Topic: Did you know that...

[Martial]

it doesn't look that bad after all

[Remy]

How many times opened a country the contest?
Behind the country you can see how many times the country opened a contest in finals/semi-finals.
Number in () = only semi-finals.

Netherlands		6
Spain		4
Finland		4		(1)
Austria		4		(1)
Italy		3
United Kingdom		3
Portugal		3
Ireland		3
Iceland		3		(1)
France		2
Luxembourg		2
Germany		2
Yugoslavia		2
Sweden		2
Cyprus		2
Lithuania		2
Croatia		2		(1)
Montenegro		2		(2)
Belgium		1
Norway		1
Poland		1
Turkey		1
Israel		1
Hungary		1
Switzerland		1
Bosnia & Herzegovina		1
Romania		1
Armenia		1		(1)
Bulgaria		1		(1)

[Martial]

lately it has been tough on montenegro or ireland!

[Remy]

Humphrey Campbell represented the Netherlands in 1992 (Wijs Me De Weg, 9th place with 67 points) and Ruth Jacott represented the country in 1993 (Vrede, 6th place with 92 points).

Did you know that Ruth Jacott was Campbells background-singer in 1992 and that Campbell was Jacotts background-singer in 1993?

Humphrey Campbell, representing the Netherlands in 1992

Ruth Jacott, representing the Netherlands in 1993

Ruth Jacott and Humphrey Campbell have a relationship these days.
Campbell is the uncle of Dutch Idols winner Raffaëla Paton.

[Martial]

i actually knew that! great dutch entries! i also liked 94 though the song that came second in NSF was stronger to me, happier at least.. 96 was good too and i actually like 97 and 98. 99 is weak to me on esc stage though NSF that year was horrible and Marlain did deserve to walk away with the victory. Since then NL has rarely been my cup of tea though 04 was good but no where near as good as Charly Luske's hot song (and hot sexyness )

[Remy]

I agree with you. I was a little surprised at the low ranking in 1994 from Willeke Alberti, but she performed after Malta and before Germany (5th and 3rd in 1994), so it's logical that the juries didn't care for her song.

I think that the last good entry from The Netherlands was Edsilia in 1998, but I also liked NL 2003 and 2007.
The Dutch entry in 2004 was good, but it was not a very strong entry indeed, although it was the last time that we made it to the final.

[Niko]

I agree with you. I was a little surprised at the low ranking in 1994 from Willeke Alberti, but she performed after Malta and before Germany (5th and 3rd in 1994), so it's logical that the juries didn't care for her song.

I think that the last good entry from The Netherlands was Edsilia in 1998, but I also liked NL 2003 and 2007.
The Dutch entry in 2004 was good, but it was not a very strong entry indeed, although it was the last time that we made it to the final.

I must tell you that "Waar is de Zon" is 6th in my all time best Eurovision song list. I really  it!  I have never liked Edsilia's song in 1998, but her song in ESC 2007 was my 3rd of 2007 and also Re-Union's Without You was in my top 10 of 2004.   

[Remy]

I must tell you that "Waar is de Zon" is 6th in my all time best Eurovision song list. I really  it!  I have never liked Edsilia's song in 1998, but her song in ESC 2007 was my 3rd of 2007 and also Re-Union's Without You was in my top 10 of 2004.   

Great that you love "Waar is de zon?" my dear Niko 

I think that Willeke Alberti just picked the wrong year to participate, 1994 was such a strong year with more powerful ballads.

[Martial]

I think NL 94 just did not fit what the juries wanted to hear back then : the ballads are almost all very americanized (malta, uk, poland..) and they liked already two different ballads (ireland, also very americanized but also quite off beat for the genre, and the surprisingly fresh hungarian entry) so it was too tough on Netherlands (note among each other, the german crap was a horror i can't concieve it being above the dutch sweet entry)
Willeke Alberti didn't pick a wrong year to participate, she chose the "wrong song" to please juries, she sure did pick the "right song" to please us!

[Remy]

Yes, it was very tough on the Netherlands in 1994.

But you're right, Willeke Alberti chose the right song to please us! 

[Remy]

Did you know that the real name of Sabrina, who represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, is Teresa Villa-Lobos?

She is born on March 30, 1982 and currently married to Nandinho, a Portuguese football player.

[Remy]

Did you know that The Netherlands gave the votes from the backup-jury in 2000 instead of the votes from the televoters?

The NOS (Dutch broadcaster) decided to interrupt the broadcasting of the contest halfway through because of the fireworks disaster that happened earlier that day in the Dutch city of Enschede.

The Enschede fireworks disaster was a catastrophic fireworks explosion occurring at the SE Fireworks depot on 13 May 2000, in the eastern Dutch city of Enschede.

The fire led to an enormous explosion which killed 22 people (including four firemen) and injured 947. The biggest blast was felt up to 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the scene. SE Fireworks was a major importer of fireworks from China and supplier to pop concerts and major festive events in the Netherlands. Prior to the disaster it had a good safety record and met all safety audits.

From Wikipedia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HerYposZac

[Martial]

yes i knew that, it explains why they gave 2 to France, helping us being 23rd instead of 24th

juries like our songs

[Niko]

I knew that there was an accident in The Netherlands, but I did not knew what kind of one and where there. The youtube video was very informative and tells very well about that horrible happening. 

[Remy]

Thank you for watching the video 

It was a horrible happening and it was a good decision from the NOS to interrupt the broadcasting. The contest was not important for us that night.

It became clear in the months after the explosion that there were many things wrong in the SE Fireworks depot. There was to much illegally stored fireworks in the depot.