The one I’ve been waiting for! Colour, Katie Boyle and the Cliff v Massiel debacle. As a Brit😅 where ‘Congratulations’ is still played regularly at weddings, growing up I’d always felt ‘we were robbed’…. The whole ‘La,La,La’ being used entirely for the chorus was often quoted in the U.K. to show how ‘bad’ the song was and how it showed cheesy ESC was. And so I ‘toed’ the U.K. Line. Spain bad, U.K. robbed. That is until the early 00s when I got a Eurovision compilation CD featuring ‘La-La-La’ and actually got to hear the verses. And of course TH-cam arrived and I saw the performance of Massiel. This song was way better than ‘Congratulations’. Dramatic, great music, joyfully delivered. Finally I read in the 2007 ‘History of Eurovision’ book by JK O’Connor of Cliff hiding in the toilets during the voting. Apparently during the Dress Rehearsal the juries gave their scores for that, indicated Cliff would not win. And that’s why he took to the toilets! It’s also reported that a live concert at London ‘Talk of the Town’ nightclub a little later, Cliff Richard told the audience how he’d like to ‘shake Massiel - by the throat’. Not a very Christian attitude. I think the reaction to 2nd place by a lot of Brits shows a bit of smugness by us towards Eurovision. Even today a lot of Brits will say ‘we have many of the biggest stars and so we should win every time’ and ‘we could send Ed Sheeran, Adele etc and not win’. Maybe back in 1968 people were saying ‘we could send the Beatles, Rolling Stones etc’ and still not win.
I think it also shows the whole us and the continent attitude ;) Thanks for the comment that was really interesting. Didn't know about the by the throat comment...
Creo que el error de “no enviamos a nuestros mejores cantantes porque perderíamos igual, pasa en más países, y tengo la creencia que es porque nos centramos en culpar a los otros países en lugar de entender que es muy difícil ganar Eurovisión por pura eatadiatica y matemáticas! En España, grandes voces y cantantes ( Mecano, Mónica Naranjo, Amaral) ni piensan en ir a Eurovisión porque es perder seguro y quita prestigio a sus fulminantes carreras.
I believe Spain did earn their win fair and square. And even if they didn’t we should probably still give it to them considering how absolutely unlucky Spain is when it comes to Eurovision
Fun fact. Odd Børre's song "Stress" got actually second place at the norwegian national selection Melodi Grand Prix 1968, the actual winning song "Jeg har aldri vært så glad i noen som deg" also performed by Odd Børre had allegations that it plagiarised a 1963 song named "Summer Holiday" by Cliff Richard
I think this was one of the first 'classic' Eurovision contests - in that I loved so many of the competing songs, and not because it was the first in colour. Polo neck jumpers were definitely the clothing item of the year weren't they? I loved the subtle outfit of Ronnie Tober and would love to recreate that as some cosplay thing at a future Eurovision thing (failing that either Massiel's or Kristiina Hautala's dress 🤣). Finland's song that year is one of my all time favourite's and started me on the long road of Finland being one of my favourite Eurovision countries. Strangely enough Norway's song is strangely hypnotic and 'odd', which is why I like it and why my tastes rarely coincide with a Eurovision winner 😂. After Finland, Germany and then Sweden would have been in my top 3 that year - such wonderful songs and performances (although Sweden's coat is probably the height of my own fashion lol). As a Brit, I have always had a love/hate relationship about Cliff Richard, as in our household he was seen as the granny's/auntie's darling (despite the so-called younger crowd screaming for him); similarly, despite its popularity, "Congratulations" is one of those songs I just cannot get into - although after a few pints, I probably would join in on the singalong. After a few more pints I would definitely be doing a Massiel on the karaoke. I think it was a fair result and anyway another 2nd place cements our place in Eurovision history as the nation coming second the most times and I love that nerdy fact. Oh and a honourable mention for Yugoslavia too as one of the all time Eurovision classic songs - in my humble opinion. What a year it was.
