Yamaha Music Festival

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The Yamaha Music Festival, officially known as World Popular Song Festival and unofficially as the "Oriental Eurovision", used to be the world's biggest song contest, until it ended in 1989; that honour has now passed to the Eurovision Song Contest, in terms of viewership and participation. It was organised by the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo, Japan from 1970 until 1989. The first edition of the World Popular Song Festival (WPSF) took place on 20, 21 and 22 November 1970 with 37 participating countries from all continents.

Belgium was represented at the 1970 edition by the dazzling Daliah Lavi, famous for her role in Casino Royale (1967), the James Bond parody featuring Woody Allen. Ms. Lavi performed the chanson "Prends L'Amour" and ended up 13th in the Grand Final (the contest had two semi-finals and one final). The Netherlands delegated world-known jazz singer Rita Reys with the song "Just Be You", a composition by her husband Pim Jacobs. Other famous 1970 participants were 1969 Eurovision winner Frida Boccara for France, Jacques Michel for Canada and Ted Mulry for Australia, who scored a national number 1 hit with his entry. Winner of the 1st WPSF was Israel with the duo Hedva & David. More than 2 million copies of their winning entry "Ani Holem Al Naomi" (I Dream Of Naomi) were sold worldwide, giving a serious credibility boost to the new Festival.

Well-established names as well as new talents tried their fortune at the WPSF: a (very young) ABBA, Céline Dion (Best Song Award in 1982), Bryan Adams (Participating in 1982), Tina Charles, Eros Ramazzotti, Gianna Nannini, Demis Roussos, Bonnie Tyler, B.J. Thomas, LaToya Jackson, Erasure and many others.

In the history of the WPSF the United Kingdom is the ultimate "pop nation", winning the "WPSF Grand Prix" 5 times in the seventies (even three times in row). The United Kingdom is followed by the United States with 4 Grand Prix victories. Not only big nations but also smaller countries managed to deliver the ultimate "world pop song": Jamaica in 1972 with Ernie Smith, Norway in 1974 with Ellen Nikolaysen, Cuba in 1981 with Osvaldo Rodriguez and Hungary in 1983 with Newton Family.

[edit] Grand Prix Winners

Year	Country	Artist	Title
1970	Israel	Hedva & David	I Dream of Naomi
1971	France	Martine Clémenceau	Un Jour l'Amour
	Japan	Tsunehiko Kamijo & Rokumonsen	Tabidachi No Uta
1972	United Kingdom	Capricorn	Feeling
	Jamaica	Ernie Smith	Life is Just for Livin'
1973	Italy	Gilda Giuliani	Parigi a Volte Cosa Fa
	USA	Shawn Philips	All the Kings and Castles
	United Kingdom	Keeley Ford	Head over Heels
1974	Norway	Ellen Nikolaysen	You Made Me Feel I Could Fly
1975	Mexico	Mister Loco	Lucky Man
	Japan	Miyuki Nakajima	Jidai (Time Goes Around)
1976	Italy	Franco & Regina	Amore Mio
	Japan	Sandy	Goodbye Morning
1977	United Kingdom	Rags	Can't Hide My Love
	Japan	Masanori Sera and Twist	Anta no Ballade
1978	United Kingdom	Tina Charles	Love Rocks
	Japan	Hiroshi Madoka	Musoubana (Fly on All the Way)
1979	United Kingdom	Bonnie Tyler	Sitting on the Edge of the Ocean
	Japan	Crystal King	Daitokai (In the City of Strangers)
1980	USA	Mary MacGregror	What's the Use?
1981	Cuba	Osvaldo Rodríguez	Digamos Que Mas Da
1982	USA	Anne Bertucci	Where Did We Go Wrong
1983	Hungary	Newton Family	Time Goes By
1984	Canada	France Joli	Party Lights
1985	Argentina	Valeria Lynch	Rompecabezas
1986	USA	Stacy Lattisaw	Longshot
1987	Australia	Pseudo Echo	Take on the World
1988		(Undecided)
1989		(Benefit Concert Only)