Retro Reviews: Hilversum 1958
Despite winning the competition in 1957, the Netherlands did
not automatically earn the right to host the third edition of the Eurovision
Song Contest the following year. At the time, convention stated that
broadcasters would take turns to stage the event. The EBU’s preferred choice
was for the BBC to host the contest in the United Kingdom, however,
disagreements with unions meant that this could not go ahead. After other
broadcasters also declined the opportunity, Dutch broadcaster NTS did
eventually receive hosting rights, and this established the Eurovision
tradition of the contest being hosted in the previous year’s winning country.
The contest was held on Wednesday (!) 12th March,
at the AVRO Studios in Hilversum. The
set consisted of a small stage, with an interchangeable background that could
be removed to show the scoreboard during the voting, and the orchestra seated
stage right. No significant rule changes were brought in following the 1957
contest, though the time limit for competing entries of 3 minutes and 30
seconds was enforced more strictly this year. The voting system was also the
same as the previous year: each country had a jury of ten members, who each
awarded one vote to their favourite song (excluding their own country’s entry)
with no abstentions allowed.
Just as in 1957, ten countries participated in the contest,
including, for the first time, Sweden. The United Kingdom, on the other hand,
did not compete, despite being listed as a participating country in the
original set of rules. It is generally thought that the BBC decided to withdraw
after its poor result in the 1957 contest. Once again, Monaco had also intended
to submit an entry, but did not appear on the eventual list of participants.
This year’s contest also featured four returning artists, including both
previous champions, Lys Assia and Corry Brokken.
Once again, I watched the contest on YouTube – the version I
watched is here and does have Dutch commentary, though I will say that
didn’t bother me too much during the show. Like 1957, the show was very
manageable, lasting about an hour and a quarter overall. Hannie Lips is our
presenter for the evening, though it seems a bit odd to give her that title
given that she doesn’t make an appearance until more than halfway through
proceedings and has a considerably reduced role compared to Anaid last year.
The show opens with NOT Te Deum, and we see shots of the scoreboard and
the orchestra as the commentator introduces the programme.
This year, we get straight into the competing entries before
we have even seen a presenter, with a lot more of the explaining presumably
being left to the commentators in each country. Just before each performance,
the song’s title and performing artist are displayed on screen, along with the
name of the participating country (in its native language). The names of the
composers and lyricists are announced by the commentator. Each performing
artist enters with their conductor (apart from those who nominated the host
musical director instead) down a set of stairs in the centre of the stage, and,
after their performance, leaves stage right.
Italy: Domenico Modugno – “Nel blu, dipinto di blu”
Of course, this song is more familiar than most of tonight’s
entries, but it was very interesting to hear “Volare” in its original form (why
on earth didn’t they call it that to start with?). Domenico has a good voice,
and gives the song power whilst managing to keep it restrained during the
verses. He has very expressive arms and facial expressions, and engages well
with the camera. This is definitely a step up from anything we heard in 1957,
and thank goodness it doesn’t go on for quite as long as the previous Italian
entry! Domenico gets a big round of applause at the end of his performance, and
I think it’s a real shame that he isn’t as well-known as he ought to be.
Netherlands: Corry Brokken – “Heel de wereld”
As reigning champion, Corry had a lot to live up to, and
this result must have been disappointing. The song doesn’t start well; it’s not
pleasant to listen to and Corry sounds a bit shouty, though of course she is a
seasoned performer and keeps everything on track (though for some reason she
keeps looking down!). “Heel de wereld” is nice but unremarkable, and doesn’t
really go anywhere. I did enjoy the orchestral interlude towards the end, but
that only made it feel like more of a let-down when Corry was unable to build
on it. Whilst it’s not dreadful, I can see why only one juror chose it as their
favourite package of the night.
France: André Claveau – “Dors mon amour”
The song is pleasant enough, and André performs it well, but I must
admit that I got distracted the first time I listened to this, and had to go
back to it afterwards, which is never a good sign. It all trundles along nicely
for most of its duration, without building particularly, but the original chorus
is probably just about strong enough to carry the rest of the song. André
is a good performer, and probably the main strength of his package – he gives
us some excellent vocal moments towards the end. The audience are very
impressed, but I must say I don’t really understand why this won.
Luxembourg: Solange Berry – “Un grand amour”
There were some nice shots of the orchestra at the start,
but otherwise this package was just a little bit odd. Solange seems quite
formal, and also looks like she is being filmed from a different angle than the
other participants so far. The song is earnest but slightly devoid of
personality, and Solange addresses the camera quite directly throughout. She is
a very dramatic performer, but at times it felt almost like she was playing a
character, and that somehow it was all a big joke that I didn’t understand.
