After immersing ourselves in the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest for a night back in September, it was around to Mark’s again on Friday night for the 1982 competition. Meeting Bill there, we spent over four hours in South Woodham Ferrers watching the preview videos, and then the contest itself proper. Only 18 songs long, Jan Leeming steered the acts through the live show from 26 years ago as best she could, but all too quickly the winner had been announced.
Comparing the studio-produced songs with their live counterparts was interesting, as songs that were electronic-based (such as the UK’s One Step Further), ultimately sounded worse with Ronnie Hazelhurt’s live orchestra. They also didn’t score as highly as those whose simple orchestration changed little from preview to contest night. But, even more so than 1981, it was a classic competition, with many good songs worthy of the winner’s title.
Portugal kicked off proceedings. Their entry, Bem Bom, was a flamboyant number, and was sung by Doce, a four-strong female group with an equally outrageous appearance. Wearing what appeared to be musketeer outfits with some very straight-cut fake wigs, there was a lot of arm in the air action, and although we couldn’t understand the words, their strange drum-led tune appealed to me, if no-one else.
A favourite for all of us was Anna Vissi, fielded by Cyprus. Her haunting ballad, Mono I Agapi was very sophisticated. So too was Vissi herself, and with her monotone dress and jet black hair, she was very much a subscriber to 80s glamour. A Eurovision veteran of three contests, in 1982 she took more than a little inspiration from Dynasty’s Joan Collins. The song deserved to do much better than its final fifth placing and 85 points.
After the jubilant 1981 win, the UK stuck to its jolly, happy, electronic pure pop sound. The pairing of duo Bardo with their song One Step Further worked well, and their stage routine was polished, with lots of nods to the world of contemporary theatre. They were one of the arrangement casualties, though, and were placed seventh in the final result, scoring 76 points. A solid placing, though, and the Bucks Fizz connection was one we’d spotted; Andy Hill who produced the song was also heavily involved with the Brit foursome who had won just a year earlier.
But, our winner for the night was the husband and wife duo of Mess, representing Austria. Singing about Sundays with their entry Sonntag, it was these two who should have taken the trophy home and enjoyed the enduring success. The Same Difference of their day, their catchy tune and energetic dance routine was the perfect example of happy, shiny, pop. It could have flung them far, always raising a smile, but it wasn’t to be, and their 57 points score only took them to ninth.
And the real winner? Of course, after the excitement of Bucks Fizz’s win the previous year, we’d forgotten who came out on top in ’82. Once we’d seen the preview tape, though, it was painfully clear which song would come out on top. Germany’s Nicole with her Ein Bisschen Frieden (A Little Peace) was the runaway winner, and the 500th number 1 single in the UK upon its release.
Tags: Eurovision, Music