Eurovision 1972 - Luxembourg

Vicky Leandros performing “Après Toi“ (“After You“), Luxembourg's entry at the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest. Well, what can I say about such a classic? Long before the contest, everyone considered this a sure favorite, and Vicky's flawless, bigger-than-life performance sealed the deal - thus continuing the early 70s tradition of victories for epic French-language ballads sung by strong female voices, one that had started the year before with Séverine and would carry over to the next year with Anne-Marie David (incidentally, “Après Toi“'s lyricist Yves Dessca had also written “Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue“, thus becoming the only person in ESC history with back-to-back wins!). And it was a sort of sweet revenge for Vicky, after having to settle for 4th place in 1967 with “L'Amour Est Bleu“ despite, again, being a favorite (legend has it that she didn't want to return to the contest after that, and that it took a lot of begging and a song as strong as this one to change her mind!). Second time was the charm, though, making her the first Greek artist to win the contest, a full 32 years before Helena Paparizou (and the 10 million records she sold with this one didn't hurt, either!).