Eurovision Song Contest 1968

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Eurovision Song Contest 1968
Image:ESC 1968 logo.png
Final 6 April 1968
Presenter(s) Katie Boyle
Conductor Norrie Paramor
Host broadcaster Flag of the United Kingdom BBC
Venue Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom
Winning song Flag of Spain Spain
"La La La"
Voting system
Each country had 10 jury members who each awarded 1 points to their favourite song.
Number of entries 17
Debuting countries None
Returning countries None
Withdrawing countries None
Nul points None
Interval act Impressions from London
Eurovision Song Contest
◄1967    •    1969►

The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th Eurovision Song Contest. The contest was won by the Spanish song "La La La", performed by Massiel.

Originally Spain entered Joan Manuel Serrat to sing "La La La", however his demand to sing in Catalan was an affront to Francoist Spain. Serrat was withdrawn by Spain and replaced by Massiel who sang the same song in Spanish.

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, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom as an encore presentation on BBC2 the next day.

Spain's victory was their first. According to author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor in his book The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History, the margin of victory – 1 vote – was the closest contest to date and the relative margin – 3.45% – the 6th closest contest ever.

Contents

[edit] Allegations of vote rigging

In May 2008, a documentary by the Spanish film-maker Montse Fernandez Vila alleged that the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest was rigged by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who sent state television officials across Europe offering cash and promising to buy television series and contract unknown artists in return for votes for the Spanish entry. 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 1 vote.[1][2]

Massiel, the performer of the winning entry, was outraged by the allegations, insisting to have won because her song was better, and that Franco would have not been able to buy any votes for her in the first place. She also blamed the allegations on competition among Spanish TV channels.[3]

[edit] Results

Draw Country Language Artist Song English Translation Place Points
1 Flag of Portugal Portugal Portuguese Carlos Mendes Verão Summer 11 5
2 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands Dutch Ronnie Tober Morgen Tomorrow 16 1
3 Flag of Belgium Belgium French Claude Lombard Quand Tu Reviendras When Will You Come Back 7 8
4 Flag of Austria Austria German Karel Gott Tausend Fenster Thousands Of Windows 13 2
5 Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg French Chris Baldo & Sophie Garel Nous Vivrons D'Amour We Will Live By Love 11 5
6 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland Italian Gianni Mascoio Guardando Il Sole Looking Into The Sun 13 2
7 Flag of Monaco Monaco French Line & Willy À Chacun Sa Chanson To Everyone His Song 7 8
8 Flag of Sweden Sweden Swedish Claes Göran Hederström Det Börjar Verka Kärlek, Banne Mej It's Beginning To Look Like Love, Damn It 5 15
9 Flag of Finland Finland Finnish Kristina Hautala Kun Kello Käy When Time Goes By 16 1
10 Flag of France France French Isabelle Aubret La Source The Source 3 20
11 Flag of Italy Italy Italian Sergio Endrigo Marianne Marianne 10 7
12 Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom English Cliff Richard Congratulations - 2 28
13 Flag of Norway Norway Norwegian Odd Børre Stress Stress 13 2
14 Flag of Ireland Ireland English Pat McGeegan Chance Of A Lifetime - 4 18
15 Flag of Spain Spain Spanish Massiel La La La La La La 1 29
16 Flag of Germany Germany German Wencke Myhre Ein Hoch Der Liebe A Toast To Love 6 11
17 Flag of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia Serbo-Croatian Dubrovački Trubaduri Jedan Dan One Day 7 8

[edit] Score sheet

Results
Image:ESCPortugalJ.svg Image:ESCNetherlandsJ.svg Image:ESCBelgiumJ.svg Image:ESCAustriaJ.svg Image:ESCLuxembourgJ.svg Image:ESCSwitzerlandJ.svg Image:ESCMonacoJ.svg Image:ESCSwedenJ.svg Image:ESCFinlandJ.svg Image:ESCFranceJ.svg Image:ESCItalyJ.svg Image:ESCUnitedKingdomJ.svg Image:ESCNorwayJ.svg Image:ESCIrelandJ.svg Image:ESCSpainJ.svg Image:ESCGermanyJ.svg Image:ESCYugoslaviaJ.svg
Contestants Portugal   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 0
Netherlands 0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Belgium 1 0   0 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0
Austria 0 0 0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Luxembourg 0 1 0 1   0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Monaco 0 2 0 0 1 0   0 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Sweden 1 1 0 0 0 0 0   1 0 0 2 6 4 0 0 0
Finland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
France 0 3 6 2 3 3 0 1 0   2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Italy 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0   0 0 0 2 0 2
United Kingdom 1 2 2 0 1 4 5 3 2 4 1   0 1 0 2 0
Norway 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0 1 0 0
Ireland 1 1 1 4 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0   0 0 6
Spain 4 0 0 2 1 0 4 0 3 4 3 0 1 1   6 0
Germany 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 2   0
Yugoslavia 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 2  
THE TABLE IS ORDERED BY APPEARANCE

[edit] Map

     Participating countries     Countries who have participated in the past but did not this year
     Participating countries     Countries who have participated in the past but did not this year

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7384130.stm
  2. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/1926993/Franco-'rigged-Eurovisison-to-stop-Cliff-Richard-winning'.html
  3. ^ http://www.elconfidencial.com/cache/2008/05/06/33_prensa_britanica_escandaliza_tongo_massiel.html
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