Eurovision Song Contest 1977

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Eurovision Song Contest 1977
ESC 1977 logo.svg
Dates
Final7 May 1977
Host
VenueWembley Conference Centre
London, United Kingdom
Presenter(s)Angela Rippon
Musical directorRonnie Hazlehurst
Directed byStewart Morris
Executive supervisorClifford Brown
Executive producerBill Cotton
Host broadcasterBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Opening actAn aerial tour of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom
Interval actAcker Bilk and his Paramount Jazz Men
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/london-1977 Edit this at Wikidata
Participants
Number of entries18
Debuting countriesNone
Returning countries Sweden
Non-returning countries Yugoslavia
hide
Participation map
  • Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Denmark in the Eurovision Song ContestFinland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Malta in the Eurovision Song ContestAustria in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977Turkey in the Eurovision Song ContestYugoslavia in the Eurovision Song ContestA coloured map of the countries of Europe
    About this image
         Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1977
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs
Nul pointsNone
Winning song France
"L'oiseau et l'enfant"
1976 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 1978

The Eurovision Song Contest 1977 was the 22nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following Brotherhood of Man's win at the 1976 contest in The Hague, Netherlands with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me". It was the sixth time the UK had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1960, 1963, 1968, 1972, and 1974. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the contest was held at the Wembley Conference Centre, with the final on Saturday 7 May 1977, marking the first time the event took place in the month of May since the first contest in 1956.[1] The live show was hosted by Angela Rippon.

Eighteen countries participated in the contest; Sweden returned after its absence from the previous edition, while Yugoslavia, which did participate in 1976, did not enter.

The winner was France with the song "L'oiseau et l'enfant", performed by Marie Myriam, written by Joe Gracy, and composed by Jean-Paul Cara. This was France's fifth victory in the contest, following their wins in 1958, 1960, 1962, and 1969 (the latter being in the infamous four-way tie). The United Kingdom, Ireland, Monaco and Greece rounded out the top five. Greece's fifth place finish was their best result to date. The five wins were also a record at the time, and one that France held onto for seven years, until being equalled by Luxembourg in 1983. This was later equalled by Ireland in 1993, by the United Kingdom in 1997, by Sweden in 2012, and by the Netherlands in 2019.

Location[]

London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in Europe by most measures. London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history goes back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium.[2]

Wembley Conference Centre was chosen to host the contest. The venue was the first purpose-built conference centre in the United Kingdom, and opened on 31 January 1977 - making it a newly built venue at the time. It was demolished in 2006.

Format[]

The language rule was brought back in this contest, four years after it had been dropped in 1973. However Germany and Belgium were allowed to sing in English, because they had already chosen the songs they were going to perform before the rule was reintroduced.

As noted in The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History by author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor, the contest was originally planned to be held on 2 April 1977, but because of a strike of BBC cameramen and technicians, it had to be postponed for a month. As a result, this was the first Eurovision Song Contest to be staged in May since the inaugural edition.[1]

This was most possibly the Eurovision with the most scoring mistakes, as the scrutineer Clifford Brown had to stop the host Angela Rippon several times to correct the scores.[citation needed] For the first time in the contest's history, the flags of the competing nations were displayed on the scoreboard, next to the country's name.

Due to the strike by the BBC camera staff, and lack of time to organise the contest, this year's contest was the first since 1969 where there was nothing for viewers in between the songs. Various shots of the contests audience were shown, with the various countries' commentators informing the viewers of the upcoming songs. The intended postcards had been devised using footage of the artists in London during a party hosted by the BBC at a London nightclub. When the postcards were seen for the first time by the participant heads of delegation at the Friday dress rehearsal the day before the grand final, the delegation from NRK Norway objected to the way their young artist was portrayed. As it was not possible to edit or revise the footage, all the postcards were dropped from the broadcast. Footage from the party still formed the interval act broadcast prior to the voting sequence.[3]

Participating countries[]

Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest

Tunisia was set to participate and had been drawn to participate in fourth place, but later withdrew.[1] Yugoslavia did not enter this contest after having participated in 1976 and would not return to the contest until 1981, while Sweden returned to the competition.[4]

The Belgian act Dream Express had created some controversy in the press with reports that the three female members would wear transparent tops; this did not materialise for the actual event.[5]

The British conductor Ronnie Hazlehurst used an umbrella and wore a bowler hat during the UK entry.[6][7]

Conductors[]

Each performance had a conductor who directed the orchestra.[8][9]

Returning artists[]

Artist Country Previous year(s)
Michèle Torr  Monaco 1966 (for  Luxembourg)
and (as part of Schmetterlinge)  Austria 1972 (as part of The Milestones)
, , and Stella Maessen (as part of Dream Express)  Belgium 1970 (for  Netherlands as Hearts of Soul)
Ilanit  Israel 1973
Fernando Tordo (as part of Os Amigos)  Portugal 1973
Paulo de Carvalho (as part of Os Amigos)  Portugal 1974
The Swarbriggs  Ireland 1975

Results[]

The following tables reflect the final official scores, verified after the contest transmission. During the voting sequence of the live show, several errors were made in the announcement of the scores, which were then adjusted after the broadcast. Both Greece and France duplicated scores, awarding the same points to multiple countries. From the Greek scores, The UK, Netherlands, Austria and Finland all had 1 point deducted after the contest and from the French scores, Austria, Germany, Israel, Italy and Belgium all had 1 point deducted. None of the adjustments affected the placing of any of the songs.

Draw Country Artist Song Language[10][11] Place[12] Points
01  Ireland The Swarbriggs Plus Two "It's Nice to Be in Love Again" English 3 119
02  Monaco Michèle Torr "Une petite française" French 4 96
03  Netherlands Heddy Lester "De mallemolen" Dutch 12 35
04  Austria "Boom Boom Boomerang" German[a] 17 11
05  Norway Anita Skorgan "Casanova" Norwegian 14 18
06  Germany Silver Convention "Telegram" English 8 55
07  Luxembourg "Frère Jacques" French 16 17
08  Portugal Os Amigos "Portugal no coração" Portuguese 14 18
09  United Kingdom Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran "Rock Bottom" English 2 121
10  Greece , , and Bessy "Mathima solfege" (Μάθημα σολφέζ) Greek 5 92
11  Israel Ilanit "Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim" (אהבה היא שיר לשניים) Hebrew 11 49
12   Switzerland Pepe Lienhard Band "Swiss Lady" German 6 71
13  Sweden Forbes "Beatles" Swedish 18 2
14  Spain Micky "Enséñame a cantar" Spanish 9 52
15  Italy Mia Martini "Libera" Italian 13 33
16  Finland Monica Aspelund "Lapponia" Finnish 10 50
17  Belgium Dream Express "A Million in One, Two, Three" English 7 69
18  France Marie Myriam "L'oiseau et l'enfant" French 1 136

Scoreboard[]

Voting results[13][14]
Total score
Ireland
Monaco
Netherlands
Austria
Norway
Germany
Luxembourg
Portugal
United Kingdom
Greece
Israel
Switzerland
Sweden
Spain
Italy
Finland
Belgium
France
Contestants
 Ireland 119 8 1 5 12 5 8 1 12 10 12 8 12 4 8 3 10
Monaco 96 5 8 1 6 1 6 7 12 2 6 10 8 12 5 2 5
Netherlands 35 3 3 1 1 1 7 1 10 8
Austria 11 5 2 3 1
Norway 18 3 2 2 1 5 5
Germany 55 1 1 3 2 2 8 8 8 5 5 5 6 1
Luxembourg 17 2 7 8
Portugal 18 2 2 1 4 3 6
United Kingdom 121 12 7 12 7 10 12 12 8 8 3 2 4 12 12
Greece 92 10 10 4 4 4 6 10 5 3 1 7 12 1 6 6 3
Israel 49 7 7 5 3 5 10 3 6 1 2
Switzerland 71 6 10 10 5 4 4 6 4 4 10 8
Sweden 2 2
Spain 52 6 1 7 7 3 4 3 7 7 7
Italy 33 8 6 3 3 2 2 2 7
Finland 50 12 4 6 8 2 7 5 2 4
Belgium 69 4 12 6 8 4 7 10 5 6 4 3
France 136 10 4 8 7 3 12 10 5 6 7 10 12 6 10 10 12 4

12 points[]

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
6  United Kingdom  Austria,  Belgium,  France,  Luxembourg,  Monaco,  Portugal
4  Ireland  Israel,  Norway,  Sweden,  United Kingdom
3  France  Finland,  Germany,   Switzerland
2  Monaco  Greece,  Italy
1  Belgium  Netherlands
 Finland  Ireland
 Greece  Spain

Spokespersons[]

Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1977 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country.

  1.  Ireland – Brendan Balfe
  2.  Monaco – Carole Chabrier
  3.  Netherlands –  [nl]
  4.  Austria –  [de]
  5.  Norway –  [no][15]
  6.  Germany – Armin Maiwald
  7.  Luxembourg – Jacques Harvey
  8.  Portugal – Ana Zanatti[16]
  9.  United Kingdom – Colin Berry[9]
  10.  Greece –  [el][17]
  11.  Israel –  [he][18]
  12.   Switzerland – Michel Stocker[19]
  13.  Sweden – Sven Lindahl[20]
  14.  Spain –  [es][21]
  15.  Italy –  [it]
  16.  Finland – Kaarina Pönniö[22]
  17.  Belgium – An Ploegaerts
  18.  France – Marc Menant[23]

Broadcasts[]

Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria FS1  [de] [24]
Hitradio Ö3  [de]
 Belgium BRT TV1 Dutch: Luc Appermont [25]
RTB1 French: [26]
BRT Radio 1 Dutch:  [nl] and Herwig Haes
RTB La Première French: André Zaleski
 Finland YLE TV1 Erkki Toivanen [27]
Yleisohjelma  [fi]
 France TF1 Georges de Caunes [28]
France Inter  [fr]
 Germany Deutsches Fernsehen Werner Veigel [29]
Deutschlandfunk/Bayern 2 Wolf Mittler
 Greece EIRT  [el] [30]
Proto Programma  [el]
 Ireland RTÉ Mike Murphy
RTÉ Radio Liam Devally
 Israel Israeli Television No commentator
 Italy Rete 1 and Rai Radio 1 Silvio Noto
 Luxembourg RTL Télé Luxembourg Jacques Navadic
RTL  [fr]
 Monaco Télé Monte Carlo Georges de Caunes
 Netherlands Nederland 2  [nl] [31]
 Norway NRK John Andreassen [32]
NRK P1  [no]
 Portugal I Programa Júlio Isidro
RDP Programa 1  [pt]
 Spain Primera Cadena  [es] [33]
 Sweden SR TV1 Ulf Elfving [20]
SR P3  [sv] and Åke Strömmer [20]
  Switzerland TV DRS German:  [de] [34]
TSR French:  [fr] [28]
TSI Italian: Giovanni Bertini
RSR 1 French: Robert Burnier [35]
 United Kingdom BBC1 Pete Murray [9][36]
BBC Radio 2 Terry Wogan [9]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Algeria ENTV Unknown [9]
 Bulgaria BT Unknown [9]
 Czechoslovakia ČST Unknown [9]
 Denmark DR TV Claus Toksvig [9]
 Greenland KNR Unknown [37]
 Hong Kong TBC Unknown [9]
 Hungary RTV Unknown [9]
 Iceland Sjónvarpið No commentator [9][38]
 Jordan JRTV Unknown [9]
 Morocco TVM Unknown [9]
 Poland TVP Unknown [9]
 Romania TVR Unknown [9]
 Soviet Union Soviet Central Television Unknown [9]
 Tunisia RTT Unknown [9]
 Turkey Ankara Television Bülend Özveren [9]
 Yugoslavia JRT Oliver Mlakar [9]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Contains some words in English

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c O'Connor, John Kennedy (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. UK: Carlton Books. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
  2. ^ "Roman". The Museum of London. Archived from the original on March 22, 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  3. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. 'The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official Celebration'. Carlton Books 2015. ASIN: B0182Q85CS
  4. ^ "London 1977". Eurovision.tv.
  5. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. UK: Carlton Books. p. 71. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
  6. ^ Leigh, Spencer (4 October 2007). "Obituary – Ronnie Hazlehurst". The Daily Telegraph.[dead link]
  7. ^ "Obituary – Ronnie Hazlehurst". The Times. 3 October 2007.
  8. ^ "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 267–287. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
  10. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1977". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  11. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1977". 4Lyrics.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Final of London 1977". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Results of the Final of London 1977". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1977 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  15. ^ Dyrseth, Seppo (OGAE Norway)
  16. ^ "Comentadores Do ESC – escportugalforum.pt.vu | o forum eurovisivo português". 21595.activeboard.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  17. ^ "Εκφωνητές της ΕΡΤ για τις ψήφους της Ελλάδας στην EUROVISION – Page 3". Retromaniax.gr. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  18. ^ "פורום אירוויזיון". Sf.tapuz.co.il. 1999-09-13. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  19. ^ Baumann, Peter Ramón (OGAE Switzerland)
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Infosajten.com". Infosajten.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  21. ^ "Eurovisión 1977 – Jurado TVE". YouTube. 1977-05-07. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  22. ^ "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  23. ^ de Caunes, Georges et al. (May 7, 1977). 22ème Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 1977 [22nd Eurovision Song Contest 1977] (Television production). United Kingdom: BBC, TF1 (commentary).
  24. ^ [1] Archived October 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Adriaens, Manu & Loeckx-Van Cauwenberge, Joken. Blijven kiken!. Lannoo, Belgium. 2003 ISBN 90-209-5274-9
  26. ^ [2]
  27. ^ "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b "Au Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 5 May 1977.
  29. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1977". Ecgermany.de. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  30. ^ "Η Μακώ Γεωργιάδου και η EUROVISION (1970–1986)". Retromaniax.gr. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  31. ^ "Welkom op de site van Eurovision Artists". Eurovisionartists.nl. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  32. ^ "Hvem kommenterte før Jostein Pedersen? - Debattforum". Nrk.no. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  33. ^ "FORO FESTIVAL DE EUROVISIÓN • Ver Tema – Uribarri comentarista Eurovision 2010". Eurosongcontest.phpbb3.es. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  34. ^ "Au Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 5 May 1977.
  35. ^ "Au Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 5 May 1977.
  36. ^ Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final: 1977. London, United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation. 7 May 1977.
  37. ^ Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands -. "Timarit.is". timarit.is.
  38. ^ Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands -. "Timarit.is". timarit.is.

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