61 years ago, Lys Assia became the first ever winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. As a result, she earned her place in the history books forever. The Swiss legend recently celebrated her 93rd birthday (happy birthday Lys!) and has remained a massive fan of the Eurovision Song Contest over the past 61 years.
In fact, Lys enjoys the contest so much so that in recent years she has published her rankings list just as many other hardcore Eurovision fans do prior to the contest. In 2016, Lys chose Malta’s Ira Losco as her favourite. A year earlier, Norway’s Mørland & Debrah Scarlett took the top spot. Furthermore, Belgium’s Axel Hirsoux was Lys’ top choice for 2014.
“Fully supporting” Valentina, Jimmie and Ralph!
Fully supporting Valentina Monetta, Jimmie and mr. Ralph Siegel in this years #Eurovision Song Contest. Great team, great entry. #sanmarino
— Lys Assia (@LysAssia) March 14, 2017
While we eagerly await Lys’ rankings for 2017, she has already thrown her support behind this year’s San Marino entry via her social media pages. This year, San Marino are represented by Valentina Monetta and Jimmie Wilson with Spirit of the Night. This will be Valentina’s fourth appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest. Spirit of the Night is produced by Ralph Siegel and written by Steven Barnacle and Jutta Staudenmayer.
This will be Ralph’s fifth song to represent San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest. He composed four consecutive entries for the country between 2012 and 2015. Lys is certainly a fan of Ralph’s work. She ranked Michele Perniola & Anita Simoncini’s Chain of Lights as her third favourite in 2015. In addition, Valentina Monetta’s most recent Eurovision entry Maybe was the first ever Eurovision winner’s sixth favourite in 2014.
Ralph recently worked with Lys in 2012 and 2013 on entries that were submitted to Switzerland’s national selection. Both C’était ma vie and All In Your Head were well loved by fans but ultimately fell short of winning the Eurovision ticket. Lys still retains the desire to return to the Eurovision stage one day!
Lys also wishes the best of luck to Switzerland’s Timebelle
Wishing @timebelleband the best of luck at the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev! Make us proud! @eurovision #srfesc
— Lys Assia (@LysAssia) February 6, 2017
Lys also wished the best of luck to Switzerland’s representatives this year Timebelle following their victory at Die Entscheidungsshow at the beginning of February. The Romanian-Swiss band recently unveiled the official music video for their entry Apollo alongside a revamped version of the song. Perhaps both Switzerland and San Marino will be amongst the top of Lys’ 2017 rankings list which we expect Lys to release in April!
Do you agree with Lys that San Marino is one of the best entries this year? Furthermore, do you think Lys should return to Eurovision as a participant again in the future? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and via our social media pages @escXtra!
Comments on It’s the Spirit of the Night! Legendary Lys Assia “fully supports” San Marino in 2017