ESC 2003 - Riga, Latvia

[Mannone]

Labdien!

Now you are wondering, maybe even muttering: why is he wasting time on those early millennium years? Believe me, I'm really starting to call that in question myself. I guess I have a couple of incentives for starting these threads:

1. I think every year deserve, if not their own sub-forum, so at least one dedicated thread where you can comment on anything.

2. I haven't actually listened at those songs since back then, and so it's like I haven't heard many of them before. Not much to discover, obviously, but that's what I'm doing - re-discovering. In other words, I'm trying to find (CD-versions only) something at least decent that my nowadays settled taste in music may approve of, as it has changed very much since I was a teenager.

3. Many of us also want personal rankings from every year. Why not start with the early 2000's.

Whatever your incentives to contribute to this thread - just do it! Post Your top 10 or simply vent your spite upon your unbearables.


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Hey Rico, here is my opinion about Rīga!

It was big buzz about t.A.T.u, I really remember that. And that's probably why people voted for it. No way 3rd place? It will always sound horrible to my ears.

And then we had Urban Trad with their constructed language, also a story we've heard ad nauseam. And I guess the Sanomi-prank diverted much of peoples attention. I say no way 2nd place? Nasal noice for me.

I may get though why Turkey managed to win. Very catchy, indeed. But wont qualify for my top-list, is definitely not my weed. Simply put, it's too ordinary.



Here are the entries I choose to listen at more than twice:

1. - Ruffus - Eighties Coming Back

The best Estonian entry, evah. It's about the eighties, simple as that. Seriously, I think it's emotional flair. Feel the well-balanced voice, hovering over sneaking real instrument valleys. Maybe empty on the surface to some, but personally one of my all-timers. Lovely!


2. - Beth - Dime

The last act before dancehall shut down. It's rather plain, but not in a pushy way like the turkish winner. Very addictive and with strings delivered in fine moderation.


3. - Jemini - Cry Baby

Believe it or not. It was the first entry from UK ever to draw a blank. Extremely repetitive, and I fall for that. The weakness becomes a strength. More important though, something creaky is added to the last refrain. That pinch of complexity almost makes my day. And the beat is mysterious.


4. - Louisa Baileche - Monts et Merveilles

A decent Bergendahl-reminder. Maybe a little too ordinary in structure.


I've also found two "maybee's", though gets too stationary pretty fast, and the nazi vibes from gets both prominent and annoying. Near oki-dokies though. I'll probably put in 7th place then.



Strange enough, some entries are definitely "different shades of bad", to borrow A-Lister's locution. These are:

26. - Olexandr Pomoyarnov - Hasta La Vista - Stop iiiit! Please, just stop. DO NOT OPEN TIL XMAS!!! Olexandr's voice is unbearability emwhinied.
25. - Alf Poier - Weil Der Mensch Zählt - I'm not much for jokers. Uncalled for.
24. - Stelios Constantas - Feeling Alive - Generic, ingratiating pop-templet. A brick has more soul.
23. - Urban Trad - Sanomi - I just can't stand it through. And I'm not against the Esperanto-thing. I just can't stand the sliding noise.

I had much to say about this year. It was both ups and downs, and that's always interesting. In alles therefore, maybe even above average for being early 21st.

Hit meee!

 

[Mannone]

I can understand why UK received a big fat zero. Just watched the live performance and Jemini must be the worst vocalists UK have ever sent. However, I'm only judging the studio recordings in high resolution, and compositionally it's definitely one of my top 3 this year. It's speedy, and versatile towards the end.

 

[ParadiseES]

Belgium was robbed big time. It was muuuuch better than Turkey. Sertab sucked live. I remember being so angry back then :evil:

 

[Matt]

Probably the weakest Eurovision year since I watched it. There is literally not one song that year I felt strongly about. I remember the tight race between , & . Since I hated both Russia and Belgium that year I was rooting all the way for Turkey which definitely was one of the stronger songs that year. So I was at least satisfied with winner. Overall the only song I cared about was .

