It took me a couple of minutes and a quick read in one of my Eurovision books to realise that there doesn’t seem to exist a visual record of the 1964 contest. Booh! Quite difficult to judge this one without some images to distract me from the frompy old styles to be heard, how old skool. Quite easy to find the winner however!
Even the event of the evening can’t be spotted, how disappointing: at the time, Portugal and Spain were still at the hand of right wing dictators and not all participating countries seemed to appreciate their participation in ESC. One man even took advantage to protest against the political situation by disguising himself as one of the stage hands only to suddenly appear on stage carrying a protest sign. What it looked like I’ll never know. Pity.
On a musical level 1964 is as uneventful as its predecessors with the classic man-with-tragic-song concept from Luxembourg (though I love the backings), Monaco, Norway, Denmark and Austria. Finland went for the same receipe but managed to fool me by adding a jazzy ingredient that made me not want to vomit. Yugoslavia and Belgium on the other hand gave the concept a twist by going for a very relaxed sunday afternoon atmosphere, resulting in my first score for Yugoslavia and in my opinion the best Belgian song until now. Quite the achievement. Portugal almost fell into the same concept trap but added that soon to be typical Portuguese melancholy that I so adore. Needless to say I don’t understand their sad zero at the end of the show.
Not a lot of women to be found in Tivoli that evening, but the ones that did show up did a pretty decent job. Spain confused me with semi passionate and semi bombastic song that quite frankly went nowhere, and Switzerland had the bad fortune of encountering a better version of their song and singer. The German Nora Nova had a catchy chorus but a voice I couldn’t stand any longer than the song lasted and the Dutch Anneke Grönloh packed a happy song with a bit of a weird message – I guess women weren’t as independent back then as they are now…
The public clearly had its favourite, judging by the applause, and I fully agree with their choice.
Voici les points du jury Dimivision:
1 point: Switzerland
2 points: Germany
3 points: Belgium
4 points: Finland
5 points: Portugal
6 points: Yugoslavia
7 points: Netherlands
8 points: France – Le chant de Mallory
Ha, si mignonne! La petite Rachel sings a lovely lullaby like only the French can – well, I’ll be proven wrong on this statement rather quickly I fear! Innocent and sweet, just the way I like it.
10 points: United Kingdom – I love the little things
One of the best voices ever to grace the contest sadly was given quite a bland song. Perhaps Petula Clark would have been happy with this fluffy little song but for the likes of Matt Monro I’d have chosen something with a bit more impact, genre his fantastic Bond anthem From Russia With Love. But a great Eurovision song nonetheless.
12 points: Italy – Non ho l’eta
Taking things to another level is the sweet and fragile Gigliola Cinquetti, the undisputed winner in both real life and Dimivisions bubble. What can I say? A classic, and a well deserved one at that.
Which still keeps the Dutch in the lead, but the others are coming close. Italy becomes the second country to secure a second victory, celebrations are in order!
1 Netherlands 58
2 United Kingdom 52 (1)
3 France 52 (1)
4 Italy 50 (2)
5 Denmark 40 (2)
6 Switzerland 37
7 Sweden 34
8 Germany 33 (1)
9 Monaco 32
10 Luxembourg 30 (1)
But isn’t it time for some real 60’s pop music?
Dimivision 