vintageurovision

[vintageurovision]

Luca Barbarossa (left) represents Italy in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Simmonscourt Pavilion at Dublin's RDS on 30 April 1988. He was placed joint 12th with 'Ti Scrivo'. [photos: Gaffney, Des]

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Kloden Drejer, Gry Johansen | Denmark, Eurovision Song Contest 1983

17th place with 16 points

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Carmela Corren representing Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix 1963, with the song "Vielleicht geschieht ein Wunder"

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Mélanie Cohl representing Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, with the song "Dis Oui"

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Notre Planète, Maryon | Monaco, Eurovision Song Contest 2004

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"Für alle", Wind - Germany, Eurovision 1985 (preview video)

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Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran representing the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, with the song "Rock Bottom"

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Je Me Vais Marier, Marie, Patrick Juvet | Switzerland, Eurovision Song Contest Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 1973

12th place with 79 points

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Eurovision 2005: The Stage and Set Design

Surrounded by pillars of light and jutting forward into the crowd in the arena, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this year's stage in Palats Sportu was a grand affair. It's clear that NTU invested greatly in Eurovision this year including the host venue - despite the upheaval of the revolution. However looks can be deceptive.

The crowd size is around 5,000. This is roughly the same as 2002 and 2003. The area around the stage is not brightly lit, but just occasionally you can see how close the crowd are to it, and those shots give a sense of scale. It's actually pretty small.

The darkness surrounding the stage not only allows that size to be hidden, but also to show off the floor illuminated from below. There are LEDs on the pillars as well as size curved screens at the back from the stage - but these are still restricted to blocks of colour and screen-saver imagery of clouds.

The audience surround the stage on all sides and all of them have clear, unobstructed views of the stage. The darkness in which they sit is barely illuminated by some globular glowing balls on the strings which are capable of some fancy movements and choreography - enough for them to be a theme in the opening interval act for the semi-final - but when it comes to their abilities as lamps, they're not so great.

Pyro is again missing this year. There's some confetti at the end of the evening, but that's it. There's also a lack of any dry ice. These were elements not present in the original 1960s building and weren't installed in the Eurovision refit. There is however a wind machine.

On screen graphics are on a blue and green background, with simple white text in a rather blocky font reminiscent of the what futuristic text would have been imagined as when the Palace of Sports was being built. From the perspective of decades in the future, it looks even more dated that how it would have looked in 2005.

The need for a separate scoreboard screen is once again dispensed with on the main stage. The table for the EBU officials is subsumed by the audience. When it's time for Svante Stockelius to make his appearance, he's surrounded by Croatian fans mugging for the camera to his apparent dismay.

There's one major technical innovation this year. It's the first Eurovision to be broadcast in widescreen 16:9 format. The slogan for the year is 'Awakening', chosen to chime with Ukraine's emergence from the past into a European setting. The new Government hoped that Eurovision would not only boost Ukraine's tourist industry but also would serve as a demonstration to their intention to move towards EU membership and integration into the wider Eurovision project.

The green room, like last year is hidden away in the backrooms of the Palace of Sports. It looks fairly compact. Everyone is squeezed in together in a jamble of glitter, sofas, champagne glasses and flags.

When it's time for Helena to emerge from it to collect the trophies - more on that later - it's only a short distance but there's an intense scrum as she gets miked up while being harried by floor managers and security staff, as the two hosts vamp for all they're worth on stage. There doesn't appear to be much in the way of private space for the performers away from the dressing rooms.

The Executive Producers was Pavlo Grytsak, with Creative Director Mikhailo Ilko and Show Producer Tarmo Krimm

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Riva - Rock Me

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"Eitt lag enn", Stjórnin - Iceland, Eurovision 1990 (preview video)

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Tommy Körberg represents Sweden in the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, during a dress rehearsal held in the Simmonscourt Pavilion at Dublin's RDS on 30 April 1988. A man behind him is playing the trumpet. Körberg was placed joint 12th with 'Stad I Ljus'.

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ESTONIA THROUGH EUROVISION →  Ines “Once in a Lifetime” 2000

In 2000 Estonia had been predicted to win but placed 4th with 98 points. Ines was 18 years old when participating. She was widely criticised when returning home because people expected victory. “Once in a Lifetime” received 10 points from Latvia and returned 12 points to the debuting country. 

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Leylaklar Soldu Kalbinde, Buket Bengisu & Saphire | Türkiye, Eurovision Song Contest 2002

16th place with 29 points

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🇵🇹 Manuela Bravo – Sobe, sobe, balão sobe

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Hold on to our love, James Fox | United Kingdom, Eurovision Song Contest 2004