We’re visiting Italy for the first out of (so far) three times. We’re joined by Sweden, who are back after skipping last year (and will do the same two more times) and Ireland (who will only sit out one contest in the future).
Apparently, NRK (the Norwegian broadcaster) made a sketch parody about this contest (supposedly because this was a troubled production, which I’m not surprised by). You can watch it here.
This is the first contest that was broadcast by countries that were part of the Intervision network (basically the Warsaw pact countries), but I’ll talk more about this in my 1967 review.
Anyway, we’re greeted by Renata Mauro after a short jazzy piece by the orchestra.
Netherlands are continuing to do what they’re so good at - songs about failing relationships set to an upbeat instrumentals.
Speaking of the instrumental, it’s great and funky. I especially love the percussion, there’s definitely a good deal of Carribean influence in it. It doesn’t stay the same throughout the song, making sure not to lose your attention.
The lyrics are really good too. Compared to the previous song by the Netherlands, with the singer accepting that her boyfriend is cheating on her, Conny doesn’t. She says that it’s “unacceptable”. This is all delivered very beautifully too, making for a lovely song.
I love this. It’s really modern and upbeat, with a bombastic and fun instrumental and that classic British pop sound.
The song may be simple, both in the instrumentation and the lyrics (compared to the Dutch song for example), but it still works really well.
Interestingly enough, this is the only song performed second (aka the slot of death) to have come second. It makes sense that it happened this early on - with fewer songs in the final, there’s less running order bias.
Conchita Bautista is back again with a very thoroughly Spanish song and I love it once again. In fact, I think it love it way more.
The key changes in the melody are very in-your-face, which adds a lot of flamboyancy to the song. Usually, this would’ve given me whiplash, but it’s executed really well here.
I’m not surprised that this got a 0 though. Being performed early is always a big downside, but even more here, as it also got sandwiched between two songs in English. Maybe it would’ve scored better if it was drown to be performed much later.
Ireland have decided to go with something quite safe - a ballad. Six out of Ireland’s seven winners were ballads, so I didn’t expect anything very different from them.
In any case, I like this. There’s no shame in sticking to what you’re good at, and Ireland are definitely great at ballads. I don’t think I’ll remember how this song goes after I finish writing this, but nobody can remember all 1732 Eurovision entries anyway.
I just couldn’t get into this. Ulla’s voice is fine and all, but she looks like me when someone forces me on stage, like all she wants to do is go home and have a cup of tea. There was no stage presence and I didn’t feel anything from this song.
I need to tell you the truth - I love piano ballads (spoilers for some of the future years). There’s something magical about them. Anyway, moving to the review.
Everyone watch and learn, this is how you make a ballad. Udo takes centre stage, playing his piano and singing his heart out. The orchestra provides a very bare accompaniment in the verses, with the whole focus being on Udo and his singing/playing. The verses have a richer (and slightly bombastic instrumental), but it’s still all about Udo.
Unlike Ulla from the previous entry, Udo is full of charisma and stage presence. He doesn’t need to dance or even move, just sitting there is enough for him to capture your attention.
The Nordics in the 60s have definitely realised what direction they wanted to go in. A lot of their entries sound like early proto-schlager they became so famous for in the 70s and beyond.
This is another one of those songs. The singer is a young girl in love with two men and wants to ride a merry-go-round with both of them, picking just one - called Kjell - in the end. It managed to fit in quite a story (and an instrumental break) in just three minutes, which is quite impressive.
This song has a very weird structure. It starts with what seems to be its chorus (which consists of two parts) then has a short verse and then repeats the chorus again.
The first part of the chorus is quite weak and uninteresting. On the other hand, the second part and the verse (or whatever it is) are much stronger, with an interesting instrumental.
Overall, this isn’t a very interesting song and definitely the first miss by VRT.
Another quite pleasant chanson from Monaco. It may be a bit too saccharine, and not the best vocally, I still find it to be a decent listen.
