| Eurovision Song Contest | |
| Year: | 1978 |
| Size: | 200px |
| Final: | 22 April 1978 |
| Musdirector: | François Rauber |
| Director: | Bernard Lion |
| Exsupervisor: | Frank Naef |
| Host: | French: [[TF1|Télévision Française 1]]|i=unset (TF1) |
| Venue: | French: [[Palais des congrès de Paris|Palais des Congrès]]|i=unset Paris, France |
| Winner: | "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" |
| Vote: | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs |
| Entries: | 20 |
| Debut: | None |
| Nonreturn: | None |
| Map Nosemis: | Y |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1978 was the 23rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Paris, France, following the country's victory at the with the song "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" by Marie Myriam. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster French: [[TF1|Télévision Française 1]]|i=unset (TF1), the contest was held at the French: [[Palais des congrès de Paris|Palais des Congrès]]|i=unset on 22 April 1978 and was directed by .[1] The contest was presented by French television presenters Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone. This was the first time that more than one presenter had hosted the contest as well as the first to have a male presenter since .
Twenty countries participated, the highest number of competing countries in the history of the competition at the time. and both returned to the contest. Denmark had not participated since, 12 years before.
The winner of the contest was with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. The winning entry was a love song sung in the Hebrew equivalent of Ubbi dubbi (the title is an expansion of the Hebrew word, meaning "I"). This was 's first Eurovision win, and it was also the first winning song to be performed in one of the Semitic languages. Furthermore, it was also the only winning song to be conducted by a woman, Nurit Hirsh. finished last for the fifth time, gaining the first nul points after the new voting system was implemented in .
The event took place in Paris, the capital and largest city of France, with the host venue being the French: [[Palais des congrès de Paris]]|i=unset, which is a concert venue, convention centre and shopping mall in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. Built by French architect Guillaume Gillet, the venue was inaugurated in 1974.
Denmark returned to the competition after having been absent for twelve years, while Turkey did so after missing out two years.[2] This meant that, for the first time, the contest had twenty participating nations competing.
| + Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 1978[3] [4] [5] | |||||||
| Country | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) | Conductor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORF | Springtime | "Mrs. Caroline Robinson" | German | Richard Oesterreicher | |||
| RTBF | Jean Vallée | "French: L'amour ça fait chanter la vie|i=unset" | French | Jean Vallée | Jean Musy | ||
| DR | Mabel | "Boom Boom" | Danish | Helmer Olesen | |||
| YLE | Seija Simola | "Finnish: Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus|i=unset" | Finnish | Ossi Runne | |||
| TF1 | Joël Prévost | "French: Il y aura toujours des violons|i=unset" | French | Alain Goraguer | |||
| SWF | Ireen Sheer | "German: Feuer|i=unset" | German | Jean Frankfurter | |||
| ERT | Tania Tsanaklidou | "Charlie Chaplin" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Τσάρλυ Τσάπλιν) | Greek | Haris Andreadis | |||
| RTÉ | Colm C. T. Wilkinson | "Born to Sing" | English | Colm C. T. Wilkinson | Noel Kelehan | ||
| IBA | Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta | "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (Hebrew: א-ב-ני-בי) | Hebrew | Nurit Hirsh | |||
| RAI | Italian: [[Ricchi e Poveri]]|i=unset | "Italian: Questo amore|i=unset" | Italian | Nicola Samale | |||
| CLT | Baccara | "French: [[Parlez-vous français ?]]|i=unset" | French | Rolf Soja | |||
| TMC | Caline and Olivier Toussaint | "French: Les Jardins de Monaco|i=unset" | French | Yvon Rioland | |||
| NOS | Harmony | "Dutch; Flemish: 't Is OK|i=unset" | Dutch | Harry van Hoof | |||
| NRK | Jahn Teigen | "Norwegian: Mil etter mil|i=unset" | Norwegian | Kai Eide | Carsten Klouman | ||
| RTP | Gemini | "Dai li dou" | Portuguese | Thilo Krasmann | |||
| TVE | José Vélez | "Spanish; Castilian: Bailemos un vals|i=unset" | Spanish | Ramón Arcusa | |||
| SR | Björn Skifs | "Swedish: Det blir alltid värre framåt natten|i=unset" | Swedish | Peter Himmelstrand | Bengt Palmers | ||
| SRG SSR | Carole Vinci | "French: Vivre|i=unset" | French | Daniel Janin | |||
| TRT | Nilüfer and Nazar | "Turkish: Sevince|i=unset" | Turkish | Onno Tunç | |||
| BBC | Co-Co | "The Bad Old Days" | English | Alyn Ainsworth |
| Artist | Country | Previous year(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jean Vallée | |||
| Norbert Niedermeyer (as part of Springtime) | (as part of Milestones) | ||
| Ireen Sheer | (for) |
The postcards were filmed live, featuring the artists making their way to the stage. They took a corridor, then an elevator. Leaving the lift, they were greeted by the previous participants and then made their entrances to the stage. The camera also made several shots of the audience, notably Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg.