I’ve said very little about the song itself, and that’s because it was as dull
as dishwater.
Sweden: Alice Babs – “Lilla stjärna”
Sweden is making its debut this evening, and an entry
performed in Swedish seems like a bit of a novelty nowadays! I also enjoyed
seeing Alice perform in the Leksand traditional dress. “Lilla stjärna”
doesn’t start well, with far too much “la la laaa” for my liking and a slightly
odd action from Alice which looks like she is cueing up the orchestra. The
vocals do get better (apart from one moment when Alice sounds a bit out of
breath), but the song is another that is nice but not hugely memorable. In
typical Swedish fashion, it all seems to be aimed at the international audience,
but it does have a couple of nice dreamy parts that set it apart from the rest
a bit.
We then have an interlude from the Metropole Orkest (who are
serving as this year’s orchestra), who perform the “Wedding Dance” from Jacques
Press’ “Hasseneh”. This was, reportedly, to ‘give the juries a break to deliberate’
(why they are deliberating I’m not sure, shouldn’t they be voting
independently!). Regardless, I really enjoyed this and am glad it was included
in proceedings.
Denmark: Raquel Rastenni – “Jeg rev et blad ud af min
dagbog”
And here we have the first props of the evening: a notepad
and pen, which seem rather surplus to requirements to be honest. Raquel makes
use of them at the start of the song whilst looking pensive but then just
stands there holding them! This is quite a jazzy number, and more interesting
than some of what we have seen so far, but it’s another earnest performance
that doesn’t do too much to hold my attention. Raquel has a nice voice,
however, and the song does finish well. Overall, it’s certainly an understated
package but one that I think just stays on the right side of boring.
Belgium: Fud Leclerc – “Ma petite chatte”
Finally, something with a bit of bounce to it! This song has
a big orchestral start which really caught my attention, and Fud is both a
competent singer and an engaging performer. The whole package really stands out
in this field – it’s not too dissimilar in nature to Belgium’s entry from 1957
but is definitely executed better, both in terms of song and performance. Fud
clearly has an excellent time with this, and there are some lovely vocal
moments towards the end. I really enjoyed this song, and it certainly woke me
up a bit after some of the slower numbers in the first half of the show!
Germany: Margot Hielscher – “Für
zwei Groschen Musik”
Margot is back again, but without her telephone – this year
she is armed with records, a crown and a “Miss Jukebox” sash which makes for a
rather ridiculous outfit. It’s another of those strange numbers that has an
upbeat opening, then a slower verse before it picks up a bit. The song is comic
in the same way as “Telefon, Telefon” but less annoying because she is at least
singing this time! Margot’s vocals are fine but not spectacular, and the
orchestra seemed to get involved at one point as well which I enjoyed. I
thought I was going to find this song deeply irritating, but by the end it had
actually managed to win me over, which was a nice surprise!
Austria: Liane Augustin – “Die ganze Welt braucht
Liebe”
Liane didn’t need to do much to get Austria’s best result at
the contest so far, as the country had finished last on its debut in 1957. She
performs the song in a dress that makes her look a bit like a half-unwrapped
present, and to be honest, the dress is probably the most interesting part
about this whole package. Nothing in particular stands out about this song, and
I think it is very much ‘of its time’, by which I mean that it was largely
brought to life by Liane’s voice and the orchestra, and would not stand up so
well in the era of backing tracks and pre-recorded backing vocals.
Switzerland: Lys Assia – “Giorgio”
It’s Lys Assia for the third year in a row (truly the Valentina
Monetta of her day), performing the first Eurovision song to feature lyrics in
multiple languages (“Giorgio” includes German and Italian). The song is set at
Lake Maggiore, which I was excited about, having been there myself a couple of
years ago. Much like with Belgium, I really enjoyed the bouncy nature of this
song, and thought Lys did well to keep up with it – though of course she is a
very experienced performer. There are some spoken parts (perhaps just one too
many) that I don’t like quite as much but Lys just about makes up for it and
the package doesn’t end up suffering too much.
And now Hannie finally makes an appearance, and explains in
German, English and French that Italy’s Domenico Modugno will be performing
again due to a technical error earlier on meaning that he wasn’t seen by
various juries. He gives a performance that isn’t (to me) noticeably better or
worse than last time, but clearly relishes the second opportunity he has been
given. After that, it’s back to the Metropole Orkest for the interval act,
which included a rendition of Mexican folk song “Cielito lindo”. Again, I
enjoyed this, and really thought that the orchestra were one of the strengths
of this production.
