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4 unusual facts about White and Black Blues


White and Black Blues

It debuted at number 47 on 26 May 1990 and reached number two seven weeks later, but was unable to top the chart ("Zouk Machine", Ursull's former band, was then number one with "Maldòn").

Ursull sings that "When someone talks to me about skin colour/I have the blues which sends shivers down my spine/I feel as if I'm in a tale by Edgar Allan Poe".

Composed by Georges Ougier de Moussac with lyrics by Serge Gainsbourg, the song was originally titled "Black Lolita Blues", however Ursull, the first black woman to represent France at the Contest, declined to perform it due to the pejorative connotations of the word.

Zouk Machine

Joëlle Ursull left the group and proceeded to a solo career, culminating in second place in the 1990 Eurovision performing "White and Black Blues", composed by Serge Gainsbourg and Sylvain Augier.


Frei zu leben

"Frei zu leben" was performed thirteenth on the night (following Switzerland's Egon Egemann with "Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus" and preceding France's Joëlle Ursull with "White and Black Blues").


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