Even being Spanish, I never found the song "La, la, la" particularly interesting... Until this video. Watching the rest of the performances, I have realized that except for Finland, Germany and of course the UK, the rest of the songs are either somewhat old-fashioned, rigid and not very attractive, even for that time, or inconsequential. Yes, the chorus is repeated a lot, but the verses are beautiful, the performer's voice is powerful and warm at the same time, and overall, Massiel's performance was charismatic. Tastes were beginning to change at that time and I think the freshness and authenticity of the interpretation was valued. Marco Mengoni comes to mind. Few of us were betting on Due Vite until we saw him perform it live. So, thank you for these special and well-crafted videos that give us the opportunity to review our memories.
Thank you for watching and your kind comments. I think what maked La La La interesting is also the change from dramatic verses to up beat chorus. I really appreciated the song more after doing the video. Saludos!
If Spain rigged the contest, that means that the contest was (and maybe is) possible to be rigged and that opens a door that many countries and fans don't want to open. From a Spanish point of view, that win meant a lot. Spain was no longer a closed country (tourism) but was still an international pariah (rightfully). The song gave hope and fresh air to a society that needed it. The regime used the chance for its interests, but in any way, we cannot identify Massiel or the song as pro-Franco at all. The song was an apolitical beautiful song and Massiel was openly vocal against the regime. In fact, she was banned from RTVE for many years after her victory. Luckily, Spain is a different country nowadays.
Your try to say Kun kello käy was funny, it seems to be a real tongue twister 😂. This song is so lovely and "Finnish" with all those äy-s, yö-s and työ-s 😊. I really like it, didn't deserve to become last.
And how could a man buy 15 juries (excluding United Kingdom and Spain)? It was just luck. Massiel's "La La La" was a hit, very tied to 1968 spirit, and the song was even covered in Scandinavian languages. Regarding the Catalan matter, democracy has never allowed a candidature in any other co-official language, or at least attempts such as Tanxugueiras failed. In contrast, the Mediterranean Song Contest 1963 was won by Spain being represented by Salomé and her Catalan song "Se'n va anar", a very good one indeed
A very interesting fact with voting for me is how UK jury panels hardly gave any points to Spain for years/decades after 1968. Until 1989 probably if I remember well with those 7 or 8 points for Nina. And also how well Spain used to vote for Germany for decades also after those 6 key points.
Maybe it’s because I was a child during the sixties that I favor the music of that time, but I really like the songs highlighted here. I’m from the US and never heard any of them, but there’s still a familiarity there.
Check them out! Jedan dan, La source, La La La and Ein Hoch der Liebe are my faves. Love the British invasion too. Especially Dusty ;) Are you a Eurovision fan?
Spain was better than UK, but surely the lyricist could have reduced the number of La la la's and actually wrote lyrics. The English version cut out a lot if the La's and replaced them with " he brings me love,so much love" . As for Cliff, he just sulked because he lost, hiding in the toilets 😂?, same in 1973 in the voting, you see the other contestants in the audience as voter come in but no Cliff, in the toilet again, unpleasant comments again from him about the winning song saying that she sang sweetly but a dull song. A few weeks later in uk a comedy duo did a sketch show and one part of the show was about the news in the future and the news reader in the future said Cliff Richard returns from the Eurovision song contest losing for the 30th time
The original lyrics are protest against dictatorship. It's short but very emotional and beautiful. Lyrics in spanish are also beautiful but with less deep meaning.
This year Brazil could have had a constant on the Italian side, since Roberto Carlos won the Sanremo festival with an Endrigo's song. Endrigo's song to ESC was a different one from the Sanremo festival :). Roberto Carlos is a huge Brazilian singer, nicknamed "the king" (yep, this cheesy), and every year till 2019 (?) he sang in a concert on the end of the year.
It's sometimes funny hearing German speakers pronounce Dutch titles 🙃 Great job again researching the back stories of these entries! I liked Yugoslavia. I wonder what's the language breakdown of that country's entries over the years was, so Serbian vs. Croatian, etc.
@@eurovisionhistoriesI might try to research that actually. Looking forward to 1969, when the Netherlands is part of the party. Had no idea about Ronnie Tober singing for Nixon and JFK.
That Kristina Hautala didn't do better is a travesty. A spirited performance of a very fine song. I've never seen any explanation as to why it did so badly. It's a well-crafted song and the performance does it justice.
