The Voice (Eimear Quinn song)

Last updated
"The Voice"
Eimear Quinn - The Voice.jpg
Single by Eimear Quinn
Released1996
Studio Windmill Lane Studios
Genre Celtic music
Length3:05
Label
Songwriter(s) Brendan Graham
Eurovision Song Contest 1996 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Brendan Graham
Conductor
Finals performance
Final result
1st
Final points
162
Entry chronology
◄ "Dreamin'" (1995)
"Mysterious Woman" (1997) ►

"The Voice" is a song recorded by Irish singer and composer Eimear Quinn with music composed and lyrics written by Brendan Graham. It represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 held in Oslo, resulting an unprecedented fourth win in five consecutive years for a country in the contest, being Ireland's seventh overall win, and its last win to date. The single, released by Ainm Records, CNR Music and Polydor, peaked at number three in Ireland and number nine in Belgium, and was a top-30 hit in the Netherlands and a top-40 hit in the UK and Sweden. It features subliminal voices by Graham and Tracey Cullen.

Contents

Background

Conception

"The Voice" was composed, and lyrics written, by Brendan Graham, who had also written and composed "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", the Irish winner of the 1994 contest. [1]

Lyrically, "The Voice" is a very Celtic-inspired song, with the singer portraying herself as "the voice" which watches over the world, describing "her" effects on the elements, such as the wind, the seasons, in a similar way to Mother Nature. It is of a folk style and is sung at a very high pitch accompanied by traditional Irish percussion, woodwind and string instruments. [1]

National selection

Graham had originally submitted "The Voice" via a recording made by the neo-traditional Celtic band Dervish to Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) for consideration to enter in the national final RTÉ was organising to select its song and performer for the 41st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. However, after the song had been advanced to the final, Graham attended a performance by the Anúna chorale at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, where he was struck by the voice of Anúna member Eimear Quinn. Graham was, indeed, so struck by her voice that he recruited Quinn to perform "The Voice" on the national final [2] held at the Point Theatre in Dublin on 6 March 1996. Of the eight songs in the national final, "The Voice" was the clear winner, with the participating ten regional juries awarding the song 105 points, 21 more points than the runner-up, becoming the Irish entrant –and Quinn performer– for Eurovision. [3]

Eurovision

The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 featured a pre-qualifying round in which audio tapes of each nation's entrant were sent to juries in all of the other twenty-nine nations competing: from these tapes, each jury deemed ten songs worthy of competing in the contest and the resultant tally allowed only twenty-two of the prospective entrants to advance to the Eurovision final to compete with the Norwegian entrant already pre-selected: "I evighet" by Elisabeth Andreassen –fast-tracked to the final by virtue of Norway having won the previous contest with "Nocturne" by Secret Garden–. "The Voice" was the second highest vote getter in this pre-qualifying round its 198-point tally being bested only by Sweden's "Den vilda" by One More Time whose point tally was 227. The specific placings in the pre-qualifying round were confidential and only leaked some time after the final: however "The Voice" was viewed as a strong contender going into the final for Eurovision 1996 with a Top 5 placing predicted. [4]

On 18 May 1996, the Eurovision Song Contest final was held at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo hosted by Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) and broadcast live throughout the continent. Quinn performed "The Voice" seventeenth on the evening, following Belgium's "Liefde is een kaartspel" by Lisa del Bo and preceding Finland's "Niin kaunis on taivas" by Jasmine. Noel Kelehan conducted the event's live orchestra in the performance of the Irish entry. [5]

At the close of voting, "The Voice" placed first in a field of twenty-three with 162 points, easily besting both "I evighet" and "Den vilda" whose tallies of 114 and 100 points earned Eurovision 1996 final placings of respectively second- and third-place. "The Voice" was awarded the maximum douze points by seven countries: Turkey, Switzerland, Estonia, Slovenia, Netherlands, Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The victory, which was Ireland's fourth in five years, was their seventh – and to date last – contest victory, setting a record for the most contests won by a single country that would only be tied by Sweden in 2023 with the song "Tattoo". "The Voice" was succeeded as Irish representative at the 1997 contest by "Mysterious Woman" by Marc Roberts and as Eurovision winner in 1997 by "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina and the Waves representing the United Kingdom.

Critical reception

On 4 May 1996, fourteen days before the Eurovision Song Contest, Mark Roland from Melody Maker reviewed the single, writing, "They've gone for the authentic Irish folky sound with fiddles, whistles and bodhrans, she has a voice of spun glass and I'm sure she'll win". [6]

Commercial performance

"The Voice" reached number three in Ireland but failed to become a major international hit with its only other evident top ten showing being in Belgium, where it reached number nine on the Dutch region charts. "The Voice" also charted in the Netherlands at number 21, on Belgium's French region charts at number 30, in Sweden at number 31 and in the UK at number 40.

Legacy

Beginning in 2006 and 2007 with A New Journey, "The Voice" became a staple of the repertoire of Celtic Woman. Lisa Kelly, one of its members at the time, originated its version and then Susan McFadden took this melody.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurovision Song Contest 1996</span> International song competition

The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 May 1996 at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) and presented by Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket, the contest was held in Norway following the country's victory at the 1995 contest with the song "Nocturne" by Secret Garden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love Shine a Light</span> 1997 song by Katrina and the Waves

"Love Shine a Light" is a song by British rock band Katrina and the Waves. It represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. It was released as a single on 28 April 1997 and was later included on the band's ninth studio album, Walk on Water (1997), serving as the album's lead single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest</span>

Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since making its debut at the 1965 contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in 1983 and 2002. The contest's final is broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One. Ireland shares a joint record total of seven wins with Sweden, and is the only country to have won three times consecutively. Ireland has finished second four times, while Sweden has done that just once. However, all of Ireland's victories were decided by juries only, in the era before public voting became the norm in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La det swinge</span> 1985 song by Bobbysocks!

