| Eurovision Song Contest News - 2009 Moscow, Russia 

Max Raspail

Well, what to write about me? I'm a 23 years old guy from Germany. I encountered the ESC the first time in my life in 2000 and especially in 2001, when Michelle had a twinkling entry for Germany. Now I'm really a big fan, waiting for the ESC the whole year...

Last year, I had the opportunity to go to Belgrade - it was my first ESC and a really great event for me. This week was absolutely kind of a dream coming true for me. (I've met the No Angels and managed to get a photo with them and me - that's great... )
Meeting up so many different people from so many countries was really a big pleasure which is really hard to describe... In Serbia, I had the occasion to get to know both sides - very open-minded and amiable people (including the wonderful woman who rented us the apartment) and on the other hand, people who didn't seem to appreciate the idea very much that there were thousands of foreigners coming to their country...

This year, I can't wait to go to Moscow...

I've made up my ranking of this year's semis:

Semi-final 1:
1. Sweden
2. Bosnia-Herzegowina
3. Portugal
4. Iceland
5. Finland
6. Israel
7. Switzerland
8. Andorra
9. Belgium
10. Armenia
---
11. Czech Republic
12. Malta
13. Turkey
14. Macedonia
15. Montenegro
16. Romania
17. Bulgaria
18. Belarus

Semi-final 2:
1. Estonia
2. Norway
3. Moldova
4. Lithuania (but why the hell did he change the language...??)
5. Ireland
6. Albania
7. Ukraine
8. Croatia
9. Greece
10. Latvia
---
11. Slovakia
12. Netherlands
13. Azerbaijan
14. Serbia
15. Hungary
16. Poland
17. Denmark
18. Slovenia
19. Cyprus

My overall Top15:
1. Estonia
2. Sweden
3. France
4. Norway
5. Bosnia-Herzegowina
6. Portugal
7. Iceland
8. Moldova
9. Finland
10. Lithuania
---
11. Germany
12. Israel
13. Switzerland
14. United Kingdom
15. Ireland

I've evaluated and made up a personal rank of all the Contests...
I think it's too much to write here every ranking of every year, so I limit it to the Top3 - I think this is enough - as one can see I often have a different opinion to the real outcome :

Top3 - 1956
1. Luxembourg (Michele Arnaud - Ne Crois Pas)
2. Germany (Walter Andreas Schwarz - Im Wartesaal Zum Grossen Glueck)
3. France (Dany Dauberson - Il Est La)

Top3 - 1957
1. Denmark (Birthe Wilke & Gustav Winckler - Skibet Skal Sejle I Nat)
2. Belgium (Bobbejaan Schoepen - Straatdeuntje)
3. Austria (Bob Martin - Wohin, Kleines Pony?)

Top3 - 1958
1. Italy (Domenico Modugno - Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)
2. Switzerland (Lys Assia - Giorgio)
3. Germany (Margot Hielscher - Fuer Zwei Groschen Musik)

Top3 - 1959
1. United Kingdom (Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson - Sing Little Birdie)
2. Austria (Ferry Graf - Der k. u. k. Kalypso Aus Wien)
3. Sweden (Brita Borg - Augustin)

Top3 - 1960
1. Netherlands (Rudi Carrell - Wat Een Geluk)
2. France (Jacqueline Boyer - Tom Pillibi)
3. United Kingdom (Bryan Johnson - Looking High, High, High)

Top3 - 1961
1. Spain (Conchita Bautista - Estando Contigo)
2. United Kingdom (The Allisons - Are You Sure?)
3. Luxembourg (Jean-Claude Pascal - Nous Les Amoureux)

Top3 - 1962
1. Germany (Conny Froboess - Zwei Kleine Italiener)
2. Sweden (Inger Berggren - Sol Och Var)
3. Austria (Eleonore Schwarz - Nur In Der Wiener Luft)

Top3 - 1963
1. Italy (Emilio Pericoli - Uno Per Tutte)
2. Switzerland (Esther Ofarim - T'En Va Pas)
3. Sweden (Monica Zetterlund - En Gang I Stockholm)

Top3 - 1964
1. Italy (Gigliola Cinquetti - Non Ho L'Eta )
2. Spain (Los TNT (Nelly, Tim & Tony) - Caracola)
3. France (Rachel - Le Chant De Mallory)

Top3 - 1965
1. Spain (Conchita Bautista - Que Bueno, Que Bueno!)
2. Luxembourg (France Gall - Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son)
3. Netherlands (Conny van den Bos - Het Is Genoeg)

Top3 - 1966
1. Luxembourg (Michele Torr - Ce Soir Je T'Attendais)
2. Netherlands (Milly Scott - Fernando En Philippo)
3. Sweden (Lill Lindfors & Svante Thuresson - Nygammal Vals)

