Vintage Eurovision

Türkiye withdrew from the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest since it was taking place in Israel and there was extreme pressure on the nation by other Arab countries. This was due to the debate over the status of Jerusalem since both Israel and Palestine claim it as their capital city.

[Sources]:

This is your spoiler warning for 1994. If you don't know now, well I'm going to tell you who won Eurovision.

And of course, even if Ireland had tried to tank their chances, it just wasn't going to work. They won for the third time in a row, the only country to do so before or since. Besides Ireland, other English language entries finished fifth and tenth - not quite as well as was expected. On the other hand, the new countries fared outstandingly. Poland, Hungary and Russia all finished in the top 10, with Poland second. Germany had a good year (and a party) and finished third.

The countries unluckily finishing at the bottom were Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland all of whom would have to take a year off in 1995. Lithuania scored the first nil points since Austria managed in in 1991.

Here then is the full result of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest

Ireland - Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan - "Rock 'n' Roll Kids"

Poland - Edyta Górniak - "To Nie Ja!"

Germany - MeKaDo - "Wir Geben 'ne Party"

Hungary - Friderika Bayer - "Kinek Mondjam El Vétkeimet"

Malta - Moira Stafrace & Christopher Scicluna - "More Than Love"

Norway - Elisabeth Andreasson & Jan Werner Danielsen - "Duett"

France - Nina Morato - "Je Suis Un Vrai Garçon"

Portugal - Sara Tavares - "Chamar A Música"

Russia - Youddiph - "Vechni Stranik"

United Kingdom - Frances Ruffelle - "We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)"

Cyprus - Evridiki - "Ime Anthropos Ke Ego"

Iceland - Sigga - "Nætur"

Sweden - Marie Bergman & Roger Pontare - "Stjärnorna"

Greece - Costas Bigalis and the Sea Lovers - "To Trehantiri"

Bosnia & Herzegovina - Alma & Dejan - "Ostani Kraj Mene"

Croatia - Tony Cetinski - "Nek'ti Bude Ljubav Sva"

Austria - Petra Frey - "Für Den Frieden Der Welt"

Spain - Alejandro Abad - "Ella No Es Ella"

Switzerland - Duilio - "Sto Pregando"

Slovakia - Martin Ďurinda & Tublatanka - "Nekonečná pieseň"

Romania - Dan Bittman - "Dincolo De Nori"

Finland - CatCat - "Bye Bye Baby"

Netherlands - Willeke Alberti - "Waar Is De Zon"

Estonia - Silvi Vrait - "Nagu Merelaine"

Coming into 1995, Spain had had a poor three years in Eurovision. They almost got relegated after 1994, but scraped back into the competition when Luxembourg opted out of returning. Despite this, TVE stuck with their method of internally selecting a candidate this time choosing Anabel Conde who was signed to the Jercar record label at the time. She was something of an ingenue being given her big break - and this time TVE chose well.

The song, Vuelve Conmigo (Come Back to Me) is a ballardic lament for a lost love that hits some particularly big, strong notes all of which Anabel hits and holds without trouble. It's an assured performance for someone with little experience, even if she looks like she's enjoying singing about her broken heart a little too much at some points. Perhaps she doesn't really mean it when she's asking for forgiveness..?

All of this went down a storm on the night in Dublin and got Spain their best result in many, many years by finishing second behind Norway. Unfortunately for Anabel, her record label went bankrupt almost immediately after her success at Eurovision meaning the release of her debut LP was delayed and received less publicity than it would have done. Her career failed to ignite - although she's remained in the music industry and release two further LPs.