Hüpiknukk: Heli Lääts 1932 - 2018

This week, on February 16, Estonian singer Heli Lääts passed away.

Avid Eurocovers readers may have noticed I'm a bit of a fan since I discovered her impressive list of Eurocovers.

Most of this article is from Januari 2007 from the Year Of The Puppet series (About coverversions of Sandie Shaws Puppet On A String).
 I changed a few things and moved it up as a little tribute to the legendary Estonian singer.
Heli Lääts was 85.

from the 2007 post: 
Hüpiknukk
Puppet On A String comes with a variety of titles in different languages. There's Sprellemann and Sprattelgumma, Paprikajancsi and Sätkynukke, and they will all be featured here in the Year Of The Puppet.

My favorite title for Puppet On A String is Hüpiknukk. Try saying it 10 times in a row, and fast.

Hüpiknukk is the Estonian version of Puppet On A String and this one is by Heli Lääts, one of the most popular Estonian singers from the 60's and 70's.

Heli Lääts has recorded many coverversions of international hits since the late 50's and most of her work has been released on cd in the past years. Another singer that would have graced the Eurovision stage very well if only…..

So it's not a surprise some Eurovision songs found their way to Heli Lääts' repertoire. So far I have located 19:
Sweden 1962 - Keväd ja paike (Sol och vår)
United Kingdom 1967 - Hüpiknukk (Puppet On A String)
France 1968 - Allikas (La Source) - update: Thanks Frank
Germany 1969 - Kaunid Balleriinid (Primaballerina) *
Monaco 1971 - Tänav, pink ja puu (Un banc, un arbre, une rue)
Netherlands 1975 - Ding-dinge dong (Ding a dong)*
France 1977 - Lind ja laps (L'oiseau et l'enfant) *

These sevens song can be found on 3CD Heli Lääts - Eesti Kullafond (Hitivabrik, rel 2004), still available from Apollo.ee
Kaunid Ballerinid and Tänav Pink Ja Puu can be also found on the 1979 LP Поет Хели Ляэтс (Poet Heli Lääts) on the USSR state owned Melodia label (Мелодия label). I nicked the picture from discogs.
Allikas was released on a mixed artists 4-track EP (also on the Melodia label)

In addition to the ones mentioned above there are a few that have been released digitally in recent years.

Netherlands 1969 - Trubaduur (De Troubadour)
Luxembourg 1972 - Pärast sind (Après Toi)
UK 1974 - Maailm on suur  (Long Live Love)
Luxembourg 1974 -Head Teed!  (Bye, Bye, I Love You)

And these have been recorded but I haven't found many details yet
France 1958 - Valss kaunil kevadpäeval [kevad on käes] (Dors Mon Amour) (excerpt here)
Netherlands 1967 - Mu ümber on kevad (Ring Dinge Ding)
Germany 1971 - See maailm (Diese Welt)
Ireland 1971 - Ühe päeva armastus (One Day Love)
Finland 1973 - Päikese Trummid (Tom Tom Tom)
Spain 1978 -Tule, tantsime koos (Bailemos Un Vals)
Germany 1980 - Teater (Theater)
Germany 1982 - Et oleks rahu (Ein Bisschen Frieden)

Tracks marked * can also be found on the CD Unustamatu Eurovisoon, a compilation CD from 2002. It features 22 Eurovision songs covered in Estonian, dug up from the vaults to celebrate the Contest being held in Tallinn. (Hitivabrik, 2002)

Kaunid Balleriinid was also released in a remixed version by DJX on a 12"inch vinyl and DJX CD Tähesadu DJX Episood 1. He mixed the song with Spillers Groovejet minus Sophie Ellis Bextor

Links and sources
ERR/ETV news
Heldur Karmo net - A website which lists all songs translated by Estonian lyricist Heldur Karmo
Unfortunately no Heli Lääts at Spotify, but you can find some Audio's at Youtube.

