Sopot International Song Festival

The Sopot International Song Festival (publicly often still referred to as "Intervision") is the biggest international song contest, bringing together contestants and guests who are stars with world recognition. It has been transmitted annually by the Polish state television TVP (since 1994 to 2004 as main organiser) and later private channel TVN in the coastal resort of Sopot, Poland. Together with the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole it is the biggest Polish music festival.

History

The first Sopot festival was initiated and organised in 1961 by Władysław Szpilman from Polish Radio with the help of Szymon Zakrzewski of Polish Artists Management (PAGART). Between 1977 and 1980 it was replaced by the Intervision Song Contest, which was still held in Sopot. Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, the Sopot International Music Festival often changed its formulas to pick a winner and offered many different contests for its participants. The festival has always been open to non-European acts, and countries like Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, South Africa and many others have been represented in this event.

The contest lost popularity in Poland and abroad in the 1980s, declining further during the 1990s, and the rather unconvincing organisations by TVP made the authorities of Sopot give the organisation of the 2005 Sopot International Song Festival to a private TV channel, TVN.

From 1999 there was no Grand Prix contest within the festival. TVP chose to invite well-known artists instead, including the likes of Whitney Houston or The Corrs. In 2005, TVN was expected to bring the contest back. In 2006 TVN invited Elton John. The Sopot International Song Festival is usually considered bigger than the Benidorm International Song Festival or Karlshamn Baltic Song Festival because of its ability to attract star performers.

= Comparison with the Eurovision =

Which of the two festivals is better is still highly disputed.

On one side the Eurovision Song Contest has a higher rating, but on the other hand the number of celebrities attending the Sopot International Song Festival are larger, and its contestants are usually people who already enjoy a high status in their country, unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, which is known to have many newcomers.

The comparison is hard to do because while the Eurovision Song Contest is continental, the Sopot International Song Festival is international.

Stars of Sopot Festival

* 1964 Nadia Constantinoupoulou, Karel Gott
* 1966 Angela Zilia
* 1969 Karel Gott, Muslim Magomayev
* 1973 Transsylvania Phoenix, Lokomotiv GT, Sofia Rotaru
* 1977 Helena Vondrackova
* 1978 Drupi
* 1979 Demis Roussos, Boney M
* 1984 Charles Aznavour
* 1985 Shirley Bassey
* 1986 Bonnie Tyler
* 1988 Kim Wilde, Sabrina
* 1989 Savage, Blue System, C.C.Catch
* 1990 Ronnie Hawkins, Duo Datz, Erasure, Victor Lazlo, Curiosity Killed The Cat
* 1991 Dannii Minogue, Johnny Hates Jazz, Technotronic, Deacon Blue, Alison Moyet, Aztec Camera, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Bros, Jimmy Somerville
* 1992 Kim Wilde, Bobby Kimbell, Sonia, Marillion, Simone Angel
* 1993 Boney M, La Toya Jackson, Marc Almond, Helena Vondrackova, Jiri Korn
* 1995 Chuck Berry, Vanessa Mae, Annie Lennox
* 1996 The Kelly Family, Vaya Con Dios, Deep Forest, La Bouche
* 1997 Khadja Nin, Alexia, Secret Garden, Boyz II Men
* 1998 The Corrs, Chris Rea, Tanita Tikaram, Ace of Base, Era
* 1999 Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston
* 2000 Bryan Adams, Helena Vondrackova
* 2001 Goran Bregovic, Lou Bega, UB40
* 2002 Zucchero, Garou
* 2003 Ricky Martin
* 2004 In-Grid, Kate Ryan, Patricia Kaas
* 2005 Patrizio Buanne, Lemar, Gordon Haskell, Scorpions, Simply Red
* 2006 Brainstorm, Andreas Johnson, Katie Melua, Elton John, Vanilla Ninja, Karel Gott, Helena Vondrackova, Demis Roussos, Drupi
* 2007 Norah Jones, Gloria Gaynor, The Village People, Hot Chocolate (band), Kool & The Gang, Sister Sledge, Sophie Ellis-Bextor
* 2008 Samantha Fox, Sandra, Sabrina Salerno, Thomas Anders of Modern Talking, Kim Wilde, Limahl with Kajagoogoo and Shakin' Stevens.

