#66 (2011)

#66

Haba Haba
Stella Mwangi
Norway

“Haba Haba” (Little by Little) was the first Eurovision entry to contain lyrics in Swahili. (It is interesting to note that it was not the first time Swahili was spoken on the Eurovision stage. In 2000, the hosts greeted viewers using the languages of all of the competing nations and threw in a few words of Swahili “just in case”.) The song contains the phrase “Haba haba hujaza kibaba” which translates as “little by little fills the measure”, a variant on the common English saying “slow and steady wins the race”.

The song stormed to victory in Melodi Grand Prix 2011 and became a huge hit in Norway, where it spent 4 consecutive weeks at the top of the singles chart. Unfortunately, the rest of Europe didn’t care for it. At Eurovision, “Haba Haba” finished 17th of 19 in the first semifinal, thus failing to qualify for the final.