Treat

In front of the train station in Groningen

When I first moved back to the Netherlands, I pretty soon saw an ad on the telly about a show. It was a show that I had always wanted to see, but it was quite pricey and of course I was without income! So, it was something to be done at some other time at some other place. But, I did promise myself that if I were to get a job before the show was finished in the Netherlands, I would try and get a ticket.

Well, I got a job. Which means income. And the minute I got the job, I sat myself behind the computer and checked out this show. Were there still tickets? How much dough would I have to fork out? Would I do it? The answers were: yes, a lot, YES! 

The stage

On Saturday I made my way to Groningen. By train as that was cheaper and cheaper still as there had been a sale of day tickets (day ticket was cheaper than a single ticket) which I enjoyed very much. First I did some shopping where I kept my money in my purse, then on to the theater where I was nice and early. 

I bought a program as I always buy a program. In fact I still have the programs of all the other shows I ever went to and bought a program from. I was seated quite high up, but still had a good view over the stage. And then the show started. Jellicle cats...

Yes, I had bought myself a ticket to the musical Cats. And not just any performance, a performance in English (with surtitles in Dutch) by the West End people themselves. I thought it was a brilliant show and well worth the lot I forked out for it. 

Little Women

Beth, Jo, Marmee, Meg and Amy March*

When my sister asked whether I wanted to see a musical based on the book Little Women, I thought: why not? Even if I couldn't really imagine it as a musical. And when I found out the whole thing was performed by a local youth group, I was even less impressed! 

Of course it was a big case of prejudice, since the whole performance (apart from the first song, which I could not understand: music way too loud) was extremely good. The performers were brilliant, the girl playing Jo had a fantastic voice. There was humour, there were tears (yes, I cried) and I was very happy to have said yes to my sister. 

Next time she invites me to a show/musical by the Phoenix Players from Portadown? Yes!

*The photo was taken during the dress rehearsal by the Phoenix Players themselves. 

Musical weekend part 2

After a lovely Saturday evening, Sunday was spent relaxing in the morning and in the afternoon cheering for my sister and her colleagues. Choirs are big things in the United Kingdom and choirs at work are getting more and more popular. And my sister's workplace is no different and they formed their own choir last November. 

The choir from the back

Then someone thought it might be good fun to apply for the Workplace Choir of the Year. The day before I arrived in Northern Ireland they were in the semi finals and guess what: they got picked to go to the final! And last Sunday was said final. Since I wasn't doing anything else, I tagged along and listened to nine choirs singing two songs each. It was great fun, but I could definitely not say who would win. 

View from the coach

They came third. Since they only announced the winner and the runner-up, it meant that all the others ended up in third place. In my view anyway. But they were pleased anyway and there is always next year!

By the way, the competition was organised in Dublin, which of course is not in Northern Ireland but in the Republic of Ireland. Same island, different country. Quite a few music and sports competitions are held Ireland-wide, regardless of borders.

The recorder

You may have noticed the photo I used last Saturday to illustrate my story about my ancestry. It was a photo of my maternal grandfather playing some sort of instrument. I jokingly referred to it as a recorder, but of course I know it wasn't. That doesn't mean I do know what it is, because apart from a tuba and a saxophone I am a complete brass-instrument-ignoramus. So, when Millie and Walter commented that they thought it was a tuba, I felt I could be quite certain in my dismissal of that notion.

And then, on Sunday, I came across another photo of my grandfather with a musical instrument. And by the looks of it, while he was on his way to or from practice. Could this be the tuba??

Our twelve points go to...

A wheelchair, something that looked like a potato sack, huge dresses, simple suits, punk from mentally challenged Fins, some false notes (well, a few more than some), winged shoes, some severe dancing, headphones, corny presentation and of course the endless voting. Which resulted in the end that next year we travel from Austria to Sweden. Because Sweden won. For the second time in 4 years. It must be in their water!! Of course I am talking Eurovision Song Contest now!

Sweden didn't have my favourite number though, even though the act was the best of all and he was certainly very dishy. I loved the Italian entry that ended up third, the Israeli entry that ended up somewhere in the middle and the French entry that ended up close to the bottom. However, it didn't do as bad as the numbers from Germany and Austria who had to share 0 points between them.

