Bosnia

Music/Lyrics: Linas Rimsa, Sigitas Geda/Linas Rimsa, Sigitas Geda

The first entry of the night is more like a pagan chant than a song at times. Drums are used effectively to add a bit of bite.

Music/Lyrics: Wim Claes, Emma Philippa/Wim Claes, Emma Philippa

Two songs in and already we hear the first of the possible winners. The sweeping pan pipes sound beautiful in combination with the strings and the whole thing has impact.

Music/Lyrics: Alejandro Carmona, Carlos Lopéz/Fernando Rodriguez, Alejandro Piqueras

When the first impression the audience has is what the singer is wearing, it pays to leave positive or even neutral thoughts. Lydia’s choice of dress fails on both counts! The song she is charged with singing is, by Spanish standards, a rather lacklustre ballad. 

Music/Lyrics: Tonci Huljic/Vjekoslava/Huljic

Doris’ second tilt at the title is completely different to her first. 13 years earlier. She went up-tempo and much more dramatic. A vocal was included in the backing track, which was against the rules as all vocals have to be sung live on stage. As a result, the EBU deducted 33% of Croatia’s score from the contest. This gave them a lower five year point average, potentially relegating them from future contests. 

Music/Lyrics: Paul Varney/Paul Varney

Precious started the decline of the United Kingdom in the contest. Twelfth was the lowest finish for the UK at the time by one of the contests most successful countries. Say It Again is an empty lifeless mixture of soul and pop. Band member, Jenny Frost, went on to be part of successful girl group, Atomic Kitten

Music/Lyrics: Primoz Peterca/Primoz Peterca

Here is one of the problems with the free language rule! Darja’s pronunciation isn’t always exact, resulting in ‘eyes’ sounding like ‘arse’. That aside, her second Eurovision song is not unlike her first, a classy but standard ballad that you just know is going to build long before it does. .

Music/Lyrics: Erdin Tunc/Erdin Tunc, Canan Tunc

In a contest in which a lot of the entries are uninspiring, Dön Artik is a very welcome inclusion. Its pace and infectious rhythm inject the contest with vitality. 

Music/Lyrics: Stig André Van Eijk Stig/André Van Eijk

While a contemporary R ‘n’ B sound will be considered by some to be a positive, it is how the song sounds that counts. The best description was given by Radio 2 commentator Ken Bruce, who said “he’s wearing a vest with a picture of a bull on the front, and the song is a bit like something the bull might leave behind.”   

Music/Lyrics: Ebbe Ravn/Ebbe Ravn

Congratulations should be given to anyone still awake at the end. The Danish ballad meanders its way slowly and limply from the start to the finish.

Music/Lyrics: Pascal Grazic Pascal Grazic

Celiné Dion returns! Well, nearly. It is easy to imagine the 1988 winner and international superstar applying her talents to the French entry. Nayah controls the stage in Divaesque fashion. 

Music/Lyrics: Alan Michael, Tjeerd van Zanen/Alan Michael, Tjeerd van Zanen

If 1999 was the start of the British decline, the same could almost be be said of the Dutch. It would be the last time they would be in the top ten for many years. Marlayne’s performance was top notch, but the song, an up-tempo guitar based MOR effort, left her too much to do to finish too high up the scoreboard. 

Music/Lyrics: Seweryn Krajewski/Wojciech Ziembicki

Poland’s ballad is one of the best of the bunch. Remaining engaging throughout, it has a calm, emotional feel.

Music/Lyrics: Porvaldur Bjarni Thorvaldsson/Sveinbjörn Baldvinsson

One last hurrah for europop? After Selma’s second place, this style of song went out of fashion in the contest as the public became more and more involved in the voting. 

Music/Lyrics: Giorgios Kallis, Andreas Karanicolas/Giorgios Kallis, Andreas Karanicolas

Our second Marlain, although with a different spelling. Every year the contest throws up an astonishing result, and this year was the turn of Cyprus to suffer. Deserving of a much higher placing,  Tha'nai Erotas is fast and very catchy. 

Music/Lyrics: Lars Diedricson/Gert Lengstrand, Marcos Ubeda

Elements of the piano arrangement conjure up memories of Sweden’s most famous winner. Like Waterloo, it is very upbeat, memorable and adds touches of saxophone to provide a little quirkiness.

