Aaaah, Anne-Marie

35 years ago, Luxembourg triumphed in the Eurovision Song Contest held on home ground in the Théatre Nouveau (later renamed Théatre Municipal), putting all the spotlights of Europe onto young Anne-Marie David, who had already had a taste fame doing Maria Magdalena in Jesus Christ Superstar in France.

Anne-Marie may not have transformed into the biggest star ever on French territory, but "Tu te reconnaîtras" was a big hit both here and there over the globe in various languages, and Anne-Marie managed to build herself a fine career in Turkey of all places.

Not to mention that it is my favourite winner to date in Eurovision. And Anne-Marie is one of the best performers ever in the contest. If you want to read more about her, check out this fansite, for instance.



Anne-Marie David - Tu te reconnaîtras - Luxembourg 1973
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Anne-Marie David - Un peu romantique
rejected entry France 1972



Anne-Marie David - Je suis l'enfant soleil - France 1979
3/19

Sherisse revival

We have a clever thingy that keeps track of our visitors, so we can see where they came from and what words they googled to find us, and somewhat surprisingly, today's top search term was Sherisse Laurence.

Not that I mind. I love Sherisse, I was only unaware that there was a revival going on. So for everyone wondering what that wonderful woman is up to these days, you can have a quick peek here.

And, to remind ourselves just how good she is and how great her song was, here it is for the second time on this blog. This time in its preview version.



Sherisse Laurence - L'amour de ma vie - Luxembourg 1986
3/20

A touch of plastic

More than once did I ask myself who put together the juries for the 1987 ESC in Brussels. When the voting was over, most of the beforehand speculation proved disastrously wrong and most of the pre-contest favourites failed miserably.

The worst failure of the night turned out to be Plastic Bertrand of "Ça plane pour moi"-fame, who had been talked into making Eurovision for Luxembourg by his record label, who wanted him to grab some easy attention before the next release and concert tour. "Amour Amour" was widely tipped to do more than well, especially given the fact that Plastic was still a star in the French-speaking part of the world.

Guess if the grapes turned sour once the votes were in and the grand total for la contribution luxembourgoise was a sad little four. Second last place and the fiasco was complete. Plastic put his singing career on hold and turned to do other things in the business.

"Amour Amour" may not be the ultimate masterpiece, but it is certainly not a four-points-loser. That would certainly not happen today, since Plastic (among a multitude of other things) is half-Ukranian. As we know, these days, Ukrainians can't go wrong.



Plastic Bertrand - Amour Amour - Luxembourg 1987
21/22

Lucky #2

Swedish newspapers are slowly beginning to realise that Charlotte Perrelli's number two slot in the running order is far from a good place to be. Christer Björkman, from the Swedish delegation, pointed out that no song ever won ESC from a #2 starting position and now the newspapers cry. It is all over, there is no hope and we could just as well send in Céline Dion to sing "My Heart Will Go On" as the Swedish ship is sinking.

Again, they are rather short on analysis. It is true that no #2 ever won the contest, but the semi final is not about coming out on top. It is a question of ending up among the top ten, and that is more than possible from a #2 spot.

And in the final, there is no risk of Charlotte ending up singing in second position. The UK has already secured that unlucky spot for themselves.

But here are quite a few songs that made top ten despite singing as #2:



Michèle Torr - Une petite française - Monaco 1977
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Sophie Carle - 100 % d'amour - Luxembourg 1984
10/19



Sonja Lumme - Eläköön elämä - Finland 1985
9/19



Gina G - Ooh... Aah... Just A Little Bit - United Kingdom 1996
8/23



Sebnem Paker & Ethnic - Dinle - Turkey 1997
3/25



Jessica Garlick - Come Back - UK 2002
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I miss Luxembourg

When I plunged head first into the world of Eurovision, my first love was Luxembourg. There was something exciting and appealing about that tiny country that did so well. Adults told me about when they were young and used to tune into Luxembourg to hear great music, and I marvelled at the fact that the small grand-duchy could be so powerful when it came to creating music.

Much later, I learnt about Radio Luxembourg and realised a thing or two. But back to my childhood.

At the age of ten, I bought the single of Sherisse Laurence and played it over and over and over and loved it. I loved her, I loved the yellow sweater she wore on the cover picture, I loved the english version and I loved the fact that the cover so boldly stated: Eurovision 1986 Selection Luxembourg.

I loved Luxembourg, and it really hurt my feelings when they, quite soon, lost their marbles and started doing worse before dropping out altogether after the 1993 final.

We lost Luxembourg, but I still have the single of Sherisse Laurence. And it is still great.



Sherisse Laurence - L'amour de ma vie - Luxembourg 1986
3/20