So I don't have much to say about that year, the hosts were alright and the Stage was effective yet quite forgettable. What I did like was the animation used that year. Those clay looking flowers were neat......

 

[Yamarus]

I really love 2003. There are so many songs I enjoy from that year:

- Sertab Erener is an amazing artist, although the song does not do her justice, especially in the live performance where she looks like a Charlotte Perrelli-esque alien. The make-up artist should've been fired on the spot.

- "Dime" was such a great song, catchy and modern. It placed well and I'm pleased about that.

- Croatia's song is a guilty favourite of mine. It is pretty bland, but there's something in that Balkan Britney Spears' live performance I love. Other memorable Balkan entries: Bosnia and Slovenia.

- Esther Hart's song was so good! Very Dutch I must say, all good spirits and gospel. She was so charismatic on stage.

- Flawless performance, although I still cannot believe it almost won because it really isn't that good.

I also like Romania and Iceland.

What's also delightful about 2003 is the voting. So much suspense between Turkey, Russia and Belgium!!! Love it.

Songs that were awful that year:

- t.A.t.U were a disgrace. Such awful singers, fake lesbians, insuferable personas. Completely undeserved third place, but at least they didn't win and I think we can all be thankful for that.

Ukraine and France were also baaaaad that year.

All in all one of my favourite ESC in the 2000s, with 2005 and 2009.

 

[toinou03]

I quite like 2003 ! That was a decent year... and the last before the big thing !
Plus nowadays it's still strange imaginating Latvia hosting the contest considering their actual poor results and probably again this year they will be last in their semi...
Though, there was no real stand out, hence a very close and curious result that changed in the last minute ! Russia had to win that but Tatu ruined their performance... I remember they illustrated Eurovision everywhere in France in 2003 !

Esther hart - One more night (cool and energetic song ! My winner !)
Jostein Hasselgaard - I'm not afraid to move on (nice tune !)
Mando - Never let you go (I love that one, I don't know why it was so underrated... Well I don't know if it's really because of Mando's boobs ! )
Claudia Beni - Vise nisam tvoja (Great song ! Representative of the golden age of Croatia)
Ruffus - 80's coming back (Great number also)
Nicola - Don't break my heart (I love it also !)
Rita Guerra - Deixa-me a sonhar (very beautiful song)
Urban Trad - Sanomi (I don't love it but I have to rank it there ! )
Lou - Let's get happy (and let's be gay Guilty pleasure... )
Tatu - Ne ver ne bojsja (but could have had my 12 if well sung... Such a pity... !)

I don't really like Everyway that I can... I rank it 11... Not found either of Louisa Baileche with her hair in the face...

3 least favorite are (boring), (boring), (aweful ! )

 

[DanielLuis]

I like this year a lot, I think it's better than 2004 and maybe even 2005! And the race for the title was simply amazing and exciting! I really hope we'll have many races like that in the future, even though it's harder nowadays. This year could be like that though, as there's no clear favourite.
I thought the stage was unique and nice, even though those flower like led screens were pretty useless. And the design was interesting as well. Those flags were pretty cool I miss the days when every edition had a different kind of flag, instead of the usual generic square flag we have nowadays

My top ten:
TURKEY - One of the few songs I still listen to today. Amazing and deserved winner!
BELGIUM - Strange how a song like this managed to be a runner-up by two points, but I like it very much! It's so relaxing!
SPAIN - Please Spain, send something like this again next year! Amazing latin pop!
PORTUGAL - One of the most underrated entries ever, such a beautiful ballad! A classic song nowadays here in Portugal, one of the most famous from Rita Guerra!
NORWAY - Sweet ballad! The performance was a bit cliché though.
ROMANIA - Very original for that time, ESC-wise, no?
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA - I don't know why but I really like this song, one of my guilty pleasures
CROATIA
ICELAND
NETHERLANDS

 

[ParadiseES]

Oh, Esther Hart...

