Eurovision Song Contest 1969

Template:Short description Template:Infobox song contest

The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was the 14th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Madrid, Spain, following the country's victory at the Template:Escyr with the song "La La La" by Massiel. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Template:Lang (TVE), the contest was held at the Template:Lang on 29 March 1969 and was hosted by Spanish television presenter and actress Laurita Valenzuela.

Sixteen countries took part in the contest with Template:Esccnty deciding not to participate this 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 as there was no tiebreaker rule in place at the time, all four countries were declared joint winners.<ref name=ESC1969>Template:Cite web</ref> 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

File:Teatro Real de Madrid 2025.jpg

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

The venue selected to host the 1969 contest was the Template:Lang, an opera house located in Madrid 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>

Participants

Template:Further Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1969 participants Austria was absent from the contest,<ref name=ESC1969 /> officially because they could not find a suitable representative,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but it was rumoured that they refused to participate in a contest staged in Franco-ruled Spain.<ref name=History>Template:Cite book</ref> Wales wanted to debut with Welsh language broadcaster BBC Cymru, and also made a national selection called Cân i Gymru, but in the end it was decided they would not participate in the competition – their participation was rejected because Wales is not a sovereign state. Only the BBC has the exclusive right to represent the Template:Esccnty.

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	HR Template: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 surrealist artist Salvador Dalí designed the publicity material for the contest. The stage featured a metal sculpture created by surrealist artist Template:Ill.Template:Efn The musical director of the event was Augusto Algueró, who made the arrangements and conducted the orchestra during the opening and ending acts. The show opened with a rendition of the Eurovision tune by the Teatro Real 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>

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. It had to rent colour television cameras from the ARD German network, which was provided by Fernseh and brought to Madrid from Cologne.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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 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 countries each gaining 18 votes. Since there was at the time no rule to cover such an eventuality, all four countries were declared joint winners. This caused an unfortunate problem concerning the medals due to be distributed to the winners as there were not enough to go round, so that only the singers received their medals on the night:<ref name=ESC1969 /> the songwriters, to some disgruntlement, were not awarded theirs until some days laterTemplate:Citation needed. The medals were presented by previous year's winner, Massiel.

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:Flagu Template:SndEugène Senelle<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu Template:Snd Template:Ill<ref name="HS2" />
Template:Flagu Template:Snd Template:Ill<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu Template:Snd Template:Ill<ref name="Melfest">Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Flagu Template:SndColin Ward-Lewis<ref name="Roxburgh">Template:Cite book</ref>

Detailed voting results

File:Lenny Kuhr 1969 Eurovision dress.jpg

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, scrutineer Clifford Brown asked both the Spanish and the Monegasque spokespersons to repeat their scores. 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
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="DeS" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	RTB	RTB 1	Template:N/A	<ref name="DeS" />
Template:Flagu	YLE	Template:Lang, Template:Lang	Template:Ill	<ref name="HS2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="HS">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	YLE	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>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTÉ	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, NRK Template:Efn	Template:Ill Template: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 Canarias Template: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" />
	SER	Template:Ill	rowspan="13" Template:N/A	<ref name="Barcelona" />
		Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Radio Lérida	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Radio Orense	<ref name="Galicia">Template:Cite news</ref>
		Radio Pamplona	<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Subscription or libraries</ref>
		Radio Rioja	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Radio San Sebastián	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Radio Zaragoza	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
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	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 Clube Template:Efn		<ref name="Brazil com" /><ref name="Pernambuco">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	Canal 9 Template:Efn		Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagu	Inravisión	Canal Nacional Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Colombia">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Flagu	Telecentro Canal 6 Template:Efn		Roberto Giralt	<ref name="Nación">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	Telenac Canal 2 Template:Efn		Roberto Giralt	<ref name="Nación">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	ČST	ČST	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 magazine</ref>