Music/Lyrics: Jorge do Carmo/To Andrade

Moving away from a traditional Portuguese sound, Rui’s song is a soft rock, MOR number that quickly becomes uninteresting. 

Music/Lyrics: Bronagh Mullan/Bronagh Mullan

Ireland had by now started a run of sending sub-standard, plodding ballads to the contest. A complete lack of charisma from the two sisters didn’t help. 

Music/Lyrics: Dave Moskin/Dave Moskin

Bobby’s young voice sounds a bit too twee for some, but will probably sound cute to others. As for the song, it is buried in the crowd and has nothing to lift it.

Music/Lyrics: Jeki Oved, Yaakov Lymai, Gabriel Butler/Jeki Oved, Yaakov Lymai, Moshe Datz

As it turned out, the hosts had a good draw. Following rather drab entries, Eden’s chirpy song and energetic dancing brought the show back to life. 

Music/Lyrics: Chris Scicluna/Moira Stafrace

The three Maltese starlets posed and smiled a lot. Despite being rather repetitive towards the end, the youthful pop sound of Believe 'n Peace would have already hooked those who like it without winning new fans.

Music/Lyrics: Ralph Siegel/Bernd Meinunger

Cynics could have a field day with this one. A Turkish group representing Germany with Turkish flavoured song whose title includes the name of the host city. There was even room in the lyrics for a burst of Hebrew. Siegel and Meinunger at their most desperate! 

Music/Lyrics: Dino Dervishalidovic/Dino Dervishalidovic

How the Bosnians must have wished their original choice could have been there! They were left with their hopes in the hands of daft, disorganised sounding ditty whose only saving grace was the occasional interjection by the fiddle. 

Music/Lyrics: Priit Paajusaar, Glen Pilvre/Kaari Sillamaa

Rumour has it that Estonia would have won if only juries had been used. Thank the Lord for televoting then! Some of the previous songs seemed to be designed to send viewers to sleep. Anyone still awake would surely have been finished off by Evelin’s dreary lullaby. 

Music/Lyrics: Constantina Constantinou/Constantina Constantinou

Conductor: Stavros Lantsias

The contest got off to a cracking start! Siblings Chara and Andreas had an up-tempo number with an infectious rhythm driving the whole song. They and the backing singers clearly enjoyed themselves. 

Music/Lyrics: Levent Coker/Mehtap Alnitenmiz

Conductor: Levent Coker

To avoid relegation from the contest, Turkey had to score 113 points, more than it had ever scored before. It was a wonderful moment when that was achieved with this unmistakably ethnic piece of uplifting pop.

Music/Lyrics: Tor Endresen, Arne Myksvoll/Tor Endresen, Arne Myksvoll

Conductor: Geir Langslet

Poor old Tor! He entered the Norwegian selection many times and when he finally won and went to the contest, he scored nothing. Although his guitar based mid-tempo MOR song deserved at least a few, this type of song was starting to sound a bit dated. 

Conductor: n/a

Bettina featured in George Nußbaumer’s backing group in 1996. Her song is jazz/funk influenced and while it is mainly in German, it features several words in English.

Ireland - Marc Roberts - Mysterious Woman (English)

Music/Lyrics: John Farry/John Farry

Conductor: n/a

The history books could have easily shown yet another victory for Ireland. Mysterious Woman is a well constructed and very engaging ballad which Marc delivered very well. 

Music/Lyrics: Saso Lobic/Zoran Predin

Conductor: Mojmir Sepe

Slovenia was one of the relative newcomers to the contest and this was arguably its best up to then. It’s a classy ballad during which Tanja stands fairly still and waves her arms slowly in the air in a manner that could have looked silly, but actually succeeded in fitting in with the mood of the song.

Music/Lyrics: Barbara Berta/Barbara Berta

Conductor: Petro Damiani

If the Swiss thought that his song was going to be a contender, they were always heading for disappointment. While not horrible to listen to, it is too easily forgotten, not a good sign when some of the scores would be decided by members of the public!

