Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest
Monaco has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since its debut in 1959. The country's only win in the contest came in 1971 when Séverine performed "Un banc, un arbre, une rue". In 1972, Monaco declined. Monaco is still the only microstate. Monaco finished last at its first contest in 1959 before achieving three top three results in the 1960s. Two of these were achieved by François Deguelt, who finished third in 1960 and second in 1962. Romuald finished third in 1964. Severine's victory in 1971 was the first of five top four results in eight years; the others were achieved by Romauld, Mary Christy, third in 1976, Michèle Torr, fourth in 1977 and Caline & Olivier Toussaint who were fourth in 1978. After participating in 1979, Monaco was absent from the contest for 25 years. Monaco returned to the contest for three years from 2004 to 2006 but failed to qualify for the final on all three occasions; the Monegasque broadcaster withdrew from the contest saying that regional voting patterns in the contest have given Monaco no chance of qualifying for the final.
Monaco participated in the contest 21 times between its debut in 1959 and 1979. Afterwards the country withdrew from the contest for financial reasons, it only returned 25 years after its last participation. It withdrew again after failing to qualify for the final for three consecutive years. Monaco won the contest in 1971, with the song "Un banc, une rue", performed by Séverine; the Monegasque victory is rather particular in the history of Eurovision because the songwriter, the singer and the director were not from the country they represented, but from France. Séverine declared to journalists that she had never set foot in Monaco, forgetting that the video-clip was filmed there. Séverine's producer was dishonest with her and stole her prize, thus she never got paid for her victory after suing him; the singer is still a great fan of the contest. Monaco's next best placing has been second which it has achieved once at the 1962, it has been third three times, in 1960, 1964 and 1976. Monaco is among the eight countries which finished last on their first participation, the others being Austria, Malta, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and San Marino.
Monaco never organised the contest. After winning in 1971, the country decided to organise the 1972 contest as an open-air show, setting the date in June rather than early spring. However, because of a lack of funds and material, Télé Monte Carlo sought help from the French public broadcaster, ORTF, which accepted to organise the contest; because TMC wanted the show to be held in Monaco while ORTF wanted it in France, negotiations never succeeded. Monaco left it up to the EBU; the EBU asked Spain and Germany, who finished second and third at the 1971 contest, but the countries were not interested in organising the 1972 contest. It was organised by the BBC in Edinburgh. Monaco was absent from the contest between 1980 and 2003, before returning for three years from 2004–2006, but Maryon, Lise Darly and Séverine Ferrer all failed to progress from the semi-finals. TMC broadcast the 2007 contest, opening the way for participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008. However, TMC decided against it. TMC had announced that it was possible Monaco would return to the contest in 2009 after a two-year absence, following talks with the European Broadcasting Union, the organiser of the contest, as well as new voting measures implemented in the contest that year.
Despite this, Monaco did not compete in Moscow in 2009. The EBU announced they would work harder to bring Monaco back into the Contest in 2010 alongside other lapsed participants. Officials have denounced geopolitical voting between the countries in East Europe and the ones in Scandinavia, leaving no chance for the principality to qualify, they regret that the contest is now more about the show than singing. Furthermore, Monaco does not have a public broadcaster anymore. TMC is now part of the TF1 Group, the leading private broadcaster in France and is now available everywhere in France. TMC programs no longer revolve around the principality. TF1 Group being the biggest competitor to the French public channels, it is unlikely that TMC will broadcast again the Eurovision Song Contest; when TMC did so between 2004 and 2006, its audience was much lower than the one of the French public channel. In those years, it was the government and the municipality of Monaco who chose the contestant and funded the delegation, while it is the responsibility of a broadcaster or a producer.
