France: Nazim Khaled wins Eurostory award for Requiem

by Eleanor Cooper 2,338 views

Every year, the Dutch-based online Eurovision magazine, Eurostory, awards a prize for the best written lyric of the Eurovision Song Contest that year. This year, the winner was Requiem for France; performed by Alma and written by Nazim Khaled.

The lyrics which cinched them the prize were:

Les siècles passent et disparaissent, ce que tu crois être la mort, c’est une saison et rien de plus

Which translates into English as:

Centuries pass and disappear, what you believe to be death is a season and nothing more

Nazim Khaled says of his victory:

Thank you to the jury, I’m so honoured to receive this award. I’m so glad that they understood it’s a line of hope. It wants to say: Death is just a season, and summer is coming. We have had such bad moments in Paris the last years, and although this was not the direct subject, it’s still a context: in these circumstances we need a message of hope.

How is this award won?

The three founding writers at eurostory.nl decided to combine their love of literature with their love of Eurovision and present the annual Eurostory Award for the best line of all the song lyrics from this year’s line-up of Eurovision songs. It’s a prize which wants to highlight the best metaphor, the most powerful line or the most poetic imagery. Last year’s Eurostory Award was won by Jamala from Ukraine for the line ‘You think you are gods, but everyone dies.’

Who votes for the winner?

The winner was chosen by a jury of fifty people who all have relevance to literature, music, songwriting, languages or Eurovision. The jury members included authors, journalists, editors, songwriters, translators and even ex-Eurovision participants. The votes of the readers of the website were also included in the final assessment.

Who were the runners up?

The second place was awarded to Norway for the line “I’m coping with a map that is roadless”.

Third place went to Italy with the line “L’evoluzione inciampa, la scimmia nuda balla” which translates to “Evolution is stumbling, the naked ape dances”.

Here you can watch a video of the award ceremony on Facebook:

FRANCE wins Eurostory Award 2017

Watch Alma and Nazim Khaled receive the Eurostory Award 2017, awarded to France's song Requiem in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.Read more at www.eurostory.nl/award2017

Posted by Eurostory on Friday, May 12, 2017