By Chris Melville
Saturday morning. Eurovision Day. Everyone's preparing frantically for the big show tonight, and nerves are building. This is a new experience for many people, and a not-so-new experience for others. One person for whom it is definitely not a new experience is Ralph Siegel, composer of seventeen songs which have entered the Eurovision final, and many many others in the German national selection. I got together with him for a while before the final dress rehearsal this afternoon to ask him a few things.
Ralph, you have entered the Eurovision Song Contest more times than any other songwriter. Why Eurovision? What is it about the Contest that is so special to you?
When I started writing music in 1966, I wrote my first German festival song. This is not the German final for Eurovision, just a national festival. My song came 12th - last place! I thought to myself: "I must do better". Since that time, I have entered 68 song competitions. In 1972, I tried entering for Eurovision. I entered two songs, which came 5th and 7th. The singer of one of them was Edina Pop, who later performed as one member of group Dschinghis Khan. This was better, but still not good enough. Then in 1974, Luxembourg held an open competition. I entered and this time I finally won. We went to Brighton with the song "Bye Bye I Love You" by Ireen Sheer, and came equal 4th with Olivia Newton-John. The winners, of course, were ABBA.
After that I still wanted to do better. In 1976 I entered with the disaster that was Les Humphries Singers - "Sing, Sang, Song". We came back in 1979 and finally had some success, with "Dschinghis Khan". It didn't win the Contest, but the group had a big success with their follow-up single, "Moskau", which is my biggest hit of all-time.
Moskau was your biggest hit? What about "Ein Bißchen Frieden"?
That was the highest honour which I ever achieved, and I am very proud of that. But "Moskau" was actually a bigger hit for me. It had worldwide success - in Japan, Australia... then their next hit, "Rom" did well too.
We were still only 4th in 1979. I tried again in 1980 with two songs, one for Luxembourg and one for Germany. "Theater" came 2nd - Johnny Logan was unbeatable that year. I asked again: "Can we do better?" In 1981 we tried with "Johnny Blue". We came 2nd by 4 points, "killed" by Switzerland who gave us zero! We were almost there, but not quite...
Then, finally, in 1982 the big moment came. "Ein Bißchen Frieden" won in Harrogate with 161 points. It was so beautiful.. not just to win the Contest, but to be at #1 in the charts in the UK. Higher than Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson at that time. I was 37 years old and so proud.
So you achieved your goal... but kept trying?
After the win in 1982, I took a break. Then after a few years, people asked me to try again. I wrote "Laß Die Sonne In Dein Herz" for the 1987 German final, and it was such a catchy song I knew it would win. But then before the international final, a friend phoned me and said: "Who do you think is entering for Ireland this year?"... yes, that's right - Johnny Logan again! And once again, he was unbeatable. I knew he would win the competition. After that, I thought I should have quit. But I kept trying, and had a few average successes. Then in 1994, we came up with a great formula. Mekado had a good chance, and I knew it. But it was Ireland's third year, and Poland had a powerful Mariah Carey-style ballad, and we only came 3rd.
The most beautiful Eurovision week for me was in Jerusalem in 1999. I loved the idea of a German-born Turkish band. The concept and melody touched my heart. But we didn't win... and I knew I should have quit again. You see, years go by, but my whole life is music. I have ideas all the time. When people start talking about what next year's Eurovision entry is going to be, my heart jumps. I know I've been doing it a long time, but it is still exciting for me. One of my favourite songs I wrote was in 2000 for Corinna May: "I Believe In God". But that year we were up against Stefan Raab, and nobody else stood a chance. He could have been singing any song and won anyway, because of his popularity. But then I wanted to do something for Corinna. I wanted to send a gospel choir, with her sitting on a chair in front. But friends in the pop-music scene persuaded me to make it into a pop song, and I went along with it. I think now that that was a big mistake. Few people could tell she was blind. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but that was trying to turn her into something she was not, having her dance in front. I think I learned a lesson there: I should have left her as she was.
Now in 2003 we have Lou - and what you see is really her. She has had a party band for fourteen years, making people happy. When I wrote the song I didn't have her especially in mind, but when the song was complete, arranged and produced, Lou was the natural choice.
I was going to ask you how important winning is to you, or if it was just the participation that counted, but I think you have already answered that! I can see how you always want to do better.
If we have a good position tonight, I'll take a break from the Contest. But now I won't say the word "never" again. I have said that a few times in the past few years, but I admit that I can not tell what the future will bring. If the situation and the feeling is right, and I have a song that I really want to enter with...
The EBU is making many changes to the Contest. It's a media event now, different than how it used to be, which is a song competition. But I keep trying.
When listening to music for pleasure, do you listen to your own songs? Apart from that, what type of music do you listen to for pleasure and inspiration?
I listen to almost everything. My favourite mood music includes George Gershwin, and classic pop. I love Whitney Houston. Occasionally I do listen to my own songs, if we hold dinner parties for example. Each song is special to me, and listening to it brings back memories. Each song has its own story.
When you go to a Eurovision disco, and you see hundreds of people dancing to songs which you wrote - for example, Dschinghis Khan, over twenty years old and still popular - and you see them having fun and enjoying it, how does that make you feel?
Unbelievable. It is such an incredible feeling, to see that people are having fun to songs that I have written. I love it.
The other day at the German press conference, it seemed that 90% of the questions were directed at you and not Lou! You seem to be the one here in whom everyone is interested.
I didn't actually want to go to the press conference. I wanted all the attention to be on Lou, where it belongs. But people said I should go, because it would look bad if I was not sitting there with her, to support her.
When you get a melody in your head, what is it about that tune that makes you decide to use it for a song? Does the melody describe how you're feeling at the time? Is there a standard formula of chord sequences that you think works? Be technical if you want.
It's different. Sometimes I have a melody I record on tape for future use. Sometimes I immediately think of a hook-line. Then I try to put it to lyrics. Sometimes it takes days or weeks, sometimes it's instant. If you have a particular singer in mind, then lyrics are very important. Often, I think of a hook and suggest it to my friend Bernd Meinunger, and he takes over from there to write the whole song. That's what I did with "Let's Get Happy". I thought of "Let's get happy and let's be friends", and the first line "Last night in the discotheque". I spent 50% of the time on that song on the arrangement.. but firstly, the melody and lyrics are most important. There is no standard formula.
One of my personal favourites of your songs is "Johnny Blue". I heard once that it is supposed to be autobiographical. Can you comment on this?
No, it's not. I wrote the melody first.. then Bernd wrote the first attempt at the lyrics. They were awful! Then I suggested: "Why not make it about a blind boy who learns to play music?". Then Bernd wrote the whole thing in 20 minutes, and it was great. When you have a story to work with, then it's easy.
Would you say you've done everything you want to do in your life? Are there any more ambitions left to achieve? What is your biggest dream?
My biggest dream is to get my music into the theatre. I have a musical, and I believe the songs are good, but the actual story is weak. I have rewritten it many times over the years, but it's not good enough yet. I really want to use my music. It would be a wonderful dream to have a musical playing in the West End or on Broadway. That is what I most want.
The last time you won, Nicole recorded her song in many different languages. If Lou wins tonight, will she do the same?
No, there are no plans to do that. Nicole's original song was in German, and we wanted people all around the world to understand it. We wrote an English version, and then kept going and going to include many languages. But Lou's song is already in English, and most people understand.
Chris & Ralph