Music/Lyrics: Ed Hooijmans/Ed Hooijmans

Conductor: Dick Bakker

The experience of Mrs. Einstein shone through as they gave a very relaxed and professional performance of their up-tempo, old fashioned foot tapper.

Music/Lyrics: Fabio Ricci/Alessandra Drusian, Carmen di Domenico

Conductor: Lucio Fabbri

After a gap of four years, Italy returned for one year only. Almost as if Italian broadcaster RAI wanted to show Europe what it was missing, they sent a shortened version of the Sanremo winner and finished a creditable fourth. What a shame Italy hasn’t been seen in the contest since.

Music/Lyrics: Marcos Llunas/Marcos Llunas

Conductor: Toni Xucla

Spain does sincerity in music very well. Marcos sang like he meant it to lift an already high quality, very Spanish ballad.

Music/Lyrics: Ralph Siegel/Bernd Meinunger

Conductor: n/a

Another Siegel and Meinunger song and all the usual trademarks of their ballads are there. Bianca herself didn’t look too convinced of its merits. 

Music/Lyrics: Tomasz Lewandowski/Magda Czapinska

Conductor: Krzesimir Debski

With only three previous entries in the contest, Poland was already proving itself to be a strong competitor. Ale Jestem in no way lets the side down. It’s full of life, moves freely along and importantly, is very memorable.

Music/Lyrics: Harmo Kallaste/Kaari Sillamaa

Conductor: Tarmo Leinatamm

Maarja-Liis was making her second consecutive appearance in the contest, having been in Oslo the year before, when she performed a duet. As then, this song is a ballad that is pleasant, if not gripping. 

Music/Lyrics: Milic Vukasinovic, Sinan Alimanovic/Milic Vukasinovic

Conductor: Sinan Alimanovic

This was also the second appearance in the contest for Alma. Despite the title, this is a cheerier effort with an often repeated refrain.

Music/Lyrics: Thilo Krassman/Rosa Lobato de Faria

Conductor: Thilo Krassman

With the Blues Brothers cousins muttering in the background, Celia was never likely to be the first Portuguese singer to win the contest. The song is too bland and doesn’t go anywhere.

Music/Lyrics: Stephan Berg/Stephan Berg

Conductor: Curt-Eric Holmquist

Having tried (with some success) slow ballads for the previous three years, Sweden sent the type of song it is loved for; unashamedly upbeat and extrovert, Bara Hon Älskar Mig will certainly get the party started.

Music/Lyrics: Emmanouil Manousselis/Emmanouil Manousselis

Conductor: Anacreon Papageorgiou

Horepse was a late replacement as the Greek entry, and it shows. While it is not a bad song, it does sound under prepared.

Music/Lyrics: Ray Agius/Ray Agius

Conductor: Ray Agius

This is one of Malta’s better efforts. Debbie’s song flows effortlessly along and ups the ‘oomph’ just at the right time. The percussion section is put to good use.

Music/Lyrics: Viktor Rakonczai/Krisztina Bokor Fekete

Conductor: Peter Wolf

Boy bands were fashionable at the time. VIP and their song are an example of the worst of this ‘genre’, bland, irritating and empty. It sounds like it has lasted more than the regulation three minutes long before the three minutes are up! 

Music/Lyrics: Alla Pugachova/Alla Pugachova

Conductor: Rutgar Gunnarsson

Alla, the wife of 1994 Russian singer, Philipp Kirkorov, was given the opportunity for a suitably over the top performance for her big, show style song, and it is safe to say that she took full advantage!

Music/Lyrics: Lars Pedersen/Thomas Lægard

Conductor: Jan Glæsel

Kølig’s ode to the lady working on the telephone exchange is only the second rap song the contest has heard. His manic performance detracted slightly from what is quite a likeable entry. 

Music/Lyrics: Jean-Paul Dréau/Jean-Paul Dréau

Conductor: Régis Dupré

For someone so young, her performance was very relaxed. Her song is also very laid back and relaxed, perhaps a bit too laid back to have enough impact on the scoreboard.

Music/Lyrics: Davor Tolja/Alida Sarar

Conductor:  n/a

Four piece girl group ENI were very colourful and energetic as they performed their modern pop song. Although the look and sound were modern, it comes across as a bit amateurish. 

