Eurovision Song Contest 1969

The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was the 14th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 29 March 1969 at the Template:Lang in Madrid, Spain, and presented by Laurita Valenzuela. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Template:Lang (TVE), who staged the event after winning the Template:Escyr for Template:Esccnty with the song "La La La" by Massiel. Broadcasters from a total of sixteen countries took part in the contest, with Template:Esccnty being the only absence from the seventeen that participated the previous year.

At the close of voting, four countries were declared joint-winners: the Template:Esccnty with "Boom Bang-a-Bang" by Lulu, Template:Esccnty with "Template:Lang" by Salomé, the Template:Esccnty with "De troubadour" by Lenny Kuhr, and Template:Esccnty with "Un jour, un enfant" by Frida Boccara. It was the first time in the history of the contest that a tie for first place had occurred, and since the rules in place at the time allowed more than one winner, all four countries were declared joint winners. France's win was its fourth, thus making it the first country to win the contest four times. The Netherlands' win was its third. Spain and the United Kingdom each won for the second time, with Spain becoming the first country to win the contest twice in a row.

Location

Template:Lang, Madrid – host venue of the 1969 contest.

Template:Lang (TVE) staged the 1969 contest in Madrid, after winning the Template:Escyr for Template:Esccnty with the song "La La La" by Massiel. This is the only time that the contest has been held in Spain. The venue selected was the Template:Lang, an opera house opened in 1850. After having to close in 1924 due to damage to the building, the venue reopened in 1966 as a concert hall and the main concert venue of the Spanish National Orchestra and the RTVE Symphony Orchestra.<ref name="Cultural Institutions: Teatro Real">Template:Cite web</ref> At that time, it also housed the Madrid Royal Conservatory and the Royal Higher College of Performing Arts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The press room set up for the event, equipped with a giant colour screen, twelve television monitors, telex, teletype, and telefax machines, telephones, one hundred typewriters with different keyboards, and translation services, was located within the building and had capacity for six hundred journalists.<ref name=rdp/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 27 March 1969, the Template:Lang hosted a cocktail reception at its Madrid facilities, presided over by Manuel Fraga, the Minister of Information and Tourism on whom TVE depended at the time, and attended by all the participating artists, executives from the participating broadcasters, numerous accredited journalists, and local authorities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Participants

Template:Further Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1969 participants Broadcasters from sixteen countries participated in the 1969 contest. Of the seventeen countries that participated in 1968 only Template:Esccnty was absent,<ref name=ESC1969>Template:Cite web</ref> officially because Template:Lang (ORF) could not find a suitable representative,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but it was rumoured that the broadcaster refused to participate in a contest staged in Franco-ruled Spain.<ref name=History>Template:Cite book</ref>

Several of the performing artists had previously represented the same country in past editions: Simone de Oliveira had represented Template:Esccnty; Kirsti Sparboe had represented Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty; and Louis Neefs had represented Template:Esccnty. In addition, Siw Malmkvist representing Template:Esccnty had represented Template:Esccnty; and Romuald representing Template:Esccnty had represented Template:Esccnty.

Eurovision Song Contest 1969 participants<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Roxburgh" />

Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)	Conductor
Template:Esc	BRT	Louis Neefs	"Jennifer Jennings"	Dutch	Template:Hlist	Francis Bay
Template:Esc	YLE	Jarkko and Laura	"Template:Lang"	Finnish	Template:Hlist	Ossi Runne
Template:Esc	ORTF	Frida Boccara	"Template:Lang"	French	Template:Hlist	Franck Pourcel
Template:Esc	HRTemplate:Efn	Siw Malmkvist	"Template:Lang"	German	Hans Blum	Hans Blum
Template:Esc	RTÉ	Muriel Day	"The Wages of Love"	English	Michael Reade	Noel Kelehan
Template:Esc	RAI	Iva Zanicchi	"Template:Lang"	Italian	Template:Hlist	Ezio Leoni
Template:Esc	CLT	Romuald	"Catherine"	French	Template:Hlist	Augusto Algueró
Template:Esc	TMC	Template:Ill	"Template:Lang"	French	Jo Perrier	Hervé Roy
Template:Esc	NTS	Lenny Kuhr	"Template:Lang"	Dutch	Template:Hlist	Frans de Kok
Template:Esc	NRK	Kirsti Sparboe	"Template:Lang"	Norwegian	Arne Bendiksen	Øivind Bergh
Template:Esc	RTP	Simone de Oliveira	"Template:Lang"	Portuguese	Template:Hlist	Ferrer Trindade
Template:Esc	TVE	Salomé	"Template:Lang"	Spanish	Template:Hlist	Augusto Algueró
Template:Esc	SR	Tommy Körberg	"Template:Lang"	Swedish	Template:Hlist	Lars Samuelson
Template:Esc	SRG SSR	Paola	"Template:Lang"	German	Template:Hlist	Henry Mayer
Template:Esc	BBC	Lulu	"Boom Bang-a-Bang"	English	Template:Hlist	Johnny Harris
Template:Esc	JRT	Template:Ill	"Template:Lang" (Template:Lang)	Serbo-Croatian	Milan Lentić	Miljenko Prohaska

