Reviewing every Eurovision Song Contest Winner (1969)

Finally getting back to this project and jumping straight into the chaos of 1969!

Salome, "Vivo cantando" (Spain). 

There are several notable things about this performance, starting with Salome's mile high beehive hairdo and pale blue dress that looks like a cross between scraggly animal fur and exotic beads.  There's the tuxedo-clad barber shop trio that were beamed in from a completely different, much sleepier song.  There's the way she loses herself in the song and resorts to dancing (against Eurovision rules at the time!), distracting herself from the singing she's supposed to be doing but upping the excitement factor of the song times ten.  All these performance aspects add up to more than the sum of their parts -- this is arguably the first all sizzle, no (or very little) steak performance in Eurovision.  The song doesn't amount to much, jumping between Broadway glitz, flamenco rave-up, and touching ballad, trying to cover all bases at once but never establishing an identity.  Nevertheless, "Vivo cantando" helps establish the Eurovision tradition of putting on a wild performance with flashy costumes, dancing, and other bizarre gaga and hoping people won't notice the deficiencies of the song overlaying it.  6/10.   


Lulu, "Boom Bang-a-Bang" (United Kingdom)

Lulu was a fairly big star when she represented the UK and her team clearly expected that to win the day for them in the contest.  And hey, it worked.  Lulu looked like the cuddly pink precursor to Meghan Trainor in the "All About That Bass" video, she won Eurovision, and "Boom Bang-a-Bang" was a massive hit in the UK and all over Europe.  The song, however, is treacly nonsense that I never want to hear again.  3/10. 


Lenny Kour, "De troubadour" (Netherlands)

I wouldn't have guessed that a straight up folk song with a strong protest/political bent actually won Eurovision exactly fifty years ago.  Political songs are, and I assume were against the Eurovision rules except when the rules are arbitrarily ignored (e.g. when a dictator is rumoured to have fixed the contest to show off to the world).  Certainly no other song in Eurovision channeled the spirit of Woodstock '69 more than this one.  The mostly orchestra-free first minute is a welcome break from the usual bombast of the orchestra, and although the song builds to a rousing climax, I can't help but think it would have been stronger with just the two guitars all the way through.  8/10. 


Frida Boccara, "Un jour, un enfant" (France)  

After hearing this tremendous, almost apocalyptic ballad about an innocent child re-imagining the world, I'm beginning to make sense of this unusual four way tie.  Each song is completely different from the others and would appeal to different voting demographics.  Presumably, the older, golden age of classic songwriting fans would have voted for Frida Boccara and Salome, whereas the younger generation would have been drawn to the reactionary street cred of Lenny Kour and the bubblegum pop of Lulu.  There is no right answer, although I would choose "De troubadour" by a hair over Un jour, en enfant".  Boccara's performance is one to remember for sure, boasting the purest, strongest vocal delivery of any Eurovision winner thus far.  And for trivia buffs, I believe that Frida Boccara was the first Jewish winner (performer, not songwriter) of Eurovision.  8/10.