| Eurovision Song Contest News - 2008 Belgrade, Serbia 

togravus ceterum

Hi Europe and beyond,

I was born the year Sandy Shaw conquered Europe barfooted and currently live in Stuttgart, Germany. I have been an ESC fan for as long as I can think. The first contest I remember is 1977, when Marie Myriam won for my favourite ESC country France. I enjoy discussing ESC songs and trivia but I don’t like all the 'political' discussions and hate speech one can nowadays find on esctoday. (Many thanks to the editors for deleting most of it!) ESC should be about uniting people from different countries and cultures, not about reinforcing differences and prejudice. Celebrate diversity!

ESC and me in a nutshell:

Favourite song
Claude Lombard: Quand tu reviendras (Belgium ’68)

Other songs I love
Laila Kinnunen: Valoa ikkunassa (Finland ’61)
Frida Boccara: Un jour, un enfant (France ’69)
Tonicha: Menina (Portugal '71)
Carlos do Carmo: Uma flor de verde pinho (Portugal ’76)
Anne-Marie David: Je suis l’enfant soleil (France ’79)
Amina: C’est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison (France ’91)
Kasia Kowalska: Chcę znać swój grzech (Poland ’96)
Paul Oscar: Minn hinsti dans (Iceland ’97)
Zeljko Joksimovic: Lane moje (Serbia & Montenegro ’04)

Worst songs
Wilfried: Lisa, Mona Lisa (Austria ’88)
Oleksand Ponomar’ov: Hasta la vista (Ukraine ’03)

Best winning songs
Jean-Claude Pascal: Nous les amoureux (Luxemburg ’61)
Frida Boccara: Un jour, un enfant (France ’69)

Worst winning songs
Herreys : Diggi-loo diggi-ley (Sweden ’84)
Ruslana: Wild Dances (Ukraine ’04)

Favourite decade
The 60s: Wow, they could all sing live! No dancing, no fireworks, no undressing ... Just great songs and great voices.

Worst decade
The 80s: Nobody had a clue ...

Favourite ESC artists
Vice Vukov, Anne-Marie David, Dulce Pontes, Hari Mata Hari

Favourite ESC years
1969, 1979, 1996, 2007

Worst years
1959, 1978, 1987, 2006

Best lyrics
Jean-Claude Pascal: Nous les amoureux (Luxemburg ’61)
Isabelle Aubret: La source (France ’68)

Most overrated ESC artist: Carola
Most underestimated ESC artist: Simone de Oliveira

PS:
I still don’t understand what happened to Rita Guerra in 2003, Xandee in 2004, and Anonymous in 2007 ...

My top 10 in 2008

1. Turkey
2. France
3. Serbia
4. Portugal
5. Israel
6. Bosnia & Herzegovina
7. Albania
8. Belgium
9. United Kingdom
10. Moldova

The following songs were my favourites in the national finals

Di Bono: I'm Not Sorry (Belgium)
Brahim: What I Like about You (Belgium)
Gipsy.cz: Benga Beating (Czech Republic)
Vuokko Hovatta: Virginia (Finland) - My favourite of the 2008 season
Margrét Kristín Sigurðardóttir: Bigger Shoes (Iceland)
Veronika Akselsen: Am I Supposed to Love again (Norway)
Zuma: Always Alyaws (Norway)
Paula Seling & Provincialii: Seven Days (Romania)
La Casa Azul: La revolución sexual (Spain)
Rongedal: Just a Minute (Sweden)

Other stuff about my humble self:

My main interests are literature, philosophy, art, theatre, opera, and history, and normally I prefer listening to classical music. There are, however, some contemporary singers I really love: Cristina Branco, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Etta Scollo, Bénabar, Teoman, Amparanoia, and Hera Björk are among my favourites.

My greatest passion, however, is travelling. My favourite places in Europe are: Hungerford Foot Bridge in London, the vaporetto stop Sant’ Angelo in Venice at night, the Lower Barracca Gardens in Valletta, the terrace of the Parador Hotel in Carmona (Andalusia), the cloisters in Batalha (Portugal) and Saint-Trophime (Arles, France), and Khora Sfakion (Crete) in winter ... the cities I am madly in love with are London, Lisbon, Seville, Istanbul, Brussels, and Ciudad Rodrigo.

If you want to drop me a line: togravus.ceterum@yahoo.de