Eurovision Song Contest 1968
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) |
Interval act | Impressions from London |
Website | eurovision![]() |
Participants | |
Number of entries | 17 |
Debuting countries | None |
Returning countries | None |
Non-returning countries | None |
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Participation map
| |
Vote | |
Voting system | Ten-member juries distributed ten points among their favourite songs. |
Nul points | None |
Winning song | ![]() "La, la, la" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's victory at the 1967 contest with the song "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw. It was the third time the event took place in the UK; after the 1960 and 1963 editions, both of which also took place in London. The contest was held at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 6 April 1968, and was hosted by Katie Boyle (for the third time). Seventeen countries participated in the contest.
The winner was Spain with the song "La, la, la", performed 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. This was also first victory for the country from the Iberian Peninsula.
Prior to the contest, the United Kingdom's entry, Cliff Richard with the song "Congratulations", was hotly tipped as the favourite to win, but lost out to Spain's Massiel by a margin of just one point. Originally Spain entered Joan Manuel Serrat to sing "La La La", but his demand to sing in Catalan was an affront to the Francoist State dictatorship. Serrat was replaced by Massiel, who sang the same song in Spanish.[1]
Location[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Royal_Albert_Hall%2C_London_-_Nov_2012.jpg/220px-Royal_Albert_Hall%2C_London_-_Nov_2012.jpg)
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.
Format[]
1968 was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast in colour. 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. Also all of Eastern Europe and Tunisia broadcast the contest. Katie Boyle hosted the contest for a third time.[1]
Vote rigging allegations[]
In May 2008, a documentary by Spanish film-maker Montse Fernández Villa, 1968. Yo viví el mayo español, centred on the effects of May 1968 in Francoist Spain,[2] and alleged that the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest was rigged by the Spanish caudillo Francisco Franco, who would have sent state television officials across Europe offering cash and promising to buy television series and contract unknown artists.[3] The allegation was based on a testimony by journalist José María Íñigo, a TVE employee at the time, who claimed the rigging was common knowledge and suggested that Spanish record label representatives offered to release albums by Bulgarian and Czech artists (neither Bulgaria nor Czechoslovakia were members of the European Broadcasting Union at the time, though in the 1968 Contest, Austria was represented by Karel Gott, who was from Czechoslovakia.).[4]
The documentary claimed that the contest should in fact have been won by the United Kingdom's entry – "Congratulations" performed by Cliff Richard – which finished second by one vote.[5] Massiel, the performer of the winning entry, was outraged by the allegations, and claimed that if there had been fixes, "other singers, who were more keen on Francoist Spain, would have benefited". José María Iñigo, author of the statement in the documentary, personally apologized to Massiel and said that he had repeated a widespread rumour. Both Massiel and Iñigo accused television channel La Sexta, broadcaster of the documentary, of manufacturing the scandal.[6]
Participating countries[]
All countries that participated in 1967 also participated in 1968.[1]
Conductors[]
Each performance had a maestro who conducted the orchestra.[7][8]
Portugal –
Netherlands – Dolf van der Linden
Belgium – Henri Segers
Austria –
Luxembourg – André Borly
Switzerland – Mario Robbiani
Monaco – Michel Colombier
Sweden – Mats Olsson
Finland – Ossi Runne
France – Alain Goraguer
Italy – Giancarlo Chiaramello
United Kingdom – Norrie Paramor
Norway – Øivind Bergh
Ireland – Noel Kelehan
Spain –
Germany – Horst Jankowski
Yugoslavia – Miljenko Prohaska
Returning artists[]
Bold indicates a previous winner.
Artist | Country | Previous year(s) |
---|---|---|
Isabelle Aubret | ![]() |
1962 |
Results[]
Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Language[9][10] | Place[11] | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 | ![]() |
Carlos Mendes | "Verão" | Portuguese | 11 | 5 |
02 | ![]() |
Ronnie Tober | "Morgen" | Dutch | 16 | 1 |
03 | ![]() |
Claude Lombard | "Quand tu reviendras" | French | 7 | 8 |
04 | ![]() |
Karel Gott | "Tausend Fenster" | German | 13 | 2 |
05 | ![]() |
Chris Baldo and | "Nous vivrons d'amour" | French | 11 | 5 |
06 | ![]() |
Gianni Mascolo | "Guardando il sole" | Italian | 13 | 2 |
07 | ![]() |
"À chacun sa chanson" | French | 7 | 8 | |
08 | ![]() |
Claes-Göran Hederström | "Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mig" | Swedish | 5 | 15 |
09 | ![]() |
Kristina Hautala | "Kun kello käy" | Finnish | 16 | 1 |
10 | ![]() |
Isabelle Aubret | "La source" | French | 3 | 20 |
11 | ![]() |
Sergio Endrigo | "Marianne" | Italian | 10 | 7 |
12 | ![]() |
Cliff Richard | "Congratulations" | English | 2 | 28 |
13 | ![]() |
Odd Børre | "Stress" | Norwegian | 13 | 2 |
14 | ![]() |
Pat McGuigan | "Chance of a Lifetime" | English | 4 | 18 |
15 | ![]() |
Massiel | "La, la, la" | Spanish | 1 | 29 |
16 | ![]() |
Wenche Myhre | "Ein Hoch der Liebe" | German | 6 | 11 |
17 | ![]() |
Luci Capurso and Hamo Hajdarhodžić | "Jedan dan" (Један дан) | Serbo-Croatian | 7 | 8 |
Scoreboard[]
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.
