Could It Be Happiness?: Sennek's Eurovision EP

While my Nicki French CD is probably held hostage by customs I took some time to check out another new Eurovision coverversion project.
Sennek, Belgian Eurovision singer in Lisbon has released four Eurovision songs over the past few months now bundled in a digital EP Eurovision Unplugged.  (scroll down if you have Spotify)

The tracks:
- Ding A Dong (Netherlands 1975, Teach In)
- Just A Little Bit (Ooh, Aah) (United Kingdom 1996, Gina G.)
- Gelukkig Zijn (Belgium 1975, Ann Christy)
- Rise Like A Phoenix (Austria 2014, Conchita Wurst)
Four lovely versions, sort of unplugged. Just A Little Bit is a lush jazzy affair which shows that it’s more than a disco tune.
Gelukkig Zijn is sung in Dutch and English, just like that legendary performance in Stockholm back in 1975. Senneks version is a gentle Bossanova and her vocal performance is delicious.
Now go to your favorite digital outlets and get a hold of this.
 
Sennek’s own Eurovision song A Matter Of Time didn’t make it to the final.
More about that one here at theLisbon Collection.

Sennek has a Website, on her Youtube there's even more Eurocovers. 
Here are more Ding A Dong Eurocovers

Ooh, Aah, Gatecrashing Eurovision

Rise Like A Phoenix at the Copenhagen Collection

2023 Liverpool

Rotterdam weeks 2.1: 바니걸즈 - 딩딩동, K-Pop avant la lettre

The last coverversion for the Rotterdam Weeks can't be anything other than a coverversion of Ding A Dong, the 1975 Dutch winner by Teach In.

Much ridiculed then and now, it still is one of the most recognisable Eurovision tunes ever.

Thát opening riff is up there with the best hits in popmusic. So now you know.

The coverversion (below) is from South-Korea. 

The singers are twin sisters The Bunny Girls 

(바니걸즈), Ko Jeong-suk and Ko Jae-suk. 

They were active and popular from 1970 to 1990. They recorded about close to 20 albums, most with original Korean compositions but in the mid 70's they recorded coverversions from worldwide hits.

Their 1975 LP 팝송 하이라이트 - 라무는 나의 친구 is an album with international songs and it includes both Waterloo (워터루) and Ding A Dong (딩딩동) sung in Korean. Plus songs like ABBA's Honey Honey, Gigliola Cinquetti's La Rosa Nero, Tony Orlando's Yellow Ribbon and the Carpenters' Top Of The World. The title track Lamu Is My Friend is a coverversion of a Bollywood song.

So far I have only found the two mid 70's Eurovision winners (as Eurocovers) but the duo have released many LP's plus many single tracks on Various Artists albums, so there may be more.

* = Google translate says "Pop Song Highlights - Lamu is my friend".

If you want to listen to the whole Bunny Girls album it's here at Youtube (playable track by track).

More Rotterdam Weeks Coverversions

- Ragazzo di Piccola Città in una Grande Sala Giochi

- Penghibor Di Rantau by Rahimah Rahim

- Dutch entries get a makeover (CD release)

- Someday, Morgen, Y Fori with Mary Hopkin

- A Dream Come True for Cilla Black fans

- Una Salsa para Amsterdam

- Cristina Jorio - Come Una Volta

Over the years Ding A Dong has been featured in several Eurocovers posts. 

You'll find them under this (search) link

The Rotterdam 2.1. Collection is here

Here you'll find everything you need about the 2021 entries, versions, releases, charts etcetera.

Nicki French 2015: The Eurovision EP

Digital release image

Nicki French, much loved British Eurovision chanteuse, releases a new remix EP including new mixes of her 2000 entry Don't Play That Song Again and a few Eurovision covers.

Don't Play That Song Again ended 16th in the 45th Eurovision Song Contest (in Stockholm).
Hold Me Now is the winner of the Brussels contest of 1987. It was Johnny Logans 2nd victory for Ireland.
One Step Further, originally by Bardo, ended 7th in Harrogate (1982)
And then there's Ding A Dong, the winner of 40 years ago. The Dutch entry by Teach In won the contest in Stockholm en became a European hit.

Update 2019: Nicki French released another Eurovision EP, more info here.

Nicki French shot to fame with her dance coverversion of Bonnie Tylers Total Eclipse Of The Heart. 
It was already the third time Nicki released the song but the 1995 version became a worldwide hit.
It was a No. 5 in the U.K. and a No. 2 in the USA. It went to No. 1 in Canada, Japan and Brasil.

Eurovision EP Tracks:

1. Don't Play That Song Again 2015 (Andy Haldane Remix)

2. Hold Me Now (Andy Haldane Remix)

3. One Step Further (Matt Pop Mix)

4. Ding A Dong (John Springate Mix)

5. Don't Play That Song Again 2015 (Matt Pop's Golden Anniversary 12inch)

6. Hold Me Now (Matt Pop Mix)

7. Don't Play That Song Again 2015 (Andy's Karaoke Mix)

8. Hold Me Now (Andy's Karaoke Mix)
A CD single is released on May 15, still available at the Energise Records shop.
The digital release is out May 23. (but discontined now)

Earlier this year the album One Step Further was released including Matt Pop remix versions of the four Eurovision songs mentioned above.
Another recent release is the album Nicki French: The Singles 1997-2015.
Energise Records also offer a 4-disc (though CD-r) release with the albums One Step Further, The Singles 1997-2015, a Megamix CD and a 4th album Total Eclipse Of The Heart including two previously unreleased demo's.

