When I read about this documentary programme advertised, I recognised a couple of the things mentioned that would be included, and I had my guesses of what else may be included, so I was really looking forward to watching. Basically the show was a three hour collection of clips, focusing on the mostly negative moments of the Eurovision Song Contest (which has been going since 1956), including its performances, interval acts, programmes choosing who will represent the UK and much more. These moments included live mistakes and mishaps, embarrassing incidents, presenters and performers going wrong, incidents that caused controversy and much more, from many contests across the years, in Britain and around the world.
Eurovision gimmicks being wrong and weird included: Mouth and MacNeal from the Netherlands with spooky spinning stick puppets; Paul Oscar from Iceland and girls around him dressed in PVC; a female performer surrounded by four women in suspenders; Mariya Yaremchuk from Ukraine performing with a speciality act using a giant hamster wheel; Francesco Gabbani from Italy performing with choreographer Filippo Rinaldo dressed as a gorilla; Dihaj from Azerbaijan performing with a men dressed in a black suit with a horse head; and a male singer with a backing singer wearing an American football helmet. Live Eurovision going wrong had: in Kiev, Ukraine, the previous winner's Jamala being upstaged during her performance by Ukrainian prankster Vitalii Sediuk doing a moony (wiggling his bum). Bad Eurovision performances included: lazy lyrics, constantly singing "la la la"; Sweden performing in English with inappropriate translated lyrics ("oh, your breasts are like swallows a-nesting"); Belle and the Devotions from the UK at the final in Luxembourg booed, there were accusations of plagiarism as the song sounded like "Baby Love" - The Supremes, and that they were miming as you could see backing singers at the side of the stage; and Dustin the Turkey with an awful cheesy dance song on Eurosong winning public votes to represent Ireland at Eurovision, he did not progress past the semi-final. Performances and onstage mishaps included: Spanish act Nina with massive curly hair, a strand of her fell on her nose; Palmi Gunnarsson from duo ICY from Iceland with a huge ginger mullet; Slavko Kalezic from Montenegro swinging and whipping a huge hair plait on stage; Dana International from Israel (the first openly transgender act) wins the competition, everyone celebrates, but Dana is not onstage to collect the trophy, she was backstage changing her dress; Cliff Richard was predicted to win with "Congratulations", but shockingly he was beaten by Massiel from Spain with the rubbish song "La La La", Cliff came second by one point; and Engelbert Humperdinck represented the UK, his ballad song was boring, and he performed first (which is often bad luck), he came second to last with only 12 points. More Eurovision going wrong included: Sir Terry Wogan quitting commentary for the UK due to political block voting; Donatan & Cleo from Poland performing in traditional dresses, but models on the stage churning butter and washing clothes have large cleavages and being suggestive, the public gave high votes, but the professional jury, judges and experts dismissed these votes; and Italian singers Toto Cutugno and Gigliola Cinquetti presenting in Italy are terrible, with awkward pauses, Toto glancing at Gigliola's boobs, putting his arm around her, Toto pushing off the interval act, and misinterpreting votes given. Interval acts going wrong included: a performer with rope puppetry; an acrobatic dancer and a man in a suit on a unicycle; Italian magician Arturo alone on stage doing quick change and other tricks; and performers singing at the top of ladders with obvious safety harnesses. More Eurovision performances going wrong included: Sonia from the UK was the bookies' favourite to win, she was against Niamh Kavanagh from Ireland, a technical problem meant Malta to give their votes later, Sonia was beaten by Ireland, this was shocking as we have a good relationship with Malta; the year that the rules were changed, to include group acts, not just solo acts, Danish duo Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler performed and were favourites to win, but they had a 11 second long kiss after their performance, this cost them votes from judges, many being Roman Catholic. More live Eurovision blunders included: many incidents of delays from foreign countries giving votes, and confusion over which countries have been given particular amounts; Switzerland interval act Guy Tell doing crossbow stunts, he misses a carnation flower on one shot, and the finale was a chain reaction of crossbows firing at each other, but the final arrow missed the apple above his head, but the action replay played was footage of a backstage rehearsal; the 1976 contest was delayed because of the technicians' strikes, a legal hitch meant no pre-recorded country introductions, so they filmed the audience and made commentary, the scoreboards were going awry, and winner Marie Myriam from France went missing; and the public chose Lulu to sing "Boom Bang-a-Bang", back then the scores were not as high as they are now, because of this there were four winners in 1969, the UK, France, Spain and Holland all with 18 points. Other Eurovision mistakes included: Copenhagen, Denmark green room interviewer Lisa did research on the acts, they were freaked out being told personal things about themselves and given random gifts; Dana International presenting the trophy to winner Charlotte Nilsson from Sweden in Jerusalem, Israel falls over as the trophy was