The show continues with Hannie making her way to a small
table on which there is a telephone that gives me flashbacks to last year. The
scoreboard is behind her, and she begins the voting sequence immediately, with
no announcement or explanation. Of course, the scoreboard is manually operated,
and just shows the number of each song as well as its title, with displays for
the total number of points received as well as points received from the jury
currently voting. As was the case in 1957, countries are voting in reverse
performance order.
Whilst it’s not on the same level as something like 1991, this
voting sequence is made more chaotic than it needs to be by a lacklustre
presenter. “Will you wait a minute?”, Hannie asks the Austrian spokesperson as
he begins announcing the votes too quickly – he eventually has to start again
as the very generous seven votes for France are nearly missed. At one point,
Hannie thinks Sweden hasn’t been given enough points on the scoreboard, but it
turns out everything is correct – “there was no mistake”, she says
matter-of-factly. There is a bit of a delay connecting to the German jury, and
Hannie has a rather terse interaction with the spokesperson in Cologne, who
replies “yes exactly” each time she repeats the votes being awarded.
France takes an early lead thanks to the aforementioned votes
from the Austrian jury, though Italy has caught up after the fourth jury has
voted. Denmark responds to this by awarding France nine votes to push it so far
ahead that it feels unassailable at this point. Switzerland takes a while to
get off the mark, but really gets going towards the end of the voting, catching
Italy after seven juries and eventually sitting just one point behind France
with only Italy’s jury left to vote. The Italians give six votes to France and four
to Switzerland, which, after a moment of confusion where the votes seem to go
to Sweden rather than Switzerland, means that France is the winner.
Switzerland comes a very close second, with Italy rounding
out the top three. Sweden makes its mark in its debut year, finishing fourth, with
Austria being joined by Belgium (who rather ran out of steam towards the end of
the voting) in fifth. Germany is quite hard done by (in my opinion) in seventh,
whilst Denmark looked for a while like it might be heading for nul points.
In the end, however, it was the Netherlands and Luxembourg who tied for last
place, each receiving their solitary vote from the Swiss jury.
Final Results:
- France – 27 points
- Switzerland – 24 points
- Italy – 13 points
- Sweden – 10 points
- Austria – 8 points
- Belgium – 8 points
- Germany – 5 points
- Denmark – 3 points
- Netherlands – 1 point
- Luxembourg – 1 point
After the winning song is announced, Hannie disappears backstage
to fetch André and his conductor, who then make their triumphant entrance
to Te Deum whilst Hannie stands behind them clapping. Somebody arrives
to award prizes to the winning composers and lyricists (and of course to André), and
also congratulates the orchestra which I thought was a lovely gesture. The
prize medallion doesn’t seem to want to come out of its box, prompting a ripple
of laughter from the audience. André makes a short speech giving his acknowledgements,
then reprises his winning song before the orchestra bring the show to a close.
I enjoyed watching this year’s contest, and was actually
quite struck by how different the show felt to 1957. Whilst both productions were
decidedly no-nonsense, the programmes were structured quite differently, with Hannie
making far fewer appearances than Anaid did last year. To already be listening
to the first entry less than two minutes in was astonishing, and seems
unfathomable now! Of course, the contest was still finding its rhythm at this
point in time and was being organised on much more of a year-by-year basis,
without anything vaguely resembling the Eurovision brand we know today. In my opinion, the main strength of this production was the orchestra, who I thought did an excellent job.
On the whole, I would say that the line-up was stronger than
1957, though probably less consistent. Italy made a good attempt to bring the
contest up to date with the ‘real’ music world, and I genuinely enjoyed some of
the other songs this year, but I honestly struggled to come up with enough
material to write what you have just read about some of these songs. There’s
only one or two that I actually disliked, but everything is just nice and/or
vanilla and/or dreary. It will be interesting to see if broadcasters will be
more swayed by the French victory or Italy’s commercial success when choosing
their entries for 1959.
Douze Points: Italy. Could it really be anyone else?
This is one of the most famous Eurovision songs of all time, and gave the
contest a much-needed contemporary boost. The juries may have looked past it
but the song winning not one but two Grammy awards in 1959 says it all really.
Nul Points: Austria wasn’t too much better, but ultimately
I’m going to agree with the juries on this one and say Luxembourg. Sometimes
an interesting performance can uplift a dreadfully dull song, but unfortunately
this managed to do the opposite and damage the overall package.
My Votes:
Much like in 1957, it’s daft to be awarding points like this
when the field is so small, but here we are. A very clear distinction between
the top five, which I would go back and listen to again, and the rest, which
all drowned in a very boring ocean.
1 point: Luxembourg
2 points: Austria
3 points: Netherlands
4 points: Denmark
5 points: Sweden
6 points: France
7 points: Germany
8 points: Belgium
10 points: Switzerland
12 points: Italy
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