Arvingarna

Basic information

Date:

15 May 1993

Contest type:

Grand Final

Venue:

Green Glens Arena, Millstreet, Ireland

Broadcaster:

RTE

Presenter(s):

Fionnuala Sweeney

Other shows this year:

1993 Preliminary Heat

About the contest:

Due to an increasing number of countries wanting to enter the contest (mainly brought about by the breakup of Yugoslavia), a system of relegation was brought in. The countries finishing in the bottom seven would not be able to take part the following year. Cyprus, Luxembourg, Turkey, Slovenia, Denmark, Israel and Belgium were the unlucky seven.

In order to keep the number of participants down to a mere 25, new countries wanting to take part had to qualify through a pre-selection contest between themselves. Bosnia, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia competed for the three places available in Dublin.

As we said ‘hello’ to the new countries, we also said ‘goodbye’ to one of the original Eurovision countries, Luxembourg, who has not entered the contest since. With all this juggling, a record 25 countries descended on the small Irish town.

It was second time lucky for Ireland, who beat the United Kingdom to the top spot for the second successive year. The venue they chose to do it in was the most ambitious to date. Businessman Noel C Duggan persuaded RTE to hold the contest in the small town of Millstreet. He owned an equestrian arena, but the whole thing had to be virtually rebuilt to make it suitable for hosting this huge music event. The risk paid off, and Millstreet had what has been acknowledged as one of the best sets, which was very high-tech.

The 1993 contest saw the birth of the Barbara Dex award. This is now an annual award voted for by fans to the worst dressed singer in each contest. It is named after the Belgian singer whose dress was all most viewers could concentrate on for all the wrong reasons.

Tony Wegas, Katri-Helena and Tommy Seebach were no strangers to the Eurovision stage. Tommy was making his third appearance, while Tony and Katri-Helena were making their second, Tony for the second year in a row.

The scoring system remained unchanged, with juries awarding points from 1 to 8, then 10 and 12.

Trivia:

Irish singer, Niamh Kavanagh, worked for a bank at the time. Her employers put an advert in a national paper on the day of the contest, wishing her luck and telling her to take Monday off. On Sunday, another advert appeared congratulating her on her victory, and telling her to have Tuesday off as well.

About the songs:

