Its all about the clothes... part I

Today the Barbara Dex Award for the worse dressed singers of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest was annouced and the winner was: Nonstop, dressed by the portuguese fashion designer Dino Alves. Its about time we won something related to the ESC.

To commemorate this happy event I decided to look back at some of the most original clothes worned in the Eurovision.

In the 1957 contest the Danish duo Birthe Wilke & Gustav Winckler sang the romantic Skibet skal sejle i nat, which means The ship is leaving tonight. The performance was very simple but very very romantic. Gustav was dressed like a sailer and Birthe was is girlfriend.

In 1958 German singer Margot Hielscher seemed like she had just arrived from the Miss World contest. She wore a litle crown and a matching ribbon saying "Miss something", while holding a record on her hands. The first true ESC diva... In the same year the Danish singer brought her diary to the stage and the Swedish one dressed in traditional clothes.

In 1960 the contest made its first visit to the U.K.. Katy Bødtger represented Denmark and sang her song like she walking in a park, with and umbrela and a hat.

Spain debuted in the ESC in 1961 with the song Estando Contigo by Conchita Bautista. She wore a traditional Spanish dress and gave a performance full of salero. She would return to the contest in 1965 with another dramatic interpretation of the song Qué bueno, qué bueno.

1966 is in my opinion one of the great Eurovision years. All the singers looked very innocent, all in pretty, virginal, dresses. All except the amazing Milly Scoot who went completly crazy on stage with her two musicians dressed in mexican clothes... Oh and the U.K. singer Kenneth McKellar didn't had any trousers, he choose to wear kilt instead.

1968 was the first time when the contest was broadcasted in colour. Massiel won for Spain and I heard somewhere her dressed endend up in a museum. Yugoslavia traveled back in time with group Dubrovački Trubaduri, who dressed like ... troubadours.

1970 saw the debut of the mini-skirt in the Eurovision. The pioner was Katja Ebstein who sang for Germany.

More soon...