Now for a bit of a rant. Over the last two decades there has been much talk about bloc-voting, political voting, own language versus English and a lot of other nonsense. The bloc-voting is slowly disappearing. Cyprus gave Greece only 8 points, even though the Greek entry was a girl who came from Cyprus! And that is only one of several examples. 

The British are always complaining about how they don't get voted for because nobody likes them and that is why they end up quite low down the ladder. Well, Britain: get over yourself! Nobody likes Russia, including the millions of gays, lesbians, bis and transgenders in Europe. It came in second this year, because it had a good song! So, instead of blaming others: take the contest seriously and send something good next year! Although I must admit, I quite liked this year's entrance.

And then the language complaint. Which is mainly brought up by France, Spain and Portugal, who all quite standard sing in their own languages and end up down the list. Last year Spain sang in English and woohey, they ended up quite high! I admire their choice of singing in their own language and I expected the French song to do quite a bit better than it did. But, Italy has been singing in Italian for several years and yes, they did well. This year it ended up being third, only a few points behind Russia! I will give those 'English-haters' the same advice as the British: get a good song and get over yourself!

So, basically: if you want to enter Eurovision, take it seriously. Find a good song and a good artist. Just because you're automatically in the final (UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy), it doesn't mean you can take it easy. Remember, by the time the final comes around, we've already heard all the other songs and yours are new! And don't blame the rest of Europe if you don't get first place! Rant over!

The joy of it all

As you may know if you've read this blog for more than one year, I have a guilty pleasure regarding the Eurovision Song Contest. I love it. I have all the songs since it first started in 1956. One of the main reasons I bought my iPod was to be able to have all my Eurovision songs together with all my other songs in one place.

Last week this year's cd arrived. On first hearing some of the numbers my heart sank. They all sounded the same. Not an original thought between them. Boring boring boring. And then I listened properly and found there were definitely some blergh numbers, but there were some really good and some very catchy numbers in there as well! I have now listened to them all and I have several favourites: Armenia, the Czech Republic, Italy. My two biggest favourites however are France with a very thoughtful number and Israel which has a silly but extremely catchy number. 

Of course me having favourites doesn't mean a thing. The contest is a live contest and people can mess it up big time! Case in point the number above, which was the British entry from a few years back. It sounds fine on the cd. Not winner material, but fine enough. And then they took to the stage and absolutely butchered it. Needless to say it ended last with 0 points!

iPurrrrr

Now, I don't know if you remember, but just before I went into hospital, I found out my iPod wasn't working. The music device I had bought especially to keep me company while in hospital. I took it along, hoping that some Bergen juice would help, but in the end I had to settle for my good old mp3 player. With around 1700 numbers. Which go round and round and round.

I couldn't load the iPod. I would connect it to my laptop and the only thing that would come up on screen was: device not recognised. Extremely annoying to say the least. So, not only was there no juice, there was also no transferring of great songs. 

This week, I decided to try again. Perhaps my laptop had gotten over its temporary lapse of judgement and would recognise the thing and take it into its arms. Well, I am glad to say it did. Not only that, music was transferred, as were photos of artists and national flags and of course it loaded up without a problem. 

I wanted a pink one, but they only had yellow left!

You know what type of music I have on my iPod: Eurovision and with the newest installment coming up in May, including an act from Australia, more music is on its way. But it's not only that. I also have a large collection of musical numbers, from Singin' in the Rain and The Sound of Music to lesser known musicals like A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and A Little Night Music. I love how I am able to bellow along with Oklahoma! or sing along with Somewhere Over The Rainbow. My least favourite is Do Re Mi from the Sound of Music. It gets on my nerves, but I will not take it off my iPod either.

Other than that: a large collection of Dutch songs from several decades. Songs about creepy crawlies while sobering up, the atomic bomb, hookers, how to grow your own weed, moths and plenty of love songs. I love Glen Miller, the Andrews Sisters, Carmen Miranda, Frank Sinatra. I have recently started to listen to country music with Dolly and Reba leading the pack. Sixties, seventies and eighties (although the latter not nearly enough) are well represented and thanks to my sister a good dose of classical music as well. Don't think I recognise them, but every once I even surprise myself!

And how do I listen to them? Well, I just lump the lot together, hit shuffle and off I go. I will sing along to the Dutch and the English or hum along if I don't know the lyrics. I will dance along to the numbers if they require dancing along to, which is not much (requiring that is) and I will direct. And occasionally, when out listening to music while walking, I will do several of those at once, apparently making quite a spectacle of myself! 

