Eurovision Song Contest in the '70s
After the farcical result the year before the Nordic block decided to boycott the contest. Austria, having refused to take part in Franco's Spain the year before, were again missing. Portugal were also missing, but not until they'd selected a song. The contest was in crisis and needed a song to revive it. It got it as well. Ireland scored their first victory. The Spanish entrant was a former football goalkeeper turned singer who would go on to be Spain's biggest selling singer. The German entrant was Katja Ebstein, making the first of her 3 appearances all of which ended with a top 3 finish making her the only artist with 3 top 3 finishes as an artist.
RESULTS
1.(12) 32 points - Ireland - All Kinds Of Everything - Dana
2.(7) 26 points - United Kingdom - Knock, Knock, Who's There - Mary Hopkin
3.(11) 12 points - Germany - Wunder gibt es immer wieder - Katja Ebstein
4.(2) 08 points - Switzerland - Retour - Henri Dès
(6) 08 points - France - Marie-Blanche - Guy Bonnet
(9) 08 points - Spain - Gwendolyne - Julio Iglesias
7.(1) 07 points - Netherlands - Waterman - Patricia & The Hearts of Soul
8.(3) 05 points - Italy - Occhi di ragazza - Gianni Morandi
(5) 05 points - Belgium - Viens l'oublier - Jean Vallée
(10) 05 points - Monaco - Marlène - Dominique Dussault
11.(4) 04 points - Yugoslavia - Pridi, dala ti bom cvet - Eva Sršen
12.(8 ) 00 points - Luxembourg - Je suis tombé du ciel - David Alexandre Winter
After the success of the 1970 winner the Nordic block returned as did Austria and Portugal. Malta made a rather unsuccessful debut finishing last. The major change was in the voting system. For reasons best known to themselves the EBU decided that the voting should be more "interactive". Each country was to provide 2 jurors - 1 under 25 and 1 over 25. Each juror was to give a mark between 1 and 5 for each entry. This of course meant that scores would be higher than ever before. It also meant that no song would finish with 0 points. It was lucky for the EBU that the winners in 1971 and 1972 were clear. The flaws in this system would be exposed in 1973, but more of that later.
RESULTS
1.(3) 128 points - Monaco - Un banc, un arbre, une rue - Severine
2.(6) 116 points - Spain - En un mondo nuevo - Karina
3.(5) 100 points - Germany - Diese Welt - Katja Ebstein
4.(9) 098 points - United Kingdom - Jack In The Box - Clodagh Rogers
5.(11) 091 points - Italy - L'amore e un attimo - Massimo Ranieri
6.(12) 085 points - Sweden - Vita vidder - Family Four
(14) 085 points - Netherlands - De Tijd - Saskia & Serge
8.(17) 084 points - Finland - Tie uuteen päivään - Markku Aro & Koivisto Sisters
9.(15) 083 points - Portugal - Menina - Tonicha
10.(7) 082 points - France - Un jardin sur la terre - Serge Lama
11.(13) 079 points - Ireland - One Day Love - Angela Farrell
12.(4) 078 points - Switzerland - Les illusions de nos vingt ans - Peter, Sue & Marc
13.(8 ) 070 points - Luxembourg - Pomme. pomme, pomme - Monique Melsen
14.(10) 068 points - Belgium - Goeie morgen, morgen - Lily Castel & Jacques Raymond
(16) 068 points - Yugoslavia - Tvoj djecak je tužan - Kruno Slabinac
16.(1) 056 points - Austria - Musik - Marianne Mendt
17.(18) 053 points - Norway - Lykken Er - Hanne Krogh
18.(2) 052 points - Malta - Marija L-Maltija - Joe Grech
Monaco were unable to host the contest after their victory in 1971 so the contest returned to the United Kingdom, but for the first time it wasn't held in London, rather the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh. For the one and only time in their history Ireland sang in Gaelic. With Malta singing in Maltese (and coming last again) it meant that the UK entry was the only entry in English (the last time this happened and the first time since 1964). Vicky Leandros returned 5 years after coming 4th to claim victory. Germany's Mary Roos would return 12 years later. Sandra from the Netherlands would return twice more under different names in the next 7 years. Carlos Mendes returned for Portugal to give them their best result ever, a distinction he'd hold for 24 years.
