1 Day, 1 Song: Absent Friend (1965)

Every day, we share with you a favorite or a favorite. Today I take you to 1965 with Ingvar Wixell (SUEDE) who finished 10th in this competition.

When I first heard this Swedish song, I was very surprised to hear opera in the competition, especially from the Scandinavian country which is not used to sending this musical style to the competition.

Already, the presence of a baritone in the competition is clear proof that all styles of music have their place even if some are in the minority, such as lyric and opera. If we stick to this evening’s performance, there is nothing to reproach the performer who did to perfection what he knew how to do, namely singing opera: he did not is not denied for the competition. The entire performance is excellent from start to finish, without the slightest false note which is more audible in this type of song where the slightest error is paid for in cash. Certainly, the performer remains quite static throughout the duration of the performance and the song is not really original but I would have imagined a better ranking when the results were announced but perhaps the opera disconcerted the juries because only the juries from two neighboring Scandinavian countries gave it points.

Lyric and opera have failed to win the hearts of the public and juries so far, but a few other candidates have tried their luck over the years with varying success.

Now it’s up to you to tell me if this song also evokes a memory for you, or on the contrary leaves you totally indifferent. But first, I leave it to two fellow editors to give their opinion on this song.

We will start with Marie’s rather unenthusiastic opinion:

“It was the year that France Gall won the competition with Poupée de wax Poupée de son so for me, everything else was forgotten. This song for me is iconic, therefore I find Absent Friend from another era. What is positive is Ingvar Wixell’s voice which is very operatic, the melody, for its part, is not memorable. »

Let’s continue with Betty’s very positive opinion:

“That’s audacity. In 1965, Ingvar disrupted the competition codes of the time by singing his title in English instead of Swedish, which would later lead the EBU to introduce a rule requiring participating countries to sing in one of their languages nationally for several decades. I don’t know if he would have ranked higher if he had sung in Swedish, but his song deserves more recognition because it holds up well. Absent Friend is a very beautiful lyrical ballad, it’s not often you hear classical opera in the competition. »

It’s your turn to express yourself below in the comments section; see you tomorrow for a new title on the front page, an Albanian song from the end of the 2010s which is characterized as very often by the great vocal power of its female singer.

Photographic credits: Maraaya (EAQ visual)