Let's just hope the iPod will keep going now. And for plenty of good music to be put on, after all, I only use about one quarter of the thing!!

This post is prompted by Spin Cycle. Thank you Ginny Marie at Lemon Drop Pie.

iPfrt

My mp3-player doesn't hold that many songs. Nor does it shuffle that well, unless you want to hear the same song over and over again. So, a new music device was in order. An iPod with plenty of space for all my music and then some! After a false start I managed to get the music on, managed to take a photo or two and then left it until needed. 

Which was yesterday. I needed to load the battery so I could use my new and shiny yellow iPod on my way to the hospital today. I plugged it in my USB-loader: nothing. But then again, my sister had severe trouble as well over the weekend, so I tried again later. Nothing. So, I decided to plug it in to my laptop. Nothing. Absolutely nothing! It was not recognised and would not be recognised no matter what I tried. Nor did the battery load at all!

I haven't thrown my mp3-player out which is good, because that's what I am using today! 

*Sigh*

Christmas gift

Since I always buy my own Christmas gifts, I always get what I want. And this Christmas just past I wanted an iPod. I have an mp3 player, but it can only hold a certain amount of music, which meant that I had to leave out a lot of my favourite numbers. Like Eurovision! Which is like sacrilege in my book!!

Anyway, I had saved up all year in my 'only to be opened with a big hammer' piggy bank and when Christmas neared, I got out said hammer and smashed the bank. And then I went out and got myself an iPod. I wrapped it up nicely and put it under the Christmas tree, ready for Christmas day when I would unwrap it, scream in delight and thank Santa. 

After a few days of looking at my iPod, I finally got to work with it and within no time I had it up and running. Lots of music was put on for my enjoyment and I was a happy bunny. Today I wanted to update it, since there was some music that was missing. Turns out: half of all my Eurovision was missing as well!! The cheek!

So, guess what I am doing today...

Got the t-shirt

You may remember that I was quite busy last weekend. I was going to the Norwegian Military Tattoo, I was hoping to see the Eurovision Song Contest and I was going to pick up Oswin. Well, I have told you about Eurovision and I showed you the first photos of Oswin. However, I haven't yet mentioned the Tattoo. 

It's all in the bricks!

The Tattoo was to take place in the Oslo Spektrum. Like most purpose built concert places of later years, it was quite a boring brick place. Or so it seemed at first glance because in fact the brick was artwork and covered in artwork. And since I was early, I walked around the whole place taking plenty of photos. Especially since I wasn't allowed to take photos inside. Nor did I really want to, I just wanted to enjoy the experience. 

Anyway, we finally made our way inside, I got (well bought really) the t-shirt and then I had to find my place. Which, once I was in it, I was sure was the wrong spot and very soon somebody would come and chase me away. I was in the fourth row, on the corner and had a fantastic view over the whole place! But nobody came to chase me away and I realised I had picked this fantastic spot myself!

There were military bands from several different countries; Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia and Japan. And of course Norway itself showed with both a 'normal' band and a band and drill team. Then there was an American drill team and an Estonian gymnastics troupe. Now, the photo in the program I had received showed a large drill team, but on the day, only four were on stage. Plus a skinny woman in boots standing in the middle. I thought it was a bit disappointing, especially since I had been expecting so much! 

The Estonian gymnastics troupe was something that I knew was going to be disappointing, but I could not have been more wrong. They were brilliant. No wonder they had been asked back! Brilliant. Really they were. Brilliant. I hope to see them again. 

But of course the music is the main event and that didn't disappoint. I loved the Japanese and their singer. The Dutch showed a collection of photos from our former queen: Princess Beatrix as she is now known. From birth to now. Plus some good music of course. My favourite of the afternoon however, must have been 'His Majesty the King's Guard Band and Drill Team'. Great music, great drill team. And a large drill team at that. Loved it. 

The gold and blue with the large bear hats.
That's the Royal Netherlands Army Military Band 'Johan Willem Friso'

The finale was good as well. By an enormous stroke of luck, the Dutch band was standing directly in front of me. I couldn't not take a photo (or two or three), so I did. After the show I went into the lobby. I wanted to get one of the cd's the Dutch were selling, but unfortunately they only took cash, I only had a card! In the end though, telling them about me having been a driver for them (which is true), I got the cd completely free. I was a very blessed woman!

