Geef het op



"Geef het op" ("Give it up") was the Belgian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991, performed in Dutch by the band Clouseau.

In 1989 Clouseau, named after Peter Sellers' character Inspector Clouseau in Blake Edwards' Pink Panther series, had participated in the Belgian tryouts for the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Anne". Although the song came in second behind "Door de wind", it became the band's breakthrough single in both Belgium and the Netherlands and they returned to the Contest in 1991.

Composed by the band members, "Geef het op" was performed eighteenth on the night (following Germany's Atlantis 2000 with "Dieser Traum darf niemals sterben" and preceding Spain's Sergio Dalma with "Bailar pegados"). At the close of voting, it had received 23 points, placing 16th in a field of 22. Despite its moderate success in the actual Contest, "Geef het op" went on to become another Top 20 hit for the band in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The song is an up-tempo track, sung from the perspective of a man telling a girl that her lover is no good for her. He reminds her that he has told her this before and that she should "give it [her current relationship] up" in favour of one with him. Clouseau also recorded the song in an English-language version, as "Give It Up", featured on their first international album Close Encounters.

It was succeeded as Belgian representative at the 1992 Contest by Morgane singing "Nous, on veut des violons".

Sources and external links

 * Official Eurovision Song Contest site, history by year, 1991.
 * Detailed info and lyrics, The Diggiloo Thrush, "Geef het op".
 * Lescharts.com, chart positions "Geef het op".
 * Official Clouseau site, Clouseau.be, in Dutch
 * Discogs.com Clouseau.