David Sancho - Estando Contigo!!

Nice to see the old classics aren't forgotten.
Here's Spain's very first entry Estando Contigo (Conchita Bautista) in a new version by David Sancho. It is taken from the album Sancho and Swing from 2011.

Sancho first performed Estando Contigo in the Spanish casting pre-selection thingy to find the 2011 Eurovision artist, but he was axed at an early stage.

Sancho and Swing Website
Special thanks to José Antonio.
More Estando Contigo at Eurocovers

Die Autobahn To Düsseldorf: Yüksek Sadakat

Turkish singer Nilüfer (Nilüfer Yumlu) who we all of course remember from the 1978 Eurovision entry Sevince by Nazar (group, she was in it) has released a new album titled 12 Düet.

It means 12 Duets and it features 12 songs Nilüfer recorded with Turkish rock singers and bands.

Track 2 on the album is Göreceksin Kendini featuring Yüksek Sadakat.

Yüksek Sadakat is of course the 2011 Turkish entrant and Göreceksin Kendini is a coverversion of Tu Te Reconnaitras, the 1973 Eurovision winner by Anne-Marie David (for Luxembourg).

It is the third time Nilüfer recorded Göreceksin Kendini.
It first appeared on a single (CBS 1646, pic left) and a later recording was released on the Various artists album Bak Bir Varmış Bir Yokmuş 3 (Odeon Koleksiyon )

Nilüfer also recorded Greek entry Socrates (by Elpida, 1979) as Beyaz Mendil which was a b-side to single Oh Oh (Burç 3511).

On her album Sen Mühimsin Nilüfer released a wonderful version of the Turkish 1990 entry Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim originally by Kayahan Açar. (Yasar YCD 90007)

As far as I know Göreceksin Kendini is the first ever Eurocover for Yüksek Sadakat.

Read more about Yüksek Sadakat here at The Düsseldorf Collection.

Nilüfers 12 Düet album is out now in the Turkish shops.

Other artists duetting on the album are Şebnem Ferah, Malt, Teoman, Gece Yolcuları, Hayko Sepkin and many others.

Estando Contigo
Sadly it's the end of The Autobahn for David Sancho.
The actor and big band style singer was axed in yesterdays Spanish pre-thing round.
But let's pay him a visit at his website where you can listen to a highly enjoyable version of Estando Contigo, Spains first ever entry.
There's also some other songs in audio or video (Click Saber first, then canciones).

Spain 1961 - Estando Contigo - La Lupe & Antoñita Moreno

Here's a little tribute to the Spanish debut entry already in the Youtube below this post. Estando Contigo by Conchita Bautista ended 8th at the contest back in 1961.
But Estando Contigo really became the evergreen it is today after Marisol adopted the song for the movie Ha llegado un ángel in 1962. You can find more about this Marisol version in Eurocovers post The Kids Are Alright part 1.
Conchita Bautista entered Eurovision again in 1965 with another classic Que Bueno, Que Bueno, but that ended with the dreaded nil poing. But watch Eurocovers for some fab Que Bueno's soon.

La Lupe (1936 - 1992) - Queen of latin soulA latin singer that has always captured my imagination is La Lupe (Lupe Victoria Yolí Raymond). A Salsa singer born in Santiago de Cuba with a typical superstar life and a tragic ending to match.
I first got to know about La Lupe after Dutch radio repeatedly played her totally crazy version of Peggy Lee's Fever as a must hear cult track.
After a while a found a great Best Of CD (including Fever) on Salsa Masters / Sony which still frequents my CD player.

La Lupe's first band was Trio Tropicuba with her then husband Yoyo Reyes but after two years she broke up with her husband and the band split up. By then she was a popular singer in Cuban clubs and her outragious style attracted many fans. But not Fidel Castro I guess, as in 1962 La Lupe emigrated to the USA: "Castro take my club, my money, my car"

In New York she worked with Mongo Santamaria and later with Tito Puente, with whom she recorded her most successful work.

But in the 70's, after she split up with Puente, things went downhill and she moved to Puerto Rico where she could still find work in TV shows and perform at concerts.
When that dried up she returned to New York, but the medical expenses for her 2nd husband had left her broke.
Come the 80's things took several turns for the worst. She was living on benefits, broke her spine in a domestic accident , hanging the curtains and her appartment burnt down.
In 1985 she reunited with with Tito Puente for a performance where she sang from a wheel chair and money was raised to pay for her medical bills.

Legend has it that La Lupe rose from her wheelchair after she was blessed by a evangelical priest. (But maybe she just put on one of her own records).
She turned to religious music and her last 4 albums testified of her love for God and all his miracles.
In 1992 La lupe died in the Bronx, survided by two children and her 2nd husband.

In her recording career La Lupe's musical styles range from popular salsa to local styles from Venezuela (Merengue), Puerto Rico and Venezuela. She wrote many of her songs herself and she covered popular songs like My Way, Unchained Melody, Ciao Amore, Fever (featured below), the Singing Nuns Dominique and the Beatles' Yesterday.
In 1971 La Lupe released the LP La Lupe en Madrid - Volumen 17 (Tico records, SLP-1229) , which seems to be her 17th LP. This includes Estando Contigo, Spains first Eurovision entry.
La Lupe en Madrid was re-issued on CD in the 90's on Fania Records. Most earlier La Lupe records are now very collectable, for the musical content but also for the fabulous artwork and photography.

