Eurovision Song Contest

My Texan friend Achim reminded me that this is the week of the Eurovision Song Contest. As always, this event will feature singers and songwriters from about 40 countries and attract more than a hundred million viewers. Nobody believes that the winning song will be "Europe's best pop song", and it's not even guaranteed to climb the charts. Nevertheless the basic idea to unite once a year the viewers of tv stations all over Europe for one joint program still works. No successful songwriter in Europe can avoid   to participate with one or two songs in the course of his or her career. I didn't keep count of the songs I wrote for that contest over the years, I guess between six and eight. Once I reached number three. But my favorite entry only made it to number 13. If the singer, MaryRoos, looks a bit absent-minded in the attached video clip from the show it's because her boyfriend broke off with her four minutes before she went on stage. She was still in tears when the conductor raised the baton.

Of course I had no idea that Mary's relationship was doomed when I wrote the lyrics. They fit amazingly well to the moment, though they probably didn't tell exactly what was on her mind when she sang: "Walk tall, walk tall, I've finally learned to get back on my feet whenever I fall".