World Song Contest

when Music rules the World

The Story Goes On...

After the scandal in WSC .16, this edition of the contest was seen as a test and despite some players decided to take a break, 31 countries finally took part in July 2006. This edition will  stay in memories for several reason. Aleksandar, who won four times for Russia, decided to leave the game, just like Mike (who played for Canada) did in WSC .16. They will always be welcomed here of course ! But despite all this, the World Song Contest didn't die and we had one of the most exciting edition with no songs seen as a big favourite. As a results, some countries realized their best results since they first participated.

Nelly Furtado was probably the biggest star of this edition with the number 1 hit "Maneater". She helped Portugal to reach not only its first top 10 but also top 5 position. This wasn't the only song to have met success all over the world. France was represented by Bob Sinclar and the dance hit "Love Generation". But what worked for Portugal, didn't for France. Latvia also reached the top 5 for the first time in 7 participations.

Having friends can help to reach some good positions in the contest. But for these countries, this score was just the result of a good choice. Portugal's best result so far was 20th, while Latvia usually finished outside the top 15th. What about Monaco then which could count on some friends, Italy and France first... Of course their 12 points helped but even without them, Monaco would have won. A first victory for this country with the song "Je Ferme Les Yeux", performed by Najoua Belyzel (who made a come back after she gave its best result to France in WSC .12), and the first winner to be entirely sung in French. Finland took the silver medal, followed by the Netherlands, Latvia and Portugal.

The Results

1  Monaco  Najoua Belyzel: Je Ferme Les Yeux  136
2  Finland  Sonata Arctica: White Pearl, Black Oceans  103
3  Netherlands  Marco Borsato: Rood  102
4  Latvia  Lauris Reiniks & Maarja-Liis Ilus: And You Came  100
5  Portugal  Nelly Furtado: Maneater  89
6  Sweden  Mikeyla: The Lie  88
7  United States of America  Kelly Clarkson: Gone  84
8  Greece  Despina Vandi: Jambi  82
9  Turkey  Grup Hepsi: Kalpsizsin  70
10  Serbia  Ceca: Lepi Grome Moj  69
11  Estonia  No-Big-Silence: The Outer Suns  63
12  United Kingdom  Bond: Duel  61
13  Andorra  Soraya Arnelas: Mi Mundo Sin Ti  59
14  Norway  Bertine Zetlitz: Twisted Little Star  56
15  France  Bob Sinclar: Love Generation  52
16  Malta  Claudia Faniello: High Alert  51
17  Poland  Fiolka: Nie Ma Nic  51
18  Russia  Lance A Lot: Ispravim Mir  49
19  Belgium  Hooverphonic: Dirty Lenses  47
20  Hungary  Unique: Mozaik  44
22  Israel  Sarit Hadad: Miss Music  43
21  Italy  Laura Bono: Fino All'Orlo  43
23  Iceland  Ragnhildur Gísladóttir & Human Body Orchestra: Ghost Story  42
24  Philippines  Amber: Manila  42
25  Spain  La Oreja De Van Gogh & Pablo Villafranca: París - Dernier Rendez-Vous  39
26  Venezuela  Servando & Florentino: Rumba En Mi Corazón  38
27  Luxembourg  Sofia Mestari: Ne Pars Pas  35
28  Bosnia & Herzegovina  Romana: Kap Po Kap  34
29  Ireland  Six: The Man That Made Me A Woman  34
30  Romania  Maria Radu: All This Time  30
31  Bulgaria  Upsurt: Vtora Cedka  20

The Scoreboard

The Winner

MONACO
Najoua Belyzel: Je Ferme Les Yeux
 
 
 
 
Najoua was born in the French city Nancy, and grew up in a large family with three sisters and two brothers. Since a young age, she had shown an interest in music, and by age 14, had begun writing her own songs. Najoua originally studied law beginning in 2001 at the University of Nancy, but left for Paris to pursue a career in music. She met some success after a casting call when she joined the group Benoît, who had a successful single called "Tourne-toi Benoît", which touched on the subjet of homosexuality. The later singles from the group, however, only met moderate success, and eventually the group parted ways. Later she met the songwriter Christophe Casanave, whose work had already been performed by popular French acts Steeve Estatof and Marc Lavoine. The two worked together on a song called "Stella", which would later appear on her debut album. In 2005, Najoua released her first single titled "Gabriel", an electric-pop dance track. The song became a huge hit in France, and peaked at number three on the Top 40 charts in France. On 29 May 2006, she released her debut album titled Entre deux mondes, which debuted at #7 on the French charts and at #1 on the iTunes France music store. In late 2006 and early 2007, she will embark on a tour across France and Francophone Europe to promote her album. She has been compared to Mylène Farmer, and she has become a gay icon of sorts in France.
 
Lyrics

Il ne suffit pas
Que l'on s'en sorte toi et moi
Pour que s'efface ma douleur
Le Monde est si mal ici bas

Je veux l'Amour universel
Le seul, le vrai, retrouver l'étincelle
A genoux je m'adresse au matriciel
A genoux... en sang

Je ferme les yeux, je ferme les yeux
Je sais qu'il m'entend
Je ferme les yeux, oui, je ferme les yeux
L'espoir me reprend

Mais s'il ne s'agit pas
De s'aimer plus fort toi et moi
Ô mon amour
Pardonnes-moi
je me sens si mal ici bas

Je tend les mains vers la lumière
Pour que renaissent des jardins d'Eden
A fleur de peau j'implore l'éternel
A genoux... en sang

Je ferme les yeux, je ferme les yeux
Je sais qu'il m'entend
Je ferme les yeux, oui, je ferme les yeux
L'espoir me reprend

Je crois en vous, je crois en moi... (x2)

Je ferme les yeux, je ferme les yeux
Je sais qu'il m'entend
Je ferme les yeux, oui, je ferme les yeux
L'espoir me reprend

Je ferme les yeux, je ferme les yeux
Je ferme les yeux, je ferme les yeux
L'espoir me reprend

Je ferme les yeux
Je ferme les yeux