Eurovision Song Contest 1977

Eurovision Song Contest 1977
Dates
Final	7 May 1977
Host
Venue	Wembley Conference Centre London, United Kingdom
Presenter(s)	Angela Rippon
Musical director	Ronnie Hazlehurst
Directed by	Stewart Morris
Host broadcaster	BBC
Website	eurovision.tv/event/london-1977
Participants
Number of entries	18
Debuting countries	None
Returning countries	Sweden
Non-returning countries	Yugoslavia
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs
Winning song	France "L'oiseau et l'enfant"

The Eurovision Song Contest 1977 was the 22nd edition series, and was held on May 7, 1977 in London. With Angela Rippon as the presenter, the contest was won by Marie Myriam who represented France, with her song "L'oiseau et l'enfant" (The Bird and the Child). This was France's fifth victory, a record, which was equalled by Luxembourg in 1983 and the United Kingdom in 1997. It was equalled and beaten by Ireland in 1993 and 1994.

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 sing 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 April 2, but because of a strike of BBC cameramen and technicians, it had to be postponed.

At one point before the contest Tunisia was going to participate but they withdrew. Had Tunisia gone ahead they would have appeared fourth on stage. Yugoslavia also withdrew, and didn't return until 1981.

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.

Although Marie Myriam won, the song which finished second, "Rock Bottom", written and performed by Lynsey De Paul and Mike Moran, was the most commercial with the European public since this song went on to become a top 10 hit in most European countries, unlike "L'oiseau et l'enfant". However, the performance of Marie Myriam is considered among the best in the history of the ESC and the song has achieved a classic status and is still well remembered.

Results

Draw	Country	Language	Artist	Song	English translation	Place	Points
01	Ireland	English	The Swarbriggs Plus Two	"It's Nice to Be in Love Again"	–	3	119
02	Monaco	French	Michèle Torr	"Une petite française"	A little French girl	4	96
03	Netherlands	Dutch	Heddy Lester	"De mallemolen"	The merry-go-round	12	35
04	Austria	German	Schmetterlinge	"Boom Boom Boomerang"	–	17	11
05	Norway	Norwegian	Anita Skorgan	"Casanova"	–	14	18
06	Germany	English	Silver Convention	"Telegram"	–	8	55
07	Luxembourg	French	Anne-Marie B	"Frère Jacques"	Brother John	16	17
08	Portugal	Portuguese	Os Amigos	"Portugal no coração"	Portugal in my heart	14	18
09	United Kingdom	English	Lynsey De Paul and Mike Moran	"Rock Bottom"	–	2	122
10	Greece	Greek	Paschalis, Marianna, Robert & Bessy	"Mathima Solfege" (Μάθημα σολφέζ)	Music lesson	5	92
11	Israel	Hebrew	Ilanit	"Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim" (אהבה היא שיר לשניים)	Love is a song for two	11	49
12	Switzerland	German	Pepe Lienhard Band	"Swiss Lady"	–	6	71
13	Sweden	Swedish	Forbes	"Beatles"	–	18	2
14	Spain	Spanish	Micky	"Enséñame a cantar"	Teach me to sing	9	52
15	Italy	Italian	Mia Martini	"Libera"	Free	13	33
16	Finland	Finnish	Monica Aspelund	"Lapponia"	–	10	50
17	Belgium	English	Dream Express	"A Million in One, Two, Three"	–	7	69
18	France	French	Marie Myriam	"L'oiseau et l'enfant"	The bird and the child	1	136

Voting structure

Each country had a jury who awarded 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 points for their top ten songs.

Greece and France both gave points to countries in excess, 11 and 12 respectively. This was not corrected until after the contest, and may have contributed to the ascending order of votes introduced three years later.

Score sheet

		Results
	Ireland		8	1	5	12	5	8	1	12	10	12	8	12	4	8	0	3	10
	Monaco	5		0	8	1	6	1	6	7	12	2	6	10	8	12	5	2	5
	Netherlands	3	3		0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	7	0	1	0	0	10	8
	Austria	0	5	0		2	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	Norway	0	0	0	0		0	3	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	5	0
	Germany	1	1	3	2	0		2	8	8	8	5	0	5	5	6	0	0	1
	Luxembourg	2	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	8	0	0
	Portugal	0	2	2	0	0	1	0		0	0	0	4	0	0	3	0	0	6
	United Kingdom	0	12	7	12	7	10	12	12		0	8	0	8	3	2	4	12	12
	Greece	0	10	10	4	4	4	6	10	5		3	1	7	12	1	6	6	3
	Israel	7	7	5	3	5	0	0	0	0	0		10	3	6	0	0	1	2
	Switzerland	6	0	0	10	10	0	5	4	4	6	4		0	0	4	10	8	0
	Sweden	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0	0
	Spain	0	0	6	1	0	7	7	0	3	4	0	3	0		7	7	7	0
	Italy	8	6	0	0	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	2		2	0	7
	Finland	12	0	4	6	8	0	0	0	0	2	7	5	2	0	0		0	4
	Belgium	4	0	12	0	6	8	4	7	10	5	6	0	4	0	0	3		0
	France	10	4	8	7	3	12	10	5	6	7	10	12	6	10	10	12	4
THE TABLE IS ORDERED BY APPEARANCE

12 points

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

N.	Recipient nation	Voting nation
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

Commentators

• Ireland - Mike Murphy
• Monaco - TBD
• Netherlands - Ati Dijckmeester
• Austria - Ernst Grissemann
• Norway - John Andreassen
• Germany - Werner Veigel
• Luxembourg - TBD
• Portugal - Fialho Gouveia
• United Kingdom - Pete Murray (TV), Terry Wogan (Radio)
• Greece - Mako Georgiadou
• Israel - No commentator
• Switzerland - Theodor Haller (SRG), Georges Hardy (SSR), Giovanni Bertini (TSI)
• Sweden - Ulf Elfving
• Spain - Miguel de los Santos
• Italy - Silvio Noto
• Finland - Erkki Toivanen
• Belgium - Luc Appermont (BRT), Paule Herreman (RTB)
• France - Georges de Caunes

Spokespersons

• Ireland - John Skehan
• Monaco - TBC
• Netherlands - Ralph Inbar
• Austria - TBC
• Norway - Sverre Kristoffersen
• Germany - TBC
• Luxembourg - Jean Octave
• Portugal - Ana Zanatti
• United Kingdom - Colin Berry
• Greece - Naki Agathou
• Israel - Yitzhak Shim'oni
• Switzerland - Michel Dénériaz
• Sweden - Sven Lindahl
• Spain - Isabel Tenaille
• Italy - TBC
• Finland - Kaarina Pönniö
• Belgium - Monique Delvaux
• France - TBC