Each song was accompanied by a 45-piece orchestra.
The Swedish participant Björn Skifs was unhappy with the rule that every country would have to perform in their native language. He planned to sing in English anyway, but changed his mind at the last moment, causing him to completely forget the lyrics. He therefore sang the first few lines in gibberish before finding the words again.
The Israeli win caused problems for several North African and Middle-Eastern nations that were televising the contest, even though they were not participating. According to author and political commentator John Kennedy O'Connor in his book The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History, when Israel became the clear winners during the voting, most of the Arabic stations ended their transmission of the contest. Jordanian TV finished the show with a photo of a bunch of daffodils on screen, later announcing that the Belgian entry (which finished second) was the winner.[6]
Fears of terrorist attacks like at the Summer Olympics 1972 in Munich and of stage invasions like in 1964 meant that security measures in and around the Palais des Congrès were particularly tight: 200 police officers, some of them as undercover agents, tried to prevent any potential incidents. Spectators had to go through metal detectors upon arrival at the Palais des Congrès.
In addition to his duties as a host together with Denise Fabre, Léon Zitrone also served as commentator for France, in an own commentary box backstage.
| + Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1978[8] | ||||||
| Country | Artist | Song | Points | Place | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Born to Sing" | 86 | 5 | |||
| 2 | "Norwegian: Mil etter mil|i=unset" | 0 | 20 | |||
| 3 | Italian: [[Ricchi e Poveri]]|i=unset | "Italian: Questo amore|i=unset" | 53 | 12 | ||
| 4 | "Finnish: Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus|i=unset" | 2 | 18 | |||
| 5 | Gemini | "Dai li dou" | 5 | 17 | ||
| 6 | "French: Il y aura toujours des violons|i=unset" | 119 | 3 | |||
| 7 | "Spanish; Castilian: Bailemos un vals|i=unset" | 65 | 9 | |||
| 8 | Co-Co | "The Bad Old Days" | 61 | 11 | ||
| 9 | "French: Vivre|i=unset" | 65 | 9 | |||
| 10 | "French: L'amour ça fait chanter la vie|i=unset" | 125 | 2 | |||
| 11 | Harmony | "Dutch; Flemish: 't Is OK|i=unset" | 37 | 13 | ||
| 12 | Nilüfer and Nazar | "Turkish: Sevince|i=unset" | 2 | 18 | ||
| 13 | "German: Feuer|i=unset" | 84 | 6 | |||
| 14 | Caline and Olivier Toussaint | "French: Les Jardins de Monaco|i=unset" | 107 | 4 | ||
| 15 | "Charlie Chaplin" | 66 | 8 | |||
| 16 | Mabel | "Boom Boom" | 13 | 16 | ||
| 17 | Baccara | "French: [[Parlez-vous français ?]]|i=unset" | 73 | 7 | ||
| 18 | and the Alphabeta | "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" | 157 | 1 | ||
| 19 | Springtime | "Mrs. Caroline Robinson" | 14 | 15 | ||
| 20 | "Swedish: Det blir alltid värre framåt natten|i=unset" | 26 | 14 |
Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1978 contest are listed below.