10.000: # 4 - Waterloo - ABBA (1974)

In the Eurocovers countdown of most covered Eurovision songs of all time Waterloo is at # 4, but mostly thanks to a massive load of absolutely crappy try-a-likes from albums and projects imaginatively titled 'So and so sing the hits of ABBA, ABBA The Tribute'. Cheap cash-ins loaded with lame vomit-like versions of ABBA's hits. None of that here of course, but they're all in the list.

# 4
- Waterloo
- ABBA
- 328 versions listed

ABBA & Waterloo are Eurovision. The song won the ultimate (but flawed*) all time Eurovision thingy as the best song of 50 years Eurovision.
ABBA recorded Waterloo in Swedish, English, German and French.
* - The selection of 15 songs didn't have Ding A Dong.
The biggest 'stars' to cover the song are probably Bananarama, but not many famous singers dare to try touching an ABBA song unless it's Thank You For The Music.

Eurovision singers covering Waterloo are: Carola, Charlotte Nilsson, Mrs Einstein (again), Ami Aspelund, Seija Simola and Tanel Padar with Lenna (of Vanilla Ninja).
Most versions are in English but still the language count is 22.
And again Eurocovers presents a list with all versions of Waterloo. (Word.doc) (UPDATED 2-3-10). Get it, read it and let me know if there's anything to add.
EsperantoFirst up there's simpatico slaphead Ralph Glomp, German Esperantist renaming the song Gotenburg'. There's two hands full of Eurocovers sung in Esperanto, and Ralph Glomp takes care of six of them. Gotenburg' is on his CD Ĵus per kares´ from 2003.

To make a very long story short: Esperanto is a constructed language (like Sanomian, but then people actually are really serious about it) created as an ideal world language for all people of the world to understand.
In the early 20's it was even considered to be the official language used for the (pre) UN but we have to thank the French for stopping that, as they still thought French would be the one and only international language. (Wikipedia on Esperanto)
Hear some more of Ralph Glomps music here. Iom da paco (on the same page) is his version of Ein Bisschen Frienden (Germany 1982).
Down under
ABBA were hugely popular worldwide, only in the US sales were disappointing. (Only one # 1 hit there) but nowhere were the people so ABBA crazy as in Australia. So it's fitting to include an ABBA tribute from down under here. The track below is from a single by Norman Gunston (Actor Garry MacDonald). It's an ABBA medley with a bit of Waterloo at the end. Oh yeah, it's comedy, see it at Youtube.
For my favorite ABBA tribute album we remain in the area. In 1995 the Flying Nun label released a CD with ABBA covers by noisy New Zealand bands and almost every track is fantastic. Cloth (where are they now?) did Waterloo but if you like your ABBA tunes even louder, get the full CD which is still available in various internet shops.

GAbba GAbba - Hey
The ideal combination of ABBA songs + noise would have been the Ramones. Both quartets specialised in the perfect pop tunes, only the Ramones played a bit faster.
British Gabba noticed just that and they covered Waterloo on their CD with ABBA covers Leave Stockholm. In good Ramones tradition Waterloo is brought back to a neat 1 minute 36.
Hear more at their MySpace

If these versions didn't get rid of your unwanted guests you could play the version of Waterloo by The Yuri Honing Trio. Uncomfortable Jazz at its best and even though the track is like one big intro it's actually pretty cool. It's from the 1996 CD Star Tracks which also includes versions of Björks Isobel and Cyndi Laupers Time After Time.

BeaRecords ABBA pages

A really sick version is made by some knob twiddlers who call themselves the Sweet Little Band. Not worth listening to but it's a great picture sleeve. They even made a Hebrew version for the Israeli market. It's an instrumental CD titled Babies Go ABBA. The music is so tedious they guarantee that you baby will sleep in minutes. (Although I think it's bordering on child abuse).
It's not just your favorite Swedish popsters that have received the honour of seducing your cry-baby into a coma, you can also try out Babies Go Elvis, Babies Go Pink Floyd (original version will do wonders too), Babies Go Carpenters, Babies Go Coldplay, Babies Go Guns 'n'Roses (yeah that'll help) and probably the most effective of all Babies Go Bob Marley. No Babies Go Lordi yet…. The evil CDs are mady by RGS music in Argentina.

