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Blogs by Steve Kerr
The Days Of The French Ballad
5/22/2015 5:54:21 PM
The Eurovision week comes to an end and reaches its climax at
tonight`s Grand Final in Vienna in which twenty seven
countries will compete.It has come a long way from the seven
countries who competed at the first event in Lugano when
highbrow,bow ties ,ballgowns and elegance reigned.Now a
magnificent display of the latest stage technology and
European pop.With the two semi-finals behind us the
qualifiers from which will battle it out with the Big Five
,that`s to say,Britain,Spain,Italy,Germany and France .As a
special 60th anniversary "treat" Australia, where the song
contest is watched avidly,is being allowed to compete
tonight.This year France will be represented by Lisa Angell who is
to sing a very traditional French ballad"N oubliez pas" based on a poem
about World War 1.She will sing it wearing a plain dress in
the tradition of chanson Francaise and its great exponents
such as Piaf .We will see how she fares amid the
pop,rock,ethno-folk and power ballads on display.Those who
denounce the contest as little more than rubbish
constipated with bubble gum pop and oompah beats show an
ignorance and have very short memories.For most of the 50s
,60s and 70s the contest was dominated by ballads many in
the chanson Francaise genre which transformed into French
pop Notable songs of the early years from that stable were
MIchelle Arnauds "Ne crois pas" from 1956 and "Messieurs Les noyes de la Seine" by Fud Leclerc .
also from that year .Andre Claveau won in 1958
with "dors mon amour".Several of the Francophone
countries entries, in the early years, were composed by the
authors of Piafs and Trenets greatest hits.Then
Belgium,Luxembourg,Monaco and often Switzerland sang in
French .Now,sadly Monaco and Luxembourg no longer compete
and the Swiss and Belguin`s sing in English.Notable ballads
from the early sixties were "A Force De priere" by Nana
Moskouri,"Ten Va Pas " by Esther Ofarim "Elle etait si
jolie" BY Alain Barriere and " l`amour sen va" by the queen
of the mods Francoise Hardy,all from the 1963 contest in
London.France Gall`s 1965 poupee de cire poupee de son" written
by the outrageous Serge Gainsbourg was the first winner
that was not a ballad.It had a Yenka beat ,which at the time
was sweeping through Europe.It was booed at rehearsals
because it had veered too far from the accepted genre of the
French song at the contest -the ballad. Isabelle Aubret , a
French communist, won for France in 1962 with "Un Premier
Amour" which succeeded Luxembourg`s 1961 victory "Nous Les
Amoureux" sung by French movie star Jean Claude
Pascal.Isabelle Aubret returned to sing again for France in
1968 with a powerful and unusual song about a young girl
who is raped and dies as a result .Her spirit goes into the
stream in the forest where she loved to walk"le Source".It
only managed third place.One of the best songs ever at
Eurovision was surley the 1969 French winner "un Jour Un
Enfent" sang by the late Moroccan singer Frida Boccara.The
French ballads continued to dominate contest well into the
70s The Greek megastar Vicky Leandros won in 1972 with
"Apres Toi" for Luxembourg who won again in 1973 with "Tu Te
Recanaitras" sang by the star of Jesus Christ
Superstar"Anne Marie David .A would be successor to Piaf`s
crown,the gracious,Betty Mars sang a very traditional
chanson for France in Edinburgh 1972"Come-comedie" which was
badly placed.Just a good few years too late for this genre
to win.Another worthy chanson from the 70s was Jean Vallee`s
1978 Belgiun entry which came second to Israels very poppy
number while France had her last victory in 1977 with Marie
Myriams interpretation of the poem"l`oiseau et l`enfent".
Luxembourg`s 1983 winner "Si la vie et un cadeau" by Corinne
Hermes was the last true French ballad to win and with a
few exceptions the french chanson began to fade and then
dissapear almost completly from the Eurovision Song Contest
as other genres such as ethno pop took over.The French
ballad`s domination now over.Expect however a dramatic
performance by France tonight and I am prepared to say that
The song may even be placed in the top ten
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More Blogs by Steve Kerr
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• We Are In Arcadia - Monday, June 6, 2016
• Travels In The Hindu Kush - Saturday, June 4, 2016
• Leafy Green Crescents and Eating Out - Thursday, June 2, 2016
• Creativity Cries Out - Thursday, May 26, 2016
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