Eurovision Song Contest 1974

The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Brighton, United Kingdom and was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The UK agreed to host the event after Luxembourg, having won in both 1972 and 1973, declined to host it for a second successive year on the grounds of expense.[1] The contest was held at the Brighton Dome on 6 April 1974 and was hosted by Katie Boyle for the fourth and final time (having hosted the 1960, 1963 and 1968 editions).

Eurovision Song Contest 1974
Dates
Final6 April 1974
Host
VenueThe Dome
Brighton, United Kingdom
Presenter(s)Katie Boyle
Musical directorRonnie Hazlehurst
Directed byMichael Hurll
Executive supervisorClifford Brown
Executive producerBill Cotton
Host broadcasterBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/brighton-1974
Participants
Number of entries17
Debuting countries Greece
Returning countriesNone
Non-returning countries France
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of Europe
         Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1974
Vote
Voting systemTen-member juries distributed ten points among their favourite songs.
Nul pointsNone
Winning song Sweden
"Waterloo"

Seventeen countries took part in the contest, with France being absent and Greece competing for the first time this year.

The winner was Sweden with the song "Waterloo", performed by ABBA, who would later go on to become one of the best-selling acts in pop music history.

Sandie Shaw, who won the contest in 1967 for the song "Puppet on a String", was seen as a spectator in the audience.

Location
The Brighton Dome, host venue of the 1974 contest

The contest was held in the seaside resort of Brighton on the south coast of the United Kingdom.

The venue which hosted the event was the Brighton Dome, an arts venue originally built for the Prince Regent (later George IV) and completed in 1805.

Format

Each song was introduced by a 'postcard' featuring a montage of film material, beginning with library footage of the participating nation provided by the various national tourist organizations. This was then intercut with various clips of the artists in rehearsal, conducting their press conference with the media or posing for photographs in and around the Brighton Pavilion complex. It was the first time the contest had broadcast rehearsal footage or behind the scenes footage from the run-up to the grand final.

Participating countries
Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest

Seventeen nations took part in this year's contest. Greece made their début in the contest, while France withdrew during the week of the contest after the sudden death of French President Georges Pompidou.[1]

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who conducted the orchestra.[2][3]

Jean-Claude Petit was scheduled to conduct the French entry prior to France's withdrawal.[5]

Returning artists

Bold indicates a previous winner

Artist Country Previous year(s)
Gigliola Cinquetti  Italy 1964
Romuald  Monaco 1964, 1969 (for  Luxembourg)
Bendik Singers  Norway 1973

Participants and results
R/O Country Artist Song Language[6][7] Points Place[8]
1  Finland Carita "Keep Me Warm" English 4 13
2  United Kingdom Olivia Newton-John "Long Live Love" English 14 4
3  Spain Peret "Canta y sé feliz" Spanish 10 9
4  Norway Anne-Karine Strøm and the Bendik Singers "The First Day of Love" English 3 14
5  Greece Marinella "Krasi, thalassa ke t' agori mou"
(Κρασί, θάλασσα και τ' αγόρι μου)		 Greek 7 11
6  Israel Poogy "Natati La Khayay" (נתתי לה חיי) Hebrew 11 7
7  Yugoslavia Korni Grupa "Generacija '42" (Генерација '42) Serbo-Croatian 6 12
8  Sweden ABBA "Waterloo" English 24 1
9  Luxembourg Ireen Sheer "Bye Bye I Love You" French[lower-alpha 2] 14 4
10  Monaco Romuald "Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va" French 14 4
11  Belgium Jacques Hustin "Fleur de liberté" French 10 9
12  Netherlands Mouth and MacNeal "I See a Star" English 15 3
13  Ireland Tina Reynolds "Cross Your Heart" English 11 7
14  Germany Cindy and Bert "Die Sommermelodie" German 3 14
15  Switzerland Piera Martell "Mein Ruf nach dir" German 3 14
16  Portugal Paulo de Carvalho "E depois do adeus" Portuguese 3 14
17  Italy Gigliola Cinquetti "Sì" Italian 18 2