-

Parts of this article were already featured in the Eurovision Collectors Guide group (Yahoo)
Previous Eurocovers posts featuring Waterloo in Feathers & Spandex.

And a 'future' post is here

P.S. Couldn't squeeze it in, but don't let anyone tell you otherwise, Björn Again is the best ABBA tribute band in the world.

10.000: # 6 - Puppet On A String - Sandie Shaw (1967)

# 6 in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs is Puppet On A String. Some of you may have noticed I have been running VII: The Year Of The Puppet series here at Eurocovers, featuring worldwide coverversions of the Bill Martin / Phil Coulter song made famous by Sandie Shaw. Introduction to the series in this Eurocovers post.


# 6
- Puppet On A String
- Sandie Shaw
- 252 versions listed



Check these Eurocovers posts for all the Puppets. France, Singapore (Mandarin-Chinese), Jamaica. Yugoslavia, Estonia, U.K. (Comedy), Iceland, Lithuania, USA (Musical), Spain, Brasil, UK punk, Norway (gloom) Norway, Turkey, Portugal, Basque country Organland, Tirol, Denmark, CzechoSlovakia (Czech), Hungary, Russia, Yugoslavia (Slovenia), Chile/Argentina/Mexico, Sweden, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Finland, Scotland, Poland, Czechoslowakia (Slovak), Trinidad*, More Jamaica & more Singapore
* = includes external link to track.

1983-2007: New Dutch version of Carola's Främling

JE OGEN HEBBEN GEEN GEHEIMEN
Young Dutch singer Patrick has released a cdsingle with an new version of Carola's 1983 Eurovision smash Je ogen hebben geen geheimen (Your eyes have no secrets), Swedens entry in 1983.
Carola scored a # 7 hit in 1983 in the Netherlands with her Dutch version of Främling and also a big 'pirate' hit. (Pirate radio stations play Dutch music only).
The song, nicknamed the Mona Lisa song, became a bit of a classic over the years and now there's a new version with the same lyrics. Only the title has changed a bit: it's now Geen Geheimen.
The cdsingle is available from BeaRecords now.

FINWEEKS: Eurocovers covers the classics in Finnish

Eurovision Week in Helsinki.
It's been said before, despite the lack of success Finland is a Eurovision Nation Extraordinaire. In no other country have so many Eurovision songs been covered and most of them were recorded in Finnish. Popular singers like Laila Kinnunen, Katri Helena and Marion Rung each have recorded 10 or more songs in Finnish.
In the 80's there were LP's featuring all songs of the yearly event getting the Finn-over and even in modern times, when not many coverversions are recorded, there's the odd Finnish version.

Here's some Finnish coverversions of the ancient Eurovision winners.
I don't know of any Finnish cover of the first Eurovision (Refrain by Lys Assia, 1956) but for almost every year after some Finnish artist has covered the Eurovision winner, and often several other entries too.
Netherlands 1957 - Net als toen - Corry Brokken
- Kalevi Tauru - Oispa unta se vain (7" Triola ts 356 & 78 RPM Triola t 4356, 1958)
France 1958 - Dors Mon Amour - André Claveau
- Leif Wager - Nukkuos rakas (EP Blu Master blu 122 & 78 RPM Blue Master blu 550) (Leif Wager pictured right)Netherlands 1959 - 'n Beetje - Teddy Scholten
- Seija Karpiomaa - Vain hiukan (Various artists EP Scandia SEP 99)


France 1960 - Tom Pillibi - Jacqueline Boyer
- Laila Kinnunen - Tom Pillibi (7" Scandia KS 358 & EP Eurovision Laulukilpailut, Scandia SEP 120)
Laila Kinnunen (1939-2000) is one of the great legendary singers in the history of Finnish popular music.
I'm working on a Eurocovers post detailing all her Eurovision covers to be featured here soon.

