Today in Jerusalem

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Today in Jerusalem
Christina Simon
publication March 31, 1979
length 3:09
Genre (s) Chanson , jazz-rock
text André Heller
music Josef Dermoser, also attributed to Peter Wolf
Label Polydor

Today in Jerusalem is the song with which the singer Ina Wolf took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979 in Jerusalem under her artist name Christina Simon at the time. The song, the text of which is from André Heller, came in last place out of 19 contributions. The artistic qualities have been highlighted in several reviews.

Emergence

At the concerts of his tour from November 23 to 28, 1975 in Israel, Heller had already sung a hymn song Jetzt fahr'n wir nach Jerusalem , which was also recorded on his 1978 live album Bitter und Süß .

When registering for the Eurovision Song Contest, the name Josef Dermoser was given as the composer. On the other hand, the name of Peter Wolf appeared on the following record releases , but he said he did not write the song.

Peter Wolf had moved to the United States as a musician in 1973 and played in the group of rock musician Frank Zappa . Christina Simon had also gone to the USA in 1977, but returned to Europe for occasional guest appearances.

Heller and Peter Wolf had worked together before. In 1978 the jazz rock LP André Heller Poetic Sound - Music for Lovers and Loosers by the Peter Wolf Objective Truth Orchestra was released, which is, however, a pure instrumental record, and in 1978 Wolf participated in Heller's LP Basta .

Preview movie

The 1979 filming took place on the rock standing directly to the left behind the rows of spectators.

The recordings for the mandatory preview video of the competition entry were shot in the Roman quarry St. Margarethen , which has now been expanded into an opera stage. The film shows Simon singing the verse and first chorus below in front of a high, isolated rock; During the subsequent repetition of the chorus, she is circled by the floating camera while singing on the rock.

Eurovision competition

At the Eurovision competition on March 31, 1979, the song was presented as the penultimate of 19 contributions. In addition to the string orchestra under the stage, conducted by Richard Oesterreicher , Simon was accompanied by a jazz band made up of saxophone, piano, bass and drums. The pianist on a concert grand and the saxophonist Lou Marini were placed in the background of the stage.

In the assessment, the contribution received only five points, four from Italy and one from Great Britain. It came in last place, together with the Belgian contribution Hey Nana sung by Micha Marah .

After the competition

Singles of the song were produced in a German and English language version, which, however, did not make it into the sales charts.

Ina Wolf and Peter Wolf lived in the USA from 1977 to 1994, where the Austrian composer became a successful music producer. Peter Wolf and Ina Wolf were a couple from 1979 to 1995. Peter Wolf had the marriage annulled in a California court.

The appeal “Rise up” at the beginning of the first stanza

"Rise up, take off your sleep in this time of bitter fruits ..."

Heller used it again in the chorus of his song Raise You Beloved, which he performed in the concert “Popstars gegen Pershing” in the Ruhrstadion in Bochum on September 11, 1982 and which he published in 1983 on the album voices listening .

reception

The American journalist Ilan Seidner reported in advance:

“This year's competition promises to be on a higher artistic level than the previous one. One reason for this is the Austrian contribution, a song written by the poet André Heller, entitled Today in Jerusalem . It pays tribute to the beauty of the city and expresses a longing for peace. In a recent interview, the poet said that Jerusalem 'is hardly the place for pointless pop garbage'. The Israeli Eurovision organizers fully share this opinion. Your whole goal is to present a high quality performance. "

The cabaret artist Henning Venske wrote in his slipping of the Jerusalem Eurovision event:

“(...) the consecrations for all this nonsense came from Austria: Look, from the coolness of the high air, 100 moons fall as a sign of a new beginning, as a sense against the absurd! It's a shame that André Heller didn't sing his poetry himself. That would have cemented his reputation as Peter Alexander for high school graduates. "

The film director Eckhart Schmidt stated in 1979 that Heller, Wolf and Simon

“Take part in a competition for Austria, although you know very well that you cannot win. They do not present their work because they are permeated by the comforting motto 'it's everything to be there', but because they are completely unsportsmanlike, completely relaxed, completely happy and simply take the chance to give the 500 million viewers of the competition a different kind of appearance and Performing music - their kind of music and performance. "

A television report about the song and a studio interview with Ina Wolf were broadcast on July 9, 2000 in the program Déjà vu (ORF2), moderated by Thaddäus Podgorski .

Kobi Oshrat , the composer and conductor of the winning song "Hallelujah", recalled in an interview conducted in 2011:

“Christina Simon was a great singer, her song was called 'Today in Jerusalem'. She was frustrated because she hadn't had time to visit the city she sings about. So I took her to the Old City and the Western Wall . There she moved, as an orthodox Jew approached me and asked, phylacteries create. Later she thanked me urgently and said: 'Now at least I know what I'm going to sing about'. I loved her song, but it didn't stand a chance from the start: too jazzy and far too complicated for a song contest. Unfortunately Austria was last. "

Singles

  • 1. Today in Jerusalem , 2. Babaya (music: Peter Wolf, text: Christina Simon) , 1979, Polydor 2048 245
  • 1. Jerusalem (English, text: André Heller) , 2. Babaya , 1979, Polydor 2048 246

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Siegfried Schmidt-Joos : Wine? again , Spiegel No. 50, December 8, 1975
  2. ↑ “This year's competition shows promise of being on a higher artistic level than previous ones. One reason for that is the Austrian entry, which is a song written by the poet Andre Heller, entitled Heute in Jerusalem , Today in Jerusalem. It pays homage to the city's beauty, and expresses a yearning for peace. In a recent interview the poet said that Jerusalem 'is hardly the right place for senseless pop rubbish.' The Israeli Eurovision producers could not be more in agreement with those sentiments. Their entire goal is to put on a top quality show ”, Ilan Seidner: This Year in Jerusalem. Eurovision: Singing Spectacular, Israel Digest 1979, Volume 22, pp. World Zionist Organization, American Section, pp. 64-65, pp. 65
  3. ↑ Henning Venske: Begin, let the pants down, Konkret No. 5, 1979, pp. 44–45
  4. ↑ Eckhart Schmidt : Heller hearing means seeing ( PDF download at E-Periodica.ch), Du No. 7, 1979, p. 79
  5. ^ ORF2, Deja vu (episode 1) , Espressorosi.at
  6. ↑ “Christina Simon was a great singer and her song was called 'Today in Jerusalem'. She was frustrated that she had not had any time yet to visit the city she was singing about. So I took her down to the old town and the Wailing Wall. She was moved when an orthodox Jew came my way, asking me to put on a tefillin (a set of black leather boxes containing scrolls inscribed with Torah verses, BT) . Afterwards, she thanked me profusely and said: 'Now at least I know what I will be singing about'. I loved her song, but it was doomed from the start: too jazzy and much too complicated for a song festival. Unfortunately, Austria finished last. ”, Bas Tukker: And the conductor is… Kobi Oshrat (portrait)
predecessor Office successor
Mrs. Caroline Robinson
from Springtime 		Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest
1979 		You are music
from Blue Danube