NEXT USC HISTORY YEAR IS 1999 - SVT SEARCH NEW ARTISTS

Swedish Television has begun a quest for new talents to be in Melosongfestivalen. Since 1999 was a victorious year for Sweden in Eurovision Song Contest SVT do not wanna send anything less than a smash hit song. Many suggestions has already been mentioned like E-type, Roxette,
Jessica Folcker, Emilia and Markoolio. Here is one video of a new star that definatelly should be considered by SVT.

ABBA WINS IN STOCKHOLM 1976

Before the final points from Germany Belgium was in the lead with 1p over Sweden in United Song Contest 1976. The hosts had not told the German 5p nor their 10p....and just at the last second of the voting they revealed that Belgium got the 5p and Sweden the 10p and then ABBA won again their 2nd USC victory and with 2 victories in a row ABBA and Sweden is the Queen of USC. The Dancing Queen of United Song Contest. Bjorn and Benny both said they love this contest and the audience in the Stockholm Arena has been a huge support here tonight. We are more than willing to return to USC for many years to come. And then they sang their winning song again. "Dancing Queen"


Final Scoreboard USC History 1976 :
1.Sweden 105p
2.Belgium 101p
3.Netherlands 92p
4.Greece 75p
5.France 74p

6.Cyprus 72p
7.Germany 69p
8.U.K. 62p
9.Luxembourg 60p
10.Slovenia 52p
11.Andorra 52p
12.Spain 51p
13.Czech Republic 38p
14.FyrMacedonia 38p
15.Switzerland 27p
16.italy 27p
17.Estonia 24p
18.Austria 23p

PRE-USC RADIO SHOW predict winner of USC 1976

The 4 previous winners of United Song Contest Siw Malmqvist (1956), Ilanit(1968), Dalida (1964) and Björn Ulveus (1975 as ABBA member) has attended a radio broadcast where the 4 stars gave their opinion on the songs of tonights USC show. Both Dalida and Björn are also contenders in tonights contest and desided not to rank their own entry. Here are the results. So congratulations to Netherlands and "Champagne" and their song "Rock And Roll Star" who was most favoured in todays broadcast. Siw thinks anyone could win but she would love Dalida to win a second time. Ilanit really loves ABBA and "Dancing Queen" just as much as she loved their "Mamma Mia" entry in 1975. Dalida agree with Ilanit on that ABBA is a worthy winner but she also wouldn't mind to see her friend Michel Sardou take a triumphant victory. Bjorn on the other hand is convinced Netherlands is the hardest competition tonight.

Recap USC 1976

Here are all the songs:
01.Switzerland - Peter Sue & Marc - Cindy
02.Czech Republic - Karel Zich - Dum c 5
03.Slovenia - Alenka Pinteric - Lutke
04.Netherlands - Champagne - Rock And Roll Star
05.Greece - Haris Alexiou - Matia mou, matia mou
06.Austria - Peter Alexander - Die kleine Kneipe
07.Fyr Macedonia - Dragan Mijalkovski - Kazi nesto draga
08.Estonia - Heli Laats - Kannikesed emale
09.Luxembourg - Michel Sardou - Je Vais T'aimer
10.Sweden - Abba - Dancing Queen
11.Spain - Jarcha - Libertad sin ira
12.Italy - Peppino di Capri - Non lo faccio piu
13.Cyprus - Anna Vissi - Paramythi Xehasmeno
14.U.K. - The Wurzels - Combine harvester
15.Andorra - Tony Landa - Adios
16.Belgium - Annie Cordy - Nini la chance
17.France - Dalida - Besame mucho
18.Germany - Jorgen Drews - Ein Bett im Kornfeld

Tune in tonight and vote for your favourite.

VICTORY TO TEAM UNITED KINGDOM

Summer USC was a thrilling battle between United Kingdom and their "Mercy" sung by Duffy and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and their "That is where I'll go" sung by Sibel. In the 2nd half of the live voting the leader was shifting almost after each individual vote and not until Hungary gave their 12p to Netherlands it was clear that Duffy had won with only 5 points margin. The United News Magazine was also able to see 6 of the top 10 song having received 5 STARS before the contest. A very satisfying result indeed. Also during the final there was 18 people attending live which was the highest number of live audience since spring 2006.

