Eurovision Song Contest 1976

The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 was the 21st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the Template:Escyr with the song "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (NOS), the contest was held at the Nederlands Congrescentrum on 3 April 1976 and was hosted by 1957 Dutch Eurovision winner Corry Brokken.

Eighteen countries took part in the contest with Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty opting not to return to the contest after participating the previous year. Malta would not return to the contest again until 1991. On the other hand, Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty returned to the competition, having been absent since 1972 and 1974 respectively.

The Template:Esccnty won the contest this year with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man.<ref name=ESC1976>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The song went on to become the biggest selling winning single in the history of the contest and won with 80.39% of the possible maximum score and an average of 9.65 of 12; a record under the voting system introduced in 1975.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Location

File:Statenhal Sebas Veldhuisen.jpg

lang}} – host venue of the 1976 contest.

The Hague is the seat of government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the capital city of the province of South Holland. It is also the third-largest city in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The contest took place at the {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (presently known as the World Forum). The venue was constructed in 1969.

Participants

Template:Further Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1976 participants Sweden, Malta and, Turkey all decided not to participate this year, while Austria and Greece returned to the contest, making for eighteen participating countries.<ref name=ESC1976 />

After many controversies related to the previous year's contest, the Swedish broadcaster, Sveriges Radio (SR), decided not to participate, as they did not have enough money to host another contest if they won again. SR's withdrawal forced the introduction of a new rule in which from 1977 onwards, registration and maintenance fees would be introduced for each of the participating broadcasters, which was meant for financing future contests. These demands forced the Maltese broadcaster to withdraw, as it had a very small budget for 1976.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As the author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in his book The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History, "there had been public demonstrations in Sweden against the contest, which also played a part in SR's decision not to take part".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Melfest">Template:Cite book</ref>

Several of the performing artists had previously competed as lead artists representing the same country in past editions: Fredi had represented Template:Esccnty; Anneli Koivisto as part of "The Friends" had represented Template:Esccnty as part of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}; Peter, Sue and Marc had represented Template:Esccnty; Sandra Reemer had represented the Template:Esccnty along Andres Holten; and Anne-Karine Strøm had represented Template:Esccnty as part of the Bendik Singers and Template:Esccnty.

Greece's participation sparked controversy as it referred to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The previous year, Greece had withdrawn from the contest for the same reason, and in 1976, it was Turkey's turn to withdraw.

The organizers informed Mariza Koch that they were not responsible for her physical integrity, as there were threats that armed Turks would be present at the venue and shoot her on stage. She signed a waiver stating that she would sing at her own risk. Rumors circulated that she was wearing a bulletproof vest when she went on stage.

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Roxburgh" />
Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)	Conductor
Template:Esc	ORF	Waterloo and Robinson	"My Little World"	English	Gerhard Heinz	Erich Kleinschuster
Template:Esc	RTB	Pierre Rapsat	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Michel Bernholc
Template:Esc	YLE	Fredi and the Friends	"Pump-Pump"	English	Template:Hlist	Ossi Runne
Template:Esc	TF1	Catherine Ferry	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Tony Rallo
Template:Esc	HRTemplate:Efn	Les Humphries Singers	"Sing, Sang, Song"	German, English	Template:Hlist	Les Humphries
Template:Esc	ERT	Mariza Koch	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Greek	Template:Hlist	Mihalis Rozakis
Template:Esc	RTÉ	