| + Detailed voting results[13] [14] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| scope="col" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | 86 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Norway | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Italy | 53 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||
| Finland | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 5 | 4 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| France | 119 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 10 | ||
| Spain | 65 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 61 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | ||||||
| Switzerland | 65 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 10 | |||||||
| Belgium | 125 | 12 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| Netherlands | 37 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Turkey | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Germany | 84 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 7 | |||||||
| Monaco | 107 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 12 | ||||
| Greece | 66 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||
| Denmark | 13 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Luxembourg | 73 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 6 | |||||||||
| Israel | 157 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 8 | |||
| Austria | 14 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Sweden | 26 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:
| N. | Contestant | Nation(s) giving 12 points |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | ,,,,, | |
| 5 | ,,,, | |
| 3 | ,, | |
| 1 | ||
Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below. In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in 17 other countries, including Algeria, Iceland, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Yugoslavia, in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union via Intervision, and in Hong Kong, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. No official accounts of the viewing figures are known to exist. An estimate given in the French press ahead of the contest was 350 million viewers worldwide.
| + Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries | ||||
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORF | FS2 | Ernst Grissemann | [16] [17] | |
| RTBF | RTBF1 | [18] | ||
| BRT | TV1 | |||
| DR | DR TV | [19] | ||
| YLE | TV1 | [20] | ||
| TF1 | Léon Zitrone | [21] | ||
| ARD | German: [[Das Erste|Deutsches Fernsehen]]|i=unset | Werner Veigel | [22] | |
| RTÉ | RTÉ | Larry Gogan | [23] | |
| RTÉ Radio | Liam Devally | [24] | ||
| IBA | Israeli Television | [25] | ||
| RAI | Italian: [[Rai 2|Rete Due]]|i=unset, Rai Radio 2 | Tullio Grazzini | [26] [27] | |
| CLT | French: [[RTL9|RTL Télé-Luxembourg]]|i=unset | Jacques Navadic and | [28] | |
| Télé Monte-Carlo | [29] | |||
| NOS | Dutch; Flemish: [[NPO 2|Nederland 2]]|i=unset | Willem Duys | [30] [31] | |
| NRK | Norwegian: [[NRK1|NRK Fjernsynet]]|i=unset | Bjørn Scheele | [32] | |
| NRK | ||||
| RTP | Portuguese: [[RTP1|I Programa]]|i=unset | Eládio Clímaco | [33] [34] | |
| Portuguese: [[Antena 1 (Portugal)|RDP Programa 1]]|i=unset | [35] | |||
| TVE | TVE 1 | [36] [37] | ||
| RNE | Spanish; Castilian: [[Radio Nacional (Spanish radio station)|Radio Nacional]]|i=unset | [38] | ||
| SR | TV1 | Ulf Elfving | ||
| SR P3 | Kent Finell | |||
| SRG SSR | TV DRS | [39] | ||
| TSR | [40] | |||
| TSI | [41] | |||
| RSR 1 | Robert Burnier | [42] | ||
| TRT | Turkish: [[TRT 1|TRT Televizyon]]|i=unset | [43] | ||
| BBC | BBC1 | Terry Wogan | [44] | |
| BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 | Ray Moore | [45] [46] | ||
| + Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries | ||||
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CyBC | RIK | [47] | ||
| TVB | TVB Jade | [48] | ||
| TVB Pearl | ||||
| MTV | MTV2 | [49] | ||
| RÚV | Icelandic: [[RÚV (TV channel)|Sjónvarpið]]|i=unset | Ragna Ragnars | [50] | |
| JTV | JTV2 | [51] | ||
| TeleCuraçao | [52] | |||
| TP | TP1 | [53] | ||
| JRT | TV Beograd 1 | [54] | ||
| TV Koper-Capodistria | [55] | |||
| [56] | ||||
| TV Zagreb 1 | [57] | |||