I remember I voted for her and this was my very first vote in ESC.

"Vise nisam tvoja" was also my guilty pleasure and Romania, Iceland and Sweden completely rocked as well.

And of course, Rita Guerra. That's probably the most underrated act in the Eurovision history.

 

[Jim]

MY TOP 6 OF 2003 IS:

01. Turkey
02. Norway
03. France
04. Sweden
05. Belgium
06. ​Greece

 

[A-lister]

Yet another weak year, but unlike the previous two years atleast a deserving winner...

My top. 10 - 2003

(ok ok, dreadful live vocals which tend to be the case with t.A.T.u., but I just love the trade-mark t.A.T.u. sound.. one of my fav acts actually).
(this has aged very badly imo, and the rap parts I barely can't strand really cringeworthy... but nevertheless it was catchy and a deserving winner)

 

[Smudy]

This ESC will be remembered for its tight ass race for the win. I would have been good with Turkey and Belgium, but i hated Russia. Believe it or not, my favourite entry was Austria, i love it until death

 

[anto475]

Although 1999 is my first memory, this is my first contest to follow. I remember especially the Irish NF, our primary school was polarised between support between Simon Casey and Mickey Joe Harte until Simon Casey didn't visit the school after promising to do so. And the TV Guide here had a scoresheet inside, and I went to France on the ferry the next day and I remember being alone in our cabin and singing what I could remember of to myself.

But this contest has so many things that are some of the best since 2003. The hosts were youthful and refreshing and genuinely funny and charming, the voting was so tense obviously, the theme was so lovely and welcoming, but the stage was the real best thing about it. I mean it was magnificent, the massive arcs and the orbiting LED screens and the outstretching little lights and the little satellite stage and the green room behind the stage that they tried to replicate in 2011 but failed. And then there was so much thought put into it, like that it was supposed to be a planet with all these things orbiting them, I don't think there's been as much thought put into a stage matching the theme since!

Also some of the songs were quite amazing too, we sent one of our best for a long time, Russia was an amazing power rush, Israel was highly entertaining, Greece and Netherlands were great, France was absolutely amazing, and Belgium was just so great. It was just a massive cosmic dream that did so so well and as happy as I was with the 2004 contest and how TRT did it, Sanomi was the real winner in 2003.

 

[aletem]

I was very happy with the winner. My two faves were Turkey and Sweden. One won, the other one ended 5th! There were other songs that I liked. I did like "Cry baby". It was my third fave, but the girl butchered the song and it was so noticeable back then. Still, I don't think it deserved zero points. Spain was good, but the live performance wasn't unfortunately. Ireland was pretty good. I also liked Cyprus, Netherlands and Slovenia. As for the Croatian song, it was one of the few Croatian entries I couldn't stand.

 

[Eurovisionified]

So, since I've praised the year 2003 in several other threads. Therefore I feel the need to write my own review for the whole competion and give my praise to this brilliant show. To me it can never be topped - This is ESC - The best of the best.


Good starter. Very uplifting and happy song that creates a good atmosphere for the rest of the competition. Even though the lyrics are a bit on the cheesy side, I still love it. Just a great song with a perfect performance. Not much to complain about here.

My dear! I've always trying to figure out why Alf Poier wanted to enter the competition. Was he trolling? Was he dead serious? Or was he attempting to boost his career by parcipiating? One thing's for sure: This number is entertaing and hilarious. Try look at him without laughing you @$$ off. You can't. It's impossible. What about the cardbord cutots on the stage? I Know, there's a rule how many you can be on stage and animals would be hard to force out on a stage in front of thousands of screaming people. But it's just weird. For some reason, I love this guy. The song goes from funky-pop to suddenly switch over to heavy/trash metal in a very hilarous manner. And then it slows down again. Really funny stuff.