Blessings

This week I am blessed. Truly blessed. And here's why:

*After 8 (that is eight people, eight!) months, I finally was able to order my Norwegian driver's license. Bureaucracy gone mad, but not on the Norwegian side, since from the moment of ordering to the moment of receiving, it only took 2 days. Including a public holiday! No, the fault lay entirely on the Dutch side. The Dutch Department of Motor Vehicles and Driver's Licenses needed to confirm that the driver's license I had, was in fact Dutch. It took them two letters from Norway and nearly 8 (eight!) months! But, since last Saturday I am the proud owner of a Norwegian driver's license. Not as pink, just as valid! Yippee!!

*Debbie replied on my post about the pain in my leg that the pills I was given would knock me out. Well, she was not kidding! The first time I used one, I had only had two hours sleep the night before, so they not only knocked me out, the kept me out for 10 hours. I could have slept more, but I had something else to do. I didn't need one Saturday night, but last night I took one again. Slept like a baby. Great!

*Tonight is the first semi-final of the annual music extravaganza called Eurovision. People in Europe (and Australia, I knew those people had good taste) will be watching it 'en masse'. The polls say that the Netherlands will do just fine and I must admit, I quite like the number they have this year. On Thursday the second semi-final will take place in Copenhagen and then on Saturday the final. Joy!

*But, before the final of Eurovision on Saturday I will visit another music fest. The Norwegian Military Tattoo in Oslo. I am so looking forward to it! I already have the program and the cd, the plane is booked, the hotel is booked. I will be seeing a band that I used to drive on occasion while living in the Netherlands (The Royal Dutch Military Band Johan Willem Friso, say that three times fast when you've had one too many) and Japanese, Danish, Swedish, Russian, British, Finnish and of course Norwegian bands. Plus some gymnasts from Estonia and a very good American drill team. Toot!

*On Saturday I went out and bought a few plants. One forsythia, three raspberry bushes (stalks really), one blackberry bush and two redcurrant bushes. I mowed the lawn, planted my plants and was very happy with myself. Come this summer/autumn, I will hopefully have a few raspberries, blackberries and redcurrants to pick. About three each probably, but from small beginnings and such. Yummy!

*And then of course next Sunday will see the arrival of Miss Oswin! Now, you might be wondering a bit about her name, since Oswin is not the most usual name in the world. Well, you may know I love my Doctor. Doctor Who that is. And the Doctor always has a companion and right now it is Clara Oswald. But in some episodes she used the name Oswin. So there. If I would have gotten a male cat, he would have been an Oswald. Miss Oswin is staying in fostercare at the moment. She was found in a garage with a litter of kittens. Well, her kittens are now old enough (10 weeks) to be weaned and Miss Oswin will be coming to live with me. Bliss!

Eurovision

I already posted this on Facebook, but I thought I would post it here as well. You never know, it might help!

Anyway, as you are undoubtably aware of, I love the Eurovision Song Contest. Don't talk to me about the Eastern block sticking together, so does the Western block. And the songs? Of course they are awful, but there are some really nice ones out there too! The costumes they wear? Brilliant! Wouldn't want to wear them myself really, but then again, I am not a singer performing for the ESC!

As I love the ESC, I thought it would be really nice if I were to be able to join in a bit more. Not just by watching television, but by waving the flags. But for that I need flags. And right now I haven't got any have only two. Norway and Sweden. But since there are a lot of other countries out there that join in too... 

So, can anybody help me? Do you have or can you get hold of a flag? About 20x30cm, attached to a little stick? Usually found in souvenir shops? And would you be willing to send it to little old me here in Norway? If so, why not send me an email? My email address is on my Me-page (next to the Home-tab).

The video above is not one of my favourite songs, however it talks of flying the flag! 

Eurovision 2013

Ever since 2004 (since semi-finals started), the Netherlands have done awful at Eurovision. And for the last few years one very popular Dutch singer had said that she would like to be the one to sing at Eurovision, convinced that she could make it to the final. This year (after several awful entries), she finally got her chance and she had to put her money where her mouth was. Which she did...

She made it to the final. And then performed her song in the final and she was good. No frills, no sparkles, just her and her song. No, Anouk didn't win. Nor did she come in second or third place. But from the start she was on the left hand side of the result board (the best place to be) and she finished in a very nice 9th place. I am very proud and I am happy that my two votes helped her to that spot.

