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"Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 performed in Swedish by a trio of brothers named Herreys. Lyrics were written by Britt Lindeborg, and the tune by Torgny Söderberg. It was produced by Anders Engberg and Torgny Söderberg.
The song is a perfect illustration of the time period in which it was performed; a very upbeat 1980s-style dance song, performed by three impossibly clean cut young men - fellow Swedish Eurovision participant Tommy Körberg famously dubbed them "the dancing deodorants" in the press, a derogatory nickname that stuck with them for the rest of their career in their home country [1] - and the nonsensical title harking back to previous entries such as "Boom Bang-a-Bang", "Ding-A-Dong" and "La La La", and to the amusement of English speaking audiences also the second Swedish entry to include the word "loo" (British slang for toilet) in its title, following ABBA's "Waterloo". The song has however achieved considerable fame among Eurovision Song Contest fans, with a well-known archive of Contest lyrics using the domain name diggiloo.net, named after it. Despite the reception the song receives today, in the run-up to the Contest it was not an immediate favorite to win; bookmakers Ladbrokes had Ireland's "Terminal 3" and Italy's "I treni di Tozeur" as higher favourites, so the song winning came as a surprise to many.
According to author John Kennedy O'Connor's The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, The Herreys opened the contest and thus became the third winners of the competition to sing from pole position, following Teach-In in 1975 and Brotherhood of Man in 1976. No song sung first or second has won since. [2]
The song itself deals with the lead singer discovering a pair of golden shoes in the street one day. He puts them on and immediately feels like dancing in the street, entering a "magical world". Thus, he wishes for everyone to have a pair.
The English translation, released some time after the Contest, took much the same theme, titling the song "Golden Shoes".
Richard Herrey, lead singer of the band, performed at the Congratulations special in late 2005.
The song was succeeded as winner in 1985 by Bobbysocks representing Norway with "La det swinge".
"Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" as best reached a 2nd place at the Swedish singles charts.
Single
[] Track listing
- "Diggi Loo - Diggi Ley" - 3:05
- "Every Song You Sing" - 3:34
Chart positions
| Chart (1984) |
Position |
| Norway |
5 |
| Switzerland |
10 |
| Sweden |
2 |
| Austria |
10 |
Covers
References
- ^ Thorsson, Leif. Melodifestivalen Genom Tiderna. Premium Publishing, Sweden. 1999 ISBN 91-89136-00-4
- ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
External links
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