La La La
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"La La La" is a song performed by Massiel. This act won the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, representing Spain. It was the first of Spain's two wins in the Contest so far. The song was composed by Ramón Arcusa and Manuel de la Calva, otherwise known as the singing duo called Dúo Dinámico.
Lyrically, the song is a very positive number. Massiel sings about things she is thankful for, such as being given life and walking through the world.
The song was later covered by Mina in Canzonissima, the 1968 Italian Broadcasting Service's series of variety nights. It has also been covered by Saint Etienne for the album "A Song for Eurotrash", with English lyrics that somehow differ from the original, singing about the guy she's with instead of about the things she is thankful for.
[edit] Controversy
The song itself is controversial. Joan Manuel Serrat, the original performer for the song, sang it in Catalan. The Franco government would not allow that. Hence the last-minute selection of Massiel to perform the song. Catalan would not be heard in the Contest until the 2004 debut performance of Andorra.
In 2008, a documentary was made, in which it was alleged that General Franco had the competition fixed so Spain would win and therefore boost the country's image abroad.[1][2][3] In return for the juries' votes, Spain allegedly bought marginally popular television programmes from other countries to air domestically, and booked lesser-known foreign acts to perform in the country.[1] The maker of the documentary quoted journalist José María Íñigo who had said, "Massiel won Eurovision with bought votes."[1] Eurovision Director of Organizers Bjorn Erichsen said, "Franco was really so keen for Spain to win it? We're not talking about NATO here or the EU, or political influence, we're talking about a pop song contest." Massiel had no comment.[1]
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| Preceded by Puppet on a String by Sandie Shaw |
Eurovision Song Contest winners 1968 |
Succeeded by co-winners Un Jour, Un Enfant by Frida Boccara, De Troubadour by Lenny Kuhr, Vivo Cantando by Salomé, Boom Bang-a-Bang by Lulu |