Top3 - 1967
1. United Kingdom (Sandie Shaw - Puppet On A String)
2. Monaco (Minouche Barelli - Boum Badaboum)
3. France (Noelle Cordier - Il Doit Faire Beau La -Bas)

Top3 - 1968
1. France (Isabelle Aubret - La Source)
2. Spain (Massiel - La La La)
3. United Kingdom (Cliff Richard - Congratulations)

Top3 - 1969
1. Netherlands (Lennie Kuhr - De Troubadour)
2. Portugal (Simone De Oliveira - Desfolhada Portuguesa)
3. Belgium (Louis Neefs - Jennifer Jennings)

Top3 - 1970
1. Spain (Julio Iglesias - Gwendolyne)
2. Ireland (Dana - All Kinds Of Everything)
3. Monaco (Dominique Dussault - Marlene)

Top3 - 1971
1. Portugal (Tonicha - Menina)
2. Ireland (Angela Farrell - One Day Love)
3. Switzerland (Peter, Sue & Marc - Les Illusions De Nos Vingt Ans)

Top3 - 1972
1. Switzerland (Veronique Muller - C'Est La Chanson De Mon Amour)
2. Germany (Mary Roos - Nur Die Liebe Laesst Uns Leben)
3. Austria (The Milestones - Falter Im Wind)

Top3 - 1973
1. Israel (Ilanit - Ey Sham)
2. Luxembourg (Anne-Marie David - Tu Te Reconnaitras)
3. Yugoslavia (Zdravko Colic - Gori Vatra)

Top3 - 1974
1. Sweden (ABBA - Waterloo)
2. Italy (Gigliola Cinquetti - Si)
3. Netherlands (Mouth & MacNeal - I See A Star)

Top3 - 1975
1. France (Nicole Rieu - Et Bonjour A Toi L'Artiste)
2. Monaco (Sophie - Une Chanson C'Est Une Lettre)
3. Finland (Pihasoittajat - Old Man Fiddler)

Top3 - 1976
1. Greece (Mariza Koch - Panaghia Mou, Panaghia Mou)
2. France (Catherine Ferry - Un, Deux, Trois)
3. Netherlands (Sandra Reemer - The Party Is Over)

Top3 - 1977
1. Switzerland (Pepe Lienhard Band - Swiss Lady)
2. Spain (Micky - Ensename A Cantar)
3. Italy (Mia Martini - Libera)

Top3 - 1978
1. Monaco (Caline et Olivier Toussaint - Dans Les Jardins De Monaco)
2. Greece (Tania Tsanaclidou - Charlie Chaplin)
3. Denmark (Mabel - Boom-Boom)

Top3 - 1979
1. Germany (Dschingis Khan - Dschingis Khan)
2. France (Anne-Marie David - Je Suis L'Enfant Soleil)
3. Spain (Betty Missiego - Su Cancion)

Top3 - 1980
1. Germany (Katja Ebstein - Theater)
2. Morocco (Samira Bensaid - Bitakat Hob)
3. Switzerland (Paola - Cinema)

Top3 - 1981
1. Switzerland (Peter, Sue & Marc - Io Senza Te)
2. Germany (Lena Valaitis - Johnny Blue)
3. France (Jean Gabilou - Humanahum)

Top3 - 1982
1. Germany (Nicole - Ein Bisschen Frieden)
2. Spain (Lucia - El)
3. Luxembourg (Svetlana - Cours Apres Le Temps)

Top3 - 1983
1. Cyprus (Stavros and Constantina - I Agapi Akoma Zi)
2. Finland (Ami Aspelund - Fantasiaa)
3. Israel (Ofra Haza - Hi)

Top3 - 1984
1. Italy (Alice & Franco Battiato - I Treni Di Tozeur)
2. Portugal (Maria Guinot - Silencio E Tanta Gente)
3. Netherlands (Maribelle - Ik Hou Van Jou)

Top3 - 1985
1. Norway (Bobbysocks - La Det Swinge)
2. Germany (Wind - Fuer Alle)
3. Austria (Gary Lux - Kinder Dieser Welt)

Top3 - 1986
1. Belgium (Sandra Kim - J'Aime La Vie)
2. Yugoslavia (Doris Dragovic - Zeljo Moja)
3. Ireland (Luv Bug - You Can Count On Me)

Top3 - 1987
1. Italy (Umberto Tozzi & Raf - Gente Di Mare)
2. Portugal (Nevada - Neste Barco A Vela)
3. Finland (Vicky Rosti - Sata Salamaa)

Top3 - 1988
1. Israel (Yardena Arazi - Ben Adam)
2. Norway (Karoline Krueger - For Var Jord)
3. Switzerland (Celine Dion - Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi)

