you can tell that this was intended to be a proper television production. It isn’t just a couple of cameras in a theatre pointed on a stage, oh no. As Katie introduces each competitor, they walk in from a dark entrace, walk by an endless mirror that we all know and love from lifts and bathrooms. Then the camera cuts to point at their face, they take a bow and walk on.
And this is only the beginning. The performances don’t happen on stage in front of the audience. Instead, the singers perform in a separate studio with the microphones situated just outside of the view of the cameras. The BBC really decided to show off this year and I love it so much.
I’m watching this year with the English commentary by David Jacobs (I also watched with his commentary in 1960), who is a great commentator. He explains what the song is about and doesn’t give his opinions, letting you form your own.
But enough about TV production, let’s move to the performances.
I can understand why the audience thought this was pre-recorded. It’s extremely professional compared to the previous year’s contest. It almost feels like watching a music video.
I much prefer this song over Ronnie Carrol’s song from the previous year. It’s much softer and fits Ronnie’s way of singing much better.
Plus the staging adds a lot to this. The backing singers are arranged in front of Ronnie and it makes for a rather memorable performance.
It’s not a particularly standout song to my ears, but I did enjoy the presentation with the superimposed musical figurines.
The song is quite slow and dreamy and definitely fits the musical box theme, but consistent theming isn’t going to save an average song.
I definitely see why it got zero points - being performed out of the 2nd spot doesn’t do it any favours and being followed by a lot of much stronger songs meant that it got completely erased from the juries’ minds.
Usuaully, I enjoy these musical-like songs, and this one is no exception. It’s very energetic and fun. I love Heidi’s vocals and performance, she makes the song her own.
I’m also going to say that the instrumental is lovely, it’s very vivacious and lively. It supplements the singing really well and the abrupt end works here really well.
This is how you do a language change. It nearly always feels jarring, but it just works here. Carmela’s performance is just mesmerising. She has that sort of voice that completely engulfs you and makes you forget about everything else.
The orchestration is brilliant to. I often complain about songs changing from minor to major, but I think it works well here since both parts are interesting in their own right. I also really like the ending. The orchestra goes all out and sounds bombastic in an almost-instruental break, but then subverts your expectations and calms down. Instead, Carmela gives us a pwerful vocal ending.
I think this sound sounds quite old-fashioned, more late-40s than early-60s. It’s probably because of the instrumental being very light and airy, mostly using strings and the occasional inclusion of bells.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I didn’t really enjoy this. It was far from unpleasant, but it definitely isn’t the kind of song I like. It’s rather forgettable, though her vocal style fits it well.
This came 3rd and it’s absolutely obvious why. The staging is memorable, the instrumental is catchy and Emilio’s vocals are great.
The lyrics remind me of Mambo No. 5 a bit with the female names and all (and yes, I know this predates Mambo No. 5 by many years). It’s interesting that he sings about having a lot of women he loves and how difficult it is to choose, definitely not something I would’ve expected from a 60s song.
The orchestration is a banger, feels very modern for the time. It feels fresh and jazzy.
The staging definitely elevates this from “decent” to “good”, which is something we’ll see a lot after the year 2000.
Another quite old-fashioned, theatre-like entry. There’s a repeated refrain of “la la la” in the beginning and at the end that I’m not a big fan of, but the song itself is decent. It sounds quite nostalgic and interesting.
I’m a big fan of the orchestral track in this entry though. Besides traditional instruments, it also uses a xylophone and a glockenspiel. It adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the character of the song and makes it stand out.
One of the most deserving winners of all time. It’s a hypnotic and mesmerising experience. The atmosphere they build up is intriguing and quite dark.
Despite this, the lyrics are actually very playful and positive, talking about sunshine, kisses and “life’s beginning”. I’ll be honest, this is the first time I’ve read the translation of these lyrics and it’s completely different from what I was expecting. I actually think that the dissonance in the atmosphere and the music makes the whole performance better.
All of this is accompanied by one of the best instrumental in Eurovision up to this point. First of all, I love that the guitar is so prominent in this track. It would be so simple to put Jørgen on stage and have him play a couple chords and be done. Instead, they chose to make him the lead, with orchestra providing pretty quiet accompaniment. But quiet doesn’t mean unimportant, no, it’s the opposite - the orchestra is an integral part of this song, especially the strings. The song mostly uses cellos and double basses in the verses, creating a somewhat chugging background that keeps the song moving, but lightens up and becomes grander in the verses. What’s even more impressive is that it manages to do this without any key changes, always staying in the minor key. Finally, just before the final line, we get a short instrumental break with the orchestra going all out, which makes for an interesting mood change.
The staging is brilliantly simple as well. It uses three different kinds of shots: only Jørgen when Grethe isn’t singing, only Grethe when the guitar becomes less prominent and both of them together when they’re equally prominent. I love that it gives them a chance to shine on their own and showcase the fact that they’re a part of the whole. We also get swirling circles and spirals overlaid all throughout.
