Eurovision Song Contest 1961

The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Once again, the contest was held in the French seaside city of Cannes, having also hosted the 1959 edition. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), the contest was again held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on Saturday 18 March 1961, becoming the first contest to take place on a Saturday evening, a tradition that has continued ever since (with the exception of 1962). The show was again hosted by Jacqueline Joubert, who had also hosted in 1959.

Eurovision Song Contest 1961
Dates
Final18 March 1961
Host
VenuePalais des Festivals et des Congrès
Cannes, France
Presenter(s)Jacqueline Joubert
Musical directorFranck Pourcel
Directed byMaurice Barry
Executive producerMarcel Cravenne
Host broadcasterRadiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/cannes-1961
Participants
Number of entries16
Debuting countries
Returning countriesNone
Non-returning countriesNone
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of Europe
         Participating countries
Vote
Voting systemTen-member juries distributed 10 points among their favourite songs.
Nul pointsNone
Winning song Luxembourg
"Nous les amoureux"

Sixteen countries participated in the contest - three more than in the previous edition; Finland, Spain and Yugoslavia all competed for the first time this year.

The winner was Luxembourg with the song "Nous les amoureux", performed by Jean-Claude Pascal, written by Maurice Vidalin, and composed by Jacques Datin, with the United Kingdom finishing in second place for the third consecutive year.

Location
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes – host venue of the 1961 contest

The event took place in Cannes, France, following the nation's victory at the 1960 edition with the song "Tom Pillibi", performed by Jacqueline Boyer. The selected venue was the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, built in 1949 to host the Cannes Film Festival and located on the Promenade de la Croisette along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.[1][2] Due to the growth in the film festival a new building bearing the same name was opened in 1982, with the original building renamed as the Palais Croisette and subsequently demolished in 1988.[3] It also hosted the 1959 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.[1]

Format

The stage used for the 1961 contest was notably larger than in previous years and was decorated with flowers. It is noticeable that during the voting, Luxembourg gave the UK eight points, and Norway also gave Denmark eight points. It was the largest number of points given to a country by a single jury since 1958, when Denmark provided France with nine points. Such a high number of points obtained by a country would not be achieved until 1970, when Ireland would receive nine points from Belgium.[4]

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

Interest in the competition began to grow across Europe as three new countries participated for the first time: Finland, Spain, and Yugoslavia.[4]

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who directed the orchestra.[5][1]

Returning artists
Artist Country Previous year(s)
Bob Benny  Belgium 1959
Nora Brockstedt  Norway 1960

Participants and results
R/O Country Artist Song Language[6][7] Points Place[8]
1  Spain Conchita Bautista "Estando contigo" Spanish 8 9
2  Monaco Colette Deréal "Allons, allons les enfants" French 6 10
3  Austria Jimmy Makulis "Sehnsucht" German 1 15
4  Finland Laila Kinnunen "Valoa ikkunassa" Finnish 6 10
5  Yugoslavia Ljiljana Petrović "Neke davne zvezde" (Неке давне звезде) Serbo-Croatian 9 8
6  Netherlands Greetje Kauffeld "Wat een dag" Dutch 6 10
7  Sweden Lill-Babs "April, april" Swedish 2 14
8  Germany Lale Andersen "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" German, French 3 13
9  France Jean-Paul Mauric "Printemps, avril carillonne" French 13 4
10  Switzerland Franca di Rienzo "Nous aurons demain" French 16 3
11  Belgium Bob Benny "September, gouden roos" Dutch 1 15
12  Norway Nora Brockstedt "Sommer i Palma" Norwegian 10 7
13  Denmark Dario Campeotto "Angelique" Danish 12 5
14  Luxembourg Jean-Claude Pascal "Nous les amoureux" French 31 1
15  United Kingdom The Allisons "Are You Sure?" English 24 2
16  Italy Betty Curtis "Al di là" Italian 12 5

Detailed voting results

Each country had 10 jury members who each awarded 1 point to their favourite song.

Detailed voting results[9][10]
Total score
Italy
United Kingdom
Luxembourg
Denmark
Norway
Belgium
Switzerland
France
Germany
Sweden
Netherlands
Yugoslavia
Finland
Austria
Monaco
Spain
Contestants
 Spain 8122111
Monaco 61131
Austria 11
Finland 62211
Yugoslavia 9111213
Netherlands 62112
Sweden 22
Germany 3111
France 132141122
Switzerland 1622421221
Belgium 11
Norway 1015121
Denmark 128211
Luxembourg 31311151153442
United Kingdom 241811733
Italy 12441111

Spokespersons

Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1961 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country.[11]

  1.  Italy – Enzo Tortora
  2.  United Kingdom – Michael Aspel[1]
  3.  Luxembourg – TBC
  4.  Denmark – Ole Mortensen
  5.  Norway – Mette Janson
  6.  Belgium – Ward Bogaert
  7.  Switzerland – Boris Acquadro
  8.  France – Armand Lanoux
  9.  Germany – Heinz Schenk
  10.  Sweden – Roland Eiworth[12]
  11.  Netherlands – Siebe van der Zee[13]
  12.  Yugoslavia – Saša Novak
  13.  Finland – Poppe Berg
  14.  Austria – Emil Kollpacher
  15.  Monaco – TBC
  16.  Spain – Diego Ramírez Pastor

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.[14]