Music/Lyrics: Kimberley Rew/Kimberley Rew

Conductor: Don Airey

Katrina and friends scored what was at the time the highest number of points ever! Having won a low key national final, they headed to Dublin as one of the favourites. Love Shine A Light is a big anthem and was given a big performance by American Katrina. Both the televoters and juries loved it!

Music/Lyrics: Paul Oscar, Trausti Haraldsson/Paul Oscar

Conductor: Szymon Kuran

Without doubt, the most contemporary song of the contest, Paul gave us a high-tech trance song. His blonde, leggy dancers guaranteed the sexiest performance of the night.

Music/Lyrics: Levent Coker/Selma Cuhaci

Conductor: Levent Coker

In her first of two successive contest appearances, Sebnem sang a laid back, smooth Turkish song, ably assisted by a violin and an accordion. 

Music/Lyrics: Simon Tauber, Steve Rodway/Simon Tauber, Steve Rodway

Conductor: Ernie Dunstall

Wearing a dress made by her Gran, Australian born Gina injected a bit of life early in the show. Easily the most contemporary song for years, it could be argued that the international success of the song provided a springboard for a more modern look and feel to contests in the future. 

Music/Lyrics: Ketama/Ketama

Conductor: Eduardo Leiva

For many, this is one of the surprising qualifiers for the 1996 contest. It doesn’t get much more Spanish than this; a strong voice dominating a Flamenco rhythm.  

Music/Lyrics: Pedro Osório/Jose Fanha

Conductor: Pedro Osório

Portugal’s entry is just as ethnic as the Spanish song which preceded it, but is more digestible. Lucia was never seen without a smile on her face around Oslo, and her performance was suitably chirpy. She would be seen soon afterwards as Colin Firth’s intended in the romantic comedy, Love Actually.

Music/Lyrics: Andreas Georgiallis/Rodoulla Papalambrianou

Conductor: Stavros Lantsias

This is the first of Constantinos’ four (although he’s still trying for more!) appearances. It’s a tender ballad which he sang from the heart.

Music/Lyrics: Paul Abela/Alfred Sant

Conductor: Paul Abela

The tune is a happy one, but the lyric - about a relationship gone wrong - isn’t. Her performance was merry and the song is one of the best from the small island.

Music/Lyrics: Zrinko Tutic/Zrinko Tutic

Conductor: Alan Bejlinski

Maja brought her experience to bear as she filled the stage on her own for her performance of her big Croatian ballad. Some of the big notes were challenging, but she was up to the task.

Music/Lyrics: George Nußbaumer/George Nußbaumer, Michael W Krausz

Conductor: Michael W Krausz

The Austrian song is in the minority Voralbergian language, the only time it has been heard in Eurovision. The song is a very cheerful gospel number that had them clapping in the aisles. 

Music/Lyrics: Regis Mounir/Regis Mounir

Conductor: Rui Reis

Switzerland’s song is an under-rated ballad that deserved a higher placing. Kathy’s voice reflected the nature of the lyric as she yearns for someone she can’t have.

Music/Lyrics: Costas Bigalis/Iro Trigoni

Conductor: Michalis Rozakis

Percussion instruments provide an interesting intro and gave a sense of anticipation of what may follow. What does follow is an upbeat, flowing tune which Marianne performs very well. 

Estonia - Ivo Linna and Maarja-Liis Ilus - Kaelakee Hääl (Estonian)

Music/Lyrics: Prit Pajusaar/Kaari Sillamaa

Conductor: Tarmo Leinatamm

At first glance, a young Maarja-Liis and a not so young Ivo might seem an odd combination for a duet. However, it is suitable given the lyrics; a young girl uncertain in the world and the voice of experience giving advice.

Music/Lyrics: Torhild Nigar/Torhild Higar

Conductor: Frode Thingnaes

Rumoured to be one of the songs rejected by NRK for the 1991 national final that never was, I Evighet is a lilting, flute inspired ballad. With Elisabeth at the microphone, it was always going to be up there at the end

Music/Lyrics: Dan Ar Braz/Dan Ar Braz

Conductor: Fiachra Trench

Although his song is in Breton, Dan employed the services of two British ladies for the main vocals. Diwanit Bugale is a gentle lullaby that was never going to win, but wasn’t destined to finish last either. 

