World Popular Song Festival

The World Popular Song Festival, also known as Yamaha Music Festival and unofficially as the "Oriental Eurovision", was an international song contest held in 1970-1989. It was organised by the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo, Japan from 1970 until 1989. The first edition of the World Popular Song Festival (WPSF) took place on 20, 21 and 22 November 1970 with 37 participating countries from all continents.

Belgium was represented at the 1970 edition by Daliah Lavi, famous for her role in Casino Royale (1967), the James Bond parody featuring Woody Allen as well with Samantha Gilles in 1987 ending second with the song Hold Me. Lavi performed the chanson "Prends L'Amour" and ended up 13th in the Grand Final (the contest had two semi-finals and one final). The Netherlands delegated world-known jazz singer Rita Reys with the song "Just Be You", a composition by her husband Pim Jacobs. Czech singer Helena Vondráčková sang "Uncle Charlie" a novelty song inspired by Charlie Chaplin. Other famous 1970 participants were 1969 Eurovision winner Frida Boccara for France, Jacques Michel for Canada and Ted Mulry for Australia, who scored a national number 1 hit with his entry. Winner of the 1st WPSF was Israel with the duo Hedva & David. More than 2 million copies of their winning entry "Ani Holem Al Naomi" ("I Dream Of Naomi") were sold worldwide, giving a serious credibility boost to the new Festival.

Well established names as well as new talents tried their fortune at the WPSF: a very young ABBA under the name Björn & Benny with uncredited backing vocals by their partners Agnetha and Anni-Frid performing the track "Santa Rosa" with little success (later relegated to the B-side of their second single "He Is Your Brother"), Céline Dion (Best Song Award in 1982), Bryan Adams (Participating in 1982), Tina Charles, Eros Ramazzotti, Daniela Romo, Gianna Nannini, Demis Roussos, Bonnie Tyler, B.J. Thomas, LaToya Jackson, Erasure, Cissy Houston, Italian singer-songwriter Alice and many others.

In the history of the WPSF the United Kingdom has been the most successful, winning the "WPSF Grand Prix" 5 times in the seventies (even three times in row). The United Kingdom is followed by the United States with 4 Grand Prix victories. Smaller countries won as well: Jamaica in 1972 with Ernie Smith, Norway in 1974 with Ellen Nikolaysen, Cuba in 1981 with Osvaldo Rodríguez and Hungary in 1983 with Newton Family.

Grand Prix Winners

Year	Country	Artist	Title
1970	Israel	Hedva & David	"I Dream of Naomi"
1971	France	Martine Clémenceau	"Un Jour l'Amour"
	Japan	Tsunehiko Kamijo & Rokumonsen	"Tabidachi No Uta"
1972	United Kingdom	Capricorn	"Feeling"
	Jamaica	Ernie Smith	"Life is Just for Livin'"
1973	Italy	Gilda Giuliani	"Parigi a Volte Cosa Fa"
	United States	Shawn Phillips	All the Kings and Castles
	United Kingdom	Keeley Ford	"Head over Heels"
1974	Norway	Ellen Nikolaysen	"You Made Me Feel I Could Fly"
1975	Mexico	Mister Loco	"Lucky Man"
	Japan	Miyuki Nakajima	"Jidai (Time Goes Around)"
1976	Italy	Franco & Regina	"Amore Mio"
	Japan	Sandy	"Goodbye Morning"
1977	United Kingdom	Rags	"Can't Hide My Love"
	Italy	Mia Martini	"Ritratto di donna"
	Japan	Masanori Sera and Twist	"Anta no Ballade"
	Turkey	Ajda Pekkan	"A Mes Amours"
1978	United Kingdom	Tina Charles	Love Rocks
	Japan	Hiroshi Madoka	"Musoubana (Fly on All the Way)"
1979	United Kingdom	Bonnie Tyler	"Sitting on the Edge of the Ocean"
	Japan	Crystal King	"Daitokai (In the City of Strangers)"
1980	United States	Mary MacGregor	"What's The Use"
1981	Cuba	Osvaldo Rodríguez	"Digamos Que Mas Da"
1982	United States	Anne Bertucci	"Where Did We Go Wrong"
1983	Hungary	Newton Family	"Time Goes By"
1984	Canada	France Joli	"Party Lights"
1985	Argentina	Valeria Lynch	"Rompecabezas"
1986	United States	Stacy Lattisaw	"Longshot"
1987	Australia	Pseudo Echo	"Take on the World"
1988		(Undecided)
1989		(Benefit Concert Only)

Awards

• Grand Prix International

• Grand Prix National 1975-1979

• Most Outstanding Performance Award (MOPA)

• Outstanding Performance Award (OPA)

• Outstanding Song Award (OSA)

• Kawakami Award

External links

• Official Site by Yamaha Music Foundation
• Detailed information about the WPSF - partly in English, partly in Dutch

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