Papa Pingouin

"Papa Pingouin" (French pronunciation: ​[papa pɛ̃ɡwɛ̃]; "Poppa/Daddy Penguin") was the Luxembourgish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980, performed in French by the French twin sisters Sophie & Magaly.

"Papa Pingouin"
Eurovision Song Contest 1980 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Sophie Gilles, Magaly Gilles
As
Language
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Conductor
Finals performance
Final result
9th
Final points
56
Entry chronology
◄ "J'ai déjà vu ça dans tes yeux" (1979)
"C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique" (1981) ►

First version

With music by prolific duo Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meinunger, who are normally associated with Germany as a composer-lyricist combination, the song is about the fantasy life of the title character – a bored penguin. The singers describe his desire to fly like a seagull and travel 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 a German-language version of the song, "Papa Pinguin".

The song was performed fourth on the night, following Greece's Anna Vissi And The Epikouri with "Autostop" and preceding Morocco's Samira with "Bitaqat Hub". At the close of voting, it had received 56 points, placing 9th in a field of 19.

It was succeeded as Luxembourgish representative at the 1981 contest by Jean-Claude Pascal with "C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique".

The "Ralph Siegel" scandal

When Sophie and Magaly Gilles, the original singers, signed with Ralph Siegel, they were still minors and their parents were not aware of some of the "practices" in the entertainment industry. Ralph Siegel signed a contract with the parents that gave the sisters only a small percentage of sales.

In April 1982, the twins appeared on the French primetime television programme Droit de Réponse (TF1), and publicly reported that they each received only €5,000 for selling more than one million copies of their singles. They also stated that Ralph Siegel had decided not to work with the girls anymore and did not want to renegotiate their contracts. He claimed that the original contract was valid and that nothing could be done against him.

In 2003, Jean-Paul Cara, one of the French songwriters, confirmed that Siegel never intended for Sophie and Magaly to be a successful group. He just needed twin singers for this particular song.

Magaly died in 1996 of HIV-AIDS. Sophie suffered from high depressive syndrome and lived a secluded life in the South of France until her death in 2019.

Pigloo version
"Le Papa Pingouin"
Single by Pigloo
from the album La Banquise
Released27 February 2006 (2006-02-27)[1]
Length3:09
LabelSony BMG Music
Songwriter(s)Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger, Pierre Delanoë, Jean-Paul Cara
Producer(s)Christophe Berthier, Philippe Kassenbeck
Pigloo singles chronology
"Le Papa Pingouin"
(2006)		 "Le Ragga des pingouins"
(2006)

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 27 weeks, becoming the fifth-best-selling single in France that year. The song also charted on Swiss Singles Chart, 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

  1. "Le Papa pingouin" — 3:09
  2. "Les Manchots et les Pingouins" (instrumental) — 3:12

Digital download

  1. "Le Papa pingouin" — 3:09

Charts

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
France (SNEP)[14] Gold 292,224[15]

References
  1. "Pigloo – Le Papa Pingouin" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  2. "Pigloo – Le Papa Pingouin" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  3. "Hits of the World: Eurocharts". Music & Media. Vol. 118, no. 16. 22 April 2006. p. 81.
  4. "Pigloo – Le Papa Pingouin". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  5. "Pigloo – Papa Pinguin" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  6. "Pigloo – Papa Pinguin" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  7. "Pigloo – Papa Pinguin". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  8. "Rapports annuels 2006" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  9. "European Hot 100 Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  10. "Tops de L'année | Top Singles 2006" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  11. "Jahreshitparade Singles 2007" (in German). Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  12. "Top 100 Singles–Jahrescharts 2007" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  13. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2007" (in German). Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  14. "Certifications Singles Platine – année 2006" (in French). Disque en France. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  15. "The 100 best-selling singles in France of 2006". fanofmusic.free.fr (in French). Retrieved 16 December 2022.
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