Eurovision Song Contest 1968 | |
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Dates | |
Final | 6 April 1968 |
Host | |
Venue | Royal Albert Hall London, United Kingdom |
Presenter(s) | Katie Boyle |
Musical director | Norrie Paramor |
Directed by | Stewart Morris |
Executive supervisor | Clifford Brown |
Executive producer | Tom Sloan |
Host broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
Website | eurovision |
Participants | |
Number of entries | 17 |
Debuting countries | None |
Returning countries | None |
Non-returning countries | None |
| |
Vote | |
Voting system | Ten-member juries distributed ten points among their favourite songs. |
Winning song | Spain "La La La" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's first victory at the 1967 contest with the song "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw. Despite having won for the first time the year before, it was actually the third time that the United Kingdom had hosted the competition, having previously done so in 1960 and 1963, both of which also took place in London. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the contest was held at Royal Albert Hall on 6 April 1968, and was hosted by Katie Boyle for the third time. It was notably also the first time that the contest was broadcast in colour.
Seventeen countries participated in the contest, the same countries that had participated the previous year.
The winner was Spain with the song "La La La" by Massiel, and written/composed by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa. This was Spain's first victory - and their first ever top five placing - in the contest.
The contest was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The Royal Albert Hall is known for hosting the world's leading artists from several performance genres, sports, award ceremonies, the annual summer Proms concerts and other events since its opening in 1871, and has become one of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings. At the time of the contest in 1968, the hall had a capacity of 7,000 seats. [1]
Eurovision Song Contest 1968 –Participation summaries by country | |
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All countries that had participated in 1967 also participated in 1968. [2]
Originally Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) entered Joan Manuel Serrat to sing "La La La", but his demand to sing in Catalan was an affront to the Francoist State dictatorship. Therefore, Massiel, who was on tour in Mexico, was brought in as a late replacement. In just two weeks, she had to rush back to Spain, learn the song, record it in several languages, travel to Paris to get a dress and go to London for rehearsals. She sang the song in the contest in Castilian Spanish with the new arrangement made to fit her. In her winning reprise, she performed part of her song in English, in addition to the original version, becoming the first winner to do so. [2] [3]
Country | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) | Conductor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austria | ORF | Karel Gott | "Tausend Fenster" | German |
| Robert Opratko |
Belgium | RTB | Claude Lombard | "Quand tu reviendras" | French |
| Henri Segers |
Finland | YLE | Kristina Hautala | "Kun kello käy" | Finnish |
| Ossi Runne |
France | ORTF | Isabelle Aubret | "La Source" | French |
| Alain Goraguer |
Germany | HR [lower-alpha 1] | Wencke Myhre | "Ein Hoch der Liebe" | German |
| Horst Jankowski |
Ireland | RTÉ | Pat McGeegan | "Chance of a Lifetime" | English | John Kennedy | Noel Kelehan |
Italy | RAI | Sergio Endrigo | " Marianne " | Italian | Sergio Endrigo | Giancarlo Chiaramello |
Luxembourg | CLT | Chris Baldo and Sophie Garel | "Nous vivrons d'amour" | French |
| André Borly |
Monaco | TMC | Line and Willy | "À chacun sa chanson" | French |
| Michel Colombier |
Netherlands | NTS | Ronnie Tober | "Morgen" | Dutch |
| Dolf van der Linden |
Norway | NRK | Odd Børre | "Stress" | Norwegian |
| Øivind Bergh |
Portugal | RTP | Carlos Mendes | "Verão" | Portuguese |
| Joaquim Luís Gomes |
Spain | TVE | Massiel | "La La La" | Spanish |
| Rafael Ibarbia |
Sweden | SR | Claes-Göran Hederström | "Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mej" | Swedish | Peter Himmelstrand | Mats Olsson |
Switzerland | SRG SSR | Gianni Mascolo | "Guardando il sole" | Italian |
| Mario Robbiani |
United Kingdom | BBC | Cliff Richard | "Congratulations" | English | Norrie Paramor | |
Yugoslavia | JRT | Lući Kapurso and Hamo Hajdarhodžić | "Jedan dan" (Један дан) | Serbo-Croatian |
| Miljenko Prohaska |
Bold indicates a previous winner.
Artist | Country | Previous year(s) |
---|---|---|
Isabelle Aubret | France | 1962 |
1968 was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast in colour. [1] The countries that broadcast it in colour were France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, although in the UK it was broadcast as an encore presentation in colour on BBC Two the next day. Many Eastern European countries as well as Tunisia broadcast the contest.
Prior to the contest, the bookmakers were sure of another British victory, as the English singer Cliff Richard, who was already dominating the music charts at that time, was hotly tipped as the favourite to win, but in the end he lost out to Spain's song by a margin of just one point.