Another great year and winner. I will miss the black and white. I like most of the songs but Ireland (one of the best ballad ever) and Yugoslavia (just wow) stood out so much that they was the top 2 in all the rankings in our group watching and that never happend again. I also adore Austria and France. Norway is a very polarising song and that great. my last place is without a doubt Luxembourg (if only Chris was the singer I would like that more).
@@DavidDamen-ve7br Its not weird when other entries become popular or when nobody spected the winner, Ucraine in 2016 wasn't expected to win or how Fuego did so well, hell, no one in the fandom expected that Solo this year would have such a good run, or that Evidament would flop as it did. Eurovision is weird like that.
@@ButIamAStick thing is back then he was the clear favorite in the odds and his song came 2nd but became a hit but the winning song did not which is strange considering the winning song would chart in multiple countries usually
The one I’ve been waiting for! Colour, Katie Boyle and the Cliff v Massiel debacle. As a Brit😅 where ‘Congratulations’ is still played regularly at weddings, growing up I’d always felt ‘we were robbed’…. The whole ‘La,La,La’ being used entirely for the chorus was often quoted in the U.K. to show how ‘bad’ the song was and how it showed cheesy ESC was. And so I ‘toed’ the U.K. Line. Spain bad, U.K. robbed. That is until the early 00s when I got a Eurovision compilation CD featuring ‘La-La-La’ and actually got to hear the verses. And of course TH-cam arrived and I saw the performance of Massiel. This song was way better than ‘Congratulations’. Dramatic, great music, joyfully delivered. Finally I read in the 2007 ‘History of Eurovision’ book by JK O’Connor of Cliff hiding in the toilets during the voting. Apparently during the Dress Rehearsal the juries gave their scores for that, indicated Cliff would not win. And that’s why he took to the toilets! It’s also reported that a live concert at London ‘Talk of the Town’ nightclub a little later, Cliff Richard told the audience how he’d like to ‘shake Massiel - by the throat’. Not a very Christian attitude. I think the reaction to 2nd place by a lot of Brits shows a bit of smugness by us towards Eurovision. Even today a lot of Brits will say ‘we have many of the biggest stars and so we should win every time’ and ‘we could send Ed Sheeran, Adele etc and not win’. Maybe back in 1968 people were saying ‘we could send the Beatles, Rolling Stones etc’ and still not win.
I think it also shows the whole us and the continent attitude ;)
Thanks for the comment that was really interesting. Didn't know about the by the throat comment...
Why would they be such sore losers? They won the year before!! And with a song that I felt sounded like clown dancing carnival music.
Creo que el error de “no enviamos a nuestros mejores cantantes porque perderíamos igual, pasa en más países, y tengo la creencia que es porque nos centramos en culpar a los otros países en lugar de entender que es muy difícil ganar Eurovisión por pura eatadiatica y matemáticas! En España, grandes voces y cantantes ( Mecano, Mónica Naranjo, Amaral) ni piensan en ir a Eurovisión porque es perder seguro y quita prestigio a sus fulminantes carreras.
I believe Spain did earn their win fair and square. And even if they didn’t we should probably still give it to them considering how absolutely unlucky Spain is when it comes to Eurovision
Haha true
Fun fact.
Odd Børre's song "Stress" got actually second place at the norwegian national selection Melodi Grand Prix 1968, the actual winning song "Jeg har aldri vært så glad i noen som deg" also performed by Odd Børre had allegations that it plagiarised a 1963 song named "Summer Holiday" by Cliff Richard
Thank you for the fun fact!