Energise Records website
More Eurocovers Ding A Dong posts are here, and various versions of Hold Me Now are here.

Original cdsingle

Also check out 2015: The Vienna Collection
Quick links to all countries:
Albania - Armenia - Austria - Australia - Azerbaijan - Belarus - Belgium - Cyprus - CzechRepublic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - FYR Macedonia -   Georgia - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Israel - Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Malta - Moldova - Montenegro - The Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - San Marino - Serbia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - United Kingdom

Динь-Дон - The Moscow Weeks - Ding A Dong

Eight winners of Eurovision Days Gone By have been recorded in Russian. (also see below)
Ding A Dong, much loved, ridiculed by some. Of course the 1975 Eurovision winner is flowerpicking genius and the Russians agree. The song is covered by Russian artists and it's regularly performed on various CIS states Idols / Eurovision / Kids shows.

Teach In enjoyed some popularity in the Soviet Union in the mid 70's and in 1976 Getty Kaspers, Teach In's singer at Eurovision had a USSR #1 hit with I'm Alone.
Teach In are doing a bit of a re-union tour and they also visitied Russia, playing for 40.000 people at two sold out cencerts. The band will be performing at the opening show welcome party extravaganza in Moscow on the 10th of May.

Ding A Dong Russian coversAlena Apina & Murat Nasirov's version of Ding A Dong is titled Лунные ночи (Lunnye Nochi) and can be found on a 1998 CD The Best Of Alena Apina.

Assorti (Ассорти) gave it a shot in the Russian preselection with Keep On Shining in 2005 and their Динь-Дон (Din Don) from 2003 appeared on their website and various compilations. (pic right)
(This one was already featured in this Ding A Dong Eurocovers post)
The most recent Russian version I know is from 2006 by Havana (Гавана) - Novy god v platie novom (Новый Год В Платье Новом). It was released on various Christmas compilations.


The Moscow Weeks - Dschinghis Khan
More Eurovision Winners In Russian At Eurocovers:
1964 - Non Ho L'Eta - Tamara Miansarova
1965 - Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son - Muslim Magomaev
1967 - Puppet On A String - Emil Gorovec

1975: Some More Ding A Dong

In the Eurocovers post They can't stop the spring (March 21) a few versions of the 1975 Dutch Eurovision winner Ding A Dong (Teach In) were featured, all recorded this millennium.
The song still proves popular as in 2007 at least six coverversions have been released.


I have put all my Ding A Dong knowledge in a single word document for those interested. The list features details on Teach In's original recordings in various languages plus a list of 125 coverversions. I'm sure there must be more, but I think it's quite a list already.

I recently found a Hungarian version of the song by Csonka András which was recorded in 2001, making the total number of languages the song was recorded in now at least 16.
Another one featured below is an Estonian version by ladies band Laine from the 2000 CD Uus laine. Estonian covers of Ding A Dong now total at least five, all recorded in the past decade.
DING A DONG IN 2007
Swedish clubby outfit Supersounds have three versions on their cd-single which was released in Sweden last March. With the Estonian StarSisters CD, Dutch DJ Maarten, A blind choir* & a theatre duo** from Germany and the Finnish Re:Play compilation it's six versions of the unforgettable 1975 tune that have been released in 2007. (any more??, let me know)
* Blinde Musiker München on CD Fast schon in New York (2007)
** Blond (=Annette Postel und Gunzi Heil) - Dud el-du on CD Frisch getönt (UPDATE, it's not from 2007, but 2004....)
* = if anyone happens to have an audio…..
The Supersounds version is available in a variety of remixes at most download sites and (Swedish) CD shops



A few more Ding A Dong versions can be found in this Eurocovers post .

They Can't Stop The Spring

The merry Irish Dervish seem pretty sure of that in their song for the Helsinki Eurovision Songcontest , but right now, the first day of spring, it's very cold and wet here.
So instead of waiting to see if spring really comes this year I play the happiest song ever to win Eurovision, Ding A Dong. Spring, Summer & Christmas rolled into one, the Teach In winner of 1975 is one of the most ridiculed but one of the most brilliant pop tunes ever.
It's also the most covered Dutch entry with over a 100 versions registered in the 10.000 coverversions project.To prove the songs immortality, here's some coverversions that were made this side of the millennium.

2007: DJ. Maarten made a new version with some horny lyrics for this years carneval and released the song on his cdsingle Ik ben een kikker (I'm a frog) (BERK Music)
2006: Another DJ, DJ Limbu from Estonia roped in Jaanika (not Sillamaa) for a club version.
2005: Asta Pilypaitė from Lithuania recorded a Lithuanian version Din Digi Dong which can be found on a compilation CD Lietus Lietuvoj 5.
2005: Burçin Şen from Turkey revamped the song into Doya Doya 30 years after Teach In won and Turkey made their Eurovision debut. (CD Yalan Ask)

2003: Assorti (Ассорти) (picture below) gave it a shot in the Russian preselection with Keep On Shining in 2005 and their Din Don appeared on their website and various compilations.