My favourite didn't get to the top either, but also ended up in the higher regions of the result board. It was Hungary's ByeAlex with Kedvesem (a lovely lovesong). One of many songs this year that was not in English but in the language of the country they came from. Anyway, Hungary ended up just below Anouk in 10th place.

This year we missed out on Russian grannies baking cookies, unicycles with clowns and sand artists. However, there was a guy in a glass box mirroring everything the singer did, apart from sing. There were two different countries sending people who were raised in the air wearing ginormous dresses (one of which a classically trained male opera singer), there was a bride from Finland, free alcohol from Greece and a singing doctor from Malta. Oh, and something that looked like giant condoms hanging from the ceiling!

And of course there was the winner. This year it was the Danish entry that came out on top. She had been favourite for a long time, but you can never tell until the results are actually in. It's like politics. Or a chicken coop with a lot of eggs. It was a bit run of the mill if you ask me, and I certainly didn't spend any money voting for it. But the rest of Europe did.

Of course after the contest there is always a lot of bickering about the voting. About how English always wins and other languages end up really low. Well, the English entry ended up really low (Bonnie Tyler ended 19th), as did Ireland (26th and last of the final) and Greece (Greek) and Hungary (Hungarian) ended up in places 6 and 10. Perhaps the countries complaining about it, should just send a better song.

Also there are always a lot of comments about how one country will vote for its neighbours. That is true. To a degree. Because if it was completely true, it would be a tie nearly every time and it never is. Plus, if you live in Sweden, chances are, you have already heard the Norwegian and Danish entries. Making it familiar. And when it's familiar it's easier to vote for! Then again, there was only one country out of 39 that didn't give any points to Denmark and that was the principality of San Marino (in Italy). Besides, I know for a fact that Denmark doesn't have 37 neighbours...

By the way: the Norwegian entry was the best beside the podium: they came in fourth! So, a good night all around!

Away

I realised yesterday that I had five days off. One because of the national holiday here (called May 17th for some obscure reason), the weekend, Whitmonday and then another ordinary day off. I then have to work for 1 day only before I will be off to the Netherlands for a week. Exciting!

However, since I don't have internet at my place yet, I cannot keep you as updated as you (and I) would like. So, just so you know what is important for me: on Constitution Day (the official name of May 17th) there will of course be the rowing race. Plus a parade, plus a dinner at somebody's best mother. 

On Saturday it will be the final of Eurovision. Very very very important of course, because (tada) the Netherlands are in it! Yes, for the very first time since semi-finals began in 2004, we made it to the final. Very exciting of course and I hope we will really do well. I will be voting for them I can tell you! 

Sunday will be a day off from festivities, unless they call me up and I have to go to work. That would not be a bad thing, since I don't get paid that much if I have time off for a holiday! Monday the same as Sunday and Tuesday the same again. I might hang up the new curtains (yet to be bought though). 

Next weekend will be as exciting as this one: a nice night with old colleagues, a day to the sauna (female problems permitting) and our family day. And to top it all off: Wuppie is coming home with me!

That's it. Why bother with international touring when you can move to Norway and get more action in one week than I ever got touring!?

Pale Green Ghosts

I don't often buy music. In fact, compared to the amount of dvd's I buy, it's absolutely laughable! I didn't even have enough cd's to give them their own box when I moved! And of the cd's that I own, most of them are Christmas cd's as well! However, if there is someone I like I will buy their music. 

The first time I heard John Grant was about three years ago. I was listening to Dutch Radio 2 and Hans Schiffers (fantastic dj with a wonderful voice) played a song by John Grant. It was called Marz and I was hooked. I couldn't find the cd in the Netherlands so I asked my sister to get it for me. Which she did and gifted to me! Fantastic. I must have listened to that cd so often.

Only a few weeks ago his second solo album came out. A different sound on most numbers, but still that great voice and good songs. It may not be to everybody's taste, but I love it. My favourite? Glacier (the link will take you to a live recording of that song). Because it is so true.

I hope I get the chance to see him live some day. He is brilliant!

Eurovision

As you know I am a big fan of the Eurovision Song Contest and have been for years. So, again this year I will bore everyone with this year's winner.

Now, a lot of people have said that the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC for short) has become a contest where only the Eastern countries end up in front. Which is of course nonsense: Norway and Germany have won recently as well. But the fact of the matter is that for some reason the Eastern countries seem to have tapped into the taste of the young people: nice (albeit forgettable) pop/dance songs that stick for an evening and make people vote for them.

