TEN ESENTIALS
TEN ESSENTIALS
ANNE-MARIE DAVID Tu Te Reconnaîtras (1973) Luxembourg has won on five occasions so far and we cannot end without selecting another winner. Arise Anne-Marie who was born in Morocco and so joins the pantheon of international artists to represent the Grand Duchy. Representing Luxembourg as host nation held no fear for Anne-Marie who performed the classic ballad with panache and at the end she narrowly won ahead of Spain and the UK. Under the English lyric of Wonderful Dream , Anne- Marie reached number 13 in the charts. She would return to Eurovision in 1979 representing France and finishing third. SARAH BRAY Un Baiser Volé (1991) Luxembourg would withdraw from Eurovision in 1993 but in their last throes they sent this gem of a power ballad. Sarah (or Mick Wersant as she normally performed) from the band Skara Bray gave the song all she had, belting it out while wearing distractingly large earrings. The 1991 contest was very strong and Sarah only finished 14th with 29 points. The song was co-written by Mick and Patrick Hippert from the band Skara Bray as well. Since then Hippert has had a career writing music for film and television, while Wersant has changed career and now works as a beautician. BACCARA Parlez-Vous Francais (1978) In 1978 Luxembourg sent one of the most classic entries of all-time (if the performances of it at OGAE conventions are anything to go by!). Mayte and Maria, both Spanish flamenco dancers, formed the duo Baccara and immediately topped the charts worldwide, including the UK, in 1977 with Yes Sir I Can Boogie , one of the biggest selling singles ever. Sorry I’m A Lady also reached the UK Top Ten and it seemed that the similar sounding Parlez-Vous Francais, from the pens of Rolf Soja and Frank Dostal would win Eurovision. Disappointingly it finished seventh but remains one of the most beloved Luxembourg songs.
GERALDINE Toi (1975)
Another example of the net cast far and wide by RTL in finding Eurovision entries was in 1975 when they commissioned Ireland’s Phil Coulter to write a song for Ireland’s Geraldine Brannigan, who sung Toi into a respectable fifth place, despite her inability to speak French. Geraldine had been in a band called Geraldine & The Brannigans before catching the eye of Coulter, who had co-written the UK 1967 winner as well as Cliff’s Congratulations for 1968. Much in love with Geraldine, they married in 1998. Coulter persuaded his songwriting partner, Bill Martin, to collaborate on the song, with French lyrics supplied by Pierre Cour.
PLASTIC BERTRAND Amour-Amour ( 1987)
The Belgian punk rocker Plastic Bertrand was the somewhat surprising choice as Luxembourg’s entrant in 1987. Ça Plane Pour Moi had been a big worldwide hit in 1978 reaching number eight in the UK for Bertrand, while later that year his version of the Small Faces’ Sha-La-La-La-Lee also reached the UK Top 40. The Eurovision entry, co-written by Bertrand, was a lively bubbling typical 1980s song performed by the hyperactive vocalist, who was wearing a pink jacket with prominent shoulder pads that would have fitted right in to Dynasty. Four points was the measly return for this and a last but one finishing placing.
JEANE MANSON J’ai Déjà Vu Ca Dans Tes Yeux (1979) Another example of the international provenance of performers for Luxembourg was the choice of the American singer, Jeane Manson. She started her career by modelling for Playboy , before moving to Paris and finding acting roles in films with Charles Bronson, Mickey Rooney, Christophe Lambert and more. Her music career started working with Sacha Distel, but really took off when she started working with songwriter Jean Renard. Jeane had a worldwide hit with Avant De Nous Dire Adieu . Renard also wrote the Eurovision ballad with which Jeane finished 13th.
VISION ● AUTUMN 2023 79
78
AUTUMN 2023 ● VISION
Made with FlippingBook Annual report maker