Due to the country's small size, all Monaco's entrants came from outside the principality. The large majority of them were French, with one Yugoslavian, Tereza Kesovija, one Italian, Mary Christy. Several singers selected to represent Monaco are key figures of the French scene, such as Françoise Hardy and Michèle Torr. Luxembourg, another small country sent a great number of French artists to the contest. At the 1967 contest, the Monegasque entry, "Boum Badaboum", sung by Minouche Barelli, was written by Serge Gainsbourg, he had composed the winning entry in 1965, "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", sung by France Gall for Luxembourg. Jean Jacques, who represented Monaco in 1969, was the first child to take part in Eurovision, he was 12. Table key Between 1959 and 2006, Monaco's voting history was as follows: From 1959 to 1979, Monaco did not have its own commentators in the festival, Télé Monte Carlo used French commentary instead. Between 2004 and 2006, TMC did b
Luxembourg
Luxembourg the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a small landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, France to the south, its capital, Luxembourg City, is one of the three official capitals of the European Union and the seat of the European Court of Justice, the highest judicial authority in the EU. Its culture and languages are intertwined with its neighbours, making it a mixture of French and German cultures, as evident by the nation's three official languages: French and the national language, Luxembourgish; the repeated invasions by Germany in World War II, resulted in the country's strong will for mediation between France and Germany and, among other things, led to the foundation of the European Union. With an area of 2,586 square kilometres, it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe. In 2018, Luxembourg had a population of 602,005, which makes it one of the least-populous countries in Europe, but by far the one with the highest population growth rate.
Foreigners account for nearly half of Luxembourg's population. As a representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is headed by Grand Duke Henri and is the world's only remaining grand duchy. Luxembourg is a developed country, with an advanced economy and one of the world's highest GDP per capita; the City of Luxembourg with its old quarters and fortifications was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 due to the exceptional preservation of the vast fortifications and the old city. The history of Luxembourg is considered to begin in 963, when count Siegfried I acquired a rocky promontory and its Roman-era fortifications known as Lucilinburhuc, ′little castle′, the surrounding area from the Imperial Abbey of St. Maximin in nearby Trier. Siegfried's descendants increased their territory through marriage and vassal relations. At the end of the 13th century, the Counts of Luxembourg reigned over a considerable territory. In 1308, Henry VII, Count of Luxembourg became King of the Germans and Holy Roman Emperor.
The House of Luxembourg produced four Holy Roman Emperors during the high Middle Ages. In 1354, Charles IV elevated the County to the Duchy of Luxembourg. Since Sigismund had no male heir, the Duchy became part of the Burgundian Circle and one of the Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands. Over the centuries, the City and Fortress of Luxembourg, of great strategic importance situated between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg territories, was built up to be one of the most reputed fortifications in Europe. After belonging to both the France of Louis XIV and the Austria of Maria Theresia, Luxembourg became part of the First French Republic and Empire under Napoleon; the present-day state of Luxembourg first emerged at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The Grand-Duchy, with its powerful fortress, became an independent state under the personal possession of William I of the Netherlands with a Prussian garrison to guard the city against another invasion from France. In 1839, following the turmoil of the Belgian Revolution, the purely French-speaking part of Luxembourg was ceded to Belgium and the Luxembourgish-speaking part became what is the present state of Luxembourg.
Luxembourg is a founding member of the European Union, OECD, United Nations, NATO, Benelux. The city of Luxembourg, the country's capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions and agencies of the EU. Luxembourg served on the United Nations Security Council for the years 2013 and 2014, a first in the country's history; as of 2018, Luxembourgish citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 186 countries and territories, ranking the Luxembourgish passport 5th in the world, tied with Austria, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States. The recorded history of Luxembourg begins with the acquisition of Lucilinburhuc situated on the Bock rock by Siegfried, Count of Ardennes, in 963 through an exchange act with St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier. Around this fort, a town developed, which became the centre of a state of great strategic value. In the 14th and early 15th centuries, three members of the House of Luxembourg reigned as Holy Roman Emperors. In 1437, the House of Luxembourg suffered a succession crisis, precipitated by the lack of a male heir to assume the throne, which led to the territories being sold by Duchess Elisabeth to Philip the Good of Burgundy.
