Congratulations to Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’, the WINNER of EURODANCE 2021

They think it’s all over… it is now. Following 30-plus matches and many thousands of votes, Whigfield’s Saturday Night has emerged as the WINNER of the EURODANCE 2021 championship, beating La Bouche’s Be My Lover by 60.28% to 39.72%.

Having already knocked out classics such as Gala’s Freed From Desire, Snap’s Rhythm Is A Dancer and Culture Beat’s Mr Vain on her way to the final, Whigfield, aka Sannie Carlson, has now gone one better than her compatriots at Euro 2020, and romped home to European glory. Kom så Danmark!! 🇩🇰

Whigfield: Saturday Night – PATH TO GLORY

Round 1: Whigfield – Saturday Night (76%) vs ATB – 9pm (Till I Come) (24%)
Round 2: Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’ (65.29%) vs Gala – ‘Freed From Desire’ (34.71%)
Quarter Final: Snap! – ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’ (36.43%) vs Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’ (63.57%)
Semi Final: Culture Beat – ‘Mr Vain’ (39.82%) vs Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’ (60.18%)
Final: La Bouche – ‘Be My Lover’ (39.72%) vs Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’ (60.28%)

Thanks to everyone that voted, shared, liked and supported the competition – it was a lot of fun to organise, and we hope you enjoyed it too. Thanks also to Colin Kraan for his help in selecting the tracks for the competition – no easy task, and we might have to have another competition in a couple of years’ time, such was the bank of music that we didn’t have the chance to use this time out.

The full competition can be found below, in case you want to relive any of the action. All together now… “dee dee na na naaa…” 🙂

EURODANCE 2021 – ROUND BY ROUND

ROUND 1 RESULTS

The first round of matches ran from Friday 11 June to Wednesday 23 June, with all voting taking place on 909originals.com, and links will be shared via social media. The full set of results can be found below.

MATCH 1 – Dr Alban – It’s My Life (49.02%) vs Corona – The Rhythm Of The Night (50.98%)
MATCH 2 – Darude – Sandstorm (69.57%) vs Capella – U Got 2 Let The Music (30.43%)
MATCH 3 – Aqua – Barbie Girl (23.28%) vs N-Trance – Set You Free (76.72%)
MATCH 4 – Ace Of Base – All That She Wants (46.67%) vs Alice Deejay – Better Off Alone (53.33%)
MATCH 5 – Vengaboys – Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!! (71.88%) vs O-Zone – Dragostea Din Tei (28.13%)
MATCH 6 – Snap! – Rhythm Is A Dancer (79.17%) vs M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy – Another Night (20.83%)
MATCH 7 – Black Box – Ride On Time (67.44%) vs Jam & Spoon – Right In The Night (32.56%)
MATCH 8 – Culture Beat – Mr Vain (80.56%) vs Captain Hollywood Project – More and More (19.44%)
MATCH 9 – Sash! – Encore Une Fois (44.74%) vs Urban Cookie Collective – The Key, The Secret (55.26%)
MATCH 10 – Eiffel 65 – Blue (Da Ba Dee) (16%) vs La Bouche – Be My Lover (84%)
MATCH 11 – 2 Unlimited – No Limit (84%) vs BBE – Seven Days And One Week (16%)
MATCH 12 – Gala – Freed From Desire (60%) vs Leila K – Open Sesame (40%)
MATCH 13 – Rednex – Cotton Eye Joe (37.10%) vs Technotronic – Pump Up The Jam (62.90%)
MATCH 14 – Haddaway – What Is Love? (62.16%) vs Maxx – Get-A-Way (37.84%)
MATCH 15 – Whigfield – Saturday Night (76%) vs ATB – 9pm (Till I Come) (24%)
MATCH 16 – Robert Miles – Children (91.18%) vs Dario G. – Sunchyme (8.82%)