Enrico Ruggeri	Italy - Enrico Ruggeri - Sole d’Europa (Italian) Music/Lyrics: Enrico Ruggeri/Enrico Ruggeri Conductor: Vittorio Cosma Enrico won the 1993 Sanremo festival with a rock song, but went for something softer for the European stage. The lyrics are about the situation in what was by now the ex Yugoslavia.
Burak Aydos	Turkey - Burak Aydos, Öztürk Baybora & Serter - Esmer Yarim (Turkish) Music/Lyrics: Burak Aydos/Burak Aydos Conductor: n/a Turkey was never going to be in the running to win with this song. It’s too messy, as is the performance by Burak and the two gentlemen who are effectively his backing musicians/singers. It looked like a bad audition for a talent show.
Münchener Freiheit	Germany - Münchener Freiheit - Viel Zu Weit (German) Music/Lyrics: Stefan Zauner/Stefan Zauner Conductor: Norbert Daum Swirling strings make the German song burst into life from the start. The volume lowers for the first verse and builds gradually as the song progresses. Münchener Freiheit was one of the best known acts in the contest and much was expected of them.
Annie Cotton	Switzerland - Annie Cotton - Moi, Tout Simplement (French) Music/Lyrics: Christophe Duc/Jean Jacques Egli Conductor: Marc Sorrentino Switzerland made a strong attempt to win the contest for a third time with this very classy ballad. It was ‘quite simply’ Annie on the big stage; she was on her own and gave a strong performance.
Tommy Seebach 1993	Denmark - Tommy Seebach Band - Under Stjernerne På Himlen (Danish) Music/Lyrics: Tommy Seebach/Keld Heick Conductor: Georg Keller Tommy’s third contest entry is also his least successful. On some levels, it’s also his most appealing than his other two songs. He even managed to emerge from the whistling solo unscathed.
Katerina Garbi	Greece - Katerina Garbi - Ellada, Hora Tou Fotos (Greek) Music/Lyrics: Dimosthenis/Dimosthenis Conductor: Haris Andreadis Kati was a big star in Greece at the time and continues to be. This is not one of the strongest songs in her repertoire, but it’s still a strong song with a good Greek feel about it. She was one of the best performers on show.
Barbara	Belgium - Barbara - Iemand Als Jij (Flemish) Music/Lyrics: Marc Vleigen/Marc Dex Conductor: Bert Candries Fashion student Barbara designed her dress. It may have been wise to take advice from the pros as it was hard to take your eyes off the dress, and not for positive reasons.
William Mangion	Malta - William Mangion - This Time (English) Music/Lyrics: William Mangion/William Mangion Conductor: Joseph Sammut William’s voice is well suited to his blues influenced song. It was a rare outing for a song of that genre in the contest.
Inga	Iceland - Inga - þá Veistu Svarið (Icelandic) Music/Lyrics: Jon Kjell Seljeseth/Fredrik Sturluson Conductor: Jon Kjell Seljeseth The Saxophone features prominently in Iceland’s jazz influenced ballad. This, combined with Inga’s sultry performance, created a memorable three minutes.
Tony Wegas 1993	Austria - Tony Wegas - Maria Magdalena (German) Music/Lyrics: Christian Kolonovits, Johann Bertl Conductor: Christian Kolonovits Austrian broadcaster, ORF, asked Tony, who had sung in Malmö the year before, to again represent Austria. Maria Magdalena was a lot more up-tempo than his previous entry, and edges towards rock.
Anabela	Portugal - Anabela - A Cidade Até Ser Dia (Portuguese) Music/Lyrics: Pedro Abrantes, Marco Quelhas/Pedro Abrantes, Marco Quelhas Conductor: Armindo Neves Anabela’s performance was full of charm. Her song is a grower that needs a few listens, not a good thing in a contest of this nature, when jurors may be listening to the song for the second or third time.
Patrick Fiori	France - Patrick Fiori - Mama Corsica (French) Music/Lyrics: Francois Valery/Francois Valery Conductor: Christian Cravero The French had experimented with different rhythms for the last three years but returned to more native ground. Patrick is from Corsica, and the use of an accordion and traditional guitar gave the song a very Corsican taste.
Arvingarna	Sweden - Arvingarna - Eloïse (Swedish) Music/Lyrics: Lasse Holm/Gert Lengstrand Conductor: Curt-Eric Holmquist Arvingarna were four blond Swedish chaps who looked resplendent in jackets best described as interesting. The song is more than strong enough to divert attention away from the sartorial choices. Eloïse is more edgy than typical Swedish Schlager, but retains a very strong sing-along element.
Niamh Kavanagh	Ireland - Niamh Kavanagh - In Your Eyes (English) Music/Lyrics: Jimmy Walsh/Jimmy Walsh Conductor: Noel Kelehan Ireland won for the second year in succession, the first time this had happened since Israel won in 1978 and 1979. When the Irish send a ballad, it’s usually a good one, and In Your Eyes sounds as good now as it did then, if not better.