RESULTS
1.(17) 128 points - Luxembourg - Après toi - Vicky Leandros
2.(5) 114 points - United Kingdom - Beg Steal Or Borrow - The New Seekers
3.(1) 107 points - Gemany - Nur die Liebe läßt uns leben - Mary Roos
4.(18 ) 106 points - Netherlands - Als 't om de liefde gaat - Sandra & Andres
5.(11) 100 points - Austria - Falter im Wind - The Milestones
6.(12) 092 points - Italy - I giorni dell'arcobaleno - Nicola di Bari
7.(7) 090 points - Portugal - A festa da vida - Carlos Mendes
8.(8 ) 088 points - Switzerland - C'est la chanson de mon amour - Véronique Müller
9.(13) 087 points - Yugoslavia - Muzika i ti - Tereza
10.(4) 083 points - Spain - Amanece - Jaime Morey
11.(2) 081 points - France - Comé comédie - Betty Mars
12.(10) 078 points - Finland - Muistathan - Päivi Paunu & Kim Floor
13.(14) 075 points - Sweden - Härliga sommardag - Family Four
14.(6) 073 points - Norway - Småting - Grethe Kausland & Benny Borg
15.(3) 072 points - Ireland - Ceol an ghrá - Sandie Jones
16.(16) 065 points - Monaco - Comme on s'aime - Anne-Marie Godart & Peter MacLane
17.(15) 055 points - Belgium - A la folie ou pas du tout - Serge & Christine Ghisoland
18.(9) 048 points - Malta - L'imhabba - Helen & Joseph
An historic ESC in many ways. The first country not geographically in Europe, Israel, took part for the first time. A female conductor was seen for the first (and second) time when Monica Dominique was the conductor for the Swedish entry (Nurit Hirsch became the second female conductor 5 songs later when conducting the Israeli entry). The rule stating each country must sing in a language native to that country was relaxed for the first time. Sweden and Norway were the only ones to take advantage of this rule, with Sweden singing in English and Norway singing in numerous languages (although predominantly in English & French). The Swedish entry had some of the most controversial lyrics ever seen at ESC. The lyrics "your breasts are like swallows in nesting" were considered offensive by some and hilarious by others. The voting systems flaws were seriously exposed this year when only 6 points separated the top 3 entries. How much was to do with the performance of one of the Swiss juror's overacting is unknown but it was clear the system needed to be changed. Luxembourg became the first country to successfully defend their title without sharing it. Finland's Marion Rung returned after 11 years to better her country's highest finish by 1 place. She would be their most successful entrant for 33 years. The Belgian entrants were due to sing at the 1971 contest in Dublin but were forced to withdraw due to illness. They did go on to represent their country but perhaps shouldn't have bothered coming a convincing last.
RESULTS
1.(11) 129 points - Luxembourg - Tu te reconnaîtras - Anne-Marie David
2.(7) 125 points - Spain - Eres tu - Mocedades
3.(15) 123 points - United Kingdom - Power To All Our Friends - Cliff Richard
4.(17) 097 points - Israel - Ey-sham - Ilanit
5.(12) 094 points - Sweden - You're Summer - Nova & The Dolls
6.(1) 093 points - Finland - Tom, Tom, Tom - Marion Rung
7.(6) 089 points - Norway - It's Just A Game - The Bendik Singers
8.(4) 085 points - Germany - Junger Tag - Gitte
(5) 085 points - Monaco - Un train qui part - Marie
10.(3) 080 points - Portugal - Tourada - Fernando Torro
(14) 080 points - Ireland - Do I Dream? - Maxi
12.(8 ) 079 points - Switzerland - Je vais marier. Marie - Patrick Juvet
13.(10) 074 points - Italy - Chi sarà - Massimo Ranieri
14.(13) 069 points - Netherlands - De oude muzikant - Ben Cramer
15.(9) 065 points - Yugoslavia - Gori Vatra - Zdravko ?oli?
(16) 065 points - France - Sans Toi - Martine Clemenceau
17.(2) 058 points - Belgium - Baby Baby - Nicole & Hugo
A brief return to the old scoring system of 10 jurors each giving 1 point to their favourite entry produced one of the contest's hugest winners, not in terms of points scored or the margin of victory but by the sheer magnitude of what the winning artists went on to achieve. Having tried unsuccessfully to represent their country in 1973 (and changing their name as well) Abba took Eurovision to a new level (which was never really achieved again). After 3 years where the winner was a French chanson (albeit for Monaco and Luxembourg) which showed the contest was still dated it was a bold move by the Swedes to chose a modern song. Gigliola Cinquetti returned again 10 years after her victory to claim 2nd place. 1974 also saw the first of 18 entries written by Eurovision's most prolific composer, Ralph Siegel, he wrote the Luxembourg entry. Greece entered the contest for the first time. France withdrew from the contest a couple of days before it due to the death of President Pompidou. The Portuguese entry was used as an anthem for an uprising in Portugal that would ultimately overthrow the government.
