"Papa Pingouin" (; "Poppa/Daddy Penguin") is a song recorded by French twin sisters

Sophie & Magaly Sophie and Magaly were a French musical duo composed of twin sisters Sophie (24 August 1962 – 27 February 2019) and Magaly Gilles-Giovannoni (24 August 1962 – 2 April 1996). The duo are best known for representing Luxembourg in the Eurovision ...

, with music composed by

Ralph Siegel Ralph Siegel (born 30 September 1945) is a German record producer and songwriter. Siegel is one of the most notable figures at the Eurovision Song Contest, in which he has participated with 24 songs so far, among them the 1982 winner song Ein ...

and

Bernd Meinunger Bernd Meinunger (born 30 September 1944) is a German lyricist and record producer (with Hanne Haller) who frequently works with Ralph Siegel and David Brandes. Several of his songs have represented Germany in the ''Eurovision Song Contest''. Ca ...

, and lyrics by

Pierre Delanoë Pierre Charles Marcel Napoléon Leroyer (16 December 1918 – 27 December 2006), known professionally as Pierre Delanoë (), was a French lyricist who wrote thousands of songs for dozens of singers, including Dalida, Edith Piaf, Charles Aznavou ...

and

Jean-Paul Cara Jean-Paul Cara (born 9 September 1948) is a French singer and composer. He has authored several songs that have won prizes at the Eurovision contest, most notably the single '' L'Oiseau et l'Enfant'' in collaboration with Joe Gracy and perfor ...

. It in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1980 The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NOS), which agreed to stage the eve ...

, held in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

Background

Conception

The song was composed by

and

–who are normally associated with as a composer-lyricist combination–, with French lyrics by

and

, and was recorded by

. It describes the fantasy life of the title character, a bored

penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

who imagines flying like a

seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

and travelling around the world, listing various places he visits in his imagination. The song ends with the penguin's realisation that life "on the ice floe" is not as bad as he had thought, so he "burns his suitcase" to signify that his desire to travel is over. Sophie & Magaly also recorded the German-language version of the song titled "Papa Pinguin".

Eurovision

The

Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion RTL Group S.A. ("Radio Télévision Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another Business park, corporate office in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 56 television channels and 36 radio stations in Germ ...

(CLT) internally selected the song as for the of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. On 19 April 1980, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the in

hosted by (NOS), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Sophie & Magaly performed "Papa Pingouin" fourth on the night, following 's " Autostop" by

Anna Vissi Anna Vissi (, , ; born 20 December 1957) is a Greek Cypriot singer. She studied music at conservatories and performed locally before moving to the professional scene in Athens, in 1973, where she signed with Minos EMI#Merger with Minos Matsas ...

and The Epikouri and preceding 's "

Bitaqat Hub Morocco was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest for its first and only time at the . Its selected song "", sung in Arabic and performed by Samira Said, Samira Bensaïd, placed second to last. The country has not returned to the contest s ...

" by

Samira Samira (also spelled Samirah, Sameera, Semira and Sameerah; Persian: سميرا ) is a Sanskrit, Arabic, or Persian given name. In Sanskrit, Sameera or Samira () is a feminine given-name, meaning "breeze, wind," or "Vāyu, the wind deity". Many ...

Norbert Daum Norbert Daum (born 6 September 1948) is an Austrian musician and conductor. He often works with Ralph Siegel. Daum conducted entries in 7 years of the Eurovision Song Contest, during 1979–1994. Career Work as an arranger Daum was born in Brau ...

conducted the live orchestra in the performance of the Luxembourgian entry. By the end of the night, the song had received 56 points, placing ninth out of nineteen entries.

Charts

Pigloo version

A remake of this song performed by animated penguin Pigloo became a hit in France in 2006, reaching number one on the SNEP Singles Chart for three weeks. The single remained on the chart for twenty-seven weeks, becoming the fifth-best-selling single in France that year. The song also charted on

Swiss Singles Chart The Swiss Hitparade () is Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland. The Swiss charts include: * Singles Top 75 (released since 1968) * Singles T ...

, where it peaked at number 24. A German version title "Papa Pinguin" also charted in German-speaking Europe, reaching number four in Austria and number six in both Germany and Switzerland.

Formats and track listings

CD single # "Le Papa pingouin" — 3:09 # "Les Manchots et les Pingouins" (instrumental) — 3:12 Digital download # "Le Papa pingouin" — 3:09

Charts

Weekly charts

"Le Papa Pingouin" "Papa Pinguin"

Year-end charts

"Le Papa Pingouin" "Papa Pinguin"

Certifications and sales

References

External links

*
Bide-et-musique.com, ''Sophie & Magaly''
{{Authority control 1980 songs 2006 singles 2007 singles Eurovision songs of Luxembourg Eurovision songs of 1980 SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Pigloo songs Songs written by Ralph Siegel Songs written by Bernd Meinunger Songs written by Pierre Delanoë Sony BMG singles Songs about birds