Luxembourg 1961 - Nous les amoureux - Jean Claude Pascal
- Leif Wager - Me rakastavaiset (7" Decca SD 5528)
France 1962 - Un premier amour - Isabelle Aubret
- Vieno Kekkonen - Ensimäinen rakkaus (7" Scandia KS 428 & EP Scandia SEP 162)

Finnish recordings are probably the best archived in the world. If you visit Database of The Finnish Institute of Recorded Sound you can find all documented records that were ever released in Finland from 1901 to 1999.
Not just Eurovision, but anything you need to find out. If anyone in Finland ever recorded a cover of your favorite song, it's there.



Above are featured vinyl recordings that mostly haven't been issued on CD.
A must have 2CD with Eurocovers from 1958 to the late 90's in Finnish is available in Finnish shops and at BeaRecords. You can find details in this Eurocovers post.

Spring Cleaning Part 2 + Year Of The Puppet - Marionetka

There was a bit of a delay (mainly caused by all the premature sunshine we're having), but I have now put some more stuff on e-bay, 7"inch vinyls, mostly Eurovision but also a few other things, including some cdsingles.
Please check my e-bay list here (username buzzja). Again, not the utterly rare and spectacular, but maybe some records to fill the gaps in your collection at a decent starting price. And you'll help me make some room for new clutter.

And when browsing and bidding, what better song to listen to than Halina Kunicka's version of Puppet On A String. It'll make your day!
Many moons ago found this Polish version 'Marionetka' on a square flexi disc - Pocztówka Dźwiękowa M 289 - , not a fancy one with a lovely picture like they used to have in Poland, but a plain drab brown affair.
I didn't really know the song that was on it (although the composers mentioned should have been a giveaway), so I was surprised to find a Polish version of Puppet On A String ruining my record needle.
I couldn't play it without the song jumping back all the time, but it was a delight in any way.
Another Polish flexi has the live version sung by Sandie Shaw herself at the contest (Pocztówka Dźwiękowa 020) with the German entry Anoushka in it's live version (by Inge Brück) as a second track.
The original studio version by Sandie Shaw is Pocztówka Dźwiękowa 14.
Polish flexi's, especially the fancy ones, are a joy to collect, but they should be played on an prehistoric recordplayer with a stylus the size of a ballpoint.

Halina Kunicka is a popular Polish singer and actress who recorded many albums from 1966 to 1984 and most of her work has been re-issued on CD format.
Marionetka can be found on the CDs Platinowa Kolekcija (Platinum Collection) and Złota kolekcja - Od nocy do nocy.



Another version in The Year Of The Puppet. Puppet on a string is 40. Check this Eurocovers post for all info and many more versions.

VII: 40 Years - Puppet On A String - today UPDATED 12-04

April 8, 1967 - 2007

Today we're flying the flag for Sandie Shaw and the 40th anniversary of the victory of Puppet On A String at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.
For the past months Eurocovers has presented a colourful collection of worldwide coverversions of the song, penned by Phil Coulter and Bill Martin.
A few more will follow in the coming weeks.
Over the past 18 years I have been keeping track of all Eurovision covers I could find in the 10.000 coverversions project and I have uploaded the list of all versions of Puppet On A String in this word document.
It also has a Sandie Shaw - Puppet Discography. Here you can find all Sandie's versions I know of. I hope some of you can add some more, or just fill in some of the blanks on the list. All info is welcome.
PICTURE LEFT:

Marionetas en la cuerda, a Spanish comic book from 1967. A story about a marionette winning a singing competition, tied in nicely with Sandie Shaws success. She's pictured on the front (click for larger image).

Todays celebrations call for some bagpipes and here is one of the coolest / rarest / fantasticest version of the 1967 Eurovision winner.

ALASDAIR GILLIES - GILLE MIREIN
Strap up yer gillies, here's a rarity which will please the Eurovision fans. The U.K. has never attempted an entry in another national language than English. And I only have been able to find details on two Eurovision covers in non English British languages. One is Mary Hopkins' Welsh version of Morgen (Netherlands 1968), the other is this: Gille-mirein (Puppet) by Alasdair Gillies, sung in Gaelic.
"Voice of the Highlands" Gillies is a singer of Scottish songs and according to Daily Express "The music of the mountains and lochs lies deep in his soul". He featured regularly on 1960s TV programmes like ‘Se Ur Beatha’ which brought Gaelic into Scottish homes and with it increasing popularity and interest in the songs of the Gaels and their singers.