Format

The event was presented by Laurita Valenzuela, who was dressed for the occasion by Template:Ill.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The surrealist artist Salvador Dalí designed the publicity material for the contest. The musical director was Augusto Algueró, who made the arrangements and conducted the 52-piece orchestra during the opening and ending acts. The show opened with a rendition of the Eurovision tune by the Template:Lang organ, followed by the orchestra performing the previous year's winning song, "La, la, la". The interval act consisted of a surrealist documentary titled Template:Lang, directed by Javier Aguirre, with music by Luis de Pablo. The show ended with the orchestra performing a medley of previous Eurovision winning songs during the credits.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The event had a budget of around 5 million pesetas (€30,050).<ref name=rdp>Template:Cite news</ref> For the set built on the Template:Lang stage, the TVE scenography divisions in Madrid and Barcelona, headed by Bernardo Ballester, designed ten different proposals and built a scale model for each of them. These were shortlisted into three designs for further consideration, from which one was selected. The final design included the 5,000-pipe fixed organ already present at the back of the stage, a scoreboard on the side, a central steel sculpture created by surrealist artist Template:Ill,Template:Efn and fifteen thousand red and pink carnations. Since they were not allowed to make any modifications to the stage, not even hammering a nail into it, the set was prefabricated in more than three hundred modules that, brought from Prado del Rey, were assembled on-site. For better visibility, the floor of the set was raised Template:Convert above the stage.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> TVE had full access to the concert hall starting from the evening of 16 March, immediately after the audience and staff of that day's regular season concert had left the venue, which allowed its stage crew to begin assembling the set right away, its technical crew to begin setting up the equipment afterwards, and the orchestra to start rehearsals on 22 March.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>

This was the second contest to be filmed and transmitted in colour, even though TVE did not have the required colour equipment for such a big event at the time. It had to rent such equipment from the German ARD, which was provided by Fernseh and brought to Madrid from Cologne.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Five colour television cameras inside the concert hall, three of them mounted on cranes, were used to broadcast the event.<ref name=com>Template:Cite news</ref> To avoid interruptions in the broadcast, the television signal was transmitted to the other broadcasters feeding the Eurovision network by two simultaneous ways: via the terrestrial microwave relay link network through France, and via the Intelsat III F-2 satellite through Italy.Template:Efn<ref name=rdp/> In addition, 137 dedicated telephone lines were used for transmission, internal communication, and communication with the participating broadcasters.<ref name=com/> In Spain itself the broadcast was seen in black and white because the local transmitters did not support colour transmissions. The colour recording equipment did not arrive in Madrid on time, so TVE only had a black and white copy of the contest, until a colour copy was discovered in the archives of NRK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

It was the first time that the contest resulted in a tie for first place, with four entries each gaining 18 votes. Since the rules in place at the time allowed more than one winner,Template:Efn all four countries were declared joint winners ex aequo.Template:Efn This caused a problem concerning the medals that were to be distributed to the winners, as there were not enough to go round, so only the singers received their medals on stage;<ref name=ESC1969 /> the songwriters were not awarded theirs until later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The medals were presented by previous year's winner Massiel, after which all four winning songs were reprised.

Contest overview

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1969<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Abbr	Country	Artist	Song	Votes	Place
1	Template:Esc	Ivan	"Template:Lang"	5	13
2	Template:Esc	Romuald	"Catherine"	7	11
3	Template:Esc	Salomé	"Template:Lang"	18	1
4	Template:Esc	Jean-Jacques	"Template:Lang"	11	6
5	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"The Wages of Love"	10	7
6	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Template:Lang"	5	13
7	Template:Esc	Lulu	"Boom Bang-a-Bang"	18	1
8	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Template:Lang"	18	1
9	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Template:Lang"	8	9
10	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Jennifer Jennings"	10	7
11	Template:Esc	Paola	"Template:Lang"	13	5
12	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Template:Lang"	1	16
13	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Template:Lang"	8	9
14	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Template:Lang"	18	1
15	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Template:Lang"	4	15
16	Template:Esc	Jarkko and Laura	"Template:Lang"	6	12

Spokespersons

Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective jury via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1969 contest are listed below.

• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndEugène Senelle<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndBrendan O'Reilly<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill<ref name="HS2" />
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill<ref name="Melfest">Template:Cite book</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndColin Ward-Lewis<ref name="Roxburgh">Template:Cite book</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndVišnja Trputec<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Detailed voting results

Lenny Kuhr's dress

Every participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel of ten people. Every jury member could give one vote to his or her favourite song, except that representing their own country.

Although neither spokesperson made any errors in their announcements, EBU scrutineer Clifford Brown asked both the Spanish and the Monegasque spokespersons to repeat their votes. No adjustments were made to the scoring as a result of the repetition.

Detailed voting results<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

		scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header
rowspan="16" Template:Vert header	Yugoslavia	5			1							1					3
Luxembourg	7	1			3				1		1			1
Spain	18	1	2		3	1					3		1	3	2	2
Monaco	11			2			4		2	2	1
Ireland	10							1	1	1		3		1			3
Italy	5	1			1	1										1	1
United Kingdom	18	2	4				3		1	5				1		1	1
Netherlands	18		2		1		3				1	4	1		6
Sweden	8								1				3			1	3
Belgium	10			2				3	1			2	2
Switzerland	13	2				3		2			1		1	2			2
Norway	1									1
Germany	8	3		2							1		1		1
France	18		1		2	4		4	2	1		1		1		2
Portugal	4			2							1				1
Finland	6		1	1		1			1				1	1

Broadcasts

Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest live via its networks after receiving it through the Eurovision network. 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in 26 countries including Tunisia; in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union received via Intervision; and in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Panama, and Puerto Rico.<ref name="Roxburgh" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 30 radio and television commentators are reported to be present at the contest,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with an estimated global audience of 250 to 400 million viewers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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)	Template:Abbr
Template:Flagu	BRT	BRT	Template:Ill	<ref name="DeS">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	RTB	RTB	Paule Herreman	<ref name="LeSoir">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		RTB 1	Template:N/A	<ref name="LeSoir" />
Template:Flagu	YLE	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Ill	<ref name="HS2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="HS">Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Lang	Template:N/A	<ref name="HS" />
Template:Flagu	ORTF	Template:Lang, France Inter	Pierre Tchernia	<ref name="Luxemburger" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	ARD	Template:Lang	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTÉ	RTÉ	Gay Byrne	<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		RTÉ Radio	Kevin Roche	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RAI	Template:Lang	Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	CLT	Template:Lang	Template:N/A	<ref name="Luxemburger">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	NTS	Template:Lang	Pim Jacobs	<ref name="Limburger">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	NRK	Template:Lang, NRKTemplate:Efn	Template:IllTemplate:Efn	<ref name="Norsk">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTP	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Henrique Mendes	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVE	TVE 1, TVE 2, TVE CanariasTemplate:Efn	José Luis Uribarri	<ref name="Canary Islands">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	RNE	Template:Lang	rowspan="3" Template:N/A	<ref name="Barcelona">Template:Cite news</ref>
	Template:Ill		<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	Radio Popular		<ref name="Galicia" />
	Template:LangTemplate:Efn		Template:N/A	<ref name="Barcelona" />
Template:Flagu	SR	Template:Lang, SR P3	Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	SRG SSR	TV DRS	Template:N/A	<ref name="Schweiz">Template:Cite news</ref>
		TSR	Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		TSI	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	BBC	BBC1	David Gell	<ref name="Radio Times">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2	Pete Murray	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	BFBS	BFBS Radio	John Russell	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Flagu	JRT	Template:Lang	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Lang	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Lang	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Template:Abbr
Template:Flagu	ORF	FS1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	Rede Tupi	TV Tupi Rio de Janeiro	Rubens Amaral	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Brazil com">Template:Cite web</ref>
		TV Tupi São Paulo
		TV Itacolomi
		TV Paraná		<ref name="Brazil com" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		TV Piratini		<ref name="Brazil com" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		TV Rádio ClubeTemplate:Efn		<ref name="Brazil com" /><ref name="Pernambuco">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	UTV	Template:LangTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagu	Inravisión	Canal NacionalTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Colombia">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagu	Telecentro	Telecentro Canal 6Template:Efn	Roberto Giralt	<ref name="Nación">Template:Cite news</ref>
	Telenac Canal 2Template:Efn
Template:Flagu	ČST	Template:Ill	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	MTV	MTV	Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	MBA	MTS	Victor Aquilina	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVR	Template:Lang	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website