RESULTS
1.(8 ) 24 points - Sweden - Waterloo - Abba
2.(17) 18 points - Italy - Si - Gigliola Cinquetti
3.(12) 15 points - Netherlands - I See A Star - Mouth & MacNeal
4.(2) 14 points - United Kingdom - Long Live Love - Olivia Newton-John
(9) 14 points - Luxembourg - Bye, Bye I Love You - Ireen Sheer
(10) 14 points - Monaco - Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va - Romuald
7.(6) 11 points - Israel - Natati la khaiai - Poogy
(13) 11 points - Ireland - Cross My Heart - Tina Reynolds
9.(3) 10 points - Spain - Canta y se feliz - Peret
(11) 10 points - Belgium - Fleur de liberté - Jacques Hustin
11.(5) 07 points - Greece - Krassi thalassa ke t'agori mou - Marinella
12.(7) 06 points - Yugoslavia - Generacija 42 - Korni
13.(1) 04 points - Finland - Keep Me Warm - Carita
14.(4) 03 points - Norway - The First Day Of Love - Anne Karine Strøm
(14) 03 points - Germany - Die Sommermelodie - Cindy & Bert
(15) 03 points - Switzerland - Mein Ruf nach dir - Piera Martell
(16) 03 points - Portugal - E depois do adeus - Paulo de Calvalho
The major talking point of the 1975 contest was the new voting system, which is still in use today. A jury of 10 members were required to give votes to their 10 favourite songs, giving 12 to their favourite, 10 to their 2nd favourite then 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 to their remaining 8 favourites. For the record the first country to receive 12 points were Luxembourg. As for the songs there really isn't much to note really. The winner remains the highest scoring entry for the Netherlands. Malta returned for a last go before disappearing for 16 years. Turkey made an inauspicious debut finishing last. The UK finished 2nd despite Bruce Welch forgetting the second line of the song and stating "I knew it!". Ellen Nikolaysen was performing for Norway for the 3rd consecutive year (albeit the 2 previous years as a member of The Bendik Singers).
RESULTS
1.(1) 152 points - Netherlands - Ding-a-dong - Teach-In
2.(9) 138 points - United Kingdom - Let Me Be The One - The Shadows
3.(19) 115 points - Italy - Era - Wess & Dori Ghezzi
4.(3) 91 points - France - Et bonjour à toi l'artiste - Nicole Rieu
5.(5) 84 points - Luxembourg - Toi - Geraldine
6.(7) 77 points - Switzerland - Mikado - Simone Drexel
7.(15) 74 points - Finland - Old Man Fiddle - Pihasoittajat
8.(17) 72 points - Sweden - Jennie, Jennie - Lars Berghagen
9.(2) 68 points - Ireland - That's What Friends Are For - The Swarbriggs
10.(15) 53 points - Spain - Tú volverás - Sergio & Estibaliz
11.(12) 40 points - Israel - At van'ai - Shlomo Artzi
12.(10) 32 points - Malta - Singing This Song - Renato
13.(8 ) 22 points - Yugoslavia - Dan ljubezni - Pepel In Kri
(14) 22 points - Monaco - Une chanson c'est une lettre - Sophie
15.(11) 17 points - Belgium - Gelukkig zijn - Ann Christy
16.(16) 16 points - Portugal - Madrugada - Duarte Mendes
17.(4) 15 points - Germany - Ein Lied kann eine Brücke sein - Joy Fleming
18.(6) 11 points - Norway - Touch My Life (With Summer) - Ellen Nikolaysen
19.(13) 3 points - Turkey - Seninle bir dakika - Semhia Yanki
The biggest selling Eurovision song of all time won the 1976 contest. Singing first with a quirky song and an equally quirky dance routine the UK entry was never challenged for the title. The winning song went on to sell millions all over the world and has been declared as Eurovision's biggest selling single - beating Waterloo and Volare. Peter, Sue & Marc returned for Switzerland singing in English (the 2nd of 4 entries in 4 different languages for the group). Sandra returned for the home country having ditched Andres from 1972 and singing on her own. Spain finished outside the top 10 for the first time since 1966. They remain one of only 2 countries to have finished in the top 10 for 10 consecutive years (the other being the United Kingdom's long run of top 10 finishes (1959-1977 inclusive)).
