TEN ESENTIALS
10 THE
ESSENTIAL LUXEMBOURG ENTRIES
JEAN CLAUDE PASCAL Nous Les Amoureux (1961) Jean Claude was another two-time representative of Luxembourg (he returned in 1981) and this chanson ballad written by Jacques Datin and Maurice Vidalin about lovers who were thwarted in their love won the contest with 31 points. Nous Les Amoureux was very much ahead of its time as the song is about gay lovers – as Pascal himself revealed later on. Pascal, who was gay, explained that the genders of the lovers were never revealed, hence coded for the gay affair. Pascal was also a fashion designer, had a lengthy and successful film career, as well a singer-songwriter and author. The Luxembourg entry for 1980 came from the pen of Ralf Siegel and was a spritely schlager song performed by 18-year-old twins Sophie and Magaly Gilles. Memorable for the dancer dressed up as the eponymous penguin, Sophie and Magaly finished a somewhat lowly ninth on the night but were rewarded with a big hit in France. This was one of three entries from the pen of Siegel, here co-composed with Bernd Meinunger, Pierre Delanoe and Jean-Paul Cara, who had written France’s winner in 1977. Le Papa Pingouin had a new lease of life in 2006 when a version of the song by the animated character Pigloo was released and topped the French charts. SOPHIE & MAGALY Le Papa Pingouin (1980) CAMILLO FELGEN So Laang We’s Du Do Bast (1960) Camillo, like Vicky, represented Luxembourg twice at Eurovision, in 1960 and then again in 1962, before going on to commentate for RTL in later contests. For his first entry, Camillo sung a typical chanson ballad, which while melodic lacked any spark and came last. What distinguished So Laang We’s Du Do Bast is that it was the first, and for a long time only entry from the Grand Duchy performed in Luxembourgish rather than French. Camillo, who came third in 1962, was also an oddity, being a performer who actually was from Luxembourg. Later in his career, he would host the TV show, Jeux Sans Frontieres .
With the news that 2024 will see the return to the Contest of The Grand Duchy, it falls to Marcus Keppel-Palmer to look back over the storied history of Luxembourg at Eurovision
VICKY LEANDROS L’Amour Est Bleu (1967)
Luxembourg has won Eurovision on five occasions, with Vicky Leandros victorious in 1972. However, the song from her selected is her earlier appearance in 1967 which finished fourth on the night. Vicky sung about love being blue and grey, despite the show being in black and white. The string laden ballad was delivered emotionally by Vicky, who had snuck over from Hamburg, and she would go on to record versions of the song in several languages including English ( Colours Of Love ). However, the tune is best remembered in the instrumental hit version by Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra.
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AUTUMN 2023 ● VISION
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