Tag Archives: Monaco

MONACO AT EUROVISION – THE SOUTH AFRICAN CD COLLECTION

2004 – NOTRE PLANETE – MARYON = 1 CD
2005 – TOUT DE MOI – LISE DARLY = 1 CD
2006 – LA COCO DANCE – SEVERINE FERRER = 1 CD
2007 – no participation
2008 – no participation
2009 – no participation
2010 – no participation
2011 – no participation
2012 – no participation
2013 – no participation
2014 – no participation
2015 – no participation
2016 – no participation

SOLVING THE BIG PROBLEM

Article by Michelle Stigwood (Australia)
It is the subject that comes up each year in our home, as we wait for points to be given and eventually tallied from around Europe in the final of Eurovision. How may points will the UK get this year? Will it be null or maybe just a lonely 1 point. Will they finish at the bottom of the table? Which countries will somehow overlook the UK entry? Which may give the UK a token point( not Ireland!) Such a unceremonious fall from grace for an entrant that has won 5 Eurovision contests, is a member of the BIG 5, and until 1998 has reached the finals so many times.

But while I have been brushing up on some of the Eurovision history I have discovered something that may assist the UK to victory…well … a small sort of victory anyway.

I see that Monaco has once again declined to participate at Eurovision 2016. The reason could be many: financial ( too costly) technical ( no broadcaster) political ( bloc voting) or perhaps all of these reasons combined. This is a shame because actually Monaco had a very good track record of reaching the finals at Eurovision until recently. And of course we all luv a song in a language other than English- don’t we? It is so cryptic, so mysterious.

Monaco’s last win was in 1971 when Severine (a French citizen) directed by a French Director performed  “Un banc, Un abre, une rue” ( written by a French songwriter). This win was memorable for the fact that Monaco was eventually unable to host the competition in 1972 and after a long hiatus where France, Spain and Germany all declined to host Eurovision, the UK came to Monanco ‘s and Eurovision’s rescue by accepting to host the competition in Edinburgh in 1972.

So that “Good Samaritan” act started me thinking…maybe the UK could sponsor entries from Monaco (or other countries that are unable to participate because of financial or political constraints) and just keep it all hush hush…

At least this way, when Monaco or another sponsored country wins, the UK can at least host Eurovision again and savour the taste of success that has eluded it in the past 20 years.

 

LAST CHANCE TO EARN POINTS FOR 2016 TICKET LIST

The points table will close on 31 October 2015.

There is one more chance for points but this is exclusively just for people who became members for 2016. We know some of you joined late and did not have all the chances for points like the older members (especially good luck messages). So here is your last chance – the closing date is 21 October 2015.
It is a much more difficult task but there are a lot of points at stake – two members can get 100 points each which will almost guarentee those two for ticket packages.
The two winners will be judges by a panel of three people
Andy Mikheev – Kazakhstan
Cole van Dais – South Africa
Gerry Avelino – United States
These three people are not taking tickets themselves so they will judge each entry purely on merit. They won’t even know who is who, as I will get the entries and give it to them just as entry from A or B or C, no names.
So unlike normal tasks, this task will requite a little more thought to make sure you stand a chance to be one of the two winners.
One of the most important aspects of EUROVISION is which countries will take part and fans are always sad when some countries decide not to take part. Recently we heard NO’s from Croatia, Bosnia and Portugal. But we also know Turkey, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Andorra and Monaco will not participate.
The task is, you have to pick one of these NON participating countries and write a letter to their HEAD OF TV ENTERTAINMENT and give reasons why you as a fan want this country to reconsider and take part.
I myself have done this several times and in the case of two, I have had some success in that these countries did take part and one even wrote to me saying my mail got them thinking. The first example is CZECH REPUBLIC 2015. I wrote a long letter to them once we knew Eurovision 2015 would be in Vienna. My reasons for them to take part is that in 1968 their most famous singer KAREL GOTT took part for Austria in Eurovision with a song composed by Udo Jurgens, the only previous Austrian winner and it would be wonderful to have them make a return in Vienna. Even in Vienna Marta and Vaclav spoke to me as they knew of the South African who is a huge Karel Gott fan. In my mail to Czech republic I attached also sales figures of Karel Gott covers in South Africa (12 of his songs have been covered in Afrikaans with sales to around 3 million). Of course they did write to me to say other factors played a role as well, but it was great that I reminded them about this special connection between Austria and the Czech republic.
The second example was AUSTRIA 2011 – and here I focused mainly on the fact that Eurovision 2011 was in DUSSELDORF in Germany and it would look awful if a fellow German speaking country is absent.
I know this is not going to be easy but a lot of points are at stake and so think carefully which country you will pick and what reasons you will use to get them to return.
I would like to send the best mails to these countries – maybe a last passionate plea would get maybe one to return. We have nothing to loose.

Answers to info@esccovers.com