In the following centuries, Luxembourg's fortress was enlarged and strengthened by its successive occupants, the Bourbons, Habsburgs and the French. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Luxembourg was disputed between Prussia and the Netherlands; the Congress of Vienna formed Luxembourg as a Grand Duchy within the German Confederation. The Dutch king became, in the grand duke. Although he was supposed to rule the grand duchy as an independent country with an administration of its own, in reality he treated it to a Dutch province; the Fortress of Luxembourg was manned by Prussian troops for the German Confederation. This arrangement was revised by the 1839 First Treaty of London, from which date Luxembourg's full independence is reckoned. At the time of the Belgian Revolution of 1830–1839, by the 1839 Treaty establishing full independence, Luxembourg's territory was reduced by more than half, as the predominantly francophone western part of the country was transferred to Belgium. In 1842 Luxembourg joined the German Customs Union (Zoll
France Gall
Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall, better known by her stage name France Gall, was a French yé-yé singer. In 1965, aged 17, she won the Eurovision Song Contest. Between 1973 until 1992, she collaborated with singer-songwriter Michel Berger. Gall was born in Paris on 9 October 1947, to a musical family, her father, the lyricist Robert Gall, wrote songs for Charles Aznavour. Her mother, Cécile Berthier, was a singer as well and the daughter of Paul Berthier, the co-founder of Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois; the only daughter of her family, she had two brothers: Claude. In spring 1963, Robert Gall encouraged his daughter to record songs and send the demos to the music publisher Denis Bourgeois; that July, she auditioned for Bourgeois at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, after which Bourgeois wanted to sign her immediately. France was subsequently signed to Philips. At the time, Bourgeois was working for the label as artistic director for Serge Gainsbourg and assumed this role for Gall as well.
He encouraged her to record four tracks with the French jazz musician and composer Alain Goraguer. The first airplay of France's first single "Ne sois pas si bête", occurred on her 16th birthday, it became a hit, selling 200,000 copies. Gainsbourg, who had released several albums and written songs for singers including Michèle Arnaud and Juliette Gréco, was asked by Bourgeois to write songs for Gall. Gainsbourg's "N'écoute pas les idoles". At the same time, Gall made her live debut, she teamed up with Distel's business manager, Maurice Tézé, a lyricist, which allowed her to create an original repertoire, unlike the majority of her contemporaries who sang adaptations of Anglophone hits. Elaborate orchestrations by Alain Goraguer blended styles, permitting her to navigate between jazz, children's songs, anything in between. Examples of this mixed-genre style included "Jazz à gogo" and "Mes premières vraies vacances". Gall and Gainsbourg's association produced many popular singles, continuing through the summer of 1964 with the hit song "Laisse tomber les filles" followed by "Christiansen" by Datin-Vidalin.
Gainsbourg secretly recorded Gall's laughter to use on "Pauvre Lola", a track on his 1964 album Gainsbourg Percussions. Having resisted, Gall gave in to her managers at the end of 1964 and recorded a single intended for children; the song "Sacré Charlemagne", written by her father, set to the music of George Liferman, was a hit in 1965, peaking at number two in France and number five in Turkey. Gall was selected to represent Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1965. From the ten songs proposed to her, she chose Gainsbourg's "Poupée de cire, poupée de son." On 20 March 1965, Gainsbourg and Goraguer attended the finals of the song contest in Naples, where the song was "allegedly booed in rehearsals for straying so far from the sort of song heard in the Contest at this point."Although the delivery during the live show may not have been Gall's strongest performance — one critic wrote that Gall's performance was "far from perfect" — another noted that her voice was out of tune and her complexion pale, when Gall called Claude François, her lover at the time after the performance, he shouted at her, "You sang off key.
You were terrible!" — the song impressed the jury and it took the Grand Prix. Success at Eurovision ensured that Gall became more known outside Europe and she recorded "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" in French, German and Japanese. There appears to be no English version released by France Gall, although there was an English cover version by the English 1960s star Twinkle. In 1965, Gall toured France for several months with "Le Grand Cirque de France", a combination of radio show and live circus, her singles continued to chart including the Gainsbourg-penned "Attends ou va-t'en" and "Nous ne sommes pas des anges". She had a hit with the song "L'Amérique" by Eddy Marnay and Guy Magenta. Stewart Mason sums up this early period of Gall's career, culminating in the Eurovision win:lthough many dismissed Gall as a Francophone Lesley Gore, making fluffy and ultra-commercial pop hits with little substance, Gall's hits from this era stand up far better than most. Only Françoise Hardy was making records up to these standards during this era.
