The last song to represent Luxembourg at Eurovision was “Donne-moi une chance” (1993). Perhaps this is a request from everyone who is used to seeing the good ratings of this small country, which has five victories (1961, 1965, 1972, 1973 and 1983), although none of the victors were from Luxembourg. Only eight of the 38 compositions were performed by local artists, and three were performed in Luxembourgish. These facts already reflected a feature of the population of those years, and it will become even more pronounced. Currently, just over half of the inhabitants are indigenous to the country. It is home to people from over 150 different nationalities, although its population does not exceed 550,000 inhabitants, 20% of whom have Portuguese citizenship. Ten years after the last Eurovision victory, RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg withdrew, citing lack of financial conditions. Luxembourg is one of the seven countries that created the Eurovision Song Contest, along with Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. However, it is the country in the world with the highest gross domestic product “per capita” and the highest minimum wage in Europe, which leaves the question up in the air whether they really couldn’t return to the Eurovision Song Contest, denying the argument of rejection from – lack of financial conditions. Between visiting Bock, where I appreciated centuries of history, and entering part of the capital’s underground tunnels, I spoke to a group of local festival fans I had previously contacted about music in Luxembourg and the end of being on the biggest TV music show in the world. We met at the Golden Bean-The Coffee Experience on Rue Chimay and sat at tables at the end of the room, arranged in an L shape in one of the corners. As far as I understand, petitions have already been made to bring Luxembourg back to the festival. One of them was in accordance with the law of the country, that is, an individual or a group of individuals can actually apply to the Chamber of Deputies in order to provoke a decision in favor of the collective interest they protect. The deputies also became interested in this issue. However, the Luxembourgish TV channel has announced its unavailability until the entry criteria are changed, as it seems that if it wins, it will not be possible to host the next event in Luxembourg. With that argument, it’s a country that won’t win anytime soon because it doesn’t want to participate, but it has made history in the contest thanks to its victories. One of them was half a century ago, in 1973, Anne-Marie David with “Tu te reconnaitras”, which I recently heard live when the singer was traveling in Portugal. Can we really believe that the Grand Duchy does not have the funds to pay 150,000 euros and enter the competition? We admit that from the point of view of the “brand of the nation”, this festival could again become a blessing for Luxembourg: “We cannot claim influence on the European scene and refuse to participate in the only festive event that truly unites the popular public of our European continent,” emphasized my companions while we were tasting cakes and cappuccinos. Shall I say: “Isn’t it better to fulfill the motto of this country?” – “Mir wëlle bleiwe, war mir sin”, which means “We want to continue to be who we are”, that is, it refers to the fact that the Luxembourgers want to continue to enjoy their independence gained after centuries of struggle, and perhaps also not participate in Eurovision. Between “Moyen!” (Hello!) and “Äddi” (Goodbye) which I learned from them in their own language, I felt, however, that we had spent the day talking about a non-subject. It’s just that there were no Portuguese there, which is extremely unlikely for Luxembourg, with whom the conversation always seems very short.
Jorge Mangorrinha, university professor and postdoctoral fellow in tourism, makes an essay of memory through fragments of travel by air, sea and land, as well as views, readings and conversations between a dream come true and the reality that a dream came true. Fascinating journeys described by the only Portuguese to date who has expressed with figurative words what he feels for every country in the world. A series that can be read here in the digital edition of DN.
