Welcome to read part two of ESC Webs’ history serie! Today we’ll go back in time to year 1993 when Millstreet in Ireland hosted Eurovision Song Contest. As told, this is the second part and on this article we’ll concentrate on the remaining 13 entries. Part one can be found here.
13. SWEDEN Arvingarna – Eloise
Sweden was of course disappointed for its second last place in the 1992 contest and this time they sent a rather new band called Arvingarna. This was their first time in Melodifestivalen but not the last one, they participated the contest three times, in 1995, 1999 and 2002. Band consists of four members and is still together. At Eurovision Song Contest they finished seventh with 89 points.
14. IRELAND Niamh Kavanagh – In Your Eyes
Niamh Kavanagh was 25 years old when she participated the Irish pre-selection for 1993 song contest. She clearly won the national final and left others behind in the race to Millstreet 1993. In front of the home audience, she sang a typical Irish ballad which once again turned out to be a success. After seven countries had gave Ireland their 12 points it was clear that Ireland would once again be the winner. Niamh Kavanagh returned in 2010 but only finished 23rd in the final.
15. LUXEMBOURG Modern Times – Donne-moi une chance
Luxembourg had enjoyed great success in the contest in earlier decades but slowly their good rankings were rarer. This was one of the reasons why in 1993 we heard the last Luxembourgish entry to date. Modern Times was a band which consisted of three members, all from Luxembourg. As in many times before, also this time the broadcaster chose their representative internally. Malta is known for its strange voting sometimes and this time they awarded their 10 points to Luxembourg and rescued the country from finishing last; 20th place with 11 points.
16. SLOVENIA 1X Band – Tih deževen dan
Those who love bands will surely love this contest, also Slovenia was represented by a band. ’1X Band’ was formed two years earlier, in 1991 but they were rather unknown before entering the Eurovision Song Contest. The leading vocalist also composed their entry which means “ Quiet, rainy day”. Slovenian first entry finished 22nd with 9 points, most of them coming from Italy and Sweden.
17. FINLAND Katri Helena – Tule Luo
Euroviisut 1993 was once again held in March where four experienced artists performed two songs each. The winner and song were chosen by juries and Katri Helena won the contest with ‘Tule Luo’. She was, and is still, one of Finland’s most popular singers with a career of over 40 years. Katri Helena had represented Finland at Eurovision in 1979 when she came 14th. This time the juries didn’t like her song that much and gave her 20 points which were enough for 17th place.
18. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Fazla – Sva bol svijeta
Another debut entry came from Bosnia & Herzegovina. The local broadcaster wanted to organise a national final where 11 entries were competing. Fazla made it to the Eurovision through the pre-qualifying round, more about that can be read from the first part. It was no surprising that the country which was in the middle of war at the time wanted to sing about their tough situation. 16th place with 27 points, including the full 12 from Turkey, were a good start for Bosnia & Herzegovina at Eurovision.
19. UNITED KINGDOM Sonia – Better The Devil You Know
History once again repeated itself. For the second time in a row, UK was left second behind Ireland. Sonia’s first hit in 1989 topped the charts in Ireland and United Kingdom. One year later her first album was released and in 1993 she entered A Song for Europe 1993 which was to choose the UK entry. She won it overwhelmingly thanks to the televoters. At Eurovision, the song felt fresh after some slower entries and was well received in Millstreet. However, the juries didn’t let United Kingdom to win and they once again had to settle with the second place.
20. THE NETHERLANDS Ruth Jacott – Vrede
Ruth Jacott was seen at 1992 contest as a backing vocalist for Humphrey Campbell, who later became her husband. Ruth Jacott was now competing on her own with a song that did stand out from the crowd that night. In her song she reminds people that we are able to build ships and airplanes but not able to keep peace on earth. She was one of the favorites to win the contest but surprisingly finished sixth.
21. CROATIA Put – Don’t Ever Cry
Croatia was drawn to perform 21st. Peace theme continued as the group ‘Put’ sang about, well, peace. Song was mostly in Croatian despite the English chorus and title. Croatian debut entry was placed 15th with a total of 31 points.
22. SPAIN Eva Santamaría – Hombres
Sadness was far away from the Spanish entry which brought some warm rhythms from the south. As usual, TVE choosed its representative internally and this time their target was Eva Santamaría who was just preparing to release her debut album. She accepted the invitation and decided to represent Spain with her hit, Hombres. It is about the typical women’s problems, you know, men are selfish and she is fed up. Surprisingly the highest points for this, 10 points, came from Finland. In total Spain received 58 points which meant 11th place.
23. CYPRUS Zimboulakis & Van Beke – Mi Stamatas
Between Evridiki’s appearances at Eurovision, Zimboulakis & Van Beke represented Cyprus with their rather simple entry “Mi Stamatas”. Greece, Denmark and UK awarded them some points and eventually Cyprus finished 19th.
24. ISRAEL Sarah’le Sharon & The Shiru Group – Shiru
Things weren’t any better for Israel during the voting. 24th place was Israel’s worst result in their history with only four points. Song is sung in Hebrew except the last part which is in English.
25. NORWAY Silje Vige – Alle Mina Tanker
Norway on the other hand finished fifth which was their best result in five years. A beautiful, mystical ballad was the evening’s last performance. Silje Vege’s song was actually penned by her father and she was just 16 years old in Millstreet. Vige’s first and to date last album was released in 1994 and nowadays she is a teacher. Norway received 120 points, 12 points from Greece, Finland and Croatia.
After a long Eurovision marathon it was time for an interval act. First, Linda Martin sang her previous year’s winning entry “Why Me” and after that Johnny Logan came on stage with a brand new song, “Voices”, performed together with local kids.
Voting was uneventful with only some technical difficulties during the Maltese points which were later announced last. Excitment was kept till the very end and the Maltese jury was to decide whether UK or Ireland would be the winner. 12 points were finally given to Ireland which meant that they won the contest for the second time in a row.
RTÉ once again accepted to host the 1994 song contest after successfully organised contest in 1993.
