The Eurovision Song Contest by John Kennedy O’Connor

One of TV’s greatest phenomenon’s and longest running show’s, The Eurovision Song Contest reaches it’s 50th edition in 2005 and (ironically for a BBC show) Carlton Books are publishing this remarkable book to mark the occasion, in conjunction with the European Broadcasting Union.

Author John Kennedy O’Connor has wonderfully captured the spirit of this annual tele-visual kitsch fest in a lavishly illustrated book spanning the entire history of this much maligned show that started as a one off event in a small Swiss theatre in 1956, with just seven competing nations, and is now a two-day event featuring upwards of forty countries, some from well beyond Europe’s borders.

Covering all the highs and lows of the competition and including intriguing and little-known backstage gossip and anecdotes, O’Connor’s style is wonderfully entertaining and provides a genuinely interesting and slightly ironic tribute to the contest and the stars and songs that have featured in it over the years. The book is divided into two distinct sections. The monochrome era of the show from 1956-1967 is covered in double page chapters; whereas the colour broadcasts from 1968 all get four pages each. The entries and results for every year are included alongside numerous and very rare colour and black and white photographs of the artists as well as artwork for all the winning singles, together with their international chart history. Most fun of all, O’Connor has compiled a fascinating “Eurofacts” section that covers all of the trivial statistics that fans crave and that intrigue the general viewers. If you want to know what colour scheme is best to wear if you want to win – you’ll find it here! Most people know which nation won the most contests, but which country finished 16th most frequently? Which nation is best at choosing the winner, or worst for that matter? Who conducted the most number of entries and for the most number of nations? It’s all here and a lot more.

I really enjoyed the style and wit of this author. He has successfully managed to produce an in depth look at the contest without taking it all too seriously and yet write a genuinely enthusiastic and fascinating history of the competition that everyone loves to hate. His flair with words is wonderful and makes for a very entertaining read. Here’s to another 50 years of fun!

Complete Eurovision Song Contest Companion by Paul Gambaccini

It’s taught me everything I know. A growing number of my mates around Europe have now got it and love it. It’s an absolute must for any true ESC fan. They are also becoming increasingly hard to find, so grab one while you can!

THIS IS SWEDEN CALLING: EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST BUT WERE LAUGHING TOO HARD TO ASK!

The book is good and quite enjoyable to read, I mean, any Eurovision fan will enjoy it, especially because of the very valuable apendixes with all the participants up to 2003, the scores and so on. All this data is included and commented with more or less detail throughout the chapters. The problem is that the author really abuses of using too many (far too many!!) reports of funny lyrics to fill up the chapters with some relevant content. I think including some of these translations is okay since the book is supposed to have a major comic component but after repeating the same pattern for every chapter (each chapter is an Eurovision year) plus the unavoidable repetition of the story of how the rules for participation changed, I think the author could have focussed a little bit more on other fun data about the contest since every year the event is packed with anecdotes and interesting stories among the participants. Also, the translations are more or less okay but writing the titles of the songs in different languages is another thing (for instance, some titles are supposed to be in Spanish but they are rather in that type of Spanish anglo-speakers love to include in their books). So, in general, is a fun book, very entertaining with valuable statistics but it’s a pity that lacks of many stories that could have been easily included leaving some of those translations I mention for another occasion. Since this could be a personal preference of mine, I gave four stars to the book.

THE WORLD’S LISTS OF BEST AND WORST by Maximillien De Lafayette

This book has it all; all the imaginable and possible lists! Thousands of names and hundreds of lists. From the world’s top 100 people, most influential persons in the United States, the most beautiful women in America, to the best and worst books, politicians, celebrities, music, novels, leaders, fashion and those who are screwing up America today.
What caught my eyes are two sections; A survey on what Americans and people from around the world love and hate most. The author, Maximillien de Lafayette who wrote over 100 books, and visited so many countries gathered a fleet of researchers to conduct a survey worldwide on the most important, funniest and silliest things in our life. Almost one million people were interviewed. It is so interesting to learn about the similarities and differences that exist between people around the globe. The survey is magnetizing. It covers so many territories ranging from “talking during intercourse” to “the greatest minds and inventions of our time.”
Other section on people who have shaped our world is astonishing, because it appears -always according to book’s survey – that stars and famous singers managed to alter our way of life and how we function in our environment. The author gives many examples. The book contains at least 300 extensive lists in almost all the important fields. It is a huge book in 2 volumes. Each is around 740 pages. So much to learn about the world we live in, from this book. It is like a huge encyclopedia but fun and hilarious. Don’t think for a moment it is gossipy. Not at all, it has lots of substance, in-depth articles and so much information. The author has a great sense of humour. He is hilarious, yet so deep and analytical. You will love this book. It is so wonderfoooooooooooooooooool. Perfect!
I am sure this is the best book ever written about lists.