Music/Lyrics: Aleksander Kogoj/Aleksander Kogoj

Conductor: Jozé Privsek

Regina’s dress was made by an old lady she met in a rural Slovenian village who offered it to her to wear in Oslo. The clarinet dominates the instrumental parts. 

Music/Lyrics: Piet Souer/Peter van Asten

Conductor: Dick Bakker

There is an abundance of na-na-na's at the beginning, but don’t let that put you off! After that, the song develops into a likeable, mid-tempo song that stays in the memory.  Little Maxine may well have needed physiotherapy for her neck, such was the height difference in height between herself and Franklin.

Music/Lyrics: John Terra/Daniel Dittmar

Conductor: Bob Porter

As with their Dutch neighbours before them, there are na-na-na’s aplenty at the start. Despite the dodgy opening, the overall effect of the song is pure, unashamed, unadulterated feel good fun! 

Music/Lyrics: Brendan Graham/Brendan Graham

Conductor: Noel Kelehan

What a shock! No-one predicted yet another Irish win. It was written by the man who had written Ireland’s 1994 winner. It’s a very Irish folk song. When asked who or what ‘The Voice’ belonged to, Brendan said it was up to the listener to decide. Had the current televoting system been in place, Eimear would have been nowhere near the top of the scoreboard. Definitely a case of the luck of the Irish!

Music/Lyrics: Timo Niemi/Timo Niemi

Conductor: Olli Ahvenlahti

Jasmine’s stylists had given her a formal look, which was inappropriate and looked odd! A casual approach for her gentle folk song would have been more in line with Jasmine’s youth and bubbly personality, and would have distracted less from a very pleasant tune.  

Music/Lyrics:  Anna Mjöll Olafsdottir, Olafur Gaukur/Anna Mjöll Olafsdottir, Olafur Gaukur

Conductor: Olafur Gaukur

Jazz loving Anna Mjöll sung a tribute to the genre and its most famous exponents. It’s very laid back and relaxing. 

Music/Lyrics: Robert Amirian/Kasia Kowalska

Conductor: Wiesiek Pieregorolka

There is drama by the bucket load in Kasia’s song and performance. Strong piano and short bursts of strings are to the fore in the arrangement.

Music/Lyrics: Adrian Bajramoviv, Sinan Alimanovic/Adrian Bajramoviv, Sinan Alimanovic

Conductor: Sinan Alimanovic

After Poland came another song full of passion, if not too much excitement. Za Nasu Ljubav never quite takes off.

Music/Lyrics: Juraj Burian/Juraj Burian

Conductor: Juraj Burian

Like the Bosnian song before it, the Slovakian song struggles to get going and it is difficult to stop one’s mind wandering to other things before the end. 

Music/Lyrics: Peter Grönvall/Nanne Grönvall

Conductor: Anders Berglund

This was one of the favourites going into the contest. In fact, it was revealed afterwards that it had won the pre-selection round. It’s a haunting piece of music, not unlike the type of song that has brought Enya big hits.

Music/Lyrics: Jascha Richter/Keld Heick

As the songs were heard in alphabetical order, the Danish song would have been the sixth to fall on the ears of the listening juries. There was not a chance that it would stand out enough to qualify. it’s a ballad that fails to get off the ground and fails to hold ones attention for long enough.

Music/Lyrics: Hanne Haller/Hanne Haller

The failure of Germany to qualify left NRK with less money to spend, as Germany is one of the biggest financial contributors to the EBU. Its omission is one of the biggest mysteries in the history of the contest. There is lots of energy and pace which combine with a very contemporary sound to create a song that many fans can still sing many years later.

Music/Lyrics: Delhusa Gjon/Delhusa Gjon

A real travelogue from the Hungarians! Almost every capital city in Europe gets a mention and why not? It worked for the Irish in 1990 so why not now? Unfortunately, it didn’t! Even so, it would have been worthy of a place in the final line up. Delhusa’s at times big ballad is strong enough not to need a live performance to enhance it, although it does sound better in Hungarian than English. He can feel aggrieved at not qualifying, far worse songs made it through.

