Screen Size: 800x600
I Got It For FREE At http://come.to
Screen Size: 800x600 |
|
My URL: http://come.to/ogaeuk
I Got It For FREE At http://come.to |
About OGAE. Welcome to the official web site of Vision - OGAE(UK) magazine devoted to the Eurovision Song Contest. My name is Gordon Lewis. I've been editing the magazine for just over two years now, although the first edition appeared back in 1991. Before then OGAE(UK) was a small group of ESC followers who have kept in touch with each other since the mid 1980s, linked to the Europe-wide OGAE organisation which is now represented in over 21 countries. Here in the UK, membership is continuing to grow at an incredible rate, helped by 'Katrinas' impressive victory in Dublin last year, and hopefully this web site will see more people reading the magazine. Subscription details can be found elsewhere on this site. Enjoy surfing this site - and hopefully we will be able to send you Vision in the near future to add to your enjoyment of Eurovision!
Organisation Générale des amateurs d'Eurovision, or OGAE
for short, is the oldest and most wide-spread of the Eurovision Song
Sontest fan clubs existing today. It was founded in 1984 in Finland and
rapidly spread to the rest of Scandinavia and from there to most of the
other contries of Eurovision an even beyond. At this moment, there are
over 20 National Clubs.
The largest national clubs are found, not suprisingly, in "big" counties such as Germany and France, but also smaller countries with a considerable interest for the Song Contest - like Norway and Sweden - have clubs with hundreds of members each. Globally, OGAE has well over 1000 members.
In order to strengthen the bonds between the fans of Eurovision, OGAE also holds two song competitions of its own every year. The first one is the OGAE Second Chance Contest, which takes place shortly after Eurovision and is a competition for songs from the national ESC selections - elected by the members - which did not make it to the actual European final. The first edition was held in 1987 and has been dominated by Scandinavian songs.
The other competition is the OGAE Song Contest. Here, every national club competes with a newly released popular song from its own country. Unlike the Second Chance Contest, this one - which was started in 1986 - has been heavily dominated by the Mediterranean countries.
OGAE is not only a meeting place for fans of the Eurovision Song Contest. The organisation sees as one of its most important tasks to provide record companies, the media and members of the public with reliable information on the Song Contest and its national selections. A comprehensive book on history of the European finals was published in 1992 and an updated version was published just before the 1998 final. The clubs has also produced a series of booklets with all avaliable information on the national finals since the contest started.
In true Eurovision spirit, OGAE has always regarded international cooperation its most important asset. The club magazine, Eurosong News, former OGAE News, is a joint effort of the national clubs. In its eleven years of existence, it has been edited subsequently by the Finnish, Israeli, Swedish and Frensh clubs. In the summer of 1995, OGAE Germany's Ivor Lyttle and Uwe Felix Siewert took over, which in terms of professionalism marked yet another step forward for the magazine. Its readers enjoy, among many other things, interviews with and background information on Eurovision participants as well as special features on national finals of various countries over the years. A few clubs also have their own internal magazines, like CocoricoVision in France, Member News in Switzerland, OGi-Revue in Germany, EUROMUSIC in Belgium and Vision in the United Kingdom. EuroSong News is available only through the national clubs.
Back To 
Page.
Articles and General Enquiries ....
Vision News
Desk
© OGAE (UK) / 
Pilgrims
Web Services 1999
