EuroVisionary.com - Everything you need to know about the Eurovision Song Contest - We welcome the 2009 Contest in Moscow

Spain – Conchita Bautista – Estando Contigo (Spanish)

Music/Lyrics: Antonio Guijarro/ Antonio Guijarro

Conductor: Rafael Ferrer

The first of the debutants, Spain gave us something with an international feel, rather than traditional Spanish which would be a feature in future years.

Music/Lyrics: Hubert Giraud/Pierre Delanoë

Conductor: Raymond Lefèvre

If nothing else, Monaco’s 3rd entry will make you smile.

Music/Lyrics: Leopold Andrejewitsch/ Leopold Andrejewitsch

Conductor: Franck Pourcel

Baritone Jimmy sung a ballad which although pleasant enough, was never going to stand out this year.

Music/Lyrics: Eino Hurme/ Sauvo Puhtila

Conductor: George de Godzinsky

Finland’s contest debut is a very gentle little number with bursts of strings between the vocal lines.

Yugoslavia – Lililjana Petrovic – Neke Davne Zvezde (Serbo-Croat)

Music/Lyrics: Jozé Privsek/Miroslac Antic

Conductor: Jozé Privsek

A ballad opened Yugoslavia’s account in the contest. As with Spain, it’s more international than traditional in style.

Music/Lyrics: Dick Schallies/Pieter Goemanns

Conductor: Dolf van der Linden

The pace of the song is slow at first, but it soon picks up to utilise the sounds of the brass section of the orchestra.

Sweden – Lill-Babs – April, April (Swedish)

Music/Lyrics: Bobby Ericson/ Bo Eneby

Conductor: Thore Ehrling

This is a perky little song with more than its fair share of whistling, always risky during a live performance. However, assuming that the whistling was coming from Lill, it worked well.

Germany – Lale Andersen – Einmal Sehen Wir Uns Wieder (German)

Music/Lyrics: Rudolf Maluck/Ernst Bader

Conductor: Franck Pourcel

The Germans brought a bit of their musical tradition to the contest. There was plenty of accordion accompanying Lale’s flowing ballad.

France – Jean-Paul Mauric – Printemps (Avril Carrillone)  (French)

Music/Lyrics: Francis Baxter/Guy Favereau

Conductor: Franck Pourcel

France defended their title with something very different to all their previous songs. This is fun and bouncy and even finds room from a few ‘bing-a-bongs’

Switzerland – Franca di Rienzo – Nous Aurons Demain (French)

Music/Lyrics: Géo Voumard/Emile Gardaz

Conductor: Fernando Paggi

Maybe in an attempt to win the contest for a second time, Switzerland returned to the formula which won them the first contest. In terms of the placing, it almost worked.

Belgium – Bob Benny – September, Gouden Roos (Flemish)

Music/Lyrics: Hans Flower/Wim Brabants

Conductor: Francis Bay

This song fluctuates between the quiet and the dramatic. Bob was making his second and final appearance for Belgium.

Norway – Nora Brockstedt – Sommer I Palma (Norwegian)

Music/Lyrics: Jan Woelner/Egil Hagen

Conductor: Øivind Bergh

Nora was back, this time with a most understated of songs. Some would find it boring, others classy.

Denmark – Dario Campeotto – Angelique (Danish)

Music/Lyrics: Aksel van Rasmussen/ Aksel van Rasmussen

Conductor: Kai Mortensen

A lot of the ballads entered in the contest sound quite dated today. ‘Angelique’ has aged quite well and, although it lasts for almost three and a half minutes, the time doesn’t drag.

Music/Lyrics: Jacques Datin/Maurice Vidalin

Conductor: Léo Chauliac

In a year when other countries tried something more modern or chirpy, the most popular song with the juries was this old fashioned French ballad sung by an old fashioned crooner.

Music/Lyrics: Bob Allison and John Allison/ Bob Allison and John Allison

Conductor: Harry Robinson

This is possibly the most contemporary song to appear in the contest at that time. It reflected the UK charts and could easily have been a hit for the Everly Brothers, who in fact were at number 1 in the UK on the date of the contest.

Italy – Betty Curtis – Al di là (Italian)

Music/Lyrics: Carlo Donida/Giulio Rapetti

Conductor: Gianfranco Intra

The second worldwide hit to emerge from the contest, as with ‘Nel Blu, di Pinto di Blu’, came from Italy. It’s almost ageless, only the style of the backing vocals reveal its age.