heavy, this upstaged the win; Sylvia Night from Iceland was seen backstage before the competition being very bitchy, acting like a diva and using vulgar language, she got booed at the final, but she is a character, played by actress Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir; and Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up saw Katie Price aka Jordan launching a singing career, wanting to represent the UK at the contest, she was in a bright pink outfit, pregnant and out of tune, she was beaten by Javine, who in the final came third to last. Further Eurovision stuff going wrong included: The Late Late Show hosting Eurosong, with Ryan Tubridy, to choose the Irish Eurovision entrant, Billy McGuiness and Louis Walsh argue about sabotaging the competition, they were unprofessional, and angry Linda Martin got into Billy's face, the public did not choose either of their acts; and the Eurovision was won by Ireland, this was great for tourism as they would host the following year, but it happened three times in a row, hosting is expensive and it was a financial disaster, so the next year they deliberately chose an unknown singer with a dull song. More Eurovision failing included: Love City Groove from the UK, Kolig Kaj from Denmark, Daz Sampson from the UK, and Germany with Wadde Hadde Dudde Da, have performed rapping, but this is out of place for Eurovision; an interval in Luxembourg was Charlie Rivel, dressed in drag as a clown, but he was unfunny, the audience are almost completely silent. The last Eurovision bits going wrong included: the contest was held in Moscow, Russia, group Stephane from Georgia were told to change their lyrics, as it contained the words "we don't wanna put in", this is obviously referencing Vladimir Putin, they refused and dropped out; and many incidents where the winners take some time to come to the stage, with hosts forced to ad-lib, including Ruslana from Ukraine winning, but the hosts slow and fill time to find them backstage, and last year's champion presenting the trophy is delayed getting her shoe caught in the grates, they are forced to end the show early.
I had my guesses what Eurovision moments would be included, the bad ones, the funny ones and the awkward ones, I always enjoy the nostalgia seeing these moments again, but it was good to learn about those I did not know, and the serious stuff as well, overall it was an interesting and watchable documentary.
Narrated by Angela Rippon, with contributions from The X Factor's Saara Aalto (representing Finland in the 2018 contest), Andy Abraham, Richard Arnold, Jay Aston (Bucks Fizz), Stephen Bailey, Cheryl Baker, Belle and the Devotions (Kit Rolfe, Laura James and Linda Sofield), Colin Berry, Christopher Biggins, Brotherhood of Man (Lee Sheridan, Martin Lee, Sandra Stevens and Nicky Stevens), Sara Cawood, Dana, Stephanie De-Sykes, Lindsay Dracass, Hayley Evetts, James Fox, Nicki French, David & Carrie Grant, Russell Grant, Christian Guiltenane, Ryan Hand, Jan Leeming, Maria McErlane, Billy McGuinness, Paddy O'Connell, Eoghan Quigg, Kate Robbins, Scooch (Natalie Powers and David Ducasse), Freddie Smith, Sonia and Joe Woolford (Joe and Jake). Very good!
Eurovision gimmicks being wrong and weird included: Mouth and MacNeal from the Netherlands with spooky spinning stick puppets; Paul Oscar from Iceland and girls around him dressed in PVC; a female performer surrounded by four women in suspenders; Mariya Yaremchuk from Ukraine performing with a speciality act using a giant hamster wheel; Francesco Gabbani from Italy performing with choreographer Filippo Rinaldo dressed as a gorilla; Dihaj from Azerbaijan performing with a men dressed in a black suit with a horse head; and a male singer with a backing singer wearing an American football helmet. Live Eurovision going wrong had: in Kiev, Ukraine, the previous winner's Jamala being upstaged during her performance by Ukrainian prankster Vitalii Sediuk doing a moony (wiggling his bum). Bad Eurovision performances included: lazy lyrics, constantly singing "la la la"; Sweden performing in English with inappropriate translated lyrics ("oh, your breasts are like swallows a-nesting"); Belle and the Devotions from the UK at the final in Luxembourg booed, there were accusations of plagiarism as the song sounded like "Baby Love" - The Supremes, and that they were miming as you could see backing singers at the side of the stage; and Dustin the Turkey with an awful cheesy dance song on Eurosong winning public votes to represent Ireland at Eurovision, he did not progress past the semi-final. Performances and onstage mishaps included: Spanish act Nina with massive curly hair, a strand of her fell on her nose; Palmi Gunnarsson from duo ICY from Iceland with a huge ginger mullet; Slavko Kalezic from Montenegro swinging and whipping a huge hair plait on stage; Dana International from Israel (the first openly transgender act) wins the competition, everyone celebrates, but Dana is not onstage to collect the trophy, she was backstage changing her dress; Cliff Richard was predicted to win with "Congratulations", but shockingly he was beaten by Massiel from Spain with the rubbish song "La La La", Cliff came second by one point; and Engelbert Humperdinck represented the UK, his ballad song was boring, and he performed first (which is often bad luck), he came second to last with only 12 points. More Eurovision going wrong included: Sir Terry Wogan quitting commentary for the UK due to political block voting; Donatan & Cleo from Poland performing in traditional dresses, but models on the stage churning butter and washing clothes have large cleavages and being suggestive, the