Iceland’s frozen tentacles gripped our hearts first in 1986 when they entered the Eurovision.  While Iceland has never won the Eurovision they have come second twice and one of those second places was due to the singing sensation that is Selma Bjornsdottir.   In 1999 Selma danced her way across the stage in the 44^th Eurovision held in Jerusalem, Israel.  This year was particularly unique in that it was the first year that singing in your countries national language was no longer a requirement.  Live music became optional and artists were allowed to use backing tracks on their songs.  The song Selma sang was a dance pop ditty called ‘All out of luck’.  With catchy lyrics that had us all dancing around our sitting rooms it thawed cool temperatures but couldn’t quite beat the unconquerable Swedes whose Abba style song ‘Take me to your heaven’ sung by Charlotte Nilsson narrowly beat it as a result of Bosnia Herzegovina  giving Sweden top points and Iceland nothing at all.   Her English album ‘I am’ was released in Iceland to critical acclaim and was filled with dance fillers not dissimilar to ‘All out of Luck’ such as ‘Hitgirl’.   A firm favourite with the Icelandic populace Selma returned to the Eurovision stage in 2005 which was held in Kiev in the Ukraine.   By this time it must be stressed block voting which people still claim never existed but we all know it did was firmly entwined with Euro politics and with numerous more countries taking part, semi finals were held before the final.  Iceland found itself competing in a semi final with Selma’s song ‘If I had your love’.  The song again was a catchy dance tune that deserved a place in the final but been an island out on its own gave Iceland little neighbour backup and unfortunately didn’t make it.  Not to be outdone by her defeat the bundle of energy that is Selma headlined the Europride held in Oslo the same year.  Sir Ian McKellen was the guest speaker and Baccara who had represented Luxemburg in the 1978 Eurovision with ‘Parlez-vous francais?’ and are most famous for their song ‘Yes Sir I can Boogie’ also joined her on stage.  A second English album was released entitled ‘Life won’t wait’ and included the hit single ‘Respect yourself’.

As of 2009 Selma joined the panel on the Icelandic version of Pop Idol where she can still be seen.  We look forward to hearing more from this talented singer in the future.

Ever wanted to write a song for the Eurovision but thought where do I begin?  Well as Julie Andrews sang it on the hilltops of Austria, ‘Let’s start at the very beginning’.

First decide on what kind of song you want to represent your country.  These usually can be broken down into…

High Energy dance hits with artist wearing as little as possible, flesh is apparently the new pink.

Slow sumptuous ballads/duets with overflowing ball gowns and a wind machine set to maximum.

Traditional folk ditty’s that remind us all of an ancient culture we no longer possess or would want to go back to, hygiene was usually an issue, yet have to pretend to remember fondly.

Gimmick songs for anyone who wants to take a leap of faith that yes rocking monsters, a talking turkey or a grown woman dressed like a doll could actually win.  What were their songs again?

The Message song, ah where would we be without it, want to sing about your pain, think we’ll care, if you do then the Eurovision stage is for you!

Finally ‘Be from Ireland’ now that its judge voting we once again stand a chance against political voting and neighbouring good will. 

Next look at previous winners of the type of genre and try to copy it although that’s not always a success when it’s blatantly obvious.  ‘Waterloo’ won the 1974 Eurovision contest for ‘Abba’ and Sweden.  ‘Take me to your heaven’ decribed often as an Abba style song won the 1999 Eurovision for Charlotte Nielsen yet poor Sandra Oxenryd representing Estonia in 2006 didn’t even reach the final with her heavily laced Abba influenced song, ‘Through my window’.  Play all three one after each other and you’ll be like ‘Woah’.  Still catchy hero worship often gets the Douze points and as the adage states, ‘If it’s not broke, then don’t fix it.’

Originality depending on the mood of the night can sway either way so always remember to try and connect with your audience.  Don’t be soppy for soppy sake, if you are going to write a love song give it a happy ending, remember the target audience, euro-boppers are frivolous, fun loving people, pain and angst could dampen the mood and be social suicide. 

You are not writing a song to be a worldwide number one, would be great if it happened but the Eurovision is almost a genre in its own right and while in most cases familiarity breeds contempt the Eurovision is comfortable in its own skin so be aware of the body.

