"Ein biÃÂchen Frieden" (; "A Bit of Peace") is a song recorded by German singer Nicole, with music composed by Ralph Siegel and German lyrics written by Bernd Meinunger. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, held in Harrogate, resulting in the country's first of two wins, the country's second win came in 2010.
"Ein biÃÂchen Frieden" was composed by Ralph Siegel with German lyrics written by Bernd Meinunger. It was recorded by 17-year-old German high-school student Nicole.
In addition to the original German-language version, she recorded the song in English as "A Little Peace" with lyrics by Paul Greedus, in French as "La paix sur terre" ("Peace on Earth") with lyrics by Pierre Delanoë and Jean-Paul Cara, in Spanish as "Un poco de paz" with lyrics by Alexander Mitchell, in Italian as "Un po' di pace", in Dutch as "Een beetje vrede" with lyrics by Cor Aaftink and Ed Daromella, in Danish as "En smule fred", in Russian as "ÃÂõüýþóþ üøÃÂð" ("Nyemnogo mira"), and in German-English-Dutch and German-English-Italian versions.
On 20 March 1982, "Ein biÃÂchen Frieden" performed by Nicole competed in ', the national final organized by ARD to select its song and performer for the of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition, so it became the âÂÂand Nicole the performerâ for Eurovision.
On 24 April 1982, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Harrogate International Centre in Harrogate hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and broadcast live throughout the continent. Nicole performed "Ein biÃÂchen Frieden" eighteenth and last on the evening, following 's "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" by The Duskeys. Norbert Daum conducted the event's orchestra in the German performance.
At the close of voting, the song had received 161 points winning the competition and resulting in Germany's first win at the contest by a record margin of 61 points, setting a new record for the largest winning margin that lasted until the . Nicole performed her winning reprise in four different languages: German, English, French, and Dutch. She decided to do this on the spur of the moment, to the bewilderment of her backing group.
"Ein biÃÂchen Frieden" was one of fourteen songs chosen by Eurovision fans and a European Broadcasting Union (EBU) reference group, from among the 992 songs that had ever participated in the contest, to participate in the fiftieth anniversary competition ' held on 22 October 2005 in Copenhagen. Although Nicole was not at the concert, it was re-enacted by dancers equipped with white guitars and a live orchestra as the original footage was shown in the background. It finished as the seventh most popular song in the history of the contest. Nicole performed her song in English, Italian, German, and French in the Eurovision sixtieth anniversary show Eurovision Song Contest's Greatest Hits held on 31 March 2015 in London.
The television special ', aired on 16 May 2020 throughout Europe, features "Ein biÃÂchen Frieden" performed by Michael Schulte and Ilse DeLange at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
The song topped the charts in many countries. According to composer and producer Ralph Siegel, the single sold 2.5âÂÂ3 million copies.
"A Little Peace", the English version âÂÂwith lyrics by Paul GreedusâÂÂ, was released in predominantly English speaking territories and reached number 1 on the charts in the United Kingdom and Ireland, among others. It was the last Eurovision winner to top the charts in the United Kingdom. The English version also holds the honor of becoming the 500th British Number One.
"Ein biÃÂchen Frieden"
"Een beetje vrede"
"A Little Peace"
"Ein biÃÂchen Frieden"
"Een beetje vrede"
"A Little Peace"
"A Little Peace" was covered by Daniel O'Donnell for his 1997 album I Believe.
"Ein biÃÂchen Frieden" was covered in Slovene as "Malo miru" by Irena Tratnik and also by Oto Pestner, in Czech as "Jsme dÃÂti slunce" by JaromÃÂr Mayer, in Croatian as "Malo mira" by , in Danish as "En smule fred" by , in Hungarian as "Egy kis nyugalmat kÃÂvánok én" by Neoton FamÃÂlia, in Polish as "Troszeczkàziemi, troszeczkàsà Âoà Âca" by Eleni Tzoka, in Spanish as "Un poco de paz" by mexican singer Laura Flores and in Finnish as "Vain Hieman Rauhaa" by Katri Helena. In 1996, the Swedish techno/folk/bluegrass band Rednex, known for their hit Cotton-Eye Joe around that time, did a cover of "Ein biÃÂchen Frieden", also played in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song has since been rendered in Dutch as "Een Beetje Vrede" recorded by Kathleen Aerts for her 2009 album In Symfonie.
Monica Forsberg wrote lyrics in Swedish as "En liten fÃÂ¥gel", and the song became popular among dansband groups. It was recorded in Swedish by Stefan Borsch on his 1982 album En liten fÃÂ¥gel as well as releasing it as a single the same year and Mats Bergmans on his 2004 album Vänd dig inte om. It was also recorded by Ingmar Nordströms on 1982 album Saxparty 9.
German techno-punk band DAF released "Ein biÃÂchen Krieg" ("A Bit of War") as a response to the supposed sentimentality of the song. German comedy metal band J.B.O.ÃÂ released a parody cover of this song in Rammstein style in 1997 on their album "Laut!".