Though Gall's high, breathy voice was admittedly somewhat limited, she made the most of it. Dopey hits like "Sacré Charlemagne", a duet with a pair of puppets who were the stars of a children's show on French TV, have an infectious, zesty charm. S. or Great Britain at the time. After a TV film directed by Jean-Christophe Averty and dedicated to the songs of Gall was distributed in the United States in 1965, Gall was sought by Walt Disney to appear as Alice in a musical film version of Alice in Wonderland, after having made Alice into a cartoon in 1951. Although Gall had insisted she did not want to become involved in film work, this was the only project which appealed to her; the project was cancelled after Disney's death in 1966. In 1966, Gall appeared in the television film Viva Morandi, made in the same psychoanalytic
Naples
Naples is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy after Rome and Milan. In 2017, around 967,069 people lived within the city's administrative limits while its province-level municipality has a population of 3,115,320 residents, its continuously built-up metropolitan area is the second or third largest metropolitan area in Italy and one of the most densely populated cities in Europe. First settled by Greeks in the second millennium BC, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world. In the ninth century BC, a colony known as Parthenope or Παρθενόπη was established on the Island of Megaride refounded as Neápolis in the sixth century BC; the city was an important part of Magna Graecia, played a major role in the merging of Greek and Roman society and a significant cultural centre under the Romans. It served as the capital of the Duchy of Naples of the Kingdom of Naples and of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861.
Between 1925 and 1936, Naples was expanded and upgraded by Benito Mussolini's government but subsequently sustained severe damage from Allied bombing during World War II, which led to extensive post-1945 reconstruction work. Naples has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, helped by the construction of the Centro Direzionale business district and an advanced transportation network, which includes the Alta Velocità high-speed rail link to Rome and Salerno and an expanded subway network. Naples is the third-largest urban economy in Italy, after Rome; the Port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe and home of the Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the NATO body that oversees North Africa, the Sahel and Middle East. Naples' historic city centre is the largest in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a wide range of culturally and significant sites nearby, including the Palace of Caserta and the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Naples is known for its natural beauties such as Posillipo, Phlegraean Fields and Vesuvius.
Neapolitan cuisine is synonymous with pizza – which originated in the city – but it includes many lesser-known dishes. The best-known sports team in Naples is the Serie A club S. S. C. Napoli, two-time Italian champions who play at the San Paolo Stadium in the southwest of the city, in the Fuorigrotta quarter. Naples has been inhabited since the Neolithic period; the earliest Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC. Sailors from the Greek island of Rhodes established a small commercial port called Parthenope on the island of Megaride in the ninth century BC. By the eighth century BC, the settlement had expanded to include Monte Echia. In the sixth century BC the new urban zone of Neápolis was founded on the plain becoming one of the foremost cities of Magna Graecia; the city grew due to the influence of the powerful Greek city-state of Syracuse, became an ally of the Roman Republic against Carthage. During the Samnite Wars, the city, now a bustling centre of trade, was captured by the Samnites.
During the Punic Wars, the strong walls surrounding Neápolis repelled the invading forces of the Carthaginian general Hannibal. Naples was respected by the Romans as a paragon of Hellenistic culture. During the Roman era, the people of Naples maintained their Greek language and customs, while the city was expanded with elegant Roman villas and public baths. Landmarks such as the Temple of Dioscures were built, many emperors chose to holiday in the city, including Claudius and Tiberius. Virgil, the author of Rome's national epic, the Aeneid, received part of his education in the city, resided in its environs, it was during this period. Januarius, who would become Naples' patron saint, was martyred there in the fourth century AD; the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, was exiled to Naples by the Germanic king Odoacer in the fifth century AD. Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire, Naples was captured by the Ostrogoths, a Germanic people, incorporated into the Ostrogothic Kingdom.