Detailed voting results
Detailed voting results[9][10]
Total score
Finland
Luxembourg
Israel
Norway
United Kingdom
Yugoslavia
Greece
Ireland
Germany
Portugal
Netherlands
Sweden
Spain
Monaco
Switzerland
Belgium
Italy
Contestants
 Finland 4211
United Kingdom 1414112113
Spain 10121213
Norway 3111
Greece 7142
Israel 11212213
Yugoslavia 611112
Sweden 2451221121315
Luxembourg 14221311112
Monaco 142111211212
Belgium 10325
Netherlands 151113211131
Ireland 112121221
Germany 3111
Switzerland 3111
Portugal 312
Italy 18211511241

Spokespersons

The two-person jury system used for the previous three contests was abandoned, with a resurrection of the 10-person jury system with one vote per juror, last used in 1970, returning. This was the final time it was used. Unusually, a separate draw was made for the order in which the participating countries would vote. In all previous contests either nations had voted in the same running order as the song presentation or in the reverse of that order. It was not until 2006 that the voting sequence was decided by draw again. Finland, Norway, Switzerland and Italy drew the same position in both draws.

Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1974 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country.

  1.  Finland – Aarre Elo[11]
  2.  Luxembourg – TBC
  3.  Israel – Yitzhak Shim'oni
  4.  Norway – Sverre Christophersen
  5.  United Kingdom – Colin Ward-Lewis[3]
  6.  Yugoslavia – Helga Vlahović[12]
  7.  Greece – Mako Georgiadou
  8.  Ireland – Brendan Balfe
  9.  Germany – Ekkehard Böhmer
  10.  Portugal – Henrique Mendes
  11.  Netherlands – Dick van Bommel[13]
  12.  Sweden – Sven Lindahl[14]
  13.  Spain – Antolín García
  14.  Monaco – Sophie Hecquet[15]
  15.  Switzerland – Michel Stocker
  16.  Belgium – André Hagon
  17.  Italy – Anna Maria Gambineri[16]

Broadcasts

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.[1][17]

The contest was broadcast live in all participating countries, except for Italy which took a deferred transmission. The contest was also reportedly broadcast in Algeria, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Japan, Jordan, Iceland, Morocco, Poland, South Korea, the Soviet Union and Tunisia.[3] In addition to the broadcast on television, the contest was also provided via radio in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.[3] Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Belgium RTB RTB Unknown [18][19][20][21]
Radio Une Unknown
BRT BRT Unknown [19][21]
BRT 1 Unknown
 Finland YLE TV1, Yleisohjelma Matti Paalosmaa [11][22][23]
Ruotsinkielinen ohjelma Åke Grandell
 Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen Unknown [20][24][25][26]
 Greece EIRT EIRT Mako Georgiadou [27][28]
 Ireland RTÉ RTÉ Mike Murphy [29][30][31][32]
RTÉ Radio Unknown
 Israel IBA Israeli Television No commentary [33][34]
 Italy RAI Secondo Programma[lower-alpha 3] Rosanna Vaudetti [35][36][37]
 Luxembourg CLT RTL Télé-Luxembourg Unknown [20][38]
 Monaco Télé Monte-Carlo Unknown [39]
 Netherlands NOS Nederland 2 Willem Duys [21][40][41]
 Norway NRK NRK Fjernsynet John Andreassen [42][43]
NRK Erik Heyerdahl
 Portugal RTP I Programa, Emissora Nacional Programa 1 Artur Agostinho [44][45][46]
 Spain TVE TVE 1 José Luis Uribarri [47][48][49]
RNE Radio Nacional Unknown [48]
 Sweden SR TV1 Johan Sandström [14][22][43][50]
SR P3 Ursula Richter
 Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS Theodor Haller [24][25][51][52][53][54]
TSR Georges Hardy
TSI Unknown
DRS 1[lower-alpha 4] Max Rüeger
RSR 1 Robert Burnier
RSI 1 Unknown
 United Kingdom BBC BBC1 David Vine [3][55][56][57][58]
BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 Terry Wogan
BFBS BFBS Radio Richard Astbury [3]
 Yugoslavia JRT TV Ljubljana 1 Unknown [59][60][61]
TV Zagreb 1 Unknown
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria ORF FS2 Ernst Grissemann [62]
 Hungary MTV MTV1[lower-alpha 5] Unknown [63]
 Iceland RÚV Sjónvarpið Unknown [64]
 Malta MTPBS National Network Victor Aquilina [65]
 Turkey TRT TRT Televizyon Unknown [66]