public gave high votes, but the professional jury, judges and experts dismissed these votes; and Italian singers Toto Cutugno and Gigliola Cinquetti presenting in Italy are terrible, with awkward pauses, Toto glancing at Gigliola's boobs, putting his arm around her, Toto pushing off the interval act, and misinterpreting votes given. Interval acts going wrong included: a performer with rope puppetry; an acrobatic dancer and a man in a suit on a unicycle; Italian magician Arturo alone on stage doing quick change and other tricks; and performers singing at the top of ladders with obvious safety harnesses. More Eurovision performances going wrong included: Sonia from the UK was the bookies' favourite to win, she was against Niamh Kavanagh from Ireland, a technical problem meant Malta to give their votes later, Sonia was beaten by Ireland, this was shocking as we have a good relationship with Malta; the year that the rules were changed, to include group acts, not just solo acts, Danish duo Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler performed and were favourites to win, but they had a 11 second long kiss after their performance, this cost them votes from judges, many being Roman Catholic. More live Eurovision blunders included: many incidents of delays from foreign countries giving votes, and confusion over which countries have been given particular amounts; Switzerland interval act Guy Tell doing crossbow stunts, he misses a carnation flower on one shot, and the finale was a chain reaction of crossbows firing at each other, but the final arrow missed the apple above his head, but the action replay played was footage of a backstage rehearsal; the 1976 contest was delayed because of the technicians' strikes, a legal hitch meant no pre-recorded country introductions, so they filmed the audience and made commentary, the scoreboards were going awry, and winner Marie Myriam from France went missing; and the public chose Lulu to sing "Boom Bang-a-Bang", back then the scores were not as high as they are now, because of this there were four winners in 1969, the UK, France, Spain and Holland all with 18 points. Other Eurovision mistakes included: Copenhagen, Denmark green room interviewer Lisa did research on the acts, they were freaked out being told personal things about themselves and given random gifts; Dana International presenting the trophy to winner Charlotte Nilsson from Sweden in Jerusalem, Israel falls over as the trophy was heavy, this upstaged the win; Sylvia Night from Iceland was seen backstage before the competition being very bitchy, acting like a diva and using vulgar language, she got booed at the final, but she is a character, played by actress Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir; and Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up saw Katie Price aka Jordan launching a singing career, wanting to represent the UK at the contest, she was in a bright pink outfit, pregnant and out of tune, she was beaten by Javine, who in the final came third to last. Further Eurovision stuff going wrong included: The Late Late Show hosting Eurosong, with Ryan Tubridy, to choose the Irish Eurovision entrant, Billy McGuiness and Louis Walsh argue about sabotaging the competition, they were unprofessional, and angry Linda Martin got into Billy's face, the public did not choose either of their acts; and the Eurovision was won by Ireland, this was great for tourism as they would host the following year, but it happened three times in a row, hosting is expensive and it was a financial disaster, so the next year they deliberately chose an unknown singer with a dull song. More Eurovision failing included: Love City Groove from the UK, Kolig Kaj from Denmark, Daz Sampson from the UK, and Germany with Wadde Hadde Dudde Da, have performed rapping, but this is out of place for Eurovision; an interval in Luxembourg was Charlie Rivel, dressed in drag as a clown, but he was unfunny, the audience are almost completely silent. The last Eurovision bits going wrong included: the contest was held in Moscow, Russia, group Stephane from Georgia were told to change their lyrics, as it contained the words "we don't wanna put in", this is obviously referencing Vladimir Putin, they refused and dropped out; and many incidents where the winners take some time to come to the stage, with hosts forced to ad-lib, including Ruslana from Ukraine winning, but the hosts slow and fill time to find them backstage, and last year's champion presenting the trophy is delayed getting her shoe caught in the grates, they are forced to end the show early.
I had my guesses what Eurovision moments would be included, the bad ones, the funny ones and the awkward ones, I always enjoy the nostalgia seeing these moments again, but it was good to learn about those I did not know, and the serious stuff as well, overall it was an interesting and watchable documentary.
Narrated by Angela Rippon, with contributions from The X Factor's Saara Aalto (representing Finland in the 2018 contest), Andy Abraham, Richard Arnold, Jay Aston (Bucks Fizz), Stephen Bailey, Cheryl Baker, Belle and the Devotions (Kit Rolfe, Laura James and Linda Sofield), Colin Berry, Christopher Biggins, Brotherhood of Man (Lee Sheridan, Martin Lee, Sandra Stevens and Nicky Stevens), Sara Cawood, Dana, Stephanie De-Sykes, Lindsay Dracass, Hayley Evetts, James Fox, Nicki French, David & Carrie Grant, Russell Grant, Christian Guiltenane, Ryan Hand, Jan Leeming, Maria McErlane, Billy McGuinness, Paddy O'Connell, Eoghan Quigg, Kate Robbins, Scooch (Natalie Powers and David Ducasse), Freddie Smith, Sonia and Joe Woolford (Joe and Jake). Very good!