WINNING PERFORMANCE OF UNITED KINGDOM - DUFFY - MERCY


1.U.K.146 (5 STARS)
2.Fyr Macedonia 142p (5 STARS)
3.Greece 120p (4 STARS)
4.Spain 114p (5 STARS)
5.Denmark 110p (2 STARS)
6.Switzerland 105p (5 STARS)
7.Sweden 103p (5 STARS)
8. Turkey 87p (1 STAR)
9.Russia 75p (5 STARS)
10.Romania 69p (NO STARS)



Final results:
1.U.K.146
2.Fyr Macedonia 142p
3.Greece 120p
4.Spain 114p
5.Denmark 110p
6.Switzerland 105p
7.Sweden 103p
8. Turkey 87p
9.Russia 75p
10.Romania 69p
11.Germany 67p
12.Portugal 60p
13.Netherlands 55p
14.Cyprus 55p
15.Finland 46p
16.Ireland 46p
17.BosniaHerzegovina 44p
18.Italy 44p
19.Bulgaria 42p
20.Iceland 38p
21.Malta 38p
22.Esonia 36p
23.Norway 36p
24.Andorra 35p
25.Slovenia 34p
26.Luxembourg 34p
27.SanMarino 33p
28.Austria 32p
29.Hungary 30p
30.Lithuania 28p
31.Belgium 22p
32.Latvia 20p
33.France 16p
34.Czech Republic 10p

See you next year in Cardiff, at least if the statement from Team Uk in the chat room of soulseek is going to be realised in the Autumn Edition.

Dalai Lama would like USC in Tibet

The Dalai Lama made a plea for Tibet to donate a musical intermezzo to USC Summer edition and welcomes all participants to Tibet for the next edition. Allthough competition is not part of Tibetian tradition, the Dalai Lama stressed that Tibet just wants to show some musical culture from Tibet and emphasis the aim of USC to share and bind different kinds of cultures, just like the ESC started in 1956.

"Dalai" means "Ocean" in Mongolian, and is a translation of the Tibetan name "Gyatso," while "Lama" is the Tibetan equivalent of the Sanskrit word "guru," and is commonly translated to mean "spiritual teacher." Putting the terms together, the full title is "Ocean Teacher" meaning a teacher who is spiritually as deep as the ocean.

For Tibet has no pop star culture and the prayers are very repetitive and last over hours. The Dalai Lama invited sir Cliff Richard to sing the song "Ocean deep"

Sir Cliff Richard told the press he was very much honoured and was delighted with the gift the Dalai Lama gave him for his support to Tibet in USC. It is a typical traditional dress from Tibet. (see picture)



You can watch a fragment (here) in which sir Cliff performs the song in front of an audience, not knowing they might have heard the mental winner of USC 2008.




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KOSTAS BANNED FROM USC SUMMER

Here is the interview with Kostas from last night.

Tatjana releases video and pin-up calender

Tatjana the Dutch entry for USC 2008 summer edition, released her video to promote the song. So far nothng special, but she also released a pin-up calender!
The video can be seen here:

Some of the pics (censoured) from the calender:

USC 1976 review

So we are here in the fabulously great 70ies again. Many great songs in this one. I enjoyed almost all songs in one or another way. Since there is no draw order yet I will present them alphabetically instead. (Actually as article was to be published the draw was made so its as it should me. red note)Management say there might come more entries later on even though the deadline is crossed by days. (Which will not happen now as draw was made just now) So maybe there is still hope for a reconsideration about both DDR and Daddy Cool. USC 1976 is a great contest I can higly recommend to listen to. (Hope is out)

01. Switzerland - Peter Sue & Marc - Cindy

Oh this is very boring and lyrics are stupidly bad. Next. 1 star.

02. Czech Republic - Karel Zich - Dum c 5

So, now we know the east had also the 70ies style songs. This guitar pop tune is very very good and the change in tempo could make a song messy but here it works just fine. Should deserv the upper half. 4 stars.



03. Slovenia - Alenka Pinteric - Lutke
Another sleeping pill…what can we say…she sings with great conviction but poor girl has such an awful song that she is doomed. 1 star.

04 Netherlands - Champagne - Rock And Roll Star
This is very nice. The most eurovision like song and that has a bit rocky 70ies in it as well. I give 4 stars cause it is not as good as the others but still I get that familiar winning feeling here too. Watch out for this one. Netherlands will fight in the top. Mark my words!!!! A pure pop song with weak lyrics but still…4 stars.

