I’ve heard it said – or rather I used to hear it being said – that the Irish have Eurovision ‘in their blood’ – and that’s certainly the case this year as Ryan O’Shaughnessy follows in his uncle Gary’s footsteps to the Eurovision stage, with a song that could give RTE their best result in some years.
So, do some show-business families have Eurovision coded into their DNA? Time for another trail through the history book on the shelf.
Brothers in arms
Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson became the first UK act to finish second back in 1959 with ‘Sing Little Birdie‘. Determined to give it another go, he entered the UK preselection again in 1960, but was beaten by his brother Bryan, who went on to sing at Eurovision with ‘Looking High, High, High‘. Thankfully there were no awkward moments over Christmas dinner that year, given he also finished second.
Michael and Günter Hoffmann, performed for Germany under the imaginative moniker of Hoffmann & Hoffmann. Sadly a year later, Günter died after jumping from a hotel window in Rio de Janeiro. Michael continued to work as a producer and composer and even returned briefly to Eurovision with a song in the 1987 national selection.
Who could forget the smooth vocal stylings of Brødrene Olsen? Often credited with being the first act to truly use lighting to boost that big final chorus, the Olsens gave the Danes a second Eurovision win in 2000 with ‘Fly on the wings of love‘. Like all good winners, they had another go. In 2005, their ‘Little Yellow Radio‘ fell at the final fence, beaten in the Danish Melodi Grand Prix by Jakob Sveistrup.
Keeping with the brotherly trend for not being terribly imaginative with band names, brothers Richard, Louis and Per Herrey won the 1994 contest with the unforgettable ‘Diggiloo Diggiley‘. You get double the brother count with Edin-Ådahl – a Swedish Christian group made up of brothers Bertil and Lasse Edin and brothers Simon and Frank Ådahl. ‘Som en vind‘ very nearly denied us Carola’s wind machine in 1991, when they ended second in Melodifestivalen.
We started with talk of Ireland, so we ought to name-drop Tommy and Jimmy Swarbrigg. They first entered as a duo in 1975, coming ninth, but did better two years later when they added two female singers – and in a flash of genius renamed themselves The Swarbriggs Plus Two – ‘It’s nice to be in love again‘ came third.
Never were there such devoted sisters
Monica Aspelund reached the Eurovision stage at her third attempt, representing Finland in 1977 with a jaunty little number called ‘Lapponia‘, she landed in tenth place. Her sister Ami waited until 1983 to enter with ‘Fantasiaa’. She finished 11th. Totes awks.
Greek sisters Anna and Lia Vissi have racked up five Eurovision appearances between them. Anna has the most under her studded leather belt with ‘two tries for Greece and one for Cyprus. Lia managed one time for Cyprus. If you’re wondering about that fifth appearance, Lia sang backing vocals for Greek singer Elpida in 1979.
Most Eurovision clip shows feature the moment those Spanish girls did the whole ‘rabbit in the headlights’ thing during a backing track malfunction. That would be sisters Encarna and Toñi Salazar – better known to Eurovision fandom as Azúcar Moreno. Despite the false start, ‘Bandido‘ ended in a respectable fifth place.
The Dutch have sent us sisterly threesomes twice. The Maessen sisters (performing as Hearts of Soul) brought us ‘Waterman’ in 1977. Last year the Vol family spawned O’G3NE.
And who could forget identical sisters Daniela and Veronika, just in case of doubt, their stage name for Eurovision was TWiiNS. Having previously graced the stage as backing singers for Czech entrant Tereza Kerndlová, they went on to sing for Slovakia (remember them) in 2011. ‘I’m still alive’ ended 13th in the second semi-final.
Sibling Rivalry
You can imagine Jay Aston was the smug one when dropping her Eurovision win (as part of Bucks Fizz) into conversation with her brother Lance. He could only manage third place in 1980, when singing as part of Prima Donna – whose line-up included sisters Kate and Jane Robbins.
Tanel Padar might throw similar shade on ‘lil sister Gerli. He won the Contest in 2001 for Estonia along with Dave Benton (and 2XL, don’t forget them). Gerli could only manage 22nd place in a semi final, seven years later.
One of the many Maltese Faniello households has had three bites of the Eurovision cherry. Fabrizio Faniello has represented his homeland twice – his best result being a ninth place in 2001. Sister Claudia didn’t do so well and missed out on a place at the final last year.
And then, there’s Donna and Joe.
The generation gap
Bo Haldorsson represented Iceland in 1995 with Núna. Just last year his daughter Svala took to the stage. In a strange twist of fate, both ended in 15th place. Sadly for Svala, she entered in the era of semi-finals, so her fifteenth place meant she didn’t make the Saturday night.
Michele Arnaud represented Luxembourg in the first Contest in Lugano, Switzerland. In that first show, there were no actual losers. Everyone who didn’t win ended second (or last, if you’re more of a glass half empty person). It wasn’t such a caring world ten years later when her son Dominique Walter represented France. He ended very much in last place with one solitary point.
The exact same fate befell Jacques Pills, when the veteran singer represented Monaco in 1959. His daughter – Jacqueline Boyer – fared far better a year later, winning for France with ‘Tom Pillibi‘.
So how will Ryan fare? His uncle represented Ireland in 2001, singing ‘Without your love’, finishing 21st out of 23 entries. All fingers are crossed for something bigger this time around.