Review - Eurovision Song Contest History book published | Eurovision Song Contest News - 2009 Moscow, Russia 

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Credits

Written by

Charlotte Jensen

Published

29/Mar 2007 at 00:46

Source(s)

esctoday.com, Carlton books

Review

The Eurovision Song Contest - The official history

Get the official history and all the facts

Eurovision Song Contest History book published

“The official history” written by John Kennedy O’Connor is now for sale in its 2007 edition. It is the third edition of the book that includes all the facts, all the funny moments of the Eurovision Song Contest right from its start in 1956 and up til today. This is your chance to make sure you know everything which is worth knowing – and a little bit more.

The 2007 edition will of course be different from the previous releases of the book as it now includes all the facts – and important gossip about the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest held in Athens. Furthermore it has been updated and improved regarding the semi-finals and an even more detailed facts section.

As the outline of the book says it includes all the interesting things regarding the contest: 

"Discussing the fun and the feuds, the high points, the dismal lows, the scandals, the most outrageous outfits, the innovators and the copy cats, this glorious book captures the singular flavour of "Eurovision", charting its journey from the first competition in 1956 - just seven entrants, broadcast from a tiny venue in Switzerland with a studio audience of 200 - to the international extravaganza watched by 200 million viewers that it has become today."    

  • Click here to buy the book.

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benji zagreb [31957]
Fri 30 Mar 2007 16:37:11

Well, I found this book quite interesting, in spite of the fact that there are some inaccuracies in it and that its author doesn't make the impression of a real ESC fan, i.e. the stuff he writes about doesn't seem to be very familiar to him.


Scottish Eurovision Fan [24926]
Fri 30 Mar 2007 15:33:22

Ordered book from Amazon the other day. Don't use the link in the article, Amazon is about £5 cheaper! Will give my review when I have received the book but I've heard really good things about it. They say it's got major improvements from last year's issues.


Andrew M [20739]
Fri 30 Mar 2007 01:26:58

I have a history book about Eurovision and I don't like it (Terry Wogan's opinions appear too often!). I would much prefer a box set of all the Eurovision Songs (expensive I can imagine) too make my own mind up. If there is a CD set/DVD set (unlikely i know) of all the years, please someone let me know.




london calling [25194]
Fri 30 Mar 2007 00:18:59

well i hope the author has removed the references in the earlier editions about lack of interest in the UK towards Eurovision. Complete nonsense - interest is high here and has been for ages ...as he'd know if he wasn't living in America!




Kevin Knight [36876]
Thu 29 Mar 2007 13:33:17

its a good book, but why relaese it now, in 2 months time it will be out of date

why not release it in june?


Angela Leung [16703]
Thu 29 Mar 2007 10:54:56

Des Mangan's book isn't too bad. In my opinion it's more for a beginner to Eurovision. It has some funny things in it but can be very vague and miss out lots of things that should/could be memorable to more diehard fans. It gets a bit repetitive too and sometimes poor Des just isn't funny. Overall a good book for something light :) But where's the poor man on Aussie TV these days??
Ange x


I agree with the Swedish Leandros below: Thorsson's book is far superior to Kennedy O'Connor's hastily compiled "parvum opus". Even for those who don't speak Swedish (like me), Thorsson's book is preferable. Because, for a start, his book include all the facts - including all composers, conductors etc.


Melina ~ [35728]
Thu 29 Mar 2007 10:10:21

Well, this edition sure has a great cover, at least :)


Peter H186 [24642]
Thu 29 Mar 2007 09:52:11

Yes, first edtion was terrible. Badly written, badly researched, opinions presented as facts....


Glasgow ** [17359]
Thu 29 Mar 2007 09:02:08

w s

Is it reall full of inaccuracies? That's a shame. I have the book and really enjoy reading it, but that's put me off a little now.


Inca from Sveeeden [29947]
Thu 29 Mar 2007 08:56:43

For those of you who understand Swedish I recommend Leif Thorsson "Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : århundradets svenska uttagningar och internationella finaler". Incredibly boring title but the book is good fun, has lots of facts that at least I didn't know, and is IMO far superiour to John Kennedy O'Connor.

Has anybody here read Des Mangan "This is Sweden Calling: Everything You Wanted To Know About The Eurovision Song Contest But Were Laughing Too Hard To Ask""? Is it any good?


w s [29210]
Thu 29 Mar 2007 08:35:20

I have the first edition and it is full of inaccurate facts. I have many of the contests on dvd and it is obvious how many things in the book are simply not true.


Yannis Too Too Much [20131]
Thu 29 Mar 2007 02:05:01

Well the previous one wasn't so great. They have very typical info that you can fin everwhere. Unfotunatelly, you cannot find too much information about insides stories and scandals and a bit more...

Vote your favourite entry and favourite semifinal song to:

url=http://eurovisionfun.blogpot.com]http://eurovisionfun.blogpot.com/url]


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