Incidents

French withdrawal

France had been drawn to sing at No. 14 (after Ireland and before Germany) with the song "La Vie à vingt-cinq ans" by Dani, but as a mark of respect following the death of the French President Georges Pompidou during Eurovision week, French broadcaster ORTF made the decision to withdraw the entry. Given that President Pompidou's memorial service (he had been buried in a private ceremony on 4 April), which was attended by numerous international dignitaries, was held on the same day as the contest, it was deemed inappropriate for the French to take part. Dani was seen by viewers in the audience at the point the French song should have been performed. For the same reason, the French singer Anne-Marie David, who had won the first place for Luxembourg in 1973, could not come to Brighton to hand the prize to the 1974 winner.[1][67] In her absence, the Director General of the BBC and President of the EBU, Sir Charles Curran, presented the Grand Prix to the winners.

Italian broadcast

Italy did not broadcast the televised contest on the state television channel RAI because the contest coincided with the intense political campaigning for the 1974 Italian referendum on divorce, which was held a month later in May. RAI felt that Gigliola Cinquetti's song, which was entitled "Sì", and repeatedly featured the word "si" (yes),[68] could risk the accusation of being a subliminal message and a form of propaganda to influence the Italian voting public to vote "yes" in the referendum. The song was not played on most Italian state TV and radio stations until the referendum had been held.[67][69]

Notes
  1. Juan Carlos Calderón was initially slated to conduct his own composition for Spain, only to be replaced by Rafael Ibarbia when he fell ill prior to the contest.[4]
  2. Contains some words in English
  3. Delayed broadcast on 6 June 1974 at 21:45 CEST (19:45 UTC)[35]
  4. Delayed broadcast on 9 April 1974 at 21:30 CET (20:30 UTC)[52]
  5. Delayed broadcast on 25 May 1974 at 21:45 CET (20:45 UTC)[63]