However, Belisarius of the Byzantine Empire recaptured Naples in 536, after entering the city via an aqueduct. In 543, during the Gothic Wars, Totila took the city for the Ostrogoths, but the Byzantines seized control of the area following the Battle of Mons Lactarius on the slopes of Vesuvius. Naples was expected to keep in contact with the Exarchate of Ravenna, the centre of Byzantine power on the Italian Peninsula. After the exarchate fell, a Duchy of Naples was created. Although Naples' Greco-Roman culture endured, it switched allegiance from Constantinople to Rome under Duke Stephen II, putting it under papal suzerainty by 763; the years between 818 and 832 were tumultuous in regard to Naples' relations with the Byzantine Emperor, with numerous local pretenders feuding for possession of the ducal throne. Theoctistus was appointed without imperial approval. However, the disgruntled general populace chased him from the city, instead elected Stephen III, a man who minted coins with his own initials, r
Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest
Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 52 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first time in 2006 with Lordi's "Hard Rock Hallelujah"; the country's best result before was achieved by Marion Rung with the song "Tom Tom Tom" in 1973, which placed sixth. Finland has finished last in the contest ten times, receiving "nul points" in 1963, 1965 and 1982. Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Finland has failed to reach the final seven times. In 2014, the country had its best result in eight years. In 2015, Finland finished last in the first semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision entry, "Aina mun pitää" performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. Before the 2006 victory, Finland was considered by many as the ultimate under-achiever of Eurovision. Prior to its triumph, it had placed last a total of eight times, once with "nul points" after the introduction of the current scoring method. Finland's entry in 1982, "Nuku pommiin" by Kojo, was one of only fifteen songs since the modern scoring system was instituted in 1975 to earn no points..
Due to low results, Finland was excluded from the contest in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003. In 2015, Finland finished last in the first semi-final with the shortest-ever Eurovision song, the one minute and 27 second "Aina mun pitää" performed by Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. Finland reached the final for the first time with Saara Aalto placing 25th. In 2006, Finland won with the band Lordi and its song Hard Rock Hallelujah, an entry different from the mainstream Europop that dominated the competition; the song broke records scoring the highest number of points in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, with 292. The record was broken by Norway in 2009, with 387. All of Finland's entries were in English between 1973 and 1976 and again since 2000. Two entries, 1990 and 2012, were in Swedish, an official language in Finland alongside Finnish. All of Finland's other songs have been in Finnish. In voting patterns, Finland has traditionally supported and been supported by the other Nordic countries, but Estonia, which shares close cultural and linguistic ties with Finland.
Besides, Hungary with shared Finno-Ugric descents, as well as other Baltic nations such as Latvia have gained votes from Finland, the other way around. In 2004, Finland's first-place vote went to Sweden; the first time in Eurovision history that Sweden gave Finland 12 points was in 2006 for Lordi's song "Hard Rock Hallelujah." In 2007, they repeated this, giving 12 points to Hanna Pakarinen with "Leave Me Alone." Finland has given notably high points to Italy, a country that had not competed in various periods from 1998 to 2010, but returned in 2011. Finland has been a strong supporter of Israel; the jury vote seems to adversely affect Finnish results, given that three of its non-qualifications were on account of the juries when the televote alone would have carried them through to the grand final. Finland's best results, including their victory, came during all-televote years. Table key NOTES: a. ^ In 2009, Finland qualified through the back-up jury selection. B. If a country had won the previous year, they did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year.
In addition from 2004-2007, the top ten countries who were not members of the big four did not have to compete in the semi-finals the following year. If, for example and France placed inside the top ten, the countries who placed 11th and 12th were advanced to the following year's grand final along with the rest of the top ten countries; as of 2018, Finland's voting history is as follows: Press Award Fan Award George de Godzinsky Ossi Runne Henrik Otto Donner Olli Ahvenlahti Finland in the Eurovision Dance Contest – Dance version of the Eurovision Song Contest. Finland in the Eurovision Young Dancers – A competition organised by the EBU for younger dancers aged between 16 and 21. Finland in the Eurovision Young Musicians – A competition organised by the EBU for musicians aged 18 years and younger. National Final 2009 Points to and from Finland eurovisioncovers.co.uk
Austria
Germany - Willy Berking
Denmark - Arne Lamberth
Belgium - Jean Roderes
Luxembourg - Jean Roderes
Yugoslavia - Mojmir Sepe
Norway - Øivind Bergh
Finland - Ossi Runne
Portugal - Jorge Costa Pinto
Austria - Hans Hammerschmid
Sweden - Gert Ove Andersson
Spain - Rafael Ibarbia
Switzerland - Jean Roderes
Monaco - Alain Goraguer
Italy - Angelo Giacomazzi
France - Franck Pourcel
Netherlands - Dolf van der Linden
Ireland - Noel Kelehan
United Kingdom - Harry Rabinowitz