Winners of the Sopot International Song Festival

[http://pesnyagoda.by.ru/sopot.htm]

1961-1973 - Price for the Masterpiece

*1961 - Switzerland - Jo Rolland - "Nous Deux"
*1962 - Greece - Jeanne Yovanna - "Ti Krima"
*1963 - USSR - Tamara Miansarova - "Pust vsiegda budiet solnce" ( ex-aequo ), France - Simone Langlois - "Toi et ton sourire" ( ex-aequo )
*1964 - Greece - Nadia Constantinoupoulou - "Je te remercie mon coeur"
*1965 - Canada - Monique Leyrac - "Mon pays"
*1966 - USA - Lana Cantrell - "I'm all smiles"
*1967 - Poland - Dana Lerska - "Po prostu jestem"
*1968 - Poland - Urszula Sipińska - "Po ten kwiat czerwony"
*1969 - Switzerland - Henri Dès - "Maria Consuella"
*1970 - Canada - Robert Charlebois - "Ordinaire"
*1971 - United Kingdom - Samantha Jones - "He Moves Me"
*1972 - USSR - Lev Leschchenko - "Ja ne byl z nim znakom" ( ex-aequo ), Poland - Andrzej Dąbrowski - "Do zakochania jeden krok" ( ex-aequo )
*1973 - United Kingdom - Tony Craig - "Can You Feel It" and "I Think Of You baby"

1974-1976 - Grand Prix de disque

*1974 - Finland - Marion Rung - for many songs performed
*1975 - United Kingdom - Glen Weston - for many songs performed
*1976 - USSR - Irina Ponarovskaya - for many songs performed

1977-1980 - Intervision Song Contest

*1977 - Czechoslovakia - Helena Vondrackova - "Maľovaný džbán"
*1978 - USSR - Alla Pugacheva - "Vsio mogut koroli"
*1979 - Poland - Czesław Niemen - "Nim przyjdzie wiosna "
*1980 - Finland - Marion Rung - "Where Is The Light (Hyvästi yö)"

*1981 - no festival
*1982 - no festival
*1983 - no festival

1984-1987 Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix

*1984 - Poland - Krystyna Giżowska - "Blue Box"
*1985 - Sweden - Herreys - "Summer Party"
*1986 - USA - Mary Getz - "Hero Of My Heart"
*1987 - West Germany - Double Take - "Rockola"

1988-1990 - Golden Disc

*1988 - USA - Kenny James - "The Magic In You"
*1989 - Norway - Dance With The Strangers - many songs
*1990 - Poland - Lora Szafran - "Zły chłopak" and "Trust Me At Once"

1991-1993 Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix

*1991 - Latvia - New Moon - many songs
*1992 - Austria - Mark Andrews - many songs
*1993 - Lithuania - Arina - "Rain Is Coming Down"

1994-2004 - Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix (with TVP)

*1994 - Poland - Varius Manx - "Zanim zrozumiesz"
*1995 - Poland - Kasia Kowalska - "Jak rzecz" and "A to co mam"
*1996 - no contest within the festival
*1997 - Netherlands - Total Touch - "Somebody Else's Lover"
*1998 - Italy - Alex Baroni - "Male che fa male"

*1999 - no contest within the festival
*2000 - no contest within the festival
*2001 - no contest within the festival
*2002 - no contest within the festival
*2003 - no contest within the festival
*2004 - no contest within the festival

2005- Sopot Music Festival Grand Prix (with TVN)

*2005 - Poland - Andrzej Piaseczny - "Z głębi duszy" (only Polish contest)
*2006 - United Kingdom - Mattafix - "Big City Life"
*2007 - Poland - Feel - "A gdy już jest ciemno"
*2008 - Sweden - Oh Laura - "Release me"

¹ This list includes only winners of the most prestigious contests within the Sopot Music Festival. Sometimes one given contest has overshadowed the other one with time. "Grand Prix de disque" was the most prestigious one between 1974 and 1976 but with the start of the Intervision, it was relegated to a second plan, yet continued until 1979. The Sopot Music Festival has also given the prizes for the "Best Interpretation" during the 60's, the "Amber Nightingdale" in the 80's and 90's and "Winner Of The Polish Day" on and off from the 60's to the 80's.

Winners By Country

:*"More then one winner at that year".:#"Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia is considered to be its direct descendant".

References

Links

* [http://sopotfestival.onet.pl/ Sopot Festival 2007 website] (pl)(en)
* [http://www.bart.sopot.pl/wer_eng/sopot_festival_archive.html/ Sopot Festival archive] (pl) (en)
* [http://pesnyagoda.by.ru/sopot.htm The complete list of all participants and places till 2006] (ru) (en)