I think this was one of the first 'classic' Eurovision contests - in that I loved so many of the competing songs, and not because it was the first in colour. Polo neck jumpers were definitely the clothing item of the year weren't they? I loved the subtle outfit of Ronnie Tober and would love to recreate that as some cosplay thing at a future Eurovision thing (failing that either Massiel's or Kristiina Hautala's dress 🤣). Finland's song that year is one of my all time favourite's and started me on the long road of Finland being one of my favourite Eurovision countries. Strangely enough Norway's song is strangely hypnotic and 'odd', which is why I like it and why my tastes rarely coincide with a Eurovision winner 😂. After Finland, Germany and then Sweden would have been in my top 3 that year - such wonderful songs and performances (although Sweden's coat is probably the height of my own fashion lol). As a Brit, I have always had a love/hate relationship about Cliff Richard, as in our household he was seen as the granny's/auntie's darling (despite the so-called younger crowd screaming for him); similarly, despite its popularity, "Congratulations" is one of those songs I just cannot get into - although after a few pints, I probably would join in on the singalong. After a few more pints I would definitely be doing a Massiel on the karaoke. I think it was a fair result and anyway another 2nd place cements our place in Eurovision history as the nation coming second the most times and I love that nerdy fact. Oh and a honourable mention for Yugoslavia too as one of the all time Eurovision classic songs - in my humble opinion. What a year it was.
Even being Spanish, I never found the song "La, la, la" particularly interesting... Until this video. Watching the rest of the performances, I have realized that except for Finland, Germany and of course the UK, the rest of the songs are either somewhat old-fashioned, rigid and not very attractive, even for that time, or inconsequential. Yes, the chorus is repeated a lot, but the verses are beautiful, the performer's voice is powerful and warm at the same time, and overall, Massiel's performance was charismatic. Tastes were beginning to change at that time and I think the freshness and authenticity of the interpretation was valued. Marco Mengoni comes to mind. Few of us were betting on Due Vite until we saw him perform it live. So, thank you for these special and well-crafted videos that give us the opportunity to review our memories.
Thank you for watching and your kind comments. I think what maked La La La interesting is also the change from dramatic verses to up beat chorus. I really appreciated the song more after doing the video.
Saludos!
Did Spain win fair and square? 😊 I believe so!
If Spain rigged the contest, that means that the contest was (and maybe is) possible to be rigged and that opens a door that many countries and fans don't want to open. From a Spanish point of view, that win meant a lot. Spain was no longer a closed country (tourism) but was still an international pariah (rightfully). The song gave hope and fresh air to a society that needed it. The regime used the chance for its interests, but in any way, we cannot identify Massiel or the song as pro-Franco at all. The song was an apolitical beautiful song and Massiel was openly vocal against the regime. In fact, she was banned from RTVE for many years after her victory. Luckily, Spain is a different country nowadays.
Of course. I know favorite of franco was Raphael. If they wanted to buy the contest the would did it with him not with this song.
Can't wait for the 1969 review and the 4 winners!
Shouldn't be long
I love that even in the 60s the crowd was wild for their favorite
It was held in the UK to be fair 😅
Your try to say Kun kello käy was funny, it seems to be a real tongue twister 😂. This song is so lovely and "Finnish" with all those äy-s, yö-s and työ-s 😊. I really like it, didn't deserve to become last.
Yeah it wasn't easy. I don't have a teleprompter so have to remember what I am supposed to say including Finnish song titles ;)
And how could a man buy 15 juries (excluding United Kingdom and Spain)? It was just luck. Massiel's "La La La" was a hit, very tied to 1968 spirit, and the song was even covered in Scandinavian languages. Regarding the Catalan matter, democracy has never allowed a candidature in any other co-official language, or at least attempts such as Tanxugueiras failed. In contrast, the Mediterranean Song Contest 1963 was won by Spain being represented by Salomé and her Catalan song "Se'n va anar", a very good one indeed
I liked Massiel's song, I think she won fairly. Shout out to Cliff's backing singers The Breakaways RIP.
A very interesting fact with voting for me is how UK jury panels hardly gave any points to Spain for years/decades after 1968. Until 1989 probably if I remember well with those 7 or 8 points for Nina.
And also how well Spain used to vote for Germany for decades also after those 6 key points.
Meisterwerk Danke ich liebe die Videos von dir!
Danke dir!!! Es macht viel Arbeit und daher freut es mich dass es gefällt ;)
The real winner that year was the UK song Congratulations which sold millions of records around the world number 1 in many countries
Maybe it’s because I was a child during the sixties that I favor the music of that time, but I really like the songs highlighted here. I’m from the US and never heard any of them, but there’s still a familiarity there.
