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The song I’m remembering was Emma’s “Give a Little Love Back to the World” for the United Kingdom at Eurovision 1990 in Zagreb. It was an earnest peace-themed song, and it came 6th with 87 points. Yugoslavia’s Tajči came 7th, which perhaps explains the uncertainty. Or perhaps it’s just a long time ago.
So here we are in Vienna in 2015, with Hungarian singer-songwriter Boglárka Csemer — performing as Boggie — offering “Wars For Nothing”, another earnest, lullabic exhortation to be, y’know, just nicer and everything, yeah. Eurovision’s official description calls it a peace anthem. It was chosen through Hungary’s A Dal selection, where it won the public-vote stage after finishing second with the jury.
I just kind of feel that Boggie’s earnest if lullabic exhortation is pointed head on at coming 7th. Or 6th. One or the other. So it’ll probably win.
Retrospective note: The result was not quite the triumph predicted here. Hungary qualified from the first semi-final in 8th place, then Boggie performed 22nd in the grand final and finished 20th with 19 points. Sweden’s Måns Zelmerlöw won with “Heroes”. The verdict, therefore, is that peace songs remain difficult to place — and my forecasting remains entirely dependable.