UPDATE The only picture I could find is from the sleeve of the CD 'The best of Alasdair Gillies' This CD features 4 songs in Gaelic and 16 in English but no Gille Mirein.

Really big thanks to Klaus for the song.

ALASDAIR GILLIES - GILLE-MIREIN (Scotia records SMD 8)

Word.doc with all versions of Puppet On A String

Singer Alasdair Gillies should not be confused with the late Scottish bagpipe virtuoso/legend of the same name.

Does anyone know of any other Eurovision coverversions in Gaelic, Welsh or any other British language that isn't English? drop me a comment or e-mail

The Year Of The Puppet celebrates the 40 year anniversary of Sandie Shaw's Eurovision victory with Puppet On A String. Introduction to the series in this Eurocovers post.

Other versions already featured are from France, Singapore (Mandarin-Chinese), Jamaica. Yugoslavia, Estonia, U.K. (Comedy), Iceland, Lithuania, USA (Musical), Spain, Brasil, UK punk, Norway (gloom) Norway, Turkey, Portugal, Basque country Organland, Tirol, Denmark, CzechoSlovakia (Czech), Hungary, Russia, Yugoslavia (Slovenia), Chile/Argentina/Mexico, Sweden, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Finland

Blog tip: Asian Mission To Eurovision -UPDATED-

Eurovision is everywhere.
Just found this great Eurovision blog: Asian Mission To Eurovision
You must check out their funny Eurovision Phrase Book In Chinese.

related posts: Asian Eurovision coverversions
A Ba Ni Bi from Thailand
Le Dernier qui a parlé - Cantonese version
Puppet On A String from Singapore
Dschinghis Khan - Korean offspring
Indonesian version of Al Di La (Italian Eurovision 1961)

Another recommended site:
The website of composer Jean Paul Cara, the man who brought us L'oiseau et l'enfant (Marie Myriam) features a new coverversion of the French 1977 winner sung in Corsican, by Alain Abad. (l'accelu e u zitellu)

If you click Quelques mp3 and scroll down on the mp3 page there's a link to L'oiseau et l'enfant autour du monde which features several versions of the song, either by the original artist or coverversions.
Interesting is the French-Arabic version by Leila and the USA version which is a modern rnb- light version (No idea who sings it, do you?). You can also find a demo and various videos of the song

The version Chinois is actually not Chinese, but I think it's the Vietnamese version by Khanh Ha and  Thanh Lan - Chan chim tuoi tho.
The site also features versions of Cara's other songs including Humanahum by Tahitian singer Teva Tetuani.

Juliette Gréco - Le temps d'une chanson

La Grand Dame de France, actress and chanteuse Juliette Gréco has released a new album last december. Only 57 years after she released her first record she finally managed to squeeze in a Eurovision cover, especially for us.

The CD, Le temps d'une chanson, features coverversionsof classic French songs, although with a legend of Gréco's stature I prefer to call them interpretations.
She sings Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg, Leo Ferré and Charles Trenet and a few international songs like Over the rainbow (Judy Garlands evergreen) and Volare (Nel blu dipinto di blu), the 1958 Italian Eurovision entry by Domenico Modugno.

Volare is the most successful Eurovision song ever, as well by the original singer as by many covering superstars. The song was covered by the famous and the fabulous like Ella Fitzgerald, David Bowie, Dean Martin, Dalida, Petula Clark, Chubby Checker, Connie Francis, Cliff Richard, Pavarotti, Barry White, Catherine Valente, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and the list goes on. (In fact I now have 920 versions of Volare listed, more about that in future Eurocovers Posts)
The likes of Frank Zappa, U2, Prince and Paul McCartney have been known to perform the song live (and they have appeared on bootleg albums)

I'm very pleased to add Juliette Gréco to this list, even if Volare isn't the greatest moment on the album.

Gréco's velvet voice blends beautifully with the magnificent orchestral arrangements and she really excels in Avec lés temps (Leo Ferré) and Les amants d'un jour.