All these components create something etherial and out-of-this-world. I loved it the first time I watched it, I loved it the second and I still love it (I’ve already watched most years before, but I’ve never made any centralised rankings or reviews I could refer to, which is why I’m doing them).
This song is a bit too dreary for my tastes. It’s very slow and static and the whimsical lyrics don’t fit the music at all. I think it could’ve worked much better with a more energetic instrumental.
It seems like Switzerland is trying to replicate Un premier amour from the previous year with the repeated phrase and the fairly modern orchestration. Honestly, I think they’ve succeeded quite well. It definitely doesn’t feel like an average French chanson.
Esther is a wonderful performer, she feels very warm and genuine. I was swept away by her stage presence from the get go. If some performances feel soulless, then this is the opposite - it feels very “soulful”.
This entry is definitely elevated by its staging, but the song is pretty good too. I love the lyrics, they’re very poetic and beautiful and flow brilliantly. I love that the translucent image of the woman he’s (presumably) singing about appears in the chorus after he states that she was taken by the wind. France have definitely made good use of the technology offered by the BBC.
I also think that the string-heavy orchestration gives it a very “windy” feel, very suitable for the song. Despite this, it also sounds quite fresh and contemporary. France is on a right trajectory with their songs in the 60s.
The song sounds more Italian than Spanish to my ears. The operatic parts, the way orchestra sounds, the structure of a song - they all just scream Sanremo to me. I guess Spain wanted to cater more to the juries who love Italy. Clearly, it didn’t work out since they only got two points - all of them from Yugoslavia, which kinda makes sense since Italian music has always been popular there.
I can’t say I’m in love either, the song is way too messy. Some parts sound like a straighforward ballad, then it becomes more theatrical, then we get a section that sounds like a march. I enjoy experimental entries, but they still need to be harmonious and not disjointed.
I really wanted to like this, I really did. It has every characteristic of a song I’d enjoy. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t engage with this. I listened to it three times, hoping I’d “get” it, but nothing happened. She still performed it well though.
I think the same might’ve happened with the juries. I feel really bad giving this song a low score, but I just can’t rate it highly.
VRT (the Flemish broadcaster) definitely knows how to appeal to me. I definitely prefer this to what RTBF has had to offer up to this point (not that they had a lot of different things to offer). This may be a bit simple, but it clicks with me for some reason.
The studio version of this song is quite different for some reason. The third verse is gone, replaced by the introduction. I find this weird because it doesn’t flow as well. Definitely makes me ask “Why?”.
Now, here’s a performer whom I’ve known of before Eurovision. Françoise Hardy hardly needs an introduction, she’s famous Europe-wide.
It’s a very modern song, especially for 1963. This was just slightly after the yé-yé craze had started (helped by Françoise herself, in fact). It’s often said that Eurovision is several years out of date compared to chart music, and it isn’t necessarily false.
Hearing something like this proves that not every country was happy with Eurovision being out-of-touch with popular music and thank god for that.
The instrumental is great. It perfectly fits Françoise’s performance style - shy and reserved. Yet it isn’t gloomy or dreary, oh no. It’s actually quite cheereful. On the other hand, the lyrics are a bit pessimistic at first, saying that love always leaves and people go away, but then says that people “run after” love anyway.
We’ll have another yé-yé entry in two years, sung by another famous French singer and I’ll probably have more to say about it.
Nana’s stage presence can’t save this song from feeling very average. Unlike the three other entries in French, which all feel distinct and different, this one sticks to the formula established in the prior contests.
There isn’t much to say about it. The lyrics are fine, not very ambitious, but not bad either. The orchestration is good, mostly consisting of bass and brass. It’s hardly a standout entry.
Another Nordic victory. Only Norway and Finland are missing out. Half of the countries currently taking part are winners in my rankings though, that’s cool, I didn’t expect this.
“And now, we’ve heard all the songs in the contest and now to find which one has won. I hope that all of you at home have already started arguing,” is what Katie Boyle says after Nana Mouskouri has finished her performance. We always argued about which song is the best when watching it with my parents and grandma. Ah, how fun that was.
The interval act is rather zany for 1963 - a duo of circuis performers. It was enjoyable, though I prefer the interval act in 1962.
The voting was classic Eurovision - a very close race between Switzerland and Denmark. Because the Norwegian jury was a mess and didn’t manage to tally the votes before their turn, they gave their votes incorrectly, so it seemed like Switzerland would win. But when Katie Boyle came back to them, they changed their votes to give Denmark a very narrow victory.
There’s a conspiracy theory going around that Norway fixed their votes to give Denmark a win, but surely they would’ve given them a 5 in that case? And surely they wouldn’t have had any mishaps if the votes were fixed.
In any case, Denmark was a very deserved winner. It’s a song I can listen to every day and it never gets old.
See you next year, where one of my favourite country arrives - Portugal. It’s also the second of two years with no footage, though the auido survives (as well as the winner reprise of Non ho l’eta).