05 Greece - Haris Alexiou - Matia mou, matia mou
Please, this is 1976 and not 1876. Yes a song that could be 100 years old has nothing to do here than in a cultural museum. Bye bye Greece. Everyone who give points to this is mad. NO STARS

06. Austria - Peter Alexander - Die kleine Kneipe
I smile, and I smile of joy and a weird feeling that Austria sent this as a joke but it is probably dead serious. A very French song but from a period 20 years ago. I remember the song as a child in Swedish and also the French Mirelle Mathieu version. Wasn’t this once an Edith Piaff song? Maybe someone will tell us. But as you listen you can simply not resist the cosy feeling it brings. Bravo Austria. The laughing smile turns into a real smile when listening to this one. 4 stars.

07 Fyr Macedonia - Dragan Mijalkovski - Kazi nesto draga
Hmfr…this is one of those songs I do not enjoy in 1976. Sure, he is passionate but woman is annoyingly awful and the style is weird and too schreaky and circus style and etno for many points. Fyrom will see herself at bottom with Estonia. 1 star.

08 Estonia - Heli Laats - Kannikesed emale

If the Edith Piaff style songs were “old” they still gave you an modern 1976 feeling. This one is simply just old and it is not 1956 dear Estonia. Annoying house wife voice. 1 star for melody.

09 Luxembourg - Michel Sardou - Je Vais T'aimer
This is going to do so bad. And it is a total scandal. It is one of the best songs we have heard in the history of the contests. It has it all. A fantastic singer singing with power and emotion and a conviction this masterpiece with splendid lyrics. Close your eyes and enjoy a very musically style of song but it is pure art that won’t be very appreciated here. 5 stars and I must put in a small 6th also. We can only bow to Mr Yannick and the best Luxembourg song ever. Merci. 6 stars.

10 Sweden - Abba - Dancing Queen

And now this contest is over. Everyone else can go home. We have ABBA again in Sweden with the enormous support from the home audience after Abbas victory in 1975 with “Mamma Mia”. What can stop them from their 2nd victory? Who? France? Netherlands? I doubt it. This is probably a walk away runaway victory like in 1968 and 1975. Everything but a Swedish 20p margin win is a sensation. OK, I have to rank the song also. The ladies sing fantastic and the song is great even though I don’t have it at all as one of the top 20 Abba songs. I even prefer both France and Luxembourg to this one. But…Abba is Abba…and well 5 stars. Sweden rules.

11 Spain - Jarcha - Libertad sin ira
Oh, I know there is great Spanish songs in 1976 but what have TVE done here? Well, it has some qualities but I wouldn’t play this more than once unless I had to for the review. But after the 2nd listening it is better and then it grows more. His voice is nice and the song is nice as well. 4 stars.

12 Italy - Peppino di Capri - Non lo faccio piu
zzzzzzzz….the first sleeping pill of USC 1976 won’t see much support on the night. Slow motion and the song never takes of, it is like a long intro. But the man has passion in his singing and I like the instrumental part. 2 stars.

13. Cyprus - Anna Vissi - Paramythi Xehasmeno

This is not one of the best Anna Vissi songs in USC. Very ethnic and guitars are really nice but still it is too sleepy for high position but still Annas voice is lovelly. 3 stars.

14. U.K. - The Wurzels - Combine harvester
The only real joke song. Good night UK. You finally made it is USC also. The zero point is not impossible now with 18 entries. It can very well be the worst song that has ever been sent to USC. NO STARS. ABSOLUTELY NO STARS AT ALL.



15. Andorra - Tony Landa – Adios
Andorra surprise us all with a great song that is an explosion of 1970ies sound. Great singer and melody can only result in high rating. A top 5 result I expect. 4 stars.

16. Belgium - Annie Cordy - Nini la chance

Songs in the spirit of Edith Piaff continue and this is even more Edith, but not as good as the Austrian one so only 3 stars here. But still very good.

17 France - Dalida - Besame mucho
Now we are talking. Welcome to Dalida club 76. Lets move our bodies to the USC queen. The dancing Queen gives us an disco version of this classy song that blows me away. Winner feeling all through the song. Bravo France. Bravo Dalida. If not in top 2 then there is something very wrong here. A sure 5 star entry.

18. Germany - Jorgen Drews - Ein.Bett im.Kornfeld

The poor Germany was robbed of their “Daddy Cool” song from Boney M so this is the replace song. But people do not cry over spilled milk cause here we take a tripp right into the fantastic 1970ies with this country pop shuffle song that is very very good. One of the best songs “ West Germany” has taken to USC. 5 stars. Sehr Gut Deutchland!

So after this contest there is a few awful entries but the rest are very very good!. Sweden will win, but there could be some competition from France and Netherlands….but I hope for Luxembourg. Celine deserved very much to win for Luxembourg but this time it should be Luxembourg at the top.