I recommend you browse YouTube for some La Lupe videos and be amazed. Jean Paul Sartre loved her ('she's a musical animal'), Picasso thought she was a genius and so will you.
La Lupe compilation cds are available from most webshops but if you're lucky (and rich) you can find some goodies in the vinyl shop, latin section.


Antoñita Moreno
And as a bonus here's another Estando Contigo by a legendary singer. At least I get the impression she's legendary (she certainly looks the part,) but I haven't found out much about the singer yet. It's a version by Antoñita Moreno who is an actress and Copla singer from Sevilla, Spain. She was quite famous in the 50's but the rest you'll have to find out for yourself. Some great pictures can be found on this site. Originally released on an EP (Columbia ECGE 71475) (Thanks to Armando for the picture sleeve!)

Estando contigo (Spain 1961) - Los Soberanos

The Spanish debut entry in a feisty pop version by Los Soberanos. From their 2005 CD Maraton Yé Yé (Elefant Records AUTO-005)
More Estando Contigo soon....

The Kids Are Alright !!

Junior Eurovision, the JESC, who needs it?
The Kids do!
The Eurovision spin-off for the under 16s has proven to be a popular tv show for the youngsters aspiring to be the next singer/songwriter (they're supposed to write the songs themselves).
Fun for all the family to be had and the 5th edition taking place in Rotterdam, Netherlands next Saturday (8th December) is no exception.

Junior Eurovision is for the kids, so it's not really Eurocovers material, although there was this one time winner for Spain (2004) with the superbly titled Antes Muerta Que Sencilla (Rather dead than common) by Maria Isabel that wouldn't have been out of place in the adult competition and even got covered by some adults in Mexico (see comments) (Horoscopes de Durango, pictured), in the Dominican Republic (merengue by Juliana) and in Spain by Las Supremas De Mostoles.
You can also find the Youtube of the original version by Maria Isabel.

Eurovision history has been littered with pre-pubescents. Gigliola Cinquetti was too young to love in 1964, 1986 winner Sandra Kim (J'aime la vie) lied about her age to get in the competition and 1989 saw two toddlers on the stage. Israels barely potty trained Gili Natanel singing along with Galit (Derech Ha Melech) and Nathalie Pacque (J'ai Volé La Vie) for France, who was like 4 months or something. (She just got a baby, congratulations Nat!)

To get to the point, here are some youngsters doing cover versions of your favorite grown up Eurovision songs. They will melt every mommy's heart and make you want to make / adopt some of the critters yourself. And there's three parts!

The Kids Are Alright - Part 1. - The Girls
1961 Estando Contigo
Spains debut entry was performed by the ever fabulosa Conchita Bautista but it was the version by Marisol (a.k.a. Pepa Flores) that made the song really famous in Spain. She sang it in the hitmovie Ha Llegando Un Angel (An angel has appeared) and you can watch a clip of it at Youtube (Check out the guys in the backing!)



1965 Poupée De Cire,
----------------Poupée De Son
Considering the fact that the original song allegedly is about an activity unmentionable at this decent family blog, it's a bit unsettling to hear a 6 year old infant sing it. She must have been lured by all the little dollies.
Tatiana (Tatiana Eva Marie) recorded the song in 1992 on her first album Tatiana Chante when she was 6, and has since made name as a comedian, model and singer. Her latest (rather beautiful) CDs with Compagnie Zorongo: Narandilé and Rhapsodia are influeced by her Romanian, Greek, Dutch, French, Swiss, Turkish and Gipsy heritage and you can hear some of her music at her MySpace and website.
Tatiana Chante includes covers of songs by celebrated French songwriters like Gainsbourg, Michel Polnareff, Françoise Hardy and Guy Beart.
The CD also includes a song Ah! Quelle Histoire which could be Cliff Richards Congratulations or not. (Anyone knows?)

2006 Girls and Horses
In 2006 Germany sent Texas Lighting with their perfect slice of country pop No No Never, which failed to get Europe televoting (even though it's really really quite good).

Teresa Strobl loves horses, she even caught horsefever, as she is singing in her version of No No Never, Pferdefieber. It's from the Kiddy Contest 2006 CD, from an Austrian TV competition in which kids sing hits in their own style, and with kid-proof lyrics. Previous Kiddy Contests (& CDs) have featured a few Eurovision covers:
- Kiddy kids - Jungs (Love Shine A Light, UK 97, from CD Kiddy contest 3, 1997).
- Nicki Freiberger - Mein superstar (Zusammen Geh'n, Austria 92, from CD Kiddy Contest 9, 2003)
- Teresa Strobl - Pferdefieber (No No Never, Germany 06, on CD Kiddy Contest 12, 2006)The 2007 edition CD did not produce any Eurocovers.

Another hippic version of No No Never, Mein Kleines Süsses Fohlen (My sweet little foal) was recorded by the Lollipops, two girls who have released a zillion records but remain in their mid teens. The Lollipops CD with the song is Reiterferien sind der Hit, but they also have a new CD out Zusammen sind wir doppelt stark on which they cover the German 2007 entry Frauen regier'n die Welt (Roger Cicero) as Kids Regiern Die Welt (Kids rule the world).



Junior Eurovision Song Contest official website
Junior Eurovision related CDs are available at BeaRecords. OUT NOW: The 2 CD with all entries for the Rotterdam contest + all karaoke versions.

Related Eurocovers Posts:
Gigliola Cinquetti - Non Ho L'eta in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs.
France Galls Poupée De Cire in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs.
Boom Bang A Bang (UK 1969) - By Pippi Lookalike Anne Mette