So laang we's du do bast

Luxembourg "So laang we's du do bast"
Eurovision Song Contest 1960 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
Composer(s)
Henri Moots, Jean Roderès
Lyricist(s)
Henri Moots
Conductor
Finals performance
Final result
13th
Final points
1
Appearance chronology
◄ "Un grand amour" (1958)   
"Nous les amoureux" (1961) ►

"So laang we's du do bast" ("As Long As You Are There") was Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960.

Performed by Camillo Felgen, the song represented no less than three firsts for Luxembourg; firstly by being sung in Luxembourgish (all of the country's previous entries had been in French), secondly by being sung by a male singer (all previous artists representing the country had been female) and thirdly by being sung by an artist who was native to Luxembourg (all previous artists representing the Grand Duchy had been French). It failed to achieve a first in the voting, however, coming 13th out of 13 entries after receiving just one point.

No commercial recording was ever made of the original Luxembourgish version by Camillo Felgen. However, he did record a German-language version 40 years later, entitled "Solange du da bist".

The song is in the chanson style, with Felgen telling his lover that he will continue to love her "as long as you are there". If she leaves him, he sings, he will continue to do so but she won't notice.

The song was performed third on the night, following "Alla andra får varann" from Sweden's Siw Malmkvist and preceding "Det var en yndig tid" performed by Denmark's Katy Bødtger.

The song was succeeded as Luxembourgish representative at the 1961 contest by Jean-Claude Pascal with "Nous les amoureux". The next native Luxembourgish artist to represent the grand duchy was Monique Melsen in 1971, singing "Pomme, pomme, pomme" - in French. The next Luxembourgish entry to be sung in the Luxembourgish language was "Sou fräi" at the 1992 Contest.

Sources and external links