Last week, Rigmo got us Running for our Hungarian Throwback Thursday tribute. This time it’s Switzerland’s turn, since they celebrated their foundation day on August first. Can you believe its more than 727 years since that happened? Well, their Eurovision history is quite long as well, because they were one of the founding members. In addition, Lys Assia, their representative was the first ever winner of Eurovision Song Contest. That means there were a lot of songs to pick from… and weirdly enough I picked Moitié-moitié!
The selection..
To be honest, it’s maybe not that weird that I picked this song. After listening to all the clips from someones top 57 Swiss entries on Youtube a few times, this is one of the songs that got my attention the most. I also not a big fan of ballads, which doesn’t leave many Swiss entries for me. After this very “scientific” research, the selections stood between three entries 1987, 2014 and 2018.
The last one, 2018, is one of my favorite of this year Eurovision and my most favorite from Switzerland. And for the record; In my eyes “Stones” was robbed it´s place in the final (#ZIBBZfan). However, I wanted to dig a bit deeper into Switzerland´s past. So I thought about writing about “Hunter of Stars”, but after reading the lyrics, that are creepy to say the least, I decided not to.
Moitié-moitié
Now to the real stuff. Actually I am quite happy with Carol Rich’s song, because the song makes me feel cheerful. Furthermore it is my current second favorite entry from Switzerland. And like I mentioned earlier, I have some connections to the song. For one, the year 1987 is when I am born, so this could have been the first Eurovision show that I partly watched. In addition their outfits are just adorable, and this blue color with stars is totally something that I connect with. I love the color blue (and dark green), plus, I think I have a star in almost every room of my apartment.
Half and half, as it’s called in English, was performed in Brussels and was last on the stage. It got 26 points and therefore finished in 17th place. One point and one placer lower than my country, Iceland (see here is another connection to the song). The message of the song, how I understand, it is that we need to know that there are highs and lows in love/life. And we need to be able to focus on the good things and be able to “cage” the bad experiences and not to let them control us.
I feel like this fun song should get some attention. Because the following Swiss entry, “Ne partez pas sans moi” with Céline Dion, gives Carol´s song a bit of a shade. This tribute to Switzerland has helped me rediscover this gem, and for that I am glad. I do hope it brings you a smile to your face like it did for me. If not only just because of their outfits and devotion to “Moitié-moitié”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwp93apXQDs
What our other editors had to say:
Wivian
I had totally forgotten that this even existed! For me, 1987 was the year of “Hold Me Now”, “Gente di mare” and “Shir Habatlanim”. “Moitié-moitié” is however one of the most 80s entries ever! There is no way this song could have come to life outside that decade. The same goes for their outfits, the hair dos, the dance routine…and Carol’s shoulder pads! With that said, I have to admit that “Moitié, moitié” makes me smile, sing along and wanna get up and dance! So I guess it does precisely what it set out to do. Switzerland has never been my favorite at Eurovision, even though “The Highest Heights” was very close in 2009. Nevertheless I have liked quite a few of their entries, among them “In Love For a While” and “Stones”.
Jack
“I can’t say I’m a massive fan of this song to be honest. I do like cheesy songs normally (if the song itself is decent) but this is too cheesy even for me. The performance was chaotic too. I can understand why some find it fun but it’s not for me.. sorry!”
Ryan
As I’ve said before in previous editions of Throwback Thursday, nine times out of ten I’ll dislike an entry from the previous century and this is one of those nine. It’s just not my era and this doesn’t have the timeless quality of Ne partez pas sans moi for example. Carol’s vocal tone doesn’t appeal to me… however she hits the notes and sells the song to the maximum. I am a fan of the quirky dance routine that was common in Eurovision performances of the past! Nevertheless, my favourite Swiss entry is Cool Vibes by Vanilla Ninja. At the time it reminded me of Lindsay Lohan’s pop-rock material that I promise is much better than you probably think, check out Ultimate and you’ll see what I mean! I was thrilled to see Cool Vibes top the scoreboard for the first half of the voting and glad it secured Switzerland a top ten finish!
Matt
I might start a new Facebook group for fans of 80’s Eurovision postcards. This had everything from overly dramatic suitcase failure to a bride being left on the tarmac after missing her plane by a matter of seconds! Anyway, this entry is fun and upbeat. It’s not the best song but delivers loads of personality. It reminds me of 80’s TV gameshow theme music. It makes me happy, as long as I don’t have to listen to it on repeat!
How do you feel about Moitié-moitié? Does it make you want to dance? Do you have a favorite Swiss entry? If you are not keen on Switzerland entries you might agree on this editors opinion.
Feel free to share your thoughts and your opinion here in the comments below and on social media @ESCXTRA Also be on the look out for our next ThrowbackThursday next.
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