#and while the choir conductor drama got pretty upsetting

[shredsandpatches]

Every once in a while I think about the final movement of the Poulenc Stabat Mater and just have to sort of sit there and gibber, mentally, at the sheer levels of yearning expressed in it

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#66-65)

#66: Anne-Marie David -- Je suis l'enfant soleil (France 1979)

"Je n'ai pas rêvé de lui, je ne dormais pas, Etendue au pied du chêne gris, je guettais son pas, Et tout un hiver brûlant, notre amour a fait chanter la terre, Comme un recommencement, comme une prière.” "

“I didn't dream of him, I didn't sleep, Stretched out near the grey oak, I was on the lookout for his step And an entire burning winter, our love made the earth sing Like a renewal, like a prayer”

Anne-Marie was so determined to win again, she berated the conductor for going on a day-trip to Masada and believed that there was something fishy about the voting. To this day, she doesn't believe that Spain deserved their second place. Listening to the song, I could understand why she was upset, even if it got out of hand on her part.

All aspects of Je suis l'enfant soleil are darker than those of Tu te reconnaitras, but it doesn’t skimp out on quality. Starting from the choir, you get a breezy, summer feeling from the instrumental, but it steadily becomes more tragic. The lyrics follow the sadness, in that they discuss a failed affair between a boy from the north and her, "the sun child". They tell a compelling story, and are really well-written.

Anne-Marie sung with a passion bordering on madness, but the drama of the song remains intact. Several times, her eyes seemed to bulge out of her face, and her face looked quite tense. However, her singing abilities remained, along with those of her backing vocalists. (plus her yellow sundress was quite pretty)

While not as well-known as her winning entry, Je suis l'enfant soleil is a good example of a comeback entry. It faltered to third after initially doing well in the 1979 voting, but it still showcased her skills and was an entry France could be proud of.

Personal ranking: =1st/19 Actual ranking: 3rd/19 in Jerusalem

Final Impressions of 1979: A pretty solid year to end the decade with--a really good song set, combined with a good production featuring the spinning device on stage and a dancing interval act. In addition, we have a number of classics--including the winner Hallelujah, Dschinghis Khan (#230), and even Katson sineen taivaan. The voting was also notably close; with the Spanish jury foiling their own chances to win by giving Israeli the highest score. How would the following decade change had Su cancion won?

#65: Željko Joksimović - Nije Ljubav Stvar (Serbia 2012)

“Nije ljubav stvar pa da ne znam šta ću s njom Želim ti sve najbolje, ova ljubav samo moj je brodolom”

“Love is not a thing to not know what to do with it I wish you all the best, this love is my shipwreck only”

Don't worry Serbia--I haven't forgotten you! Since Goodbye (Shelter) (#247), we gone through all of Croatia's, Slovenia's, North Macedonia's, and Montenegro's entries. Yugoslavia has one more entry left, and only Bosnia and Herzegovina has more entries left on this countdown.

Another classic from the master, this song is the one that beats Euphoria for me in the 2012 contest. While the latter was important in that it gave Eurovision commercial viability, Nije ljubav stvar delivers on emotions and sheer emotionality. It's a different three-minute journey, but it grabs into the soul with its beauty.

The initial violin brings me in; I could very much hum the melody and it takes me away into a sunken place. The melancholy continues on with the rest of the song; the musical build to the key-change was well-done and the climax is fantastic. The lyrics are also heartfelt; the image of the couple's former love acting as the narrator's "shipwreck" really stands out to me, especially at the end of the chorus. It hits on the finality on the relationship, with all the damage it has wrought.

Some people see this as better than Zeljko's first entry, and I could understand why. There's more drama within the strings, and it builds up to a convincing crescendo at the end, whereas Lane Moje is more low-key, with different elements getting added gradually over the course of the song. While it’s not my absolute favorite of Zeljko’s entries, is still very strong.

Personal ranking: 1st/42 Actual ranking: 3rd/26 GF in Baku

Final Impressions of 2012: I found 2012 to be quite a strong year--it had a strong set of songs in the final 26, along with some good songs that didn't make it to Saturday (most notably, Nar jag blundar for me, but I also like Vida minha from Portugal, Verjamem from Slovenia, and Time from Israel). Production-wise, it was quite a bit weaker, because of the stilted hosts and the boring postcards which tried to promote Azerbaijan's tourist industry. Though the arena was nice (even though it was meant to showcase what Azerbaijan can do and its passion for the contest, it was hardly finished by the first semi-final and it took a number of evictions to do so)

Most notably, this was the year of Euphoria--Loreen's victory almost was a given outcome after she won Melodifestivalen, and she delivered with a minimalistic, yet ethereal performance. Because of it, we get a lot more countries taking it seriously and changing Eurovision for the better. Even with this year focused on #Eurovisionagain, Loreen still won the fan-vote by a comfortable margin, and she still takes the actual #ESC250. (Don't expect me to vote for it, haha).