RESULTS
1.(1) 164 points - United Kingdom - Save Your Kisses For Me - Brotherhood Of Man
2.(17) 147 points - France - Un, deux, trois - Catherine Ferry
3.(16) 93 points - Monaco - Toi. la musique et moi - Mary Christy
4.(2) 91 points - Switzerland - Djambo, Djambo - Peter, Sue & Marc
5.(14) 80 points - Austria - My Little World - Waterloo & Robinson
6.(4) 77 points - Israel - Emor shalom - Chocolate Menta Mastik
7.(13) 69 points - Italy - We'll Live It All Again - Al Bano & Romina Power
8.(6) 68 points - Belgium - Judy et cie - Pierre Rapsat
9.(8 ) 56 points - Netherlands - The Party's Over - Sandra Reemer
10.(7) 54 points - Ireland - When - Red Hurley
11.(11) 44 points - Finland - Pump, pump - Fredi & Friends
12.(15) 24 points - Portugal - Uma flor de verde pinho - Carlos do Carmo
13.(10) 20 points - Greece - Panayia mu, Panayia mu - Mariza Koch
14.(5) 17 points - Luxembourg - Chansons pour ceux qui s'aiment - Jürgen Marcus
15.(3) 12 points - Germany - Sing, Sang, Song - Les Humphries Singers
16.(12) 11 points - Spain - Sobran las palabras - Braulio
17.(18) 10 points - Yugoslavia - Ne mogu skriti svoj bol - Ambasadori
18.(9) 07 points - Norway - Mata Hari - Anne Karine Strøm
For the fourth time the contest was held in London. The contest marked the last time to date that France has won the contest. The Swarbriggs returned (Plus Two) for Ireland two years after their first appearance. Michèle Torr returned this time for Monaco 11 years after she represented Luxembourg. Anita Skorgan made the first of her 4 appearances (once in duet with Jahn Teigen once as an uncredited backing vocalist for Teigen). Ilanit returned for Israel, Mia Martini made her first appearance for Italy returning 15 years later, Monica Aspelund represented Finland 6 years later her sister followed. The main talking point was the language rule which was reinstated shortly before the contest. However as both Belgium and Germany had already chosen their entries they were allowed to stay in English. It would not be for another 22 years that the language rule once again disappeared.
RESULTS
1.(18 ) 136 points - France - L'oiseau et l'enfant - Marie Myriam
2.(9) 121 points - United Kingdom - Rock Bottom - Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran
3.(1) 119 points - Ireland - It's Nice To Be In Love Again - The Swarbriggs plus Two
4.(2) 96 points - Monaco - Une petite Française - Michèle Torr
5.(10) 92 points - Greece - Mathema Solfege - Pascalis, Marianna, Robert & Bessy
6.(12) 71 points - Switzerland - Swiss Lady - Pepe Leinhard Band
7.(17) 69 points - Belgium - A Million In One, Two, Three - Dream Express
8.(6) 55 points - Germany - Telegram - Silver Convention
9.(14) 52 points - Spain - Enséñame a cantar - Micky
10.(16) 50 points - Finland - Lapponia - Monica Aspelund
11.(11) 49 points - Israel - Ahava hi shir lishnayim - Ilanit
12.(3) 35 points - Netherlands - De mallemolen - Heddy Lester
13.(16) 33 points - Italy - Libera - Mia Martini
14.(5) 18 points - Norway - Casanova - Anita Skorgan
(8 ) 18 points - Portugal - Portugal no coração - Os Amigos
16.(7) 17 points - Luxembourg - Frère Jacques - Anne-Marie B
17.(4) 11 points - Austria - Boom Boom Boomerang - Schmetterlinge
18.(13) 2 points - Sweden - Beatles - Forbes
The 1978 contest was the largest to date with 20 entries and produced one of the most controversial winners ever. The Israeli delegation threatened to pull the song from the contest citing it as "a ridiculous children's song". The legitmacy of Israel participating in the event had often been discussed, as geographically it is not in Europe, although it met all the criteria for participating. Whatever the arguments the Israeli entry romped to victory beating the returning Jean Vallée into 2nd place (which was Belgium's best placing to date). Luxembourg decided to ask Spanish superstars Baccara to sing their entry (in heavily accented French it failed to impress). Ireen Sheer returned to the contest this time for Germany. Denmark returned to the contest after 13 years away. The United Kingdom finished outside the top 10 for the first time ever. However the most famous and talked about moments in the contest was the 0 points "scored" by Norway's Jahn Teigen. Thanks to Teigen (and subsequently Finn Kalvik) Norway became synonymous with 0 points.
