Women's World Cup Quarter Finals 2019: The Eurovision Twist
Following a somewhat successful reading of the World Cup through Eurovision eyes last year (https://internationalisteurovisionblog.blogspot.com/2018/07/world-cup-semi-finals-2018-eurovision.html), we are back to do it all again with the Women's World Cup. Amazingly, we can start unusually early with this tournament as 7 of the 8 competing nations in this year's quarter finals are European and the last is the United States of America. Fortunately for us, there have been many American participants over the course of time and they will be flying the stars and stripes in our mini competition. Please vote for your favourite by writing it in the comments section below and we will post the results along with the next round of matches when the Semi Final line-up is revealed. So without further ado, here are the Women's World Cup 2019 Quarter Finals... Eurovision style!
Norway vs. England
1985
We start in the Scandinavium in the year that the Norwegian curse was finally lifted. Norway had spent much of the previous decades as the running joke at the contest, but Bobbysocks had the last laugh that year as 'La Det Swinge' won the hearts of the European jurors and public. The song remains an utter classic amongst the Eurovision fandom. Following them in the running order was none other than the United Kingdom. Still riding the high off Bucks Fizz winning the contest in 1981, the United Kingdom had managed consistent Top 10 finishes since 1978 but had been seeking a return to the top 5 for the first time since 'Making Your Mind Up'. Their hopes rested with Hampshire singer Vikki and her composition 'Love Is' (making her only the second female singer to sing her own composition for the UK at the contest). The entry finished fourth and went down in history as (at the time) one of the few acts to reach 100 points without being given a 12 from any jury.
Norway - 'La Det Swinge' by Bobbysocks!
United Kingdom - 'Love Is...' by Vikki
France vs. USA
1975
Moving east to Stockholm and going back ten years in time, we come to the 1975 contest. When ABBA brought the contest to Sweden for the first time, who would have known it would be the first of many! Having been an internal selection and with France not having participated the year before, few people really knew what to expect from TF1 at this year's contest. Nicole Rieu was drawn third in the running order, with her sweet ballad threatening to be forgotten in the wider context of the nineteen-strong contest. Instead, her ode to the great artists shone through to the jurors and Nicole netted a very respectable fourth in the process. She was pipped to a place in the top three by the Italians who consisted of singers Dori Ghezzi and her regular collaborator Wes. Wes was an African-American artist born in Winston-Salem, North Caroline who had come to Italy in pursuit of a musical career. There, he ended up collaborating with Dori on the Italian version of Brotherhood of Man' song 'United We Stand'. From there, they became a regular recording partnership and amongst their large body of work was 'Era', a soul-infused ballad that captured the magic of love. The love was felt around Europe and Wes won the title of most successful American act at Eurovision until a certain Katrina came along...
France - 'Et bonjour a toi l'artiste' by Nicole Rieu
USA (Italy) - 'Era' by Wes & Dori Ghezzi
Italy vs. The Netherlands
2019
We may have gone back a number of decades in previous entries but we only need to go back a number of weeks for our most recent battle. Yes, this Women's World Cup tie is in fact the second time that the Italians and the Dutch have done battle on a major scale this year. Nobody expected 'Soldi' to emerge victorious from a star-packed Sanremo lineup. Once it had been announced as the winner, the song was infectious, becoming quickly popular with both fans and radio stations across Europe. The song had powerful lyrics which transcended language to resonate strongly with juries and public on the night of the final and come the closest an act has been to returning the contest to Italy since their debut year back in 2011. There was a lot of interest in Duncan Laurence from the moment he was announced as the internally selected Dutch act. Yet nobody could have foreseen the effect that 'Arcade' would have on people when it was released. This was a song jam-packed full of pain, honesty and yearning with a few clever metaphors thrown in for good measure and this was enough to storm it to victory, pipping Mahmood to the win in the process.
Italy - 'Soldi' by Mahmood
The Netherlands - 'Arcade' by Duncan Laurence
Germany vs. Sweden
1985
And we return back to where this post began on May 4th 1985 in Gothenburg. Sweden were hosting the contest for only their second time but it was quickly clear that they were presiding over a Eurovision classic year (as so many of the Swedish-hosted years are). Despite Wind's status of fame within the Eurovision community now, nobody in Germany even knew who they were the day before the broadcaster hosted Ein Lied fur Goteborg. Wind only won the national final by 20 votes but their message of inclusivity and love translated well firstly to the voting German jurors and then to the rest of Europe. Their second place finish was only two points ahead of the home entry that year. Kikki's road to Gothenburg was certainly fraught, having won a low-budget MelFest that year in order for SVT to afford to host the main contest. Kikki beat out the favourite with an upbeat schlager song about falling in love and proceeded to do relatively well at the main contest. The song is now a Swedish classic fitting perfectly alongside a classic Swedish Eurovision on the nation's west coast.