Get this album now, I'm sure your local shop or amazfnac etcetera has it.
Read more about Juliette Gréco at http://perso.orange.fr/juliette.greco/
Discography http://perso.orange.fr/juliette.greco/disco.htm




related Eurocovers posts: Ginette Reno & Les Parisiennes / Marianne Mille

VII: Year Of The Puppet - Sprellemann by Bente Aaseth

In the week leading up to two important Sandie Shaw anniversaries I'll be presenting some coverversions of Puppet On A String I don't have much details on.
Not even a picture for this one.

Sprellemann is the only Norwegian version I know of and it was on my wanted list until Jan from Norway came along. Thanks Jan!

Bente Aaseth was in the 1967 national selection for Eurovision: the 'Norsk Melodi Grand Prix 1967', with the song Shake (also performed by Laila Granum). The song finished 2nd.
Another thing I know is that Sprellemann was released on a 7" as a b-side to Jeg tror på sommeren.



You can find an introduction to the Year Of The Puppet series in this Eurocovers post
More Norwegian stuff by Døsty Cåwshit a.k.a. Dusty Cowshit is here

UPD 12-04 Blog Freche Früchtchen has an nice item on 'Shake' the Norwegian preselection song mentioned above.

VII: Eurovision - Czech this out - Helena Vondráčková.

Excusez the puns, but I've been brooding on them ever since I heard the Czech Republic would make their debut at this years Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki.
You can find the Czech list of national finalists at the usual places. (see links)
One of the participants is legendary Czech superstar Helena Vondráčková. It's rumoured she's been selected as a tv-crowd puller, but that doesn't matter, Eurocovers just loves the local legends.

Presenter of the Eurosong preselection show will be Jiří Korn and hey presto, a Eurocover is born.
Jiri and Helena recorded a Czech version of the Great British 1976 classic Save your kisses for me back in 1977 titled Já půdju tam a ty tam.

Another Eurocover by Helena was Jak mám spát, Après toi by Vicky Leandros (Luxembourgs 1972 winner).

Jak mám spát

- (7" - Supraphon 043 1399)

Já půdju tam a ty tam. w. Jiří Korn

- (7" - Supraphon 143 2059)

Helena Vondráčková has recorded about a million songs from 1964 to present day and at her excellent multilingual home page you can find very detailed discographies and songlists.
http://www.vondrackova.net/

Soon: The Czech version of Puppet On A String in the Year Of The Puppet

Update: Helena Vondráčková will be participating with the song Samba which is already available on her new album Zastav se (... a poslouchej) - (Universal 170 851-2)

Another Update: Samba has been removed from the participants list and will be replaced by another song by Helena Vondráčková.

Last Update: After presenting another song Ha Ha Ha Helena Vondrackova withdrew from the competition beacuse she couldn't agree on juries not playing a part in the decision for the first Czech Eurovision entry.

VII: Year Of The Puppet - Brasil

Brazil may be famous for the rainforests, caipirinha's and futeball magic, but most of all Brazil is the country with the most Eurovision cover versions to its name, without ever setting foot on the Eurovision stage.
Although they lost interest after the 70's, the amount of coverversions from the land of the Carnival far outnumbers any other. The selection is limited though, it mainly includes the songs from Italy, the U.K. and Udo Jürgens.
Domenico Modugno's entries 'Nel blu dipinti di blu' (Volare) and 'Dio come ti amo' seem the most popular of all, but also the late 60's British songs have been Brazilified by the Brazilian greats and less greats.
Puppet on a String is no exception and I know of five versions made in the land of Pelé.

Don't expect any exotic samba rhythms, the Brazilians surely knew Pop back in the 60's.



My favorite version is the one by Ed Carlos, at the time a child star, who's youthfull voice gives the song the innocent identity it never was supposed to have.
Katia Cilene, another Jovem Guarda star sticks closer to Sandie's original in both sound and looks.
Vocal group Os 3 Morais, three siblings of the Espírito Santo family, recorded the song for their first LP as Os 3 Morais. This also includes a version of Tell The Boys, the song that finished 2nd in Sandie Shaw's Song For Europe selection and that was Sandie's own favorite.

