Eurovision royalty, Ralph Siegel, made some time to talk to us on the live stream this afternoon. We will upload the full video clip later today but here are some of the key quotes from Mr. Siegel about his Eurovision career.
Ralph Siegel on San Marino and Valentina
On the moment that “Maybe” was announced as a finalist in 2014:
“The first time San Marino qualified, we fell in each others arms”
On the creation of “Spirit of the Night”:
“I said to Valentina – come here, if you like it, you do it, if you don’t then you don’t. They came together in Munich and it was the love of two musicians. They are two stage people, not young any more but they give all the power.”
“We changed the lyrics three or four times and we worked with the two other writers, a choir of singers, and we had two or three finished versions before Jimmie and Valentina even heard it.”
On the support for “Spirit of the Night”:
“San Marino is such a little country and when you see 35,000 people and more than 2m hits, this is just unbelievable. Jimmie such a great artist, he played Obama, and I’m proud to have those artists.”
Ralph Siegel on Eurovision in general
Ralph’s favourite in 2016:
“Last year, Australia was my personal favourite. I loved it. Just sat on top of the platform… I loved it.”
Talking about the withdrawn Russian entry for 2017:
“I felt bad for the girl, the political situation I don’t like. It was terrible for the girl in the wheelchair, the whole situation, I felt really sorry for her.”
Talking about 1956:
“My father, he wrote the song “Telephone”. My first contest was either 1956 or 1957 but I think it was 1957. I was just nine years old.”
If you entered again, what kind of song would you like to enter:
“I don’t think about disco or ballads. I just write the song for the artist and their personality. Valentina has so much musicality, it started as a more jazzy song and the bridge and upper harmonies are all very much that. It depends on the artists, the artist has to feel that they can perform it. So it’s personality of the artist [that decides the genre of song].”
On Montenegro 2009:
“She was a really fantastic artist. I loved that song. We missed the final by 2 points, just 2 points!”
On his nationality:
“I am the only German writer for Eurovision this year, and I am proud for this and grateful to this little country that I can do it.”
On Anita & Michele:
“These artists were given to me and we had three songs for them. I think we picked the wrong song, perhaps too heavy for Anita. We had actually another song that I personally loved more but the broadcaster thought “Chain of Light” was right.
Would he enter Junior Eurovision?
“It depends on the kids, if you have a little Michael Jackson then maybe! Germany has never showed it and now they’re showing The Voice Kids, a great show, and you have to see that the kids are ready to do Junior Eurovision.”
See the Ralph Siegel interview in full!
We spoke to Ralph Siegel on our stream Live from Kyiv. You can see the full interview below:
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