Modern Times	Luxembourg - Modern Times - Donne-moi Une Chance (French) Music/Lyrics: Jimmy Martin, Patrick Hippert/Pedro Abrantes, Marco Quelhas Conductor: Francis Goya In the unlikely event that Luxembourg enters the contest again, then this will be the last entry from the Grand Duchy. Luxembourg usually entered a ballad, and this one is no more than adequate. This is not a fitting end for a country that has made a positive contribution to the quality of songs over the years.
1X Band	Slovenia - 1X Band - Tih Dezeven Dan (Slovene) Music/Lyrics: Cole Moretti/Tomaz Kosec Conductor: Jozé Privsek 1X Band qualified by winning the pre-selection contest held in Ljubljana. Despite that, Slovenia finished lower than the other two songs that had qualified from the pre-selection. Tih Dezeven Dan is more positive than the songs from the other Yugoslav republics. Perhaps this is a reflection of how much easier it was for Slovenia to achieve independence than it proved for some of the other Yugoslav republics.
Katri-Helena 1993	Finland - Katri-Helena - Tule Luo (Finnish) Music/Lyrics: Matti Puurtinen/Jukka Saarinen Conductor: Olli Ahvenlahti This is an old fashioned Finnish song which also has a more contemporary flavour. Katri was making her second appearance in the contest, 14 years after her first.
Fazla	Bosnia - Fazla - Sva Bol Svijeta (Bosnian) Music/Lyrics: Dino Dervishalidovic/ Dino Dervishalidovic, Fahrudin Pecikoza Conductor: Noel Kelehan Fazla arrived in Millstreet with a dramatic tale of running to the plane in Sarajevo under gunfire, their conductor failing catch the flight. Lead singer, Muhamed Fazlagic, took every opportunity to speak lovingly of his home country and what was happening to it. After the contest, he went to Sweden and claimed asylum! That aside, the song is a beautifully constructed piece of emotional heart tugging with an arrangement tinged with sadness.
Sonia	United Kingdom - Sonia - Better The Devil You Know (English) Music/Lyrics: Dean Collinson, Brian Teasdale/Dean Collinson, Brian Teasdale Conductor: Nigel Wright The BBC stuck with the formula that nearly brought success to the United Kingdom the year before. Pop star Sonia was asked to take up the baton from Michael Ball. Naturally, the United Kingdom public chose an up-tempo song for her to sing. It’s fair to say she gave the performance of her life.
Ruth Jacott	The Netherlands - Ruth Jacott - Vrede (Dutch) Music/Lyrics: Eric van Tijn, Jochem Fluitsma/Hans Westbroek Conductor: Harry van Hoof Ruth sang all the songs in the Dutch final having been asked to represent her country by Dutch broadcaster, NOS. With hubby Humphrey Campbell (ESC 1992) among her backing group, Ruth’s performance was one of the strongest of the night. The same could definitely not be said of the song, despite it being one of the more modern in the contest.
Put	Croatia - Put - Don't Ever Cry (Croatian) Music/Lyrics: Andrej Basa, Dorde Novkovic/Andrej Basa, Dorde Novkovic Conductor: Andrej Basa Croatia’s first entry is a soft, melodic number that doesn’t quite hit the mark. Put displayed their newly acquired patriotism by dressing in traditional costume. The final line, "Don't ever cry, my Croatian Sky", reflected the pride Croats were feeling in their new nation.
Eva Santamaria	Spain - Eva Santamaria - Hombres (Spanish) Music/Lyrics: Carlos Toro/Carlos Toro Conductor: Eduardo Leyva Hombres was one of the most contemporary songs in the contest, but still remained very Spanish. The presentation on stage was not helped by choreography that, at times, made the dancers look like clockwork toys.
Zymboulakis and Van Beke	Cyprus - Kyriakos Zymboulakis and Demos Van Beke - Mi Stamatas (Greek) Music/Lyrics: Aristos Moschovakis/Rodoulla Papalambrianou Conductor: George Theophanous Perhaps in misguided anticipation of winning, Zymboulakis and Van Beke recorded their song in four languages. The rules dictated they had to sing their mid-tempo ballad in the Cypriot national language of Greek.
Lakahat Shiru	Israel - Lakahat Shiru - Shiru (Hebrew) Music/Lyrics: Shaike Paikov/Yoram Tahar-Lev Conductor: Amir Fröhlich This is very, very Israeli! There is lots of harmonising, one line solos, an anthemic chorus and a bringing together of the group at the end, except for the backing singer, who forced her way into the final camera shot, contrary to what had been rehearsed.
Silje Vige	Norway - Silje Vige - Alle Mine Tankar (Norwegian) Music/Lyrics: Björn Erik Vige/Björn Erik Vige Conductor: Rolf Lövland Silje’s folk song was the dark horse of the contest. Her image of innocence added to the ambience of a song, which build gradually. Unusually, the two verses were sung first, followed by three choruses.