A little bit of history…
Monaco were regular participants at Eurovision in the early days and managed to win once with the fantastic
‘Un banc, un arbre, une rue’ in 1971. They then disappeared from
the face of the earth as far as Eurovision’s concerned, only to return after a massive 25 year absence when the Semi-Final
was introduced in 2004. Unfortunately, for small countries, doing well in Eurovision
isn’t as easy as it used to be in the ‘olden days’. Monaco only mustered up 10 points on their first attempt in
2004, with what I thought was a pretty flawless performance. Then with slightly
more points (22) in 2005, they managed a slightly worse position and failed to qualify for the 2005 Final. Fair play to Monaco,
I hope they keep trying, but yet again they find themselves in the Semi-Final – but will they stay there for the third
year running?
Singer & Song
Severine Ferrer La Coco-Danse
What an entry!
Another one of my personal faves this year – and certainly one to watch.
This year, instead of offering the same dreary French ballad (just like the French have done) Monaco have gone for something very different indeed. La Coco-Danse is a refreshing, rather tropical piece of camp pop music, and is very different to anything
else we’ve heard in the Contest this year. I would suggest that Monaco really stand a good chance of qualification with this
– certainly more so than they have done in their latest two attempts. Severine
herself seems a likely lass, she’s certainly very pretty, with a lot of that gimmicking sex appeal which most recent
winners have boasted. She’s sure to put on a good performance, and with
a great song this could just be the surprise package – and I certainly hope so!
Prediction
Might qualify 8th-12th
in Semi-Final, 12th-16th if she makes it to the Final
Although Monaco have such a sound entry this year, I reckon that if they do manage to qualify,
it will be very narrowly indeed. There are a lot of more powerful songs in the
Semi-Final that stand a better chance – and we just don’t know if Europe will get this or not. I hope they do, Monaco
have a really good song this year – it’s just such an ‘iffy’ one.
No doubt it will be a great performance, and certainly a highlight of the show for me.
If they qualify, I don’t know what to think about their chances in the Final – that will all depend on
the draw.
Prediction after Semi-Final
It's always going to be a battle for Monaco
to qualify, so it's no surprise they didn't.
Review of the Eurovision
Performance
Monaco, I'm terribly sorry. I thoroughly
enjoyed the Monegasque performance, despite it not being as strong as it should have been. Throughout the song poor
Severine did sound a bit flat, and I think the song wasn't as strong as it should have been. Songs, particularly those
from small countries really needed to impress this year if they were to stand any chance at all of doing well - and unfortunately
Monaco's entry just didn't have the sparkle it needed on the night. Although I enjoyed the song, the thing I was really
disappointed with was the fact that there was no coco-dance. This really upset me - I was very much looking forward
to it, and felt the whole thing had very little point to it without actually showing us some sort of special dance as the
song would suggest. However, despite rather poor vocals and a rather disappointing performance (I should point out that
those 5 backing dancers were horrendous) I did vote for it and was disapointed to see Monaco do as badly as they have been
doing. I would say better next year but unfortunately they've packed it in. Oh well, I will miss the entries from
Monco as I ahve thought they've all been sound entries - but unfortunately they may be right - small countries have small
chances (Andorra included) and as for my prediction... well, 2 from the bottom of the table ain't relly a near qualifier.
Oh well!