While the beginning heavily reminds us of "Fly on the wings of love" I never reflected on it before several years later so it never bugged me. This is a classic Irish-"We-never-dissapoint-you"-entry. While it's not a winner, it's definitely a song that need some extra attention. It's a groovy, uplifting and wonderful song with a perfect harmony and composition. Mickey Joe Harte pulls it off with much emotion. Actually he does it so much that he starts crying around the middle-section of the song and has to dry his eye with his hand. Very good stuff. I like this song and still listening to it occasionally. Timeless. Just brilliant.

So this is the winner of ESC Song Contest 2003? Is it worthy of the victory? Quick answer: Yes. It had everything: It was entertaining, catchy, fun, innovative and a bit cheesy but still interesting lyrics. So how come Turkey never tried this concept before? There were so many occations they had the opportunity to win the competition but failed. With this number they went back to their cultural roots and sent a pompous song, while not leaving anything at home. Result? Instant success; Later inspired many other countries to try the same concept (even though they were less successfull). Only common complain is her voice - It's a bit "raspy". It does not detract too much Imo.

Malta sent a beautiful girl in even more beautiful clothes. She is cuter than sugar, but hey, just wait! The song is even more sugarsweet. This is the typical pop-song. It doesn't stay out too much but is inoffensive and a bit catchy. I like the song, even though it looks weird at the beginning when she's at the piano. Everyone can see she's faking it (not even looking what notes she playing!). Also, some people doesn't like the fact that she's walking around the stage, but it doesn't bother me. No, I think she pulled it off perfectly. Due to poor promotion, no music video were made and she got awfully low points (4 points gave a second-to-last place, just before the UK). It deserved much better.

So. let's move on to this number. This isn't one of my favorites and I always skips it. The way she sings the song in a very aggressive, over-the-top manner isn't really in my taste. But who knows? Some might like it, but I'm not one of them. She sorta reminds of Rihanna, ain't she?

She looks like a Mermaid. Was this intentional? A forgettable number, not one of my favorites. Could be listen to and that's it. Don't know what to say about this really. Some people like it, some people don't. I'm neutral.

The song has potential, but one can see that she's very young. She was 16 then, wasn't she? This song has a bit of attitude, but her outfit.. oh gosh. I don't even know where to start. The Choreography is also a bit weak. A kick here.. a kick there... some turns here.. some kick there. It looks ridiculous. Shame really, since it had potential but it was wasted.

Cyprus sent a handsome middle-aged man in a white suit. This is how a white suit should look like - See and learn, Robin Stjernberg! Wide pants and a stylish'd white coat. Suits him perfectly! If you take a closer look, there's some green details on his shirt that resembles that of the Cyprus flag. Nice detail! The song is the Perfect filler, using the traditional drums and beats. It would have been better though if the song had been sung in greece or turkish, since the lyrics are VERY cheesy. But apart from that, the performance is brilliant.



To be continued . . .

 

[Quent91]

We should have won :evil:

 

[Milos-BC]

I agree, I preferred "Sanomi" way more than the winning entry.

 

[lucian-crusher]

We should have won :evil:

I am just curious! When we had the NF in 2003 they where talking about other selected entries, and I remember they said that the song from was changed into an imaginary language because one of the band members was caught on drugs so they had to disqualify him. So, his collegues decided to sing in an imaginary language just to show their support. I was 14 years old back then but it's stuck in my brain and I searched for it, but nothing showed up. Is the story true?

 

[Nikkita]

Even if i'm Turkish,i love Sanomi more then Everyway That I Can.
But my personal fave is (ofcourse the studio version) Nye Ver Nye Boisia x12s Amazing lyrics and great tune!

 

[Archer]

Russia should have won. I liked nor Turkey neither Belgium. I think we sent much greater songs that deserved to win rather than Sertab (such as Athena, MaNga).

 

[Impressive]

We should have won :evil:

Eurovision had a lot of ballad winners in the past. I think there is nothing a lost for Eurovision to take Belgium second.