Have you ever wondered how difficult it is to open a Eurovision Song Contest? On the one hand, you get your three minutes out of the way and can then sip the free bubbly. I’m looking at you Amandine.
But on first, you’re never quite sure what the crowd will be like. Will they be rowdy, drunk, dull, or bemused. They will have paid a lot of money to be there so you’d hope there was some enthusiasm. Of course, back in the sedate days of the 1970s it was probably easier. And today’s birthday girl Mary Roos (née Rosemarie Schwab) opened in 1972 when the contest was in Edinburgh. Mary did come back in 1984, but this one gave her country its third third place in a row. Always the second bridesmaid, eh?
Mary is 70 today.
Frohe Geburtstag, Mary!