Top3 - 1989
1. Belgium (Ingeborg - Door De Wind)
2. Portugal (Da Vinci - Conquistador)
3. Switzerland (Furbaz - Viver Senza Tei)

Top3 - 1990
1. Israel (Rita - Shara Barchovot)
2. France (Joelle Ursull - White And Black Blues)
3. Spain (Azucar Moreno - Bandido)

Top3 - 1991
1. France (Amina - C'Est Le Dernier Qui A Parle Qui A Raison)
2. Cyprus (Elena Patroklou - S.O.S.)
3. Israel (Duo Datz - Kan)

Top3 - 1992
1. Italy (Mia Martini - Rapsodia)
2. Norway (Merethe Troan - Visjoner)
3. Yugoslavia (Extra Nena - Ljubim Te Pesmama)

Top3 - 1993
1. Norway (Silje Vige - Alle Mine Tankar)
2. Netherlands (Ruth Jacott - Vrede)
3. Bosnia-Herzegovina (Fazla - Sva Bol Svijeta)

Top3 - 1994
1. Ireland (Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan - Rock'n'Roll Kids)
2. France (Nina Morato - Je Suis Un Vrai Garcon)
3. Estonia (Silvi Vrait - Nagu Merelaine)

Top3 - 1995
1. Denmark (Aud Wilken - Fra Mols Til Skagen)
2. Spain (Anabel Conde - Vuelve Conmigo)
3. Sweden (Jan Johansen - Se Pa Mig)

Top3 - 1996
1. France (Dan Ar Braz et L'Heritage Des Celtes - Diwanit Bugale)
2. Portugal (Lucia Moniz - O Meu Coracao Nao Tem Cor)
3. Austria (George Nussbaumer - Weil's Dr Guat Got)

Top3 - 1997
1. Italy (Jalisse - Fiumi Di Parole)
2. Iceland (Paul Oscar - Minn Hinsti Dans)
3. Turkey (Sebnem Paker & Etnik - Dinle)

Top3 - 1998
1. Netherlands (Edsilia Rombley - Hemel En Aarde)
2. Sweden (Jill Johnson - Karleken Aer)
3. Finland (Edea - Aava)

Top3 - 1999
1. Bosnia-Herzegovina (Dino Merlin & Beatrice - Putnici)
2. Estonia (Evelin Samuel - Diamond Of Night)
3. Croatia (Doris Dragovic - Marija Magdalena)

Top3 - 2000
1. Latvia (Brainstorm - My Star)
2. Croatia (Goran Karan - Kada Zaspu Angeli)
3. Estonia (Eda-Ines Etti - Once In A Lifetime)

Top3 - 2001
1. Russia (Mumiy Troll - Lady Alpine Blue)
2. France (Natasha St. Pier - Je N'Ai Que Mon Ame)
3. Slovenia (Nusa Derenda - Energy)

Top3 - 2002
1. France (Sandrine Francois - Il Faut Du Temps)
2. Latvia (Marie N - I Wanna)
3. Israel (Sarit Hadad - Light A Candle)

Top3 - 2003
1. Portugal (Rita Guerra - Deixa-Me Sonhar)
2. Belgium (Urban Trad - Sanomi)
3. Poland (Ich Troje - Keine Grenzen - Zadnych Granic)

Top3 - 2004
1. Albania (Anjeza Shahini - The Image Of You)
2. Turkey (Athena - For Real)
3. Belgium (Xandee - 1 Life)

Top3 - 2005
1. Andorra (Marian van de Wal - La Mirada Interior)
2. Austria (Global Kryner - Y Asi)
3. Hungary (Nox - Forogj Vilag)

Top3 - 2006
1. Norway (Christine Guldbrandsen - Alvedansen)
2. Germany (Texas Lightning - No No Never)
3. Poland (Ich Troje - Follow My Heart)

Top3 - 2007
1. France (Les Fatals Picards - L'Amour A La Francaise)
2. Lithuania (4Fun - Love Or Leave)
3. Georgia (Sopho Khalvashi - Visionary Dream)

Top10 - 2008
1. Belgium (Ishtar - O Julissi Na Jalini)
2. Portugal (Vania Fernandes - Senhora Do Mar (Negras Aguas))
3. Switzerland (Paolo Meneguzzi - Era Stupendo)
4. Norway (Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold On, Be Strong)
5. Iceland (Euroband - This Is My Life)
6. Israel (Boaz Mauda - The Fire In Your Eyes)
7. France (Sebastien Tellier - Divine)
8. Serbia (Jelena Tomasevic - Oro)
9. Netherlands (Hind - Your Heart Belongs To Me)
10. Albania (Olta Boka - Zemren E Lame Peng)

Feel free to contact with me: mail4pablo@gmx.de