ROUND 2 RESULTS

MATCH 1 – Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’ (65.29%) vs Gala – ‘Freed From Desire’ (34.71%)
MATCH 2 – Darude – ‘Sandstorm’ (43.59%) vs Technotronic – ‘Pump Up The Jam’ (56.41%)
MATCH 3 – 2 Unlimited – ‘No Limit’ (48.75%) vs Culture Beat – ‘Mr Vain’ (51.25%)
MATCH 4 – Alice Deejay – ‘Better Off Alone’ (21.43%) vs Black Box – ‘Ride On Time’ (78.57%)
MATCH 5 – Corona – The Rhythm Of The Night (48.72%) vs Urban Cookie Collective – The Key, The Secret (51.28%)
MATCH 6 – Haddaway – ‘What Is Love’ (27.37%) vs Vengaboys – ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!’ (72.63%)
MATCH 7 – La Bouche – ‘Be My Lover’ (66.25%) vs Robert Miles – ‘Children’ (33.75%)
MATCH 8 – N-Trance – ‘Set You Free’ (25%) vs Snap! – ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’ (75%)

QUARTER FINAL RESULTS

The quarter finals kicked off on 4 July, with one match taking place each day between 4 July and 7 July.

QF1 – Urban Cookie Collective – ‘The Key, The Secret’ (19.51%) vs Technotronic – ‘Pump Up The Jam’ (80.49%)
QF2 – Vengaboys – ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!’ (26.25%) vs La Bouche – ‘Be My Lover’ (73.75%)
QF3 – Black Box – ‘Ride On Time’ (33.33%) vs Culture Beat – ‘Mr Vain’ (66.67%)
QF4 – Snap! – ‘Rhythm Is A Dancer’ (36.43%) vs Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’ (63.57%)

SEMI FINAL RESULTS

The semi finals took place on 8 and 9 July.

SEMI FINAL 1 – Technotronic – Pump Up The Jam (41.98%) vs La Bouche – Be My Lover’(58.02%)
SEMI FINAL 2 – Culture Beat – ‘Mr Vain’ (39.82%) Vs Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’ (60.18%)

GRAND FINAL

FINAL: La Bouche – ‘Be My Lover’ (39.72%) vs Whigfield – ‘Saturday Night’ (60.28%)

WHAT IS EURODANCE?

As Daniele Davoli of Black Box, whose Ride On Time could be considered to be an early classic of the genre, tells 909originals, the Eurodance formula is a simple to attempt, but difficult to master.

“You need to have a strong riff, you need to have a strong chorus, you need to have a slogan, and you need to have a pumping bassline,” he says. “Those are the rules, and if you have these elements, you have a hit. Even Calvin Harris records, these days, still have the same elements in there.”

According to Colin Kraan, co-author of No Limit. De ultieme Eurodance-hits uit de 90’s, a book (in Dutch) that uncovers the story behind some of the genre’s biggest hits, a successful Eurodance classic consists, in general, of “Female vocalists that sing the chorus, rappers that rap the verse, producers who stay behind the scenes but who come up with the concept, and simple, optimistic lyrics that you can sing along to – the English is that simple that even people that don’t know English can understand it; it’s child proof. There’s never any cursing in the lyrics – there’s a catchy sound that brings up a lot of positive energy, high tempo, staccato melodies with a lot of synthesisers, strong hooks, minor chords.

“Like Spin Magazine said, ‘it makes melancholy damn tempting’. And, last but not least: it’s made in Europe.”

HOW IT WORKS

Over a one-month period, commencing 11 June, EURODANCE 2021 will see 32 classic Eurodance tracks go head to head in a series of 24-hour one-on-one ‘matches’, voted for by members of the public, hosted on 909originals.com. The winning track in each case will progress to the next round, where it will again come up against another contender, and so on, until one track remains.

Artists featured in EURODANCE 2021 include, in alphabetical order, 2 Unlimited, Ace Of Base, Alice Deejay, Aqua, ATB, BBE, Black Box, Capella, Captain Hollywood Project, Corona, Culture Beat, Dario G, Darude, Dr Alban, Eiffel 65, Gala, Haddaway, Jam & Spoon, La Bouche, Leila K, Maxx, M.C. Sar & The Real McCoy, N-Trance, O-Zone, Rednex, Robert Miles, Sash!, Snap!, Technotronic, Urban Cookie Collective, Vengaboys and Whigfield; in other words, a pan-European array of chart-smashing artists.

As a certain Dutch recording artist once put it… Y’ALL READY FOR THIS? 🙂

If you have any questions about EURODANCE 2021, or 909originals, feel free to contact us at [email protected].

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