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)
 Austria ORF ORF Emil Kollpacher [15]
 Belgium BRT BRT Anton Peters [16][17][18]
RTB RTB Robert Beauvais [17]
 Denmark DR Danmarks Radio TV, Program 1 Sejr Volmer-Sørensen [19][20]
 Finland YLE Suomen Televisio, Yleisohjelma Aarno Walli [21][22][23]
 France RTF RTF, France I Robert Beauvais [24][25][26][27]
 Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen Wolf Mittler [17][25][28]
 Italy RAI Programma Nazionale, Secondo Programma Corrado Mantoni [29][30][31]
 Luxembourg CLT Télé-Luxembourg Robert Beauvais [32][33]
 Monaco Télé Monte-Carlo Robert Beauvais [34]
Radio Monte Carlo Robert Beauvais [27]
 Netherlands NTS NTS Piet te Nuyl Jr. [13][17][35]
NRU Hilversum 1
 Norway NRK NRK Fjernsynet, NRK Leif Rustad [36][37][38]
 Spain TVE TVE Federico Gallo [39][40][41]
RNE RNE Unknown [40]
 Sweden SR Sveriges TV, SR P1 Jan Gabrielsson [12][22][42]
 Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS Theodor Haller [25][27][43]
TSR, RSR 1 Robert Beauvais
TSI Corrado Mantoni
DRS 2 Theodor Haller
RSI 1 Corrado Mantoni
 United Kingdom BBC BBC TV Tom Sloan [1][44][45]
 Yugoslavia JRT Televizija Ljubljana Saša Novak [46][47][48][49]
Televizija Zagreb Gordana Bonetti

References
  1. Roxburgh 2012, pp. 254–264.
  2. "The Palais Croisette : 33 years of service". cannes.com. 4 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  3. "The 1983 festival inaugurates the Palais des Festivals". cannes.com. 4 October 2021. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  4. "Eurovision Song Contest 1961". EBU. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
  5. "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. "Eurovision Song Contest 1961". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  7. "Eurovision Song Contest 1961". 4Lyrics.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  8. "Final of Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  9. "Results of the Final of Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  10. "Eurovision Song Contest 1961 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  11. "Eurovision 1961 - Cast and Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  12. Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna (in Swedish). Stockholm: Premium Publishing. pp. 34–35. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
  13. "Greetje vanavond nummer zes". Nieuwe Leidsche Courant. 18 March 1961. p. 7. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  14. "The Rules of the Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  15. "Austria – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  16. "Belgium – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  17. "Programma's binnen- en buitenlandse zenders". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 17 March 1961. p. 9. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  18. "Televisiekijkers voor U..." De Gazet van Aalst (in Flemish). 11 March 1961. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  19. "Denmark – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  20. "Programoversigt – 18-03-1961" (in Danish). Dansk Kulturarv. 18 March 1961. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  21. "Finland – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  22. "Radio ja televisio". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 18 March 1961. p. 33. Retrieved 7 November 2022. (subscription required)
  23. Pajala, Mari (2013). Badenoch, Alexander; Fickers, Andreas; Henrich-Franke, Christian (eds.). "Intervision Song Contests and Finnish Television between East and West". Airy Curtains in the European Ether: Broadcasting and the Cold War. Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos: 215–270. doi:10.5771/9783845236070-215. ISBN 9783845236070 – via Academia.edu. Walli was closely involved in YLE's ESC productions; among other things he [...] provided the commentary for all the 1960s ESCs on Finnish television.
  24. "France – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  25. "TV". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 9 March 1961. pp. 24–26. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  26. "Remise du Grand Prix Eurovision 1961 à Jean-Claude Pascal (Luxembourg)" (in French). Institut national de l'audiovisuel. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  27. "Programmes des Émissions Suisses et Étrangères". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 9 March 1961. pp. 33–36. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  28. "Germany – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  29. "Italy – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  30. "I programmi TV e radio". La Stampa (in Italian). 18 March 1961. p. 4. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  31. Anselmi, Eddy (January 2020). Il festival di Sanremo: 70 anni di storie, canzoni, cantanti e serate (in Italian). Milan, Italy: Planeta DeAgostini. ISBN 978-88-511-7854-3. Nel 1961 è il commentatore Rai dell'Eurovision Song Contest [In 1961 he was the commentator for Rai at the Eurovision Song Contest]
  32. "Luxembourg – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  33. "Télé-Luxembourg". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). 18 March 1961. p. 19. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  34. "Monaco – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  35. "Netherlands – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  36. "Norway – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  37. "Hørt i Radio". Haugesunds Dagblad (in Norwegian). 20 March 1961. p. 3. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via National Library of Norway.
  38. "Radioprogrammet". Sandefjords Blad (in Norwegian). 18 March 1961. p. 8. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via National Library of Norway.
  39. "Spain – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  40. "Radio y TV". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 18 March 1961. p. 30. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  41. 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 26 September 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  42. "Sweden – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  43. "Switzerland – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  44. "Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix 1961". Radio Times. 18 March 1961. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via BBC Genome Project.
  45. "United Kingdom – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 March 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  46. "Yugoslavia – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  47. "Radijski in televizijski spored" (PDF). Glas (in Slovenian). 11 March 1961. p. 6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  48. Mitrović, Nemanja (6 March 2022). "Evrovizijski put Jugoslavije - od socijalističkog autsajdera do festivalskog pobednika" (in Serbian). BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022.
  49. "TV Program". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Serbo-Croatian). Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia. 18 March 1961. p. 8. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

Bibliography
  • O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
  • Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
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