R/O | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Portugal | Carlos Mendes | "Verão" | 5 | 11 |
2 | Netherlands | Ronnie Tober | "Morgen" | 1 | 16 |
3 | Belgium | Claude Lombard | "Quand tu reviendras" | 8 | 7 |
4 | Austria | Karel Gott | "Tausend Fenster" | 2 | 13 |
5 | Luxembourg | Chris Baldo and Sophie Garel | "Nous vivrons d'amour" | 5 | 11 |
6 | Switzerland | Gianni Mascolo | "Guardando il sole" | 2 | 13 |
7 | Monaco | Line and Willy | "À chacun sa chanson" | 8 | 7 |
8 | Sweden | Claes-Göran Hederström | "Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mej" | 15 | 5 |
9 | Finland | Kristina Hautala | "Kun kello käy" | 1 | 16 |
10 | France | Isabelle Aubret | "La Source" | 20 | 3 |
11 | Italy | Sergio Endrigo | " Marianne " | 7 | 10 |
12 | United Kingdom | Cliff Richard | "Congratulations" | 28 | 2 |
13 | Norway | Odd Børre | "Stress" | 2 | 13 |
14 | Ireland | Pat McGeegan | "Chance of a Lifetime" | 18 | 4 |
15 | Spain | Massiel | "La La La" | 29 | 1 |
16 | Germany | Wencke Myhre | "Ein Hoch der Liebe" | 11 | 6 |
17 | Yugoslavia | Lući Kapurso and Hamo Hajdarhodžić | "Jedan dan" | 8 | 7 |
Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1968 contest are listed below.
Due to a misunderstanding by the hostess, Katie Boyle, Switzerland were erroneously awarded 3 points by Yugoslavia, instead of 2. The scrutineer asked for the Yugoslav votes from TV Skopje to be announced a second time.
Total score | Portugal | Netherlands | Belgium | Austria | Luxembourg | Switzerland | Monaco | Sweden | Finland | France | Italy | United Kingdom | Norway | Ireland | Spain | Germany | Yugoslavia | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Contestants | Portugal | 5 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
Netherlands | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
Belgium | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
Austria | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Luxembourg | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
Switzerland | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
Monaco | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
Sweden | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | ||||||||||||
Finland | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
France | 20 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
Italy | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
United Kingdom | 28 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
Norway | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Ireland | 18 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | |||||||||||
Spain | 29 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||
Germany | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | |||||||||||||
Yugoslavia | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants". Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers. [14]
Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below. In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Tunisia, and in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision. [5] [1]
Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Czechoslovakia | ČST | ČST | Miroslav Horníček | [40] [41] |
Hungary | MTV | MTV | [42] | |
Malta | MBA | MTS, National Network | [43] [44] | |
Poland | TP | Telewizja Polska | [45] | |
Puerto Rico | WKAQ [lower-alpha 5] | [46] | ||
Romania | TVR | TVR | [47] |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was the 14th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Madrid, Spain, following the country's victory at the 1968 contest with the song "La La La" by Massiel. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE), the contest was held at the Teatro Real on 29 March 1969 and was hosted by Spanish television presenter and actress Laurita Valenzuela.
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1962 was the 7th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the 1961 contest with the song "Nous les amoureux" by Jean-Claude Pascal. The contest was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), and was held at the Villa Louvigny on Sunday 18 March 1962 hosted by the Luxembourgish speaker Mireille Delannoy. This remains the last time that the final of the contest was not held on a Saturday, as since 1963 the final of the contest has consistently been held on a Saturday evening.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the eighth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in London, United Kingdom. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who agreed to stage the event after France, who had won the 1962 edition, declined to host it due to financial shortcomings, also having hosted the competition in 1959 and 1961. The contest was held at the BBC Television Centre on Saturday 23 March 1963 and was hosted by Katie Boyle for a second time.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the 9th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the 1963 contest with the song "Dansevise" by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR), the contest was held at Tivolis Koncertsal on 21 March 1964, and was hosted by Danish TV presenter Lotte Wæver.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the tenth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Naples, Italy, following the country's victory at the 1964 contest with the song "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest was held at Sala di Concerto della RAI on 20 March 1965, and was hosted by Italian singer Renata Mauro.
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1970 was the 15th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), the contest was held at the RAI Congrescentrum on 21 March 1970, and was hosted by Dutch television presenter Willy Dobbe.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the 16th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1970 contest with the song "All Kinds of Everything" by Dana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre on 3 April 1971, and was hosted by Irish television presenter Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1987 was the 32nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Brussels, Belgium, following the country's victory at the 1986 contest with the song "J'aime la vie" by Sandra Kim. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF), the contest was held at the Centenary Palace on 9 May 1987 and hosted by French-Belgian singer Viktor Lazlo.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Bergen, Norway, following the country's victory at the 1985 contest with the song "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks! Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), the contest was held at Grieghallen on 3 May 1986 and was hosted by previous Norwegian contestant Åse Kleveland.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was the 33rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following Johnny Logan's win at the 1987 contest with the song "Hold Me Now". Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 30 April 1988 and was hosted by Irish broadcaster Pat Kenny and the Miss Ireland 1980 Michelle Rocca, marking the first time since the 1979 contest that two presenters had hosted the contest.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the 1978 contest with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held at the International Convention Centre on 31 March 1979 and was hosted by Israeli television presenter Daniel Pe'er and singer Yardena Arazi. This was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was held outside Europe.
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