"La det swinge" is a song recorded by the pop duo Bobbysocks! –Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreassen– with music composed and Norwegian lyrics written by Rolf Løvland. It represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 held in Gothenburg, resulting in the country's first ever win at the contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hold Me Now (Johnny Logan song)</span> 1987 song by Johnny Logan

"Hold Me Now" is a song written and recorded by Irish singer-songwriter Johnny Logan. It represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987 held in Brussels, resulting in his second win at the contest, as well as the country's third victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Je t'adore</span> 2006 single by Kate Ryan

"Je t'adore" is a song by Belgian singer Kate Ryan. It was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, performed in English. It was the seventh song to be performed in this contest and the 999th by counting all songs which had ever performed on Eurovision Song Contest. "Je t'adore" was released in 2006 as the lead single from Ryan's third studio album Alive (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nocturne (Secret Garden song)</span> 1995 song by Secret Garden

"Nocturne" is a song recorded by Irish-Norwegian duo Secret Garden –Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland– with music composed by Løvland and lyrics written by Petter Skavlan. It represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 held in Dublin, resulting in the country's second win at the contest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diva (Dana International song)</span> 1998 single by Dana International

"Diva" is the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1998, performed in Hebrew by Israeli singer Dana International representing Israel. The music was composed by Svika Pick, with lyrics written by Yoav Ginai. The song was produced by Offer Nissim with music arrangements by Alon Levin and included on her fifth album, Free (1999). It was Israel's third winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest, following the consecutive victories of 1978 and 1979. Dana International's win is considered influential in making trans identity mainstream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liefde is een kaartspel</span> 1996 song by Lisa del Bo

"Liefde is een kaartspel" was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, performed in Dutch by Lisa del Bo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invincible (Carola Häggkvist song)</span>

"Invincible" is the name of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest entry for Sweden, sung by Carola Häggkvist. Being one of the favourites to win, it ended up finishing 5th out of 24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eimear Quinn</span> Irish singer and composer (born 1972)

Eimear Mary Rose Quinn is an Irish singer and composer. She is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 1996 with the song "The Voice". Since then she has toured and performed extensively internationally and has released four albums of her work, the most recent being Ériu, recorded with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and released in 2020.

Brendan Graham is an Irish songwriter and novelist. Among songs he has written are "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) and "The Voice" (1996), both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in their respective years, and "You Raise Me Up" (2002), which was an international hit recorded by various artists, including Josh Groban.

Eimear Quinn represented Ireland in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "The Voice".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairytale (Alexander Rybak song)</span> 2009 song by Alexander Rybak

The song "Fairytale" written and performed by Alexander Rybak won the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 for Norway, and is the first single from Rybak's debut album Fairytales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Live Love (Olivia Newton-John song)</span> 1974 song by Olivia Newton-John

"Long Live Love" is a song by Australian singer, songwriter and actress Olivia Newton-John, released in 1974. It was the British entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 in Brighton, United Kingdom.

Melodi Grand Prix, the Norwegian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, began in 1960, the year of Norway's debut in the contest. It has been held almost every year since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Me and My Guitar (Tom Dice song)</span> 2010 song by Tom Dice

"Me and My Guitar" is a song performed by Belgian singer-songwriter Tom Dice from his debut album Teardrops. The song was written by British singer-songwriter Ashley Hicklin, writer-producer Jeroen Swinnen and Tom Dice himself. It took first place in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 Semi-final 1 on 25 May and was the first Belgian act to qualify for the final since the introduction of the semi-finals in Eurovision. In the final Tom Dice scored 143 points and finished 6th.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satellite (Lena Meyer-Landrut song)</span> 2010 song by Lena Meyer-Landrut

"Satellite" is a song written by American songwriter Julie Frost, and Danish songwriter John Gordon. It is best known as Germany's winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, performed by German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everyway That I Can</span> 2003 song by Sertab Erener

"Everyway That I Can" is a song recorded by Turkish singer Sertab Erener, with music composed by herself and Demir Demirkan, lyrics written by Demirkan, and production and arrangement by Ozan Çolakoğlu. It represented Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, held in Riga, winning the contest. It was the first entry from Turkey in the contest that did not feature any Turkish lyrics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Lights (Blanche song)</span> 2017 song by Blanche

"City Lights" is a song performed by Belgian singer Blanche. The song represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017, and it finished in 4th place in the grand final on 13 May 2017. The song was intended to be released as a digital download on 8 March 2017 through PIAS Belgium, but leaked through Spotify the night before.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Voice - lyrics". The Diggiloo Thrush.
  2. ↑ "Eimear Quinn". www.carrickmacross.ie. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "Irish Selection 1996". Eurovisionworld.
  4. ↑ Kennedy O'Connor, John (2005). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History.
  5. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1996". Eurovision Song Contest. 18 May 1996. NRK / EBU.
  6. ↑ Roland, Mark (4 May 1996). "Singles". Melody Maker . p. 60. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  7. ↑ "Eimear Quinn – The Voice" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. ↑ "Eimear Quinn – The Voice" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  9. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 13, no. 26. 29 June 1996. p. 20. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Eimear Quinn". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Eimear Quinn" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  12. ↑ "Eimear Quinn – The Voice" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  13. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "Eimear Quinn – The Voice". Singles Top 100.
  15. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  16. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1996" (in Dutch). Ultratop . Retrieved 13 December 2020.
Preceded by Eurovision Song Contest winners
1996		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.