Much to Sweden’s delight, it turned out that nothing in the rules actually forced you to send a song in your native language, so they were the first ones to do away with tradition and send a song completely in English. Of course, this would make the EBU impose a language rule from 1966 to 1999 (with a small break from 1973 to 1976).
Anyway, the song is actually pretty good. It’s a full-on opera, with the usual drawbacks (the lyrics are hard to understand, especially because Ingvar isn’t a native English speaker). I rarely like opera in Eurovision, and I wouldn’t necessarily say I like this, but it’s definitely better than most operatic entries.
This is genuinely the first song so far that I hate. Everything about it just doesn’t work for me - the boring instrumental, the vocals (he sounds like he’s being strangled), the awful lyrics with the repeated “jamais”.
This is definitely a song I won’t be revisiting ever again.
And now, here’s for something much much much better. This is a proper banger - grand, epic and bombastic. Simone’s vocals are on point, managing to sound emotional, but not overperformed.
It’s also orchestrated really well. The orchestra dials back when necessary, making Simone the centre of attention, but coming back when needed.
This definitely was a huge pleasure to listen to and an example of why I love Portugal in Eurovision so much.
The British commentator said that this is “a true piece of Italian romance” and yeah, this is a romantic Italian ballad. I really like the guitar in this, it gives it a nice contemporary flair, but it isn’t anything too special otherwise.
I like the message of the song, the protagonist of the song wants her boyfriend to stop treating her like prey and start treating her like an equal. However, I’m quite underwhelmed by the song itself. It isn’t particularly interesting, being very similar to a lot of other Danish songs (except for Dansevise).
Alright, scalding hot take time: I don’t really love this. I was excited to learn that France Gall took part in Eurovision back when I was delving into old Eurovision for the first time in 2018. I’ve always liked her songs and was expecting to like this one as well, but it’s never clicked with me.
In fact, I was rather underwhelmed when I first listened to it, and keep being underwhelmed every time. It’s probably because I know that France Gall can do (and has done) better.
I can’t deny that this song has had a lasting impact on the contest and the fandom, but I can’t help the way I feel. I find the instrumental to be fairly annoying and her vocals to be very subpar.
If you want to hear some actually good songs by France Gall, I recommend Il Jouait Du Piano Debout, Résiste or Tout Pour La Musique (or pretty much any of her 80s song, they’re all great).
I was fooled by the opening here, it made me expect an upbeat and energetic entry, but it ended up being a ballad. This made me very disappointed. I did like it more on a second listen (I listen to every song three times, except for when I already know the songs really well).
The lyrics flow really well (thanks to Finnish with its vowel harmony and its generous number of vowels in each word in general), but I’m not very impressed otherwise.
I much prefer this entry to Vice’s entry from 1963. This is still slow and atmospheric, but not dreary. There are some parts where the instrumental soars and becomes more majestic, helping the viewers of the time remain focused (because I highly doubt a lot of them spoke a Slavic language).
Still, even though it’s an improvement, it isn’t a huge improvement.
And we end how we started - a breakup song with an instrumental that sounds quite happy, though it’s fitting here since she’s optimistic about her future after the breakup.
She delivers it really well too, which is probably why I enjoyed it more than I probably would’ve otherwise.
Anyway, I’ll repeat what I said again: I don’t think there has even been a winner that didn’t deserve its win. This blog is based purely on my opinions, so if you want to send some hate my way, go write it on a piece of paper and shove it up your bum.
I quite enjoyed this contest. Some of the shots were very weird, with very uncomfortable close-up shots, but it went pretty well overall. The interval was performed by an opera singer who was, apparently, using playback instead of singing live.
The voting sequence was decently exciting, with the UK and Luxembourg having a bit of a race, though Luxembourg obviously won. I’m glad my boy Udo got 4th place though.
Next time, we’ll be back in Luxembourg, joined by the same countries as this time.