A colouring book for adults and kids of all ages, with 34 top Eurovision pop stars from the 50s to the 2020s, all drawn specially by Kev F Sutherland (of Beano and Marvel comics fame) with brand new text about every act facing each image.
kevfcomicartist.com
Who's in this book? You'll find...
Buck’s Fizz
Brotherhood of Man
ABBA
Lordi
Conchita Wurst
Alexander Rybak
Dana
Dana International
Katrina and the Waves
Johnny Logan
Keiino
Sandy Shaw
Cliff Richard
Lulu
France Gall
Domenico Modugno
Jahn Teigen
Jemini
Maneskin
Netta
Mans Zelmerloew
Loreen
Terry Wogan
Celine Dion
Verka Serduchka
Jedward
Riverdance
Eleni Fouriera
Sandra Kim
Jamala
Daði Freyr and Gagnamagnið
Fire Saga
Lys Assia
Anyone we've missed? Let us know, they could be in volume two!
Eurovision
The Eurovision Song Contest began life in 1956 as a songwriting competition, bringing the nations of Europe together in a spirit of creative collaboration and gentle competition.
The number of countries has grown, from just seven in the first competition, to 22 by 1990. In 2021, 39 countries took part, with a pair of semi finals taking place during the week, before the grand final on the Saturday night.
As the years have progressed, the styles of music have changed, sometimes in stark parallel to the music that was actually in the pop charts back home. For a few years, as rock and roll was dominating the radio, the songs were very traditional and old fashioned ballads. The first hint of choreography of any sort was when 1958’s entry from Italy raised his arms slightly. It wasn’t until 1965 that a recognisable pop song, written as it happens by Serge Gainsbourg, was entered in the contest, much to the annoyance of traditionalists who thought this was the beginning of the end. It wasn’t.
The voting has always been an interesting part of the night. Sometimes riveting, sometimes boring, sometimes going on forever, but regularly changing. After a four way tie in 1969 the rules changed a little. When phone voting from home came in, results started to reflect national tastes better, but also threw up the anomalies of countries who would vote for each other regardless of the song.
As the years have progressed, the efforts made by contestants to represent their songs visually has come on so far that, at times, the look overwhelms the song itself. When Brotherhood Of Man did a bit of innocent skirt-whipping-off, they had no idea what they’d started. If only this book could do justice to them. But, until you colour the pages in, it’s only halfway there.
There are bound to be dozens of acts you wish were in this book, and they’re not there cos we only had room for 33 and a third (you can guess which one’s the third). If this book proves popular, hopefully a second book will fill in those gaps.
Being written from a British and Irish perspective, you’ll notice there are a few acts you, reading this in Europe or Australia, may not have chosen. Forgive us our Cliff Richards, Jedwards, and Johnny Logans, and sorry if they elbowed out your personal favourite.
Happy colouring
Kev F Comic Artist