RESULTS
1.(18 ) 157 points - Israel - A-Ba-Ni-Bi - Izhar Cohen and the Alpha Beta
2.(10) 125 points - Belgium - L'amour ça fait chanter la vie - Jean Vallée
3.(6) 119 points - France - Il y aura toujours des violons - Joël Prevost
4.(14) 107 points - Monaco - Les jardins de Monaco - Caline & Olivier Toussaint
5.(1) 86 points - Ireland - Born To Sing - Colm T Wilkinson
6.(13) 84 points - Germany - Feuer - Ireen Sheer
7.(17) 73 points - Luxembourg - Parlez-vouz Français? - Baccara
8.(15) 66 points - Greece - Charlie Chaplin - Tania Tsanaklidou
9.(7) 65 points - Spain - Bailemos un vals - José Vélez
(9) 65 points - Switzerland - Vivre - Carole Vinci
11.(8 ) 61 points - United Kingdom - The Bad Old Days - Co-co
12.(3) 53 points - Italy - Questo Amore - Ricchi e Poveri
13.(11) 37 points - Netherlands - 't Is OK - Harmony
14.(20) 26 points - Sweden - Det blir alltid värre framåt natten - Björn Skiffs
15.(19) 14 points - Austria - Mrs Caroline Robinson - Springtime
16.(16) 13 points - Denmark - Boom Boom - Mabel
17.(5) 5 points - Portugal - Dai Li Dou - Gemini
18.(4) 2 points - Finland - Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus - Seija Simola
(12) 2 points - Turkey - Sevince - Nilüfer & Nazar
20. (2) 0 points - Norway - Mil Etter Mil - Jahn Teigen
The 1979 contest was the first to be held somewhere considered to be outside of Europe. It produced one of the closest contests since the 4 way tie of 1969. With 2 voters left Israel were on 107 points and Spain were on 106 points, however with the Spanish still to vote a lot would ride on the votes of the Austrian jury. When they awarded 8 to Israel and 10 to Spain the Spaniard's took the lead - it would all rest on their own votes. Rumours have been rife ever since that the Spanish jury changed their votes at the last minute to ensure that they didn't win due to the costs of holding the contest. This has never been substantiated though and remains a rumour. Israel became the 3rd country to retain the title and the first not to defend it withdrawing from the 1980 contest. Anne-Marie David returned to the contest 6 years after winning this time representing her home country, France. Tommy Seebach made the first of his 3 appearances for Denmark, Katri Helena her first of 2 for Finland. Peter, Sue & Marc were back again this time in German and with Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri and assorted kitchen and garden items. Sandra Reemer was back for her 3rd and final attempt for the Netherlands, this time called Xandra. Monaco made their last appearance for a quarter of a century eventually returning in the 2004 Semi-Final.
Results
1.(10) 125 points - Israel - Hallelujah - Milk & Honey featuring Gali Atari
2.(19) 116 points - Spain - Su canción - Betty Missiego
3.(11) 106 points - France - Je suis l'enfant soleil - Anne-Marie David
4.(9) 86 points - Germany - Dschingis Khan - Dschingis Khan
5.(4) 80 points - Ireland - Happy Man - Cathal Dunne
6.(3) 76 points - Denmark - Disco Tango - Tommy Seebach
7.(17) 73 points - United Kingdom - Mary Ann - Black Lace
8.(7) 69 points - Greece - Sokrati - Elpida
9.(1) 64 points - Portugal - Sobe, sobe, balão sobe - Manuela Bravo
10.(8 ) 60 points - Switzerland - Trödler & co. - Peter, Sue & Marc + Pfuri, Gorps & Kniri
11.(16) 57 points - Norway - Oliver - Anita Skorgan
12.(14) 51 points - Netherlands - Colorado - Xandra
13.(13) 44 points - Luxembourg - J'ai déjà vu ça dans tes yeux - Jeanne Manson
14.(5) 38 points - Finland - Katson sineen taivaan - Katri Helena
15.(2) 27 points - Italy - Raggio da luna - Mattia Bazar
16.(6) 12 points - Monaco - Notre vie c'est la musique - Jean Baudlot
17.(15) 8 points - Sweden - Sattelit - Ted Gärdestad
18.(12) 5 points - Belgium - Hey Nana - Micha Marah
(18 ) 5 points - Austria - Heute in Jerusalem - Christina Simon