Y'a pas d'mal à s'faire du bien...

Of course it is exactly 34 years since the win of Abba today. But everyone knows Abba. More than decent winner, great group and all that jazz.

But the best song of 1974 didn't even make it into the final.

Determined to do better after three years of relative failures, French television had found the song to swing the trend. Christine Fontaine wrote "Y'a pas d'mal à s'faire du bien", an irrisistibly catchy little number, that RTF promptly renamed "La vie à 25 ans" and had Dani to sing it. Everyone was more than pleased (except Dani herself, who preferred more daring material) and France seemed to be a contender again.

And then the unthinkable happened. Four days before the final, old man Pompidou, president of the republic, dies and leaves his countrymen in shock and sadness. No way on earth a country could take part in a song contest with a bouncy, happy song the same day as the presidential funeral.

So, the song was taken out of the running with extremely short notice and poor Dani sat on her hotel room in Brighton, seeing Abba winning the whole thingy.

Life is never fair. "La vie à 25 ans" is still a timeless masterpiece that would probably still stand a chance today. The dancing troupe around Dani in this clip would certainly fit well in on a number of entries this year. Besides, the lyrics could be the happiest outcry from France ever. "There's nothing bad in doing yourself some good" - a motto for you all.



Dani - La vie à 25 ans - France 1974
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