Discography of Brazilian Puppets:
All songs are titled Estou Feliz and are sung in Portuguese.
Ed Carlos - 7" (Fermata FB 33320)
- also on LP Ed Carlos (Fermata FB 209, pictured)
UPDATE Ed Carlos rerecorded the song in 1977 for an LP and EP (CBS) with his voice dropped a few octaves.
Katia Cilene - EP (CBS 33500)
Suzy Darlen - EP 'Oh Johnny' (Odeon 7 BD 1134)
João Luiz - EP (Polydor 555 008)
Os 3 Morais - LP 'Os 3 Morais' (Premier PRLP 1087)

I haven't heard the versions by Suzy Darlen or João Luiz and there may be more too.
Discographies of Brazilian young 60's artists - http://www.jovemguarda.com.br/

Eurovision VII: Rebeca's mom Franciska

Mision Eurovision, the Spanish' endless search for a Eurovision song for Helsinki already delivered some fabulous TV moments. Fans' favorite Rebeca struggled to get through to the final but thankfully Auntie 'Help, I can't stop talking' Massiel helped her a bit. But the classic TV moment of the year was of course Rebeca's mom crying and holding on to her leopard print handbag.

Rebeca's mama is Franciska, 60's singer in her own right, and she released this EP with a Spanish version of the 1966 entry from Luxembourg Ce soir je t'attendais by Michèle Torr.In the meantime here's Michèle Torrs own spanish version.
Franciska EP - Polydor 314-FEP
Michèle Torr EP - Canta en Español - Mercury 152 063

VII: Portugal - José Cid

I have some fond memories of José Cid and his frantic piano number he did in the 1980 songcontest.
Um grande, grande amor finished 7th which was Portugals best result to that date.

This year he's back in the Portuguese selection as a songwriter and producer for Zé P. (song: A ilha).


Back in 1998 he wrote the entry for Alma Lusa, Se eu te pudesse abraçar, which ended up 13th.
José Cids own version of that song can be found on the 1998 CD Terra Mãe (Temas originais da telenovela). A various artists cd with songs from the RTP1 soap Terra mãe.

Here's a nude picture of José Cid for your entertainment which of course I can't publish on a decent blog like this.



Se eu te pudesse abraçar - José Cid

José Cid homepage

Jamaica, Can I have your votes please? pt. 1

Not very likely that Jamaica, home of Reggae music, will ever participate in our beloved contest anytime soon, but then, no one imagined Jamaica at the Winter Olympics either.
In the 60's and early seventies some of the great Eurovision hits found their way to the Caribbean island so famous for its music and were covered by local singers from the 60's to (almost) present day.
Don't expect Bob Marley style militant Jah praising revolutionary stuff though, it's often more reggae of the Lovers Rock variety.
'Puppet on a string' must have been a popular tune in Jamaica as at least 15 artists from Jamaica have covered the song.

Byron Lee is the most active of them all, having 5 coverversions to his name.
Although very popular at home, his only worldwide claim to fame is 'Only a fool' with the Mighty Sparrow, a 1969 song that became a big hit in the mid 70's.
He has released many cds featuring reggae, soca and soft pop.

Byron Lee's Mighty Eurovision songs:
Walk away (Warum nur warum) - with the Mighty Sparrow
- on LP Sparrow meets the dragon from 1969 , also includes 'Only a fool'
Al di la - with the Dragonaires
- on LP The sounds of Jamaica (Towers Hall productions)
Love is blue - with the Dragonaires
- on a 7" single (on his own Dynamic label) - b side to Elisabeth Serenade
Eres tu - with the Dragoniares
- Mellow version with only the chorus sung (in English) on CD Soft Lee 4.
Puppet on a string * - with the Dragonaires
- The most covered Eurovision song in Jamaica, from the CD 'No woman no cry'.

* Puppet on a string versions will be featured frequently in this blog in 2007 to celebrate Sandie Shaws birthday and the 40th anniversary of her Eurovision victory. Year Of The Puppet.
Check out Jamaican versions by Ken Boothe, Tyrone Taylor, Enos McCloud and Paul Sinclair.