Different

I have decided, that I shall present you tonight a somewhat different look into chart entries from previous years! It is however kind of related to my evening at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park yesterday here in London. Me and my work colleagues were invited to actually see a few rooms and suites so we can get a better understanding for the property and be more proactive in promoting it to our clients. It is a five star luxury hotel directly opposite of the capitals famous Hyde Park and I was lucky enough to get to see the Royal Suite. I am still amazed about the size and style of this magnificent room (well flat!) and if no one of the sales reps would have been in there with us I probably would have been lost. Seriously, it is that big. If I ever win the lottery I might treat myself to one night there. However that lottery win has to be a very big one!!!

Another personal highlight from my point of view I would like to share is that I was able to impress the reps and a few colleagues with my (geeky) knowledge about the Eurovision Song Contest, the Olympic Games & Italian Geography! So this is what todays chart entries will be relating to and hence why the difference compared to the past few months. I do hope you’re enjoying them as much as I do and as usual, feel free to leave any feedback either via email or as a comment below this article!

On the 10th of September back in 2007 ‘One Moment In Time’ by Whitney Houston first appeared in Enrico’s Hitlist! This song is in relation to my Olympic Games knowledge I’ve demonstrated last night. Always been fascinated by the Summer edition, I seem to have memorised where the biggest sport event has been staged since their revitalisation in Athens/Greece back in 1896! This song became the official theme for the Summer Olympics in Seoul/South Korea in 1988 and discovering this particular performance by one of the greatest singers of all time at the Grammy’s in 1989 catapulted her into my charts. I am still getting goose bumps watching it and would rank it as one of the best live performances of any song I have ever seen! Even though it has only spent 11 weeks in the Top 20, it still managed to become Whitney’s second most successful tune by scoring 166 points in total. This leaves her at this stage in time on Rank 264 in the All Time list.

Two years before that – I am referring to 1986 – ‘Bello E Impossible’ was released by Italian pop sensation Gianna Nannini. It debuted in Enrico’s Hitlist at Number 1 on the 13th of October back in 2008 and managed to stay in the Top 20 the same amount of time, as ‘One Moment In Time’ by Whitney Houston did: 11 weeks. It was however ranked slightly higher a few times and  therefore accumulated 192 points which gives her rank 209 in the All Time Charts as of today. This reference today comes from last nights knowledge about Italians participation in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) and a few details about the geography of this southern European country. Not only did I manage to impress one of the reps by knowing that Italy won this prestigious contest twice so far back in 1964 and 1990, I also almost lectured about the San Remo Music Festival and cities near the Cinque Terre region, such as Bordighera, Imperia and Genoa! Another fact I revealed was that even though only coming 3rd in the ESC in 1958 ‘Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu’ by Italian representative Domenico Modugno was a massive worldwide hit better known as Volare (famously covered by the Gipsy Kings). It is one of the most popular Eurovision Songs of all time which also stayed at the helm of the US Billboard Hot 100 for an impressive five weeks. Anyway, since it hasn’t made an appearance in Enrico’s Hitlist – neither as the original or the cover version – this means, that I won’t share it tonight and instead you have to be satisfied with Gianna Nannini.

And to keep tradition alive and because I’m in such a good mood I also like to present a song which entered my Top 20 twelve years ago! On the 9th of April 2001 Dutch female pop group Luv appeared with their mega(!) hit single from 1978 ‘You’re the Greatest Lover’. It is one of the songs I have always heard in the radio and fancied but never actually got hold off until that particular day in April! It speaks volumes for how much I liked it, as it went on to spend 19 weeks at the Number 1 spot. It has also reached the Top 20 for 143 (!!!) weeks in total which makes it the longest chart sitter so far. From 2001 until 2005 and M People’s ‘One Night in Heaven’ it has dominated Enrico’s Hitlist having scored so far an astonishing 2109 points in total! But long are those days gone as it ‘only’ occupies position Number 4 in the All Time Rankings. Nevertheless it is a tune which still gets me into one of those happy cheerful moods. And with that I shall leave you for this evening until the next release of Enrico’s Top 20!