Music/Lyrics: Doron VitenBerg/Eyal Madani

The mistake the Israelis made was to submit the live version of the audio for the pre-selection. Galit sounded as if she was stretching her voice too much and the up-tempo song sounds messy. Maybe the studio version would have impressed more.

Music/Lyrics: Kaliopi Gril/Kaliopi Gril

Here is one that would have benefited from a live performance. It would have given Kaliopi the chance to put across the emotion her voice portrays. From the audio, she could come across to some as simply screeching aimlessly. That is unfair as there is clearly emotion behind the vocal. 

Music/Lyrics:

It is possible to feel sorry for the Romanians being forced to stay at home. Theirs is a strong ballad which Monica would have given full justice to given the opportunity to perform it live. 

Music/Lyrics: Andrej Kosinskij/Nikolaj Denisov

Andrej sounds very like Mick Hucknall and the song is not a million miles away from something you would find on a Simply Red album. It is jazzy in feel and no-one can be surprised that he didn’t need to book a flight to Norway.

Conductor: Anders Berglund

Getting things started were the odd couple! Marie and Roger had completely different images. What counts is the performance and their voices worked well together for this big (almost) ballad.

Music/Lyrics: Karl Salli, Nake Lentonen/Karl Salli, Nake Lentonen

Conductor: Olli Ahvenlahti

Finland sent a fresh and contemporary dance number to Dublin. The image given to the two sisters of Cat Cat didn’t quite work and relying on the orchestra took away the punch that dance tracks need.

Music/Lyrics: Brendan Graham/Brendan Graham

Conductor: Noel Kelehan

Surely Ireland couldn’t win for an unprecedented third time in a row? Not with two middle aged gentlemen singing an Irish folk song? It was too introspective to have broad appeal, wasn’t it? Yes, yes and no! Ireland made history and showed all those newcomers how it’s done.

Music/Lyrics: George Theophanous/George Theophanous

Conductor: George Theophanous

Two years after she finished 11th with a song written by her husband, they teamed up again, and finished 11th again. The Greek styles of the two songs aren’t worlds apart. There’s more of an ‘oomph’ this time and plenty of emoting by Evridiki. 

Music/Lyrics: Fridrik Karlsson/Stefán Hilmarsson

Conductor: Frank McNamara

Under the circumstances, the pressure was on Sigga to give a good performance and deliver a result, and she succeeded with the first part. While pleasant enough to listen to, Nætur seems to drift along and doesn’t seem to go anywhere. 

Music/Lyrics: George de Angelis, Mark Dean/George de Angelis, Mark Dean

Conductor: Michael Reed

Following in the more famous footsteps of Michael Ball and Sonia, West End star Francis accepted the BBC’s invitation to represent her country. The result was a very different song than the United Kingdom had sent before. It wasn’t the musical number that many may have expected; it is more in the style of the new age/gothic genres. Someone had the idea of including a crown of ‘thorns’ in Francis’ clothes.

Music/Lyrics: Zeljen Klasterka/Zeljko Krznaric

Conductor: Zdravko Sljivac

Having failed to win the Dora (Croatia’s selection show for the contest) the previous year with arguably a much better song, Tony tried again with a ballad that is very sincere and traditionally Croatian in sound. 

Music/Lyrics: Joao Carlos Oliveira/Rosa Lobato de Faria

Conductor: Thilo Krassman

At first glance, the Portuguese song is a sad affair, but the lyrics are actually positive. Sara, one of the youngest singers in the contest, carried it well.

Music/Lyrics: Giuseppe Scaramella/Giuseppe Scaramella

Conductor: Valeriano Chiaravalle

Duilio’s ballad builds steadily chorus by chorus. The only verse is right at the beginning.

Music/Lyrics: Ivar Must/Leelo Tungal

Conductor: Urmas Lattikas

Estonia’s debut is more likely to appeal to appeal to older listeners than younger ones. Nagu Merelaine is easy to listen to and doesn’t fit into any particular genre.

Music/Lyrics: Antonio Furtuna, Dan Bittman/Antonio Furtuna, Dan Bittman

Conductor: Noel Kelehan

The piano is the dominant instrument throughout Dan’s ballad. It works well, providing the song with an easy flowing feeling and a sound to make the listener maintain interest to the end. 

