Telegram (song)
| Telegram | |
|---|---|
| Silver Convention | |
| publication | March 18, 1977 |
| length | 2:56 |
| Genre (s) | Pop , disco |
| Author (s) | Sylvester Levay , Michael Kunze |
| album | Summernights |
Telegram was the German contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 , which was sung by Silver Convention in English. Telegram was the first German contribution to the Eurovision Song Contest that was sung entirely in English.
Music and lyrics
The pop song takes up elements of the disco music popular at the time. The text is about the need to send a telegram to a loved one to bring them around.
Origin and reception
At that time Silver Convention consisted of the Austrian Penny McLean (née Gertrude Wirschinger), the German-American Ramona Wulf (née Ramona Kraft) and the American Rhonda Heath . With a number of big disco hits in continental Europe, Scandinavia , Great Britain and the USA, they were considered to be arguably the most established and well-known participating group of the year. All of these songs were written and produced by the same team as their Eurovision contribution, Sylvester Levay and Michael Kunze . The song reached number 27 in Germany and was charted for seven weeks; in Sweden , however, it was the most successful single in the group in fourth place. It reached number 26 in the Flemish part of Belgium .
Song contest
In the year of the disco boom, the HR entrusted with the organization did not make a preliminary decision and - not least as a reaction to the rather unsuccessful previous years - booked the Silver Convention. Those responsible were based on last year's British winner Brotherhood of Man . On March 9, 1977 the group joined How would you like it? by Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff for the first time with the song. The language rule was back in 1977 at the Eurovision Song Contest, four years after it was dropped in 1973; each country had to sing again in one of its official languages, in the case of the Silver Convention in German. However, both Germany and Belgium had already selected their respective entries when the EBU reintroduced the rule. Therefore, Silver Convention and Dream Express were allowed to sing their songs in English with an exception.
Telegram was listed in sixth place in the Song Contest (after the Norwegian Anita Skorgan with Casanova and in front of the Luxembourger Anne-Marie B. with Brother Jacques ). The conductor was Ronnie Hazlehurst . At the end of the vote, the song had received 55 points and finished 8th out of a field of 18. The theme of the choreography was "connection", also in the dance of the singers; Morse code was used in the song, especially at the beginning, to symbolize the communicative connection, presented on a Morse key . The choreography was later praised as well as the candy-colored costumes of the singers, even if musically only the place remained in the middle. The reasons for this were the more classical sounds of the ESC 1977; it won Marie Myriam with the Chanson L'oiseau et l'enfant . But also the Belgian disco competition Dream Express, which had one more singer with similar costumes, was mentioned.
Cover versions
Cover versions exist by Janni in Danish and by Hana Zagorová in Czech.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b http://www.swisscharts.com/song/Silver-Convention/Telegram-28339
- ↑ a b https://www.eurovision.de/teilnehmer/Silver-Convention-beim-ESC-1977-in-London,silverconvention107.html
- ↑ a b c 1977: German preliminary decision, eurovision.de . The source wrongly names the Kulenkampff program One will win , which was paused at this time.
- ↑ https://www.fernsehserien.de/wie-haetten-sies-denn-gern/im-tv
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNpW9WqbCiY
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
|
Sing Sang Song from Les Humphries Singers |
 Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1977 |
Fire by Ireen Sheer |