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 |
Spokespersons[]
![]() | This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2021) |
Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1968 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country.
Portugal – Maria Manuela Furtado
Netherlands – Warry van Kampen[14]
Belgium – André Hagon
Austria –
Luxembourg – TBC
Switzerland –
Monaco – TBC
Sweden – [15]
Finland – [16]
France – [17]
Italy – Mike Bongiorno
United Kingdom – Michael Aspel[8]
Norway – [18]
Ireland – Gay Byrne
Spain – Ramón Rivera
Germany –
Yugoslavia – Snežana Lipkovska-Hadžinaumova
Broadcasts[]
![]() | This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2021) |
Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language.
Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
FS1 | ||
![]() |
RTB | French: Paule Herreman | |
BRT | Dutch: | ||
![]() |
TV-ohjelma 1 | ||
![]() |
Deuxième Chaîne ORTF | Pierre Tchernia | [19] |
![]() |
Deutsches Fernsehen | ||
![]() |
RTÉ | Brendan O'Reilly | |
RTÉ Radio | Kevin Roche | ||
![]() |
Secondo Programma | ||
![]() |
Télé-Luxembourg | Jacques Navadic | |
![]() |
Télé Monte Carlo | Pierre Tchernia | |
![]() |
Nederland 1 | ||
![]() |
NRK | Roald Øyen | |
![]() |
RTP | Fialho Gouveia | |
![]() |
Primera Cadena | ||
Radio Nacional | José María Íñigo | [20] | |
![]() |
Sveriges TV | [21] | |
![]() |
TV DRS | German: | |
TSR | French: | ||
TSI | Italian: Giovanni Bertini | ||
![]() |
BBC1 | No commentary | [8] |
BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 | Pete Murray | [8] | |
![]() |
Televizija Beograd | Serbo-Croatian: | |
Televizija Zagreb | Serbo-Croatian: Mladen Delić | ||
Televizija Ljubljana | Slovene: |
Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
BT | Unknown | [8] |
![]() |
ČST | Unknown | [8] |
![]() |
Deutscher Fernsehfunk | Unknown | [8] |
![]() |
RTV | Unknown | [8] |
![]() |
TVP | Unknown | [8] |
![]() |
TVR | Unknown | [8] |
![]() |
CT USSR | Unknown | [8] |
![]() |
RTT | Unknown | [8] |
National jury members[]
Portugal – Maria Helena Oliveira Simões (housewife), Madalena Iglésias (singer), Maria João Aguiar (TV and radio presenter), Isabel Maria Spencer Vieira Martins (college student), António Reis (publishing director), José Joaquim Machado Leite (office secretary), António Moniz Pereira (member of the group Quarteto 1111), Bernardo Manuel Palma Mira Delgado (mechanical engineer), Luís Fernando Cardoso Nandim de Carvalho (university student), Pedro Manuel Mota Vaz do Castelo (radio presenter)[22]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Eurovision Song Contest 1968". EBU. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
- ^ "Massiel sí, Madelman no: así fue el Mayo del 68 en España". Público (in Spanish). 3 May 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
- ^ "TVE 'compró' los votos para que Massiel ganará Eurovisión". 20 minutos (in Spanish). 5 May 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
- ^ "Vea el vídeo donde José Maríá Iñigo 'descubre' a Massiel". 20 minutos (in Spanish). 5 May 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
- ^ Govan, Fiona (4 May 2008). "How Franco cheated Cliff out of Eurovision title". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
- ^ "Massiel e Iñigo acusan a La Sexta de "urdir todo para favorecer a Chiquilicuatre"". El Mundo (in Spanish). 6 May 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
- ^ "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 454–470. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1968". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1968". 4Lyrics.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- ^ "Final of London 1968". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "Results of the Final of London 1968". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1968 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ "Songfestival eindigde in mineur bij BBC". Het Parool. 8 April 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ Infosajten.com Archived 18 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? (in Finnish) Viisukuppila, 18 April 2005
- ^ Tchernia, Pierre et al. (6 April 1968). 13ème Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 1969 [13th Eurovision Song Contest 1968] (Television production). United Kingdom: BBC, ORTF (commentary).
- ^ Dyrseth, Seppo (OGAE Norway)
- ^ CONCOURS EUROVISION DE LA CHANSON 1968 (in French) SongContest
- ^ Escudero, Victor M. (5 May 2018). "Spanish commentator José María Iñigo passed away". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ Thorsson, Leif (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna [Melodifestivalen through time]. Stockholm: Premium Publishing AB. p. 74. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
- ^ "06586.124.22144". casacomum.org. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
External links[]
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Coordinates: 51°30′03.40″N 00°10′38.77″W / 51.5009444°N 0.1774361°W
- Eurovision Song Contest 1968
- Eurovision Song Contest by year
- Music festivals in the United Kingdom
- 1968 in music
- 1968 in London
- April 1968 events in the United Kingdom
- Events at the Royal Albert Hall
- Francoist Spain