References
  1. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  2. "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  3. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 142–168. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
  4. Tukker, Bas. "Juan Carlos Calderón". Andtheconductoris.eu. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  5. "Jean-Claude Petit's biography in 'And the conductor is...'". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  6. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  7. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974". 4Lyrics.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  8. "Final of Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  9. "Results of the Final of Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  10. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  11. "Carita ensimmäisenä Eurovisiokilpailussa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 6 April 1974. p. 45. Retrieved 23 December 2022. (subscription required)
  12. "Helga Vlahović: 1990 presenter has died". European Broadcasting Union. 27 February 2012. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  13. "Nederlandse jurywoordvoerders bij het Eurovisie Songfestival" (in Dutch). Eurovision Artists. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  14. Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna (in Swedish). Stockholm: Premium Publishing. pp. 108–109. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
  15. "Facets of Eurovision's Song Contest '75". Times of Malta. 31 March 1975. p. 7.
  16. Abbate, Mauro (7 May 2022). "Italia all'Eurovision Song Contest: tutti i numeri del nostro Paese nella kermesse europea" (in Italian). Notizie Musica. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  17. "The Rules of the Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  18. "Belgium – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  19. "TV Programma". De Voorpost (in Dutch). Aalst, Belgium. 5 April 1974. p. 31. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  20. "Télé-programmes – samedi 6 avril". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 5 April 1974. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  21. "Televisie | Radio". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). Amsterdam, Netherlands. 6 April 1974. p. 41. Retrieved 8 January 2023 – via Delpher.
  22. "Radio ja TV". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 6 April 1974. p. 45. Retrieved 23 December 2022. (subscription required)
  23. "Finland – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  24. "Fernsehen – Samstag". Der Bund (in German). Bern, Switzerland. 7 April 1974. p. 53. Retrieved 7 January 2023 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
  25. "TV – samedi 6 avril". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 4 April 1974. pp. 30–31. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  26. "Germany – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  27. "Greece – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  28. "Eurovision 2020: Giorgos Kapoutzidis -Maria Kozakou ston scholiasmo tou diagonismou gia tin ERT" Eurovision 2020: Γιώργος Καπουτζίδης -Μαρία Κοζάκου στον σχολιασμό του διαγωνισμού για την ΕΡΤ (in Greek). Matrix24. 12 February 2020. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  29. "Ireland – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  30. "Television Today". The Irish Times. 6 April 1974. p. 21. Retrieved 22 December 2022. (subscription required)
  31. "Radio Today". The Irish Times. 6 April 1974. p. 21. Retrieved 22 December 2022. (subscription required)
  32. Bedell, Roy (7 April 1973). Irish Eurovision delegation arrive home (1974) (Photograph). Dublin Airport, Dublin, Ireland. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2022 – via RTÉ Libraries and Archives.
  33. "Israel – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  34. "Televizia Klalit" טלוויזיה כללית. Al HaMishmar (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv, Israel. 5 April 1974. p. 47. Retrieved 8 January 2023 – via National Library of Israel.
  35. "I programmi di giovedì 6". La Stampa (in Italian). Turin, Italy. 5 June 1974. p. 8. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  36. "Junior Eurovision: anche Gigliola Cinquetti, Rosanna Vaudetti ed Eugenio in Via di Gioia tifano per Chanel" (in Italian). L'Opinionista. 11 December 2022. Archived from the original on 12 December 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  37. "Italy – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  38. "Luxembourg – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  39. "Monaco – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  40. Van Dijk, Ale (6 April 1974). "Eurovisie songfestival volgend jaar bij ons". Het Vrije Volk (in Dutch). p. 5. Retrieved 1 July 2022 – via Delpher.
  41. "Netherlands – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  42. "Norway – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  43. "Radio & TV-programmene". Moss Dagblad (in Norwegian). Moss, Norway. 6 April 1974. p. 4. Retrieved 8 January 2023 – via National Library of Norway.
  44. "Portugal – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  45. "Televisão | Rádio". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 6 April 1974. p. 26. Retrieved 8 January 2023 – via Casa Comum.
  46. Castrim, Mário (7 April 1974). "Um Waterloo onde faltou Cambronne". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). p. 32. Retrieved 1 July 2022 – via Casa Comum.
  47. "Spain – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  48. "Programas de Radio y Televisión". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 6 April 1974. p. 59. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  49. HerGar, Paula (28 March 2018). "Todos los comentaristas de la historia de España en Eurovisión (y una única mujer en solitario)" (in Spanish). Los 40. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  50. "Sweden – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  51. "Radio – samedi 6 avril". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 4 April 1974. pp. 60–61. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  52. "Radio". Der Bund (in German). Bern, Switzerland. 9 April 1974. p. 46. Retrieved 7 January 2023 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
  53. "Radio Televisione". Gazzetta Ticinese (in Italian). Lugano, Switzerland. 6 April 1974. p. 8. Retrieved 7 January 2023 – via Sistema bibliotecario ticinese.
  54. "Switzerland – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  55. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974 – BBC1". Radio Times. 6 April 1974. Retrieved 1 July 2022 – via BBC Genome Project.
  56. "Eurovision Song Contest 1974 – BBC Radio 2". Radio Times. 6 April 1974. Retrieved 1 July 2022 – via BBC Genome Project.
  57. "Schedule – BBC Radio 1 – 6 April 1974". Radio Times. 6 April 1974. Retrieved 10 January 2023 – via BBC Genome Project.
  58. "United Kingdom – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  59. "Yugoslavia – Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  60. "Televizija – 6. aprila" (PDF). Glas (in Slovenian). Kranj, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia. 6 April 1974. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  61. "TV Program – JRT". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Serbo-Croatian). Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia. 6 April 1974. p. 17. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  62. Halbhuber, Axel (22 May 2015). "Ein virtueller Disput der ESC-Kommentatoren". Kurier (in German). Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  63. "TV – kedd május 8". Rádió- és Televízió-újság (in Hungarian). 20 May 1974. p. 20. Archived from the original on 7 January 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2023 – via MTVA Archívum.
  64. ""ABBA" með lagið "Waterloo" leggja Evrópu að fótum sér". Vísir (in Icelandic). Reykjavík, Iceland. 17 May 1974. p. 13. Retrieved 14 March 2023 – via Timarit.is.
  65. "Euro Song Contest – Sweden's runaway victory". Times of Malta. 8 April 1974. p. 7.
  66. "TV". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). Istanbul, Turkey. 6 April 1974. p. 7. Archived from the original on 6 January 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  67. O'Connor, John Kennedy The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History Carlton Books, UK, 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
  68. Sì – Lyrics The Diggiloo Thrush
  69. "Il "Sì" della Cinquetti alla Televisione svizzera" [Gigliola Cinquetti's "Yes" from the Swiss TV]. La Stampa (in Italian). Turin. 7 April 1974. p. 8. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eurovision Song Contest 1974.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.