On the other hand people are saying that the ESC used to be about the songs and the melodies and now it seems to be all about the gimmicks. Well, I am glad to say that this year it was a return to good songs, good melodies and on occasion great voices! The gimmicks were more or less left at home. More or less, there still were a few! Like the Russian baboushkas: six elderly ladies not blessed with great singing voices, but with a ditty that was hugely popular (it ended second, see top video). Like the Dutch Indian: Joan Franka sang about her first love who she used to play cowboys and indians with and she wore a huge native American headdress (she ended in the lower regions of the semi-finals). The ADD twins from last year were back, but their song wasn't as good as last year's (Jedward from Ireland).

Albania had a woman that had really weird hair and could break crystal with her voice. Great voice, I wasn't sure about the song, but it ended quite high. I loved Engelbert Humperdinck, but he came second to last in the final (25th place). Serbia was my other favourite and they came third I believe. The winner however was a song I didn't really like. But Europe did: they all voted for Loreen from Sweden en masse! So, next year we will be off to Stockholm!

'Music'

I will be honest here: I didn't quite understand this week's prompt. Because between brackets it said: straight, spiral, indoor, outdoor, fire escape... See my problem?? Anyway, I went with the straight (in my mind anyway) music, not the sound though, just the image.

Two years ago I went to the Military Tattoo in Rotterdam with my father for free and enjoyed an evening of very good music. There were several bands performing there from Suriname, Switzerland, Scotland and the Netherlands itself. One of those bands is a band I have had on the bus several times (which is how I got the tickets): the Royal Military Band Johan Willem Friso. They play everything from civilian and military concerts to tattoos, remembrance services and more.

This is my 20th entry for Photo Theme for Thursday. Why not join?

Dreamin'

As you know I love the Eurovision Song Contest and thanks to my friend Pepperfly I now have more than 1200 songs(!) that have been performed during any of the over 50 contests. There are some proper gems that never made it big.

This is Eddy Friel for Ireland. Ireland had already won three times in a row and RTE (the national broadcaster) was getting in a bit of a financial meddle, since staging a show like the ESC is fairly expensive! So, for 1995 they sent a song that some considered okay, but not brilliant. But I love this song to bits and can listen to it over and over again. Which I sometimes do as well...

Volare

When I was scanning old negatives last week, I found some negatives that most certainly didn't belong to me: for a start I didn't have a clue who the people in it were. But there were two photos on that little strip that I did like and actually wanted, because I had never seen a photo like them.

As you may know I worked on Sicily (a lifetime ago) and did a lot of things: I drove a little electric train and tamed tigers, but I did a lot more as well: I was in shows, both in and out of the water (more on that later), I looked after children from 8am to 10pm and I entertained the guests. When any guests would arrive from the airport of Catania, we GO's (Gentle Organisers) had to welcome them by being happy and bubbly and friendly. We had to clap to a certain song that would sometimes play for over half an hour! Needless to say that song brings back so many memories whenever I hear it. I used to hate that song for a long time: overexposure will do that, but now it's the memories that take over and wondering what happened to everybody!

Anyway, I found those two photos and I had a real close look at them. I think I am in the second photo, somewhere on the right, chatting to my colleagues and clapping when any of the GM's (Gentle Members) arrived. And if you want to know what great song it was that got us so happy and bubbly (Yeah right), it was Volare! Originally by Domenico Modugno and sung at the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest, where it came in third! The version I've included is the one most probably used and is done by the Gipsy Kings.

PS: I am definitely in the second photo: I am the 6th person from the right, wearing the white t-shirt and the black shorts.

Just because

As anyone who has read my blog for a while knows, I love the Eurovision Song Contest. And the other day one of my friends said she had all the songs from 1956 right up to 2005. I think I was drooling when I heard that! Anyway, Pepperfly is a good friend and just before she headed to the warzone commonly known as London, she sent me a cd with all the songs on. And after going through them, I only miss two! Out of more than 1000 songs, I think that is not bad going!

But listening to all those songs (and I don't think I've even heard half of them), produced some real surprises and one of them is this entry from Luxemburg from 1980. It's the original version, in French and if you look closely you can even see the orchestra! Because back in the day, every singer/band also had a live orchestra!

Enjoy!