Denmark

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.  

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.  

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.  

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.   

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.