At number 28 on the Eurovision Top 100 list, we have one of Luxembourg’s highest-rated entries: “Croire” from 1988.
The aforementioned Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was of significant importance to modern music, aside from just being a pretty good show on its own. It gave us two magnificent French-language performances from two young singers who would go on to become stars: Céline Dion and Lara Fabian. This article is about the latter, who represented Luxembourg.
The former got much of the attention following the contest, seeing how she won, but Fabian turned in a performance on her own that might have been good enough to win most years. These two extremely talented singers will forever be tied together because of this contest.
Vital Information: “Croire”
| Song | Croire |
| English Translation | Believe |
| Performed By | Lara Fabian |
| Written By | Jacques Cardona & Alain Garcia |
| Country | Luxembourg |
| Year | 1988 |
| Language(s) Performed In | French |
| How It Fared | 4th Place (90 Points) |
| Was It Fair? | Deserved to finish second |
What I Liked
Even though she may have been overshadowed at the time by Céline Dion, Fabian more than held her own. Not to spend too much time comparing the two, but her vocals were almost as good as the winner’s. They were clear, crisp, and strong. She really belted it, in fact. She’s not the first Luxembourgish entry to do such a thing, as this Top 100 list proves.
The song itself had a beautiful melody, but Fabian was every bit the star of this performance.
Other Facts
- Through the 2024 contest, this was Luxembourg’s most recent top-five finish. They also sat it out for over 30 years.
- Like so many Luxembourgish acts throughout Eurovision history, Fabian is not from Luxembourg. She was born and raised in Belgium. However, she moved to Quebec a few years after performing at Eurovision, becoming Canadian and Quebecois in yet another parallel to the contest’s winner. (Thiery, 2021)
- The 1988 contest was very hotly contested and evenly split in many ways. Fabian received the same number of douze points, three, as winning Switzerland.
- Fabian performed towards the end of the contest in 17th position out of 21.
Check Out “Croire” Live
Well, not live, because it was decades ago, but it’s on YouTube.
References
Thiery, C. (2021, October 27). Lara Fabian: Francophone by heart, Quebecer by adoption. France-Amérique. https://france-amerique.com/lara-fabian-francophone-by-heart-quebecer-by-adoption/