Music/Lyrics: Christopher Scicluna/Christopher Scicluna, Moira Stafrace

Conductor: Anthony Chircop

The tune is ok, but the lyrics are, at times, awful; ‘to tell you the truth, I’ll never change my youth’, and ‘not easy to say, there’s a will, there’s a way’, being a couple of examples. Chris should have taken the deeper notes as Moira couldn’t get down that far. Apart from that, it’s reasonable, and the theme of striving to succeed could be inspirational for some. 

Music/Lyrics: Edwin Schimscheimer/Coot van Doesburgh

Conductor: Harry van Hoof

Willeke was the choice Dutch broadcaster, NOS, to go to Dublin. The public selected a good, musical style big ballad for her to sing. 

Music/Lyrics: Ralph Siegel/Bernd Meinunger

Conductor: Norbert Daum

Mekado were three ladies put together by prolific contest writers, Siegel and Meinunger. Justifiably one of the favourites, their song is a contemporary, up-tempo tune which stays long in the memory. The performance was very professional.

Music/Lyrics: Martin Durinda/Martin Sarvas

Conductor: Vladimir Valovic

Old fashioned (in a good way) rock band Martin Durinda and Tublatanka got Slovakia’s so far occasional participation off to a good start. As you might expect, it’s a rock song, although the strings take away some of the impact. 

Music/Lyrics: Ovidijus Vyshniauskas/Gintaras Zdebskis

Conductor: Tomas Leiburas

Lithuania’s history in the contest started very inauspiciously with a failure to score even a single point. Ovidijus did deserve a few. Perhaps the shaven head with the leather trousers pt a few people off.

Music/Lyrics: Rolf Lövland/Hans Olav Mörk

Conductor: Pete Knutsen

Experienced Elisabeth teamed up with the youthful Jan for this ballad that remains popular with the fans. Big ballads need big voices to pull them off and these two coped easily. Jan’s immense talent is a big loss to music after his tragically early death.  

Music/Lyrics: Edo Mulahalilovic/Adi Mulahalilovic

Conductor: Siman Alimanovic

The audience applauded Alma and Dejan so loudly for so long at the beginning of the song that Dejan missed his cue because he couldn’t hear the orchestra. He maintained concentration enough to come in at the right place. Sentimentality aside, this is a very solid ballad. 

Music/Lyrics: Costas Bigalis Costas Bigalis

Conductor: Noel Kelehan

Costas and his band looked like a recession hit Showaddywaddy in their colourful jackets. It’s definitely Greek, but doesn’t represent Greek music well, being a bit too juvenile. 

Music/Lyrics: Alfons Weindorf/Karl Brunner, Johann Brunner

Conductor: Richard Österreicher

Petra was one of the younger singers in the contest, and it showed during her sometimes nervy performance. The song is an understated anthem.

Music/Lyrics: Alejandro Abad/Alejandro Abad

Conductor: Jose LLobel

The scene is reflective and melancholy for the verse. When the chorus arrives, the song almost explodes into life and develops a rock feel.

Music/Lyrics: Silvester Jenei/Silvester Jenei

Conductor: Peter Wolf

Another country losing its Eurovision virginity. Frederika only needed to stand absolutely still to perform her folk song. It received the first maximum of the night, and deserved to do well.  

Music/Lyrics: Lev Zemlinski/Youddiph

Conductor: Lev Zemlinski

Russia’s first song starts gently but builds into the epitome of dramatic! Her cleverly designed dress allowed the choreography to increase the dramatic atmosphere as it waved and curled around her. A majestic debut indeed!  

Music/Lyrics: Stanislaw Syrewicz/Jacek Cygan

Conductor: Noel Kelehan

Only the seemingly unstoppable Irish prevented a debut win for Poland. Petite Edyta was the little lady with the big voice with a fine ballad that has aged very well. 

Music/Lyrics: Bruno Maman/Nina Morato

Conductor: Alain Goraguer

The eccentric Nina looked and sounded like Barbara Streisand performing a number from ‘Cabaret’. It’s one of those you love or hate with not much room for views in-between. 

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

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.