1992

🇳🇱 The Netherlands: In memoriam Humphrey Campbell

Dutch Eurovision singer Humphrey Campbell passed away. He was 66 years old. Campbell’s journey in the music industry kicked off when he, still a teenager in Suriname, clinched victory at a School Song Festival. This win earned him a record deal, under the mentorship of Oscar Harris. Following a tour in the Netherlands alongside Harris, Campbell was inspired to settle there and pursue his musical career. He took part at the Knokke Song Contest, and secured a lead role in the musical “A Night at the Cotton Club,” where he starred alongside Ruth Jacott. Jacott and Campbell had a relationship at that time. During this period, he crafted a unique musical style that fused jazz with elements of South American music. Campbell’s big break came in 1992 when he was selected to represent at the Eurovision Song Contest, outperforming nine other competitors. Ruth Jacott joined him at the contest in Malmö, Sweden, as his background singer. His song, “Wijs me de weg”, reached a 9th place. The following year, roles reversed as Campbell supported Ruth Jacott with background vocals when she represented the Netherlands with the song “Vrede.” Following his stint at Eurovision, Campbell continued his music career predominantly behind the scenes, collaborating as a guest musician with artists such as Paul de Leeuw, Anita Meijer, and Rob de Nijs. He also shared his expertise as a conservatory teacher in Amsterdam. Last week, Humphrey Campbell announced that he had to cancel a planned tour, as he was seriously ill, suffering from cancer. Campbell was 66 years old.

Blast from the past: Germany 1992

We know a lot about Eurovision; this is knowledge we want to share with you. Therefore we’d like to bring you a blast from the past. Back to 1992, the German entry, “Träume sind für alle da”, sung by Wind. Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest The golden years for Germany have ended. With a first place for Nicole in 1992 and second places for Wind in 1985 and 1987, Germany was the country to beat. But after Wind’s second time at the Eurovision stage, it stopped. The 1991 entry even was a total failure: three countries saved Atlantis 2000 from zero. Something had to be done to change this. Ein Lied für Malmö The national preselection was called “Ein Lied für Malmö” (A song for Malmö). German broadcaster MDR (Mittel Deutsche Rundfunk) organized the preselection, which was held on March 30 in Magdeburg, hosted by Carmen Nebel. Six singers and groups each had one song. Only the group Blaue Engel had never before taken part in a German Eurovision final. Bernhard Brink sang “Der letzte Traum“, 4th with 0 points Relax sang “Blue Farewell River“, 4th with 0 points Susan Schubert sang “Shalalaika“, 4th with 0 points Blaue Engel sang “Licht am Horizont“, 2nd with 3 points Lena Valaitis sang “Wir seh’n uns wieder“, 3rd with 1 point Wind sang “Träume sind für alle da“, 1st with 7 points The votes were cast by the 11 regional juries. Wind For a third time, the Germans chose Wind from Munich to represent them. At that moment, only two of the original group members, Sami Kalifa and Petra Scheeser, were around. The others were singer Albert Oberloher, Stefan Maro, Tina Hierstetter and Oliver Hahn. Wind was made up by singer/songwriter Hanne Haller in 1985. They were the surprise winners of the 1985 German final for the Eurovision Song Contest. Their song “Für Alle” was the hot favorite to win the contest. However, the group became 2nd. In 1987, with a new singer, they did the same. Note that in “Laß die Sonne in dein Herz” Rob Pilatus was one of the band members. Rob became famous (and infamous) as one of the two Milli Vanilli boys, who appeared not to sing their own songs.Wind released a total of 21 studio albums and started to become more and more a concept in stead of a band. They still exist, but none of the 1992 members still sing in Wind. Träume sind für alle da The song “Träume sind für alle da” (Dreams are there for all) was a typical 1990s German Eurovision schlager, but not really a song that many liked. The song was composed by Ralph Siegel, with lyrics from Bernd Meinunger. You can read the full lyrics here. Results Third time was clearly NOT a charm for Wind. With points from no more than 5 countries (10 from Portugal!), Wind ended up in 16th place. Wind did to later attempts to get to the Eurovision stage, but both times they failed.