I once wrote a song intended for the Eurovision stage entitled ‘Camp it up Candy’, needless to say I’d imagine Dustin would have done better.

Writing a song for the Eurovision is no easy task but it could launch your name on a European stage so choose your category and take a pen in hand and remember another song from the Austrian hills, ‘Climb every mountain, forge every stream…….till you find your dream.”

Now I’m been soppy for soppy sake, oops.

Our hit of the day comes from the second Canadian to represent Switzerland in the Eurovision since Celine Dion.  Montreal born Annie Cotton graced the Eurovision stage in 1993 a year made famous for its nail biting finale between Ireland’s Niamh Kavanagh and Britain’s Sonia.  However coming in a close third was Annie Cotton with the electric ‘Moi, tout simplement’.  Annie went on to star in a French speaking Canadian teen drama called ‘Watatatow’ which lasted for 13 seasons.  Most recently Annie starred in the French Canadian soap ‘Virginie’ as a singer.

When we think of the 33^rd Eurovision song contest held in Dublin 1988 as a result of Johnny Logans win the year before with ‘Hold me now’ we mostly dwell on one event, the emergence of Celine Dion who went on to win the competition with ‘Ne partez pas sans moi’.  With a high energy vocal performance she lit up the stage and set fire to our hearts.  Now she can is often bracketed amongst the great diva’s of our time including Whitney, Barbara and Mariah.  However there was another great diva graced the stage of the 33^rd Eurovision contest and she did so with great poise and quiet dignity.  Her blossoming would take longer than Celine but blossom she did and now her star is fixed amongst the greats.  Phil Collins has referred to her as ‘the best voice in the world’ and I for one am inclined to agree.  Representing Luxemburg singing ‘Croire’ (Trust) was the Belgian born Lara Fabian.

Coming a very respectable fourth and selling over 500,000 copies of the single Lara’s path to stardom was almost assured. 

In 1991 she and her musical partner Rick Allison moved to the French speaking province of Quebec, Canada .  There she released a self entitled French album which was certified Gold in 1993 and Platinum the following year.  In 1995 she was voted the best female singer of the year at the Felix awards.  In 1997 her album ‘Pure’ sold over two million copied in France and went platinum after two weeks.  ‘Pure’ also contained a very unique song, an anti homophobia anthem called ‘La Difference’.  She won the World music award for best album of the year.  Soon America was calling and she answered going on to produce her first English speaking album which again was self entitled.  Her dance song ‘I will love again’ reached number 1 on the USA billboard dance charts.  Her follow up ballad ‘Love by grace’ peaked in the billboard chart at 24 and went to number 1 in Brazil and Portugal.  Her next single ‘Adagio’ charted at number 3 in Europe while the Album debuted at number 1.  Her next French album in 2001 ‘Nue’ went to number 1 in France and even reached the top ten in Portugal.  2004 saw her next English speaking album ‘A wonderful life’ gain a lot of critical respect however due to conflicts with Sony the album was pulled from an American release.

On the brighter side 2004 also saw Lara appear in her first movie role in Cole Porters ‘De Lovely’ opposite Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd and other singers such as Alanis Morissette, Robbie Williams and Sheryl Crow.

Another French album followed called ‘9’ and showcased a more mature vocal.  A live version of the album was released containing two Barbara Streisand covers.

Taking a well deserved break after the birth of her daughter in 2007 Lara returned in 2009 with back to back albums one in French and one in English.  Both albums are filled with cover versions of her personal favourite songs by female artists.  ‘Toutes les femmes en moi’ covers songs from Nana Mouskouri, Maurane to Celine Dion.  Her English album covers songs from Bette Midler, Joni Mitchell, Karen Carpenter, Kate Bush and Sarah McLachlan. 

Lara Fabian has often been compared to Celine Dion with fans of both often getting quite aggressive in defence of their chanteuse preferee.  However with the ability to sing and speak fluently in English, French, Italian and Spanish and with a classically trained vocal I believe Lara has the edge while not the same opportunities.  It seems as the Eurovision judged, Lara will always exist in Celine’s shadow.  I’m just waiting for that day when the sun comes out and it will.