Germany - 'Fur Alle' by Wind
Sweden - 'Bra vibrationer' by Kikki Danielsson
And that's your lot. Please vote for your favourites in the comments section below and we will see next week whether the results of the vote corresponded with the results of the football! A reminder that Norway vs. England is on Thursday 27 June at 21:00 CET followed by France vs. USA on Friday 28 June at 21:00 CET. Saturday 29 June then sees Italy vs. The Netherlands play at 15:00 CET before Germany vs. Sweden at 18:30 CET. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe to spread the Eurovision fun. Enjoy the music, enjoy the football, enjoy the summer, be back soon!
Norway vs. England
1985
We start in the Scandinavium in the year that the Norwegian curse was finally lifted. Norway had spent much of the previous decades as the running joke at the contest, but Bobbysocks had the last laugh that year as 'La Det Swinge' won the hearts of the European jurors and public. The song remains an utter classic amongst the Eurovision fandom. Following them in the running order was none other than the United Kingdom. Still riding the high off Bucks Fizz winning the contest in 1981, the United Kingdom had managed consistent Top 10 finishes since 1978 but had been seeking a return to the top 5 for the first time since 'Making Your Mind Up'. Their hopes rested with Hampshire singer Vikki and her composition 'Love Is' (making her only the second female singer to sing her own composition for the UK at the contest). The entry finished fourth and went down in history as (at the time) one of the few acts to reach 100 points without being given a 12 from any jury.
Norway - 'La Det Swinge' by Bobbysocks!
United Kingdom - 'Love Is...' by Vikki
France vs. USA
1975
Moving east to Stockholm and going back ten years in time, we come to the 1975 contest. When ABBA brought the contest to Sweden for the first time, who would have known it would be the first of many! Having been an internal selection and with France not having participated the year before, few people really knew what to expect from TF1 at this year's contest. Nicole Rieu was drawn third in the running order, with her sweet ballad threatening to be forgotten in the wider context of the nineteen-strong contest. Instead, her ode to the great artists shone through to the jurors and Nicole netted a very respectable fourth in the process. She was pipped to a place in the top three by the Italians who consisted of singers Dori Ghezzi and her regular collaborator Wes. Wes was an African-American artist born in Winston-Salem, North Caroline who had come to Italy in pursuit of a musical career. There, he ended up collaborating with Dori on the Italian version of Brotherhood of Man' song 'United We Stand'. From there, they became a regular recording partnership and amongst their large body of work was 'Era', a soul-infused ballad that captured the magic of love. The love was felt around Europe and Wes won the title of most successful American act at Eurovision until a certain Katrina came along...
France - 'Et bonjour a toi l'artiste' by Nicole Rieu
USA (Italy) - 'Era' by Wes & Dori Ghezzi
Italy vs. The Netherlands
2019
We may have gone back a number of decades in previous entries but we only need to go back a number of weeks for our most recent battle. Yes, this Women's World Cup tie is in fact the second time that the Italians and the Dutch have done battle on a major scale this year. Nobody expected 'Soldi' to emerge victorious from a star-packed Sanremo lineup. Once it had been announced as the winner, the song was infectious, becoming quickly popular with both fans and radio stations across Europe. The song had powerful lyrics which transcended language to resonate strongly with juries and public on the night of the final and come the closest an act has been to returning the contest to Italy since their debut year back in 2011. There was a lot of interest in Duncan Laurence from the moment he was announced as the internally selected Dutch act. Yet nobody could have foreseen the effect that 'Arcade' would have on people when it was released. This was a song jam-packed full of pain, honesty and yearning with a few clever metaphors thrown in for good measure and this was enough to storm it to victory, pipping Mahmood to the win in the process.
Italy - 'Soldi' by Mahmood
The Netherlands - 'Arcade' by Duncan Laurence
Germany vs. Sweden
1985
And we return back to where this post began on May 4th 1985 in Gothenburg. Sweden were hosting the contest for only their second time but it was quickly clear that they were presiding over a Eurovision classic year (as so many of the Swedish-hosted years are). Despite Wind's status of fame within the Eurovision community now, nobody in Germany even knew who they were the day before the broadcaster hosted Ein Lied fur Goteborg. Wind only won the national final by 20 votes but their message of inclusivity and love translated well firstly to the voting German jurors and then to the rest of Europe. Their second place finish was only two points ahead of the home entry that year. Kikki's road to Gothenburg was certainly fraught, having won a low-budget MelFest that year in order for SVT to afford to host the main contest. Kikki beat out the favourite with an upbeat schlager song about falling in love and proceeded to do relatively well at the main contest. The song is now a Swedish classic fitting perfectly alongside a classic Swedish Eurovision on the nation's west coast.
Germany - 'Fur Alle' by Wind
Sweden - 'Bra vibrationer' by Kikki Danielsson
And that's your lot. Please vote for your favourites in the comments section below and we will see next week whether the results of the vote corresponded with the results of the football! A reminder that Norway vs. England is on Thursday 27 June at 21:00 CET followed by France vs. USA on Friday 28 June at 21:00 CET. Saturday 29 June then sees Italy vs. The Netherlands play at 15:00 CET before Germany vs. Sweden at 18:30 CET. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe to spread the Eurovision fun. Enjoy the music, enjoy the football, enjoy the summer, be back soon!
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