Check them out! Jedan dan, La source, La La La and Ein Hoch der Liebe are my faves.
Love the British invasion too. Especially Dusty ;)
Are you a Eurovision fan?
Spain was better than UK, but surely the lyricist could have reduced the number of La la la's and actually wrote lyrics. The English version cut out a lot if the La's and replaced them with " he brings me love,so much love" . As for Cliff, he just sulked because he lost, hiding in the toilets 😂?, same in 1973 in the voting, you see the other contestants in the audience as voter come in but no Cliff, in the toilet again, unpleasant comments again from him about the winning song saying that she sang sweetly but a dull song. A few weeks later in uk a comedy duo did a sketch show and one part of the show was about the news in the future and the news reader in the future said
Cliff Richard returns from the Eurovision song contest losing for the 30th time
The original lyrics are protest against dictatorship. It's short but very emotional and beautiful. Lyrics in spanish are also beautiful but with less deep meaning.
Love your videos! Always looking forward to them. 😊
I love Belgium and Norway that year! Stress is the most underrated songs of all time, the lyrics about hurry are just genius!
This year Brazil could have had a constant on the Italian side, since Roberto Carlos won the Sanremo festival with an Endrigo's song. Endrigo's song to ESC was a different one from the Sanremo festival :). Roberto Carlos is a huge Brazilian singer, nicknamed "the king" (yep, this cheesy), and every year till 2019 (?) he sang in a concert on the end of the year.
Which is your favorite in 1968? Mine is Yugoslavia
I find the subject matter of La Source very daring too
Yugoslavia is my winner!
Albania is my favorite🤪
@herrmajestat yaaay. I thought I was the only one!
Did I get Swedens lyrics correctly?
@MoominNoah. Hahaha yes
Justice for Kun kello käy!!! it should had beeing top 5
It's sometimes funny hearing German speakers pronounce Dutch titles 🙃 Great job again researching the back stories of these entries! I liked Yugoslavia. I wonder what's the language breakdown of that country's entries over the years was, so Serbian vs. Croatian, etc.
Back then they didn't distinguish the languages, but I guess you could break down where there were from and find out which language was used more
@@eurovisionhistoriesI might try to research that actually. Looking forward to 1969, when the Netherlands is part of the party. Had no idea about Ronnie Tober singing for Nixon and JFK.
That Kristina Hautala didn't do better is a travesty. A spirited performance of a very fine song. I've never seen any explanation as to why it did so badly. It's a well-crafted song and the performance does it justice.
Another great year and winner. I will miss the black and white.
I like most of the songs but Ireland (one of the best ballad ever) and Yugoslavia (just wow) stood out so much that they was the top 2 in all the rankings in our group watching and that never happend again.
I also adore Austria and France.
Norway is a very polarising song and that great.
my last place is without a doubt Luxembourg (if only Chris was the singer I would like that more).
Lalala's song won, but does anyone even remember it, obviously not.. Someone still remembers the song Congratulations...for sure
So you're telling me there was a time when the absolute booky favorite didn't win? Ah, the times they are a-changing.
Yes! 2011 ;)
i cant wait for the video about 1969! i watched it and it was crazy indeed
Die Luxemburger erinnern mich optisch an Cindy und Bert, die 1974 auf dem letzten Platz landeten.
Auch das ja. Aber ein bissl bessere Farbkombi als Cindy und Bert
what i will say is its strange that congratulations became a hit where as la la la did not
But that is kinda Eurovision standard. I mean Volare came third as did Eres tu
@@eurovisionhistoriesEres Tu actually came in second, not third
@@eurovisionhistories but there is a massive difference this was the favorite to win in the odds by a landslide
@@DavidDamen-ve7br Its not weird when other entries become popular or when nobody spected the winner, Ucraine in 2016 wasn't expected to win or how Fuego did so well, hell, no one in the fandom expected that Solo this year would have such a good run, or that Evidament would flop as it did.
Eurovision is weird like that.
@@ButIamAStick thing is back then he was the clear favorite in the odds and his song came 2nd but became a hit but the winning song did not which is strange considering the winning song would chart in multiple countries usually