Eurovision Song Contest 1966 Explained

Eurovision Song Contest
Year:1966
Final:5 March 1966
Presenters:Josiane Shen
Musdirector:Jean Roderès
Scrutineer:Clifford Brown
Winner:
"French: [[Merci, Chérie]]|i=unset"
Vote:Ten-member juries awarded points (5, 3 and 1) to their three favourite songs.
Host:French: [[Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion]]|i=unset (CLT)
Venue:Villa Louvigny
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Entries:18
Debut:None
Nonreturn:None
Bluenosemis:Y

The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" by France Gall. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster French: [[Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion]]|i=unset (CLT), the contest was held at the Villa Louvigny on 5 March 1966 and was hosted by Luxembourgish television presenter Josiane Chen.

Eighteen countries participated in the contest, the same that had competed the year before.

The winner was with the song "French: [[Merci, Chérie]]|i=unset", performed and composed by Udo Jürgens, and written by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger.[1] This was Udo Jürgens third consecutive entry in the contest, finally managing to score a victory for his native country. Austria would not go on to win again until the edition. This was also the first winning song to be performed in German. The contest is also noted for its historic results for several countries. Austria who came first, who came second, who came third and who came fourth all achieved their best results up until then, some of which would stand for several decades. In contrast, traditional Eurovision heavyweights such as, and all achieved their worst result by far up till that point, with the general public in the aforementioned countries meeting these results with a degree of consternation.

The rule stating that a country could only sing in any of its national languages was created this year, possibly due to the 1965 edition's Swedish entry which was sung in English.

Location

The 1966 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in Luxembourg City. The venue chosen to host the 1966 contest was the Villa Louvigny, which was also the venue for the edition. The building served as the headquarters of French: [[Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion]]|i=unset, the forerunner of RTL Group. It is located in Municipal Park, in the French: [[Ville Haute]]|i=unset quarter of the centre of the city.

Participating countries

The same 18 countries which had participated in the previous year's event returned for a second consecutive contest.[2]

The event featured two artists which had previously competed in the contest for their countries: Udo Jürgens made a third consecutive appearance in the contest, after previously representing in and 1964;[3] and 's Domenico Modugno also participated in the contest a third time, following entries in and .[4] Also notable among the participants was the ' Milly Scott, who was the first black singer to compete in the contest.[5]

+ Eurovision Song Contest 1966 participants[6]
CountryBroadcasterArtistSongLanguageSongwriter(s)Conductor
ORFUdo Jürgens"French: [[Merci, Chérie]]|i=no"GermanHans Hammerschmid
RTBTonia"French: Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel|i=no"FrenchJean Roderès
DRUlla Pia"Danish: Stop – mens legen er go'|i=no"DanishErik KåreArne Lamberth
YLEAnn-Christine"Playboy"FinnishOssi RunneOssi Runne
ORTFDominique Walter"French: Chez nous|i=no"FrenchFranck Pourcel
HRMargot Eskens"German: Die Zeiger der Uhr|i=no"GermanWilly Berking
Dickie Rock"Come Back to Stay"EnglishRowland SoperNoel Kelehan
RAIDomenico Modugno"Italian: [[Dio, come ti amo]]|i=no"ItalianDomenico ModugnoAngelo Giacomazzi
CLTMichèle Torr"French: Ce soir je t'attendais|i=no"FrenchJean Roderès
TMCTéréza"French: Bien plus fort|i=no"FrenchAlain Goraguer
NTSMilly Scott"Dutch; Flemish: Fernando en Philippo|i=no"DutchDolf van der Linden
NRKÅse Kleveland"Norwegian: Intet er nytt under solen|i=no"NorwegianArne BendiksenØivind Bergh
RTPMadalena Iglésias"Portuguese: Ele e ela|i=no"PortugueseCarlos CanelhasJorge Costa Pinto
TVERaphael"Spanish; Castilian: [[Yo soy aquél]]|i=no"SpanishManuel AlejandroRafael Ibarbia
SRLill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson"Swedish: Nygammal vals|i=no"SwedishGert-Ove Andersson
SRG SSRMadeleine Pascal"French: Ne vois-tu pas ?|i=no"FrenchJean Roderès
BBCKenneth McKellar"A Man Without Love"EnglishHarry Rabinowitz
JRTBerta Ambrož"Slovenian: Brez besed|i=no"SloveneMojmir Sepe

Production and format

The contest was organised and broadcast by CLT. The same production team which had worked on the 1962 contest returned to help stage this event, with Jos Pauly and René Steichen serving as producers and directors and Jean Roderès serving as musical director. Each country was allowed to nominate their own musical director to lead the orchestra during the performance of their country's entry, with the host musical director also conducting for those countries which did not nominate their own conductor. The contest was presented by Josiane Shen.

A new change in rules was introduced this year, allowing music experts to be present in the juries again.

This was one of the first contests in which an entry was not accompanied by an orchestra. The Italian entry "Italian: [[Dio, come ti amo]]|i=unset" performed by Domenico Modugno had been rearranged since its performance at the Sanremo Music Festival and officially broke the EBU rule that stated the arrangement should be finalised well in advance. During the Saturday afternoon rehearsal Modugno performed the new arrangement with three of his own musicians as opposed to the orchestra, which went over the three-minute time limit. Following his rehearsal Modugno was confronted by the show's producers about exceeding the time limit and was asked to use the original arrangement with the orchestra. Modugno was so dissatisfied with the orchestra that he threatened to withdraw from the contest. Both the producers and EBU scrutineer Clifford Brown felt it was too short notice to fly Gigliola Cinquetti to Luxembourg to represent Italy, so the EBU gave in and allowed Modugno to use his own ensemble instead of the orchestra. Despite websites and the official programme listing Angelo Giacomazzi as the conductor, Giacomazzi actually played the piano for the entry.

Contest overview

The contest was held at 5 March 1966 at 22:00 (CET) and lasted 1 hour and 27 minutes. The interval act was a performance by the French Dixieland jazz group .[7] The prize for the winning artist and songwriters, a medallion engraved with the Eurovision logo designed by, was presented by the previous year's winning artist France Gall.

+ Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1966[8]
CountryArtistSongPointsPlace
1"German: Die Zeiger der Uhr|i=no"710
2Ulla Pia"Danish: Stop – mens legen er go'|i=no"414
3Tonia"French: Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel|i=no"144
4"French: Ce soir je t'attendais|i=no"710
5"Slovenian: Brez besed|i=no"97
6"Norwegian: Intet er nytt under solen|i=no"153
7Ann-Christine"Playboy"710
8"Portuguese: Ele e ela|i=no"613
9"French: [[Merci, Chérie]]|i=no"311
10 and Svante Thuresson"Swedish: Nygammal vals|i=no"162
11Raphael"Spanish; Castilian: [[Yo soy aquél]]|i=no"97
12"French: Ne vois-tu pas ?|i=no"126
13Téréza"French: Bien plus fort|i=no"017
14"Italian: [[Dio, come ti amo]]|i=no"017
15"French: Chez nous|i=no"116
16"Dutch; Flemish: Fernando en Philippo|i=no"215
17"Come Back to Stay"144
18"A Man Without Love"89

Spokespersons

Each country nominated a spokesperson, connected to the contest venue via telephone lines and responsible for announcing, in English or French, the votes for their respective country.[9] [10] Known spokespersons at the 1966 contest are listed below.

Detailed voting results

+ Detailed voting results[13] [14]
scope="col"
Germany7 1 5 1
Denmark4 1 3
Belgium14 5 3 1 5
Luxembourg7 1 5 1
Yugoslavia9 3 1 5
Norway15 1 3 3 3 5
Finland7 3 3 1
Portugal6 1 5
Austria31 5 5 5 1 1 3 5 3 3
Sweden16 5 5 5 1
Spain9 1 5 3
Switzerland12 1 5 3 3
Monaco0
Italy0
France1 1
Netherlands2 1 1
Ireland14 3 3 5 3
United Kingdom8 3 5

5 points

Below is a summary of all 5 points in the final:

N.ContestantNation(s) giving 5 points
4,,,
3,,
2,
1

Broadcasts

Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. 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.[15]

The contest was reportedly broadcast in 25 countries, including in the participating countries, Morocco, and in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision, with an estimated global audience of 500 million viewers.[16] [17] 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
CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Commentator(s)
ORFORF[18] [19]
RTBRTB, French: [[La Première (Belgium)|Premier Programme]]|i=unset[20] [21]
BRTBRT
DRDR TVSkat Nørrevig[22]
YLEFinnish: [[Yle TV1|TV-ohjelma 1]]|i=unset, Finnish: {{ill|Yleisohjelma|fi|Yleisohjelma (Suomen Yleisradio)[23] [24]
Finnish: Ruotsinkielinen ula-ohjelma|i=unset
ORTFFrench: [[TF1|Première Chaîne]]|i=unsetFrançois Deguelt[25]
France Inter
ARDGerman: [[Das Erste|Deutsches Fernsehen]]|i=unsetHans-Joachim Rauschenbach[26]
Irish: [[RTÉ One|Telefís Éireann]]|i=unset[27]
Irish: [[RTÉ Radio 1|Radió Éireann]]|i=unset
RAIItalian: [[Rai 2|Secondo Programma TV]]|i=unset[28]
CLTFrench: [[RTL9|Télé-Luxembourg]]|i=unset, Radio Luxembourg[29]
NTSDutch; Flemish: [[NPO 1|Nederland 1]]|i=unsetTeddy Scholten[30]
NRKNorwegian: [[NRK1|NRK Fjernsynet]]|i=unset, NRK[31] [32]
RTPRTP[33]
TVETVE[34]
RNE[35]
SRSwedish: [[SVT1|Sveriges TV]]|i=unset, SR P1Sven Lindahl[36] [37] [38]
SRG SSRTV DRSHans-Joachim Rauschenbach[39]
TSR, Radio Sottens[40] [41]
TSI[42]
BBCBBC1David Jacobs[43]
BFBSBFBS RadioIan Fenner
JRT[[RTS 1 (Serbian TV channel)|Televizija Beograd]]|i=unset[44]
Slovenian: {{ill|TV SLO 1|sl|lt=Televizija Ljubljana[45]
[[HRT 1|Televizija Zagreb]]|i=unset[46]
+ Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Commentator(s)
ČSTČST[47]
MTVMTV[48]
TPPolish: [[TVP1|TV Polska]]|i=unset[49]
TVRTVR[50]

Notes and references

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Udo Jürgens. EBU.
  2. Web site: Luxembourg 1966 . European Broadcasting Union (EBU) . 30 January 2025.
  3. Web site: First Austrian winner Udo Jürgens dies . European Broadcasting Union (EBU) . 14 January 2025 . 21 December 2014.
  4. News: Spettacoli . Redazione . L'Italia e gli italiani all'Eurovision dal 1956 a 2021 . Italy and the Italians at Eurovision from 1956 to 2021 . 30 January 2025 . . 12 May 2023 . it.
  5. Web site: Heroes of their time: 4 firsts in Eurovision Song Contest history . . 30 January 2025 . 14 May 2020.
  6. Web site: Luxembourg 1966 – Participants . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230320164543/https://eurovision.tv/event/luxembourg-1966/participants . 20 March 2023 . 7 July 2023 . European Broadcasting Union.
  7. News: A Samois-sur-Seine, Gilbert Leroux continue de vibrer pour le jazz . In Samois-sur-Seine, Gilbert Leroux continues to live for jazz . 30 January 2025 . . 29 April 2023 . fr . .
  8. Web site: Luxembourg 1966 – Scoreboard . European Broadcasting Union . 7 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210407114707/https://eurovision.tv/event/luxembourg-1966/final . 7 April 2021 . live.
  9. Web site: The Rules of the Contest . 31 October 2018 . European Broadcasting Union (EBU) . 13 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221004011300/https://eurovision.tv/about/rules . 4 October 2022 . live.
  10. Web site: 24 May 2021 . Lugano to Liverpool: Broadcasting Eurovision . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230512185848/https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/broadcasting-eurovision/ . 12 May 2023 . 23 October 2023 . National Science and Media Museum.
  11. News: Strong attack on song contest . . 7 March 1966 . Dublin, Ireland.
  12. News: Teddy Scholten geeft commentaar op het Eurovisie Songfestival . 14 June 2021 . . 25 February 1966 . nl . Heerlen, Netherlands . 5 . Delpher.
  13. Web site: Luxembourg 1966 – Detailed voting results . European Broadcasting Union . 7 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210407115214/https://eurovision.tv/event/luxembourg-1966/final/results . 7 April 2021 . live.
  14. Web site: Eurovision Song Contest 1966 – Scoreboard . European Broadcasting Union . 14 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150706100215/http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/by-year/contest?event=283#Scoreboard . 6 July 2015 . dead.
  15. Web site: The Rules of the Contest . 31 October 2018 . European Broadcasting Union . 19 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221004011300/https://eurovision.tv/about/rules . 4 October 2022 . live.
  16. News: Flop werd top op songfestival . Flop became top at Eurovision . 29 November 2024 . . Amsterdam, Netherlands . 7 March 1966 . nl . 3 . Delpher.
  17. News: Köszönöm, kedves . Thank you, dear . 8 December 2024 . . 7 March 1966 . . 2 . hu . Hungarian: Vajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár|i=unset.
  18. News: 26 February 1966 . Fernsehprogramm – Samstag, 5. März . Television program – Saturday, 5 March . 14 July 2024 . . Wiener Neustadt, Austria . 8 . de . Austrian National Library.
  19. 12 March 1966 . L'Eurovision . Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA) . 20 November 2024 . fr . Hans-Joachim Rauschenbach: Guten abend meine damen und herren in Deutschland, in Österreich und in der Schweiz. . Hans-Joachim Rauschenbach: Good evening ladies and gentlemen in Germany, Austria and Switzerland..
  20. News: Télévision – Samedi . Television – Saturday . registration . 5 March 1966 . . Brussels, Belgium . 4 January 2025 . 11 . fr . .
  21. News: À la radio – Samedi 5 mars . On the radio – Saturday 5 March . registration . 5 March 1966 . . Brussels, Belgium . 4 January 2025 . 11 . fr . .
  22. Web site: Alle tiders programoversigter – Lørdag den 5. marts 1966 . All-time programme overviews – Saturday 5th March 1966 . . 22 March 2024.
  23. News: Katseet kohti Luxemburgia . You look towards Luxembourg . 23 December 2022 . . Helsinki, Finland . 5 March 1966 . 33 . fi . subscription.
  24. News: Radio ja televisio . Radio and television . 23 December 2022 . Helsingin Sanomat . Helsinki, Finland . 5 March 1966 . 33 . fi . subscription.
  25. News: samedi 5 mars . Saturday 5 March . 17 September 2024 . . 2 March 1966 . 10 . Saint-André-les-Vergers, France . fr . Aube en Champagne.
  26. News: Fernsehprogramm – Samstag-Sonntag . Television schedule – Saturday-Sunday . 23 June 2024 . . 5 March 1966 . Bad Honnef, West Germany . 6 . de . Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek.
  27. News: Television and Radio . 22 December 2022 . . Dublin, Ireland . 5 March 1966 . 15 . subscription.
  28. TV sabato 5 marzo . TV Saturday 5 March . . Turin, Italy . 27 February – 5 March 1966 . 43 . 9 . 60–61 . 23 January 2023 . it . Rai Teche.
  29. News: Radio-Télévision . 30 December 2022 . . Luxembourg City, Luxembourg . 5 March 1966 . de, fr . 22 . National Library of Luxembourg.
  30. News: Kijken en luisteren . Watch and listen . 30 December 2022 . . 5 March 1966 . nl . Rotterdam, Netherlands . 4 . Delpher.
  31. News: Radio TV . 30 December 2022 . . 5 March 1966 . 7 . Sarpsborg, Norway . no . National Library of Norway.
  32. News: Christophersen kommenterer Grand Prix . Christophersen comments on the Grand Prix . 30 December 2022 . . 5 March 1966 . 11 . Stavanger, Norway . no . National Library of Norway.
  33. News: Programa da TV – Hoje . TV programmes – today . 30 December 2022 . . Lisbon, Portugal . 5 March 1966 . 18 . pt . Casa Comum.
  34. News: Programa de TVE . TVE programmes . 18 December 2024 . . 5 March 1966 . 19 . Zaragoza, Spain . es . .
  35. News: Radio y Television . Radio and Television . 23 August 2024 . . Barcelona, Spain . 5 March 1966 . 27 . es . .
  36. News: TV i dag . TV today . . 5 March 1966 . Stockholm, Sweden . 27 . sv.
  37. News: Radioprogrammen . Radio programmes . . 5 March 1966 . Stockholm, Sweden . 27 . sv.
  38. News: Punkt för punkt . Point by point . Svenska Dagbladet . 5 March 1966 . Stockholm, Sweden . 27 . sv.
  39. News: Radio + Fernsehen . Radio + Television . 28 December 2022 . . 38 . 5 March 1966 . Biel, Switzerland . de . E-newspaperarchives.ch.
  40. Programme TV – samedi 5 mars . TV schedule – Saturday 5 March . 30 December 2022 . . 3 March 1966 . 9 . Lausanne, Switzerland . 28 . fr . Scriptorium.
  41. News: Programmes radiophoniques – samedi 5 mars . Radio programmes – Saturday 5 March . 30 December 2022 . Radio TV – Je vois tout . 3 March 1966 . 9 . Lausanne, Switzerland . 66–67, 69 . fr . Scriptorium.
  42. News: Radiotivù . 30 December 2022 . . 5 March 1966 . Lugano, Switzerland . 2 . it . .
  43. News: Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix 1966 – BBC1 . 30 December 2022 . . London, United Kingdom . 5 March 1966 . BBC Genome Project.
  44. News: Програм – Телевизија . Programme – Television . 25 May 2024 . . 5 March 1966 . Belgrade, Yugoslavia . 16 . sh-cyrl . Belgrade University Library.
  45. News: RTV Ljubljana – Televizija . RTV Ljubljana – Television . 27 October 2024 . . 5 March 1966 . 11 . sl . Ljubljana, Yugoslavia . Digital Library of Slovenia.
  46. News: Televizija – Subota 5. ožujka . Television – Saturday 5 March . 30 December 2022 . . 5 March 1966 . 13 . sh . Split, Yugoslavia . subscription.
  47. News: So 5. března . Sat 5 March . 19 May 2024 . . Prague, Czechoslovakia . 22 February 1966 . 33 . 10 . 7 . cs . .
  48. News: A TV műsora febr. 28–márc. 6 . The TV programme 28 Feb.–6 Mar. . 28 December 2022 . Rádió és Televízióújság . Budapest, Hungary . 11 . 9 . 28 February 1966 . 23 . hu . Nemzeti Archívum.
  49. News: 5 March 1966 . Telewizja . Television . 25 March 2024 . . Kraków, Poland . 6 . pl . .
  50. Televiziune – sîmbătă 5 martie . Television – Saturday 5 March . Programul de Radio și Televiziune . ro.