Manuel Ortega

Basic information

Date:

25 May 2002

Venue:

Saku Suurhall, Tallinn, Estonia

Broadcaster:

ETV

Presenter(s):

Annely Peebo, Marko Matvere

About the contest:

There seemed to have been a sub-contest of the previous few years among host broadcasters to see who could find the biggest venue in which to stage the contest. This culminated in Denmark’s DR organising the contest in a covered football stadium in 2001. It was so big that a lot of the performers were lost in the sheer magnitude of the stage and the arena. It was with some relief that Estonia won in Copenhagen as there were no stadiums of that size in Estonia. The Saku Suurhall in Tallinn was a brand new arena, so new in fact, that it was still being built while the Estonians were celebrating their success. This led to concerns that ETV would not be able to organise the contest in time. However, these fears proved unfounded and everything was ready when the delegates arrived in Tallinn for rehearsals.

Broadcasters were finding different methods of searching for a singer and song to represent them in the contest. Instead of simply commissioning a writer or holding a one off show to find the song, Spain’s TVE held what seemed like a never ending process to find their representative. With the birth of the Pop Idol phenomenon, TVE produced a series called Operacion Trionfo. It lasted many, many weeks and involved several aspiring young singers facing the vote of the Spanish public. After what seemed like an eternity, Rosa emerged as the winner, but her chums from the show also went to Tallinn as her backing singers.

The ubiquitous Pop Idol was to be the source of many countries acts over the coming years. Two others singers in the 2002 contest, Jessica Garlick and Malene, found their fame this way and demonstrated the perils of such shows. Most of the contestants have little experience and are suddenly thrust into the limelight having only previously sung in front of the bathroom mirror with a hairbrush. The result leaves the hopes of a nation in the hands of a young, newly discovered singer who finds themselves in front of the biggest television audience anywhere in the world. Jessica proved it can be done, but Malene was less assured. In the past, like a particular song or not, it was sung by an experienced professional and rarely was there a bad performance. The popularisation of the TV talent show changed this and resulted in bad performances slipping in to the contest more frequently.

Latvia won the contest with only their second entry, but it could all have been so different but for a couple of quirks of fate. Latvia was only able to enter the contest thanks to Portugal declining the invitation to take part after the EBU increased the permitted number of entries from the proposed 22 to 24. Having made it to Tallinn, Marie may not have won if the song originally selected to represent Lithuania had not been disqualified. The group B'Avarija won the Lithuanian final with the highly rated We All. There is a very strong possibility that it would have won the contest. However, after B'Avarija’s victory, it was discovered that the song had been publically performed before the date allowed by the rules and so the second placed song, Happy You, travelled to Estonia instead and it finished second last.

Marie’s routine is remembered as a striptease, but is really just a couple of on stage costume changes during which she remained more than sufficiently covered. Elaborate presentations were becoming more and more commonplace in the contest and Marie’s victory led to an even greater emphasis on style, sometimes at the expense of substance.

While Constantinos was making his second appearance for Cyprus, Karolina was making her first of two for Macedonia. Marie N would follow up her victory in 2002 with the job of co-host in 2003.

Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Macedonia, Romania and Switzerland came back into the contest having missed out the year before. Iceland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Portugal were left out, although Portugal could have been in the contest had they accepted the EBU’s invitation to take part.

About the songs:

One	Cyprus - One - Gimme (English) Music/Lyrics: Georgios Theophanous/Georgios Theophanous One were a specially formed boy band fronted by 1996 singer, Constantinos. The song is high energy and typical boy band fare and the highly choreographed performance contains no surprises.
Jessica Garlick	United Kingdom - Jessica Garlick - Come Back (English) Music/Lyrics: Martin Baylay/Martin Baylay Proving that some reality show contestants are actually talented, Jessica (who came fourth in the first series of Pop Idol) gave a very polished and professional performance of a very tidy ballad. The finish in the top 5 (something which was becoming rare for the United Kingdom) was well merited.
Manuel Ortega	Austria - Manuel Ortega - Say the Word (English) Music/Lyrics: Alexander Kahr/Robert Pfluger With a chorus featuring only seven words repeated over and over again, it would be easy to become bored. Manuel’s engaging performance and the up-tempo, easy nature of the song do enough to maintain interest. Say the Word is one of Austria’s most likeable entries of the time.
Michalis Rakintzis	Greece - Michalis Rakintzis - S.A.G.A.P.O. (English) Music/Lyrics: Michalis Rakintzis/Michalis Rakintzis Think of a song which might have been left to one side by Gary Numan and you have S.A.G.A.P.O. Michalis’ electro tune is quite repetitive by the end. That said, its uniqueness stands out and there is enough to enjoy.
Rosa	Spain - Rosa - Europe's Living A Celebration (Spanish) Music/Lyrics: T Ten, X Ten/T Ten, X Ten Rosa was backed by her competitors form broadcaster TVE’s Operacion Trionfo selection series, and everyone was determined to party. Given a much needed spark from the original version, the party was very much started by this infectious, uplifting song.
Vesna Pisarovic	Croatia - Vesna Pisarovic - Everything I Want (English) Music/Lyrics: Milana Vlaovic/Milana Vlaovic Diminutive Vesna had plenty of vocal power and she belted out a very modern pop tune. It was a clear move away from the traditional Croatian sound which had been the hallmark of Croatian songs in the years before.
Prime Minister	Russia - Prime Minister - Northern Girl (English) Music/Lyrics: Kim Breitburg/Karen Kavaleryan, Evgene Fridlyand, Irina Antonyan Some referred to Prime Minister as a boy band. This was unfair. They were a cut above the usual standard of all male vocal groups. Northern Girl is also superior to the usual boy band pop fodder. It is crisp, melodic and catchy without being childish.
Sahléne	Estonia - Sahléne - Runaway (English) Music/Lyrics: P. Paulus, I. Laisaar, A. Kotkas/J. Hallas With a dress that made any red-blooded male in the front row smile broadly, Swedish born Sahléne defended Estonia’s title as if she were a native. Runaway is an acoustic guitar led, up-tempo, jolly pop song worthy of a defending champion.
Karolina	Macedonia - Karolina - Od Nas Zavisi (Macedonian) Music/Lyrics: N Pereviski-Pere/V. Kisteveski-FrancTzvika The stage presentation was very striking, befitting of the dramatic elements of the song. These aspects, combined with the short, sharp nature of the melody, added up to a strong package.
Sarit Hadad	Israel - Sarit Hadad - Light A Candle (Hebrew/English) Music/Lyrics: Tzvika Pik/Yoav Ginai Having tried various alternatives for the previous few years, Israel returned to the more familiar territory of the anthemic peace ballad. This formula always seems to work, even if the scoreboard doesn’t always reflect this.
Francine Jordi	Switzerland - Francine Jordi - Dans Le Jardin De Mon Âme (French) Music/Lyrics: Francine Lehmann/Francine Lehmann While Francine’s ballad is gracious enough to pass three minutes with, it wouldn’t be unfair to say that it is predictable to the point where those hearing it for the first time could probably hum along.
Afro-dite	Sweden - Afro-dite - Never Let It Go (English) Music/Lyrics: Marcos Ubeda/Marcos Ubeda Swedish up-tempo entries are usually lots of fun. Afro-dite break that particular mould by quickly becoming irritating.
Laura	Finland - Laura - Addicted To You (English) Music/Lyrics: Maki Kolehmainen/Janina Frostell, Tracy Lipp Maki Kolehmainen, the composer, was a member of one of Finland’s most popular bands, Aikakone. While Addicted To You is not in the style that made Aikakone so successful, it is still accessible, chirpy pop. Laura put a lot of gusto into her performance, but the costume designer let the side down.
Malene	Denmark - Malene - Tell Me Who You Are (English) Music/Lyrics: Michael Ronson/Michael Ronson Malene is another graduate from the X-Factor style reality show. Her nervous face revealed her inexperience and affected her performance. That is a real shame; Tell Me Who You Are is a far above average pop song that begs for the volume to be increased.
Maja	Bosnia & Herzegovina - Maja - Na Jastuku Za Dvoje (Bosnian) Music/Lyrics: Dragan Mijatovic/Ruzica Cavic Ably assisted by a couple of podium dancers, Maja was clearly ready for her big moment. She was as brassy as her backing track and the I Will Survive nature of the lyrics would have appealed to female listeners everywhere.
Sergio	Belgium - Sergio & the Ladies - Sister (English) Music/Lyrics: Marc Paelinck/Dirk Paelinck Every so often, a song has those that love it and those that hate it with very little in-between. Sister is one of those and could have been from the Blues Brothers. One thing everyone can agree on is Sergio’s performance. It was full on and certainly not lacking energy.
Sandrine François	France - Sandrine François - Il Faut Du Temps (French) Music/Lyrics: Patrick Bruel, Rick Allison, Marie-Lorence Gros/Patrick Bruel, Rick Allison, Marie-Lorence Gros The classiest of classy ballads just missed out in Copenhagen the year before, so the French tried the same formula again. In doing so, they raised the bar even higher in terms of quality, but sadly, the result wasn’t what it should have been, a trip to Paris in 2003.
Corinna May	Germany - Corinna May - I Can't Live Without Music (English) Music/Lyrics: Ralph Seigel/Bernd Meinunger With not a hint of embarrassment, there is more cheese here than a Swiss dairy! One for the fans only, it is more than a little dated.
Buket Bengisu & Saphire	Turkey - Buket Bengisu & Saphire - Leylaklar Soldu Kalbinde (Turkish) Music/Lyrics: Fani Hodara/Ami Hodara, Figen Cakmak Leylaklar Soldu Kalbinde is a return to Turkish entries of the 80’s and early 90’s. There is a folk atmosphere but also a lack of punch which comes with their more up-tempo entries.
Ira Losco	Malta - Ira Losco - 7th Wonder (English) Music/Lyrics: Philip Vela/Gerard James Borg With much better ballads to vote for, the 8th wonder is the amount of people who must have voted for Ira. There is too much twee and no grit or substance.
Monica Anghel & Marcel Pavel	Romania - Monica Anghel & Marcel Pavel - Tell Me Why (English) Music/Lyrics: Ionel Tudor/Mirela Fugaru Possibly the two best singers and the most powerful voices in the contest! Feelings of despair abound and Tell Me Why has what every good power ballad has, passion.
Sestre	Slovenia - Sestre - Samo Ljubezen (Slovenia) Music/Lyrics: Robert Pesut, Barbara Pesut/Robert Pesut, Barbara Pesut What were the Slovenians thinking when they choose this? Quite simply, one of the worst songs in the history of the contest!
Marie N	Latvia - Marie N - I Wanna (English) Music/Lyrics: Marija Naumova/Marija Naumova, Marats Samauskis Marie started a trend with her family friendly strip style choreography. It spawned imitations for years after. There is no doubt it helped her win. Her song had the necessary catchiness, but needed the boost Marie’s routine gave it to do so well.
Aivaras	Lithuania - Aivaras - Happy You (English) Music/Lyrics: Aivaras Stepukonis/ Aivaras Stepukonis Maybe it was just his natural voice, but Aivaras sounded off-key the whole time. For a song called Happy You, there is an absence of joy, but it is quirky and has enough about it to be entertained by.