Eurovision 1998 Opening Sequence

[playbic15]

just proves no one does eurovision like the brits can. the russians can throw billions at it and the new eastern europeon countries can put on a couple of stupid presenters who have the personality of a doormat. when it comes on to putting on a well thought out classy show that can stand the test of time only we can do it.

[fkfj16]

@playbic15 hear hear!

[polkadotska]

Why is Ulrika incapable of standing still whilst presenting - are her heels different heights or something?

[CollabLuvIn]

they should have played England natinal anthem at start

and said can everyone please stand for the natinal anthem :P

[CollabLuvIn]

they should have played England natinal anthem at start

[Frankiezollo58]

we did well this year (last place)

[nathanhickton]

7:06 urika-ka-ka-ka!!

[TheCm33]

A royal salute for an Irishman, Thats a first!

[TheCm33]

thecm33@lonelysymphony, Sorry but as a Northern Irish male I HAVE the right to self determination, Irish Or British, Are you up to speed on history?????

So to clear things up, I SUPPORT IRELAND at Eurovision.

SLAN!

[TheCm33]

ccfcandy358, I could not give a f..k what Wogan thinks of me! He is paid by the BBC to talk crap about Irish entries in Eurovision.. Anyway we still have 7 titles! SLAN

[Sportymike]

funny...the two presenters aren't even British!

[ccfcandy358]

, he may think you are an asswhole. Pathetic comments!!

[TheCm33]

And i think Wogan is a TOTAL ASSHOLE!!!!

[TheCm33]

I as an Irishman cannot believe hearing Terry Wogan saying Eurovision is coming home....... As a Northern Irish Male he should be ashamed of himself!!!! I support Ireland as the 7 times winner of Eurovision..... Anyway he thinks he is British!

[ShyGuy19898]

We've basically adopted him though, its our fault he thinks he's british XDD

[lonelysymphony]

@TheCm33 A "Northern Irish Male" is by definition British as Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.

[Sportymike]

@lonelysymphony wrong

[TheGoldStandardBoy]

@TheCm33 He's an honorary Brit. Was on BBC radio 2 for almost 40 years not to mention doing BBC children in need for years. Anyone can become British thats how multicultural our society is.

[jenslei]

I can hardly understand what Terry Wogan says at 3:08 before "the rest of Europe thinks the British are reserved"; I think it's a proverb. - Can anybody help me with the transcription? ;-) Thx!

[halogen123]

@jenslei He said "hold it down to a dull roar", meaning "keep the noise down".

[bigboaby0000]

that carrie is a tasty piece, she could teach me gaelic anytime ;o)

[doubletom90]

I miss Terry Wogan...

[aric2007]

If Terry Wogan hosted and did the commentary for that year's Contest, why didn't Jaana Pelkonen did the same in 2007?

[irishfromengland]

Why did Terry have to shake his hand at 7:28?

[visinge86]

what does terry say at 7:05? "touche touche mahogney gaspipe?"

[Jenytedeschi]

Parce que c'est difficile de parler Français !

[fkfj16]

@visinge86 Just making a slight joke about the fact he learnt a variety of languages for this Eurovision - and just pretending to show off his language skills.

[everyone06]

My aunt went to see this in 1998.

[doubletom90]

I love Terry Wogan!

He did great job on commentary for about a decade. too sad that he is not commentating this year....

[keda1981]

Odd, when you think about it...the last time the UK hosted the contest, the hosts were Irish and Swedish.

[fkfj16]

@keda1981 Just a short representation of the multiculturalness that is the UK :) as also shown in the interval act which had a variety of cultures as part of the act

[SongOfNations]

Excellent Presentation!

[CULAVE]

The Eurovision and G8- World focus must really have been on Brum that week;

[mingereilly]

omg noway! who is going to replace him? =(

[xelallih]

Graham Norton

[Bille994]

shame i was only 30-ish miles away but i was too young to understand. and i'm sure if we win again it'll be in the O2 in London. =(

[aric2007]

Wogan: Oh, I have to make a 200m dash to the stage.

[jsam93]

Shame I was to young to watch and understand the eurovision in my home city

[Malnack]

me too :(

[CULAVE]

Im not a Brummie, but as a Briton, im proud both the Eurovision and G8 were hosted in our second city.

[cardwitch91]

One of the best versions of Eurovision to date. You can always count on Terry Wogan to make the show worth watching. I liked the opening. I think this was the first Eurovision I ever sat down and watch (Blue Peter told us to, I think) I was six or seven years old.

[halogen123]

Haha, the power good old BP had over us...

[GrahamGRA]

Wogan is one of the best presenters to ever grace this earth.

[foxymm]

what a shit opening - very cheap looking. 1997 was much better.

[CHANNELMICHAEL]

they cocked 1997 up, they failed to overlay the RTÉ

[famousmales]

Keep still Ulrikakakaka!!

[pratt68]

Say what you like about the BBC and its commitment to Eurovision but you have to admit this was a damn fine presentation in 1998. No presenters pretending to be in love, or bursting in to song or shouting too loudly at the audience. Just plain good old fashioned British knockabout fun - from an Irishman and a Swede! What a shame it may be a long time before we see another Beeb Eurovision. Forget the political voting, guys. Vote for the song not the neighbour.

[oxfordruse]

I agree! But it takes time to make a legend. Thirty years is about right... which is why ABBA has now achieved its godly status.

Who knows? In thirty years' time, I'm sure that Sweden will have another legend.

My advice? Be proud of your country's exports! ABBA was bigger than Volvo - you should be happy about that.

[oxfordruse]

Roxette is a total one-hit wonder. "It Must Have Been Love" being the obvious one hit.

Ace of Base, admittedly, is awesome, and a group I was going to mention in that post.

Still: hey, take the compliment, man! I knew a lot of Swedish people were embarrassed by ABBA, but come on: they're legend!

[oxfordruse]

My third comment on this video (I'm so gay, lol): I think credit also needs to go to Terry for doing double duty and host *and* commentator!

The year Terry dies is the year, I think, that we'll finally just pull out... for who in the world could replace him?

[oxfordruse]

That is a remarkably mature and considered thing for a non-UK native to say.

I know I speak for the whole of the United Kingdom when I say thank you for your wise comments.

And remember: Sweden easily earns its place on the stage of world music. ABBA is rightly regarded as the most successful pop supergroup ever. And I still love them, thirty years later!

[alias609]

to be completely fair here Wogan is Irish and Ulrika is a Swede so that year they may not have been able to find a good Brit presenter :)

[fkfj16]

How ironic haha

Just shows how multicultural the UK is.

Fantastic introduction, brilliant staging - a massive contrast to the darkness from 1997 which I thought was very nice too.

But theres something about this intro that refreshes you and sends shivers down your spine :D

Very British, very 1998 :D

[CULAVE]

Thankyou fiatlux86- best wishes!

[CULAVE]

This is why Birmingham IS the second city. A G8 Summit and the worlds biggest music contest in one week!

[oxfordruse]

Indeed! This double coup is quite reminiscent of the previous year, actually. In the space of two days in 1997, Tony Blair was swept into British parliament for what would be a momentous, nation-changing ten-year leadership, and the American Katrina won Eurovision -- both landslide results!

[CULAVE]

True. Cool Britannia!

[leyre1996]

que recuerdos me trae esta edicion de como gano el dran queen ese

[yoyoMcLaren]

what i lovely thing to say, hugs straight back at you m8

[nacht98]

This year´s stage is crap...so bad, is almost like dinosaur´s necks. shame on Brit designers:(

[fkfj16]

Has anyone got the video without Terry speaking over the music?

[Mangoteppe]

Funny and very good!

[tomtomstuff]

ENGLAND! UK, mate, don't forget! There was nothing English about Terry and Ulrika considering one is Irish and the other is Swedish.

[MiSTerEuroVish]

hehe the talk with the irish :D hehe :D how did the east take that ! we are quite stuck up when you think about it

[mjb22]

Er...perhaps you didn't see the title "Eurovision Song Contest 98"? Eye tests are quite cheap these days. You can also book them online.

[FoxDougan]

Next year we'll actually enter a GOOD song and then get to host it again! :D

[mjb22]

I wouldn't hold your breath!

[jamew2]

we have had good songs but no 1 votes 4 us if they were rubbish y did we get 12 point this year from 1 off the country's then? (don't answer that please)

[FoxDougan]

Sorry but I have to answer. It's because Britain has a strong association with Malta. So, political voting again. And we've hosted the Eurovision song contest many times, so people obviously do vote for us if we do good songs. Political voting is a problem but if it wasn't, we'd need a good song to win.

[ry744]

What a brilliant show that was. The first time i watched was that year. Birmingham did the best job out of all the host cities. Terry WOgan is an absolute ledgend!

[blarblah1]

The best bit about this video is the beginning bit with the BBC thing, haha the music!!

[MLeng92]

I don't suppose anyone has the music from that opening without someone talking over it?

[rolfmanuk]

I agree with seanomiochain in the fact that the contest was a little bare. The stage seems over-lit and a bit plain. However it is a tribute to the BBC team that it would have run exactly to time if it wasn't for Dana's little wardrobe change. Not often that happens.

[Dustybin321]

I love Terry's line in the intro, "Where's my running shoes?"

[mjpetts]

No other country would get away with using a military band on the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest... not really appropriate I thought.

[mjb22]

Nothing wrong with it. it is part of Britain's tradition, after all.

[seanomiochain]

an irishman and a swedish woman presenting the contest from uk.... i thought it lacked something and giving the huge resources of bbc i was disappointed that the contest was very bare.... compared to irelands brilliant staging.

[mjb22]

Why "bare"? The only thing I thought was disappointing was the stage. The rest was very well done. The scoreboard, for example, set the standard for future contests.

[AufrechtGehn95]

@seanomiochain Terry isn't from Ireland, he's from NORTH Ireland, which is a part of The United Kingdom. And Ulrika has lived in UK since she was 12 years old, so you can't say that the hosts didn't have anything with UK to do.

[jaradoref]

@AufrechtGehn95 Terry is from Limerik, which is in Southern Ireland.

[Sportymike]

@AufrechtGehn95 Terry is from the Republic of Ireland.

[seanomiochain]

@AufrechtGehn95 ....eh helllo.... Terry Wogan is from Limerick in the Republic of Ireland....thankyou.....

[seanomiochain]

@AufrechtGehn95 ...oh and just to inform you ....It is not incorrect for a person from Northern Ireland to say that they are from Ireland or UK.... They have the legal right to say they from either of the two .....

[GertfromNL]

We Dutch envy the British ;). Brittannia still rules the waves. Great job! Last ever top quality Eurovision Song Contest. Great presenters too!

[destinationcy]

vey cold opening

[mjb22]

Huh? What do you mean?!

[Phoelur]

Ulrika is so cool! :D I wish that she would go back to sweden again! Terry is cool to! :P

[fkfj16]

Brilliant stuff!

Could you post up the final seconds leading onto the first song - just after Terry leaves and the first postcard is about to start? :)

[thundercat8]

Geez, it seems so dated! How quick 9 years have passed!

[fkfj16]

Thank you sooo much - lookin to find this forever but its here! :D

[mallaka8]

Does anyone have the interval act for this year?

[mjb22]

It's available on You Tube. I can't remember what the link is but if you can't find it, I can also upload it.

[3069]

very good job