Eurovision Song Contest 1974
| Eurovision Song Contest 1974 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Dates | |
| Final | 6 April 1974 |
| Host | |
| Venue | The Dome Brighton, United Kingdom |
| Presenter(s) | Katie Boyle |
| Musical director | Ronnie Hazlehurst |
| Directed by | Michael Hurll |
| Executive supervisor | Clifford Brown |
| Executive producer | Bill Cotton |
| Host broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| Interval act | The Wombles |
| Website | eurovision |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 17 |
| Debuting countries |  Greece |
| Returning countries | None |
| Non-returning countries |  France |
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Ten-member juries distributed ten points among their favourite songs. |
| Nul points in final | None |
| Winning song |  Sweden"Waterloo" |
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), who 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).
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" famously performed by the Swedish group ABBA, who would later go on to become one of the best-selling acts in pop music history.
Location[edit]
The contest was held in the seaside resort of Brighton on the south coast of the United Kingdom. At the time, Brighton was a separate town; it is now the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove (formed from the previous towns of Brighton, Hove, Portslade and several other villages) on the south coast of Great Britain.
The venue which hosted the event was the Brighton Dome, an arts venue that contains the Concert Hall, the Corn Exchange and the Pavilion Theatre. All three venues are linked to the rest of the Royal Pavilion Estate by a tunnel to the Royal Pavilion in Pavilion Gardens and through shared corridors to Brighton Museum; the entire complex was built for the Prince Regent (later George IV) and completed in 1805.
Format[edit]
A two-night preview programme, Auftakt für Brighton (Prelude for Brighton), was coordinated by the German national broadcaster ARD, broadcast at the end of March and was hosted by the journalist Karin Tietze-Ludwig. It was the first "preview"-type programme to be broadcast in many European countries simultaneously (traditionally each national broadcaster puts together its own preview programme).[2] The UK did not broadcast the programmes, instead airing its own preview shows introduced by David Vine on BBC1 on 24 and 31 March.[3] The French entry was broadcast by all the nations showing the previews, even though the song was withdrawn from the Eurovision final itself. The programme was also notable in being the European television debut for the winners, ABBA, who were credited in previews as "The Abba".[1]
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.[4][5]
Participating countries[edit]
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[edit]
Each performance had a conductor who conducted the orchestra.[6][7]
Finland – Ossi Runne
United Kingdom – Nick Ingman
Spain – Rafael Ibarbia[a]
Norway – Frode Thingnæs
Greece – Giorgos Katsaros
Israel – Yoni Rechter
Yugoslavia – Zvonimir Skerl
Sweden – Sven-Olof Walldoff
Luxembourg – Charles Blackwell
Monaco – Raymond Donnez
Belgium – Pierre Chiffre
Netherlands – Harry van Hoof
Ireland – Colman Pearce
Germany – Werner Scharfenberger
Switzerland – Pepe Ederer
Portugal – José Calvário
Italy – Gianfranco Monaldi
Jean-Claude Petit was scheduled to conduct the French entry prior to France's withdrawal.[9]
Returning artists[edit]
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[edit]
| Order | Country | Artist | Song | Language[10][11] | Place[12] | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Finland
|
Carita | "Keep Me Warm" | English | 13 | 4 |
| 02 |  United Kingdom
|
Olivia Newton-John | "Long Live Love" | English | 4 | 14 |
| 03 |  Spain
|
Peret | "Canta y sé feliz" | Spanish | 9 | 10 |
| 04 | Norway
|
Anne-Karine Strøm and the Bendik Singers | "The First Day of Love" | English | 14 | 3 |
| 05 | Greece
|
Marinella | "Krasi, thalassa ke t' agori mou" (Κρασί, θάλασσα και τ' αγόρι μου) |
Greek | 11 | 7 |
| 06 |  Israel
|
Poogy | "Natati La Khayay" (נתתי לה חיי) | Hebrew | 7 | 11 |
| 07 |  Yugoslavia
|
Korni Grupa | "Generacija '42" (Генерација '42) | Serbo-Croatian | 12 | 6 |
| 08 | Sweden
|
ABBA | "Waterloo" | English | 1 | 24 |
| 09 | Luxembourg
|
Ireen Sheer | "Bye Bye I Love You" | French[b] | 4 | 14 |
| 10 | Monaco
|
Romuald | "Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va" | French | 4 | 14 |
| 11 |  Belgium
|
Jacques Hustin | "Fleur de liberté" | French | 9 | 10 |
| 12 |  Netherlands
|
Mouth and MacNeal | "I See a Star" | English | 3 | 15 |
| 13 |  Ireland
|
Tina Reynolds | "Cross Your Heart" | English | 7 | 11 |
| 14 |  Germany
|
Cindy and Bert | "Die Sommermelodie" | German | 14 | 3 |
| 15 |  Switzerland
|
Piera Martell | "Mein Ruf nach dir" | German | 14 | 3 |
| 16 |  Portugal
|
Paulo de Carvalho | "E depois do adeus" | Portuguese | 14 | 3 |
| 17 | Italy
|
Gigliola Cinquetti | "Sì" | Italian | 2 | 18 |
Voting[edit]
| Finland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 14 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| Spain | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||
| Norway | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Greece | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Israel | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||
| Yugoslavia | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
| Sweden | 24 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | ||||||
| Luxembourg | 14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| Monaco | 14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Belgium | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| Netherlands | 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||
| Ireland | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Germany | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Switzerland | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Italy | 18 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||
Spokespersons[edit]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2021) |
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.
- Finland – Aarre Elo
- Luxembourg – TBC
- Israel – Yitzhak Shim'oni
- Norway – Sverre Christophersen
- United Kingdom – Colin Ward-Lewis[7]
- Yugoslavia – Helga Vlahović[15]
- Greece – Mako Georgiadou
- Ireland – Brendan Balfe
- Germany – Ekkehard Böhmer
- Portugal – Henrique Mendes
- Netherlands – Harry Hagedoorn[c]
- Sweden – Sven Lindahl[16]
- Spain – Antolín García
- Monaco – Sophie Hecquet[17]
- Switzerland – Michel Stocker
- Belgium – André Hagon
- Italy – Anna Maria Gambineri
Broadcasts[edit]
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2021) |
Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language.[1] The contest was broadcast live in all participating countries, except for Italy which took a deferred transmission. The contest was also broadcast live in Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the Soviet Union, and was recorded for later broadcast in Algeria, Cyprus, France, Japan, Jordan, Iceland, Morocco, Poland, South Korea and Tunisia.[7] 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.[7]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
 Austria
|
FS2 | Ernst Grissemann | |
 Hong Kong
|
TVB Jade (delayed broadcast on 5 May 1974) | Unknown | [24] |
| TVB Pearl (delayed broadcast on 28 April and 5 May 1974) | Unknown | [24][25] | |
 Malta
|
MTV | Charles Saliba | |
 Turkey
|
Ankara Television | Bülend Özveren |
Incidents[edit]
French withdraw[edit]
France had been drawn to sing at No. 14 (after Ireland and before Germany) with the song "La vie à vingt-cinq ans" ("Life at 25") 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][26] In her absence, the Director General of the BBC and President of the EBU, Sir Charles Curran, presented the Grand Prix to the winners.[citation needed]
Italian broadcast[edit]
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),[27] 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.[26][28]
Notes[edit]
- ^ 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.[8]
- ^ Contains some words in English
- ^ Dutch commentator Willem Duys stated during the broadcast that the jury spokesman was Harry Hagedoorn.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e "Eurovision Song Contest 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- ^ "ABBA on TV – Melodifestivalen Rehearsal". abbaontv.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
- ^ "Broadcast - BBC Programme Index".
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Eurovision postcard - 1974 Spain". YouTube.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Eurovision postcard - 1974 Netherlands". YouTube.
- ^ "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g 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.
- ^ Tukker, Bas. "Juan Carlos Calderón". Andtheconductoris.eu. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
- ^ "Jean-Claude Petit's biography in 'And the conductor is...'". Retrieved 1 January 2017.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1974". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1974". 4Lyrics.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- ^ "Final of Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ "Results of the Final of Brighton 1974". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1974 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
- ^ "Helga Vlahović: 1990 presenter has died". eurovision.tv. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
- ^ a b c Thorsson, Leif (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna [Melodifestivalen through time]. Stockholm: Premium Publishing AB. p. 108. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
- ^ "Facets of Eurovision Song Contest 1975", Times of Malta, 31 March 1975
- ^ a b "TV – Samedi 6 avril". Radio TV – Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 4 April 1974. pp. 58–59. Retrieved 29 June 2022 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
- ^ "Nederlandse televisiecommentatoren bij het Eurovisie Songfestival". Eurovision Artists (in Dutch).
- ^ "Um Waterloo onde faltou Cambronne", Diário de Lisboa, 7 April 1974
- ^ "Les programmes à la radio". Nouvelle revue de Lausanne (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Société de la Nouvelle revue de Lausanne et de l'Imprimerie vaudoise. 4 April 1974. p. 8. Retrieved 29 June 2022 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
- ^ "Radio – Samedi 6 avril". Radio TV – Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 4 April 1974. pp. 60–61. Retrieved 29 June 2022 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
- ^ Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final: 1974. Brighton, United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation. 6 April 1974.
- ^ a b "全歐歌唱比賽 翡翠台週日播映". TV Week (香港電視) (in Traditional Chinese) (339): 6. 3 May 1974.
- ^ "Today's television". South China Morning Post. 5 May 1974. p. 17.
- ^ a b O'Connor, John Kennedy The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History Carlton Books, UK, 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
- ^ Sì – Lyrics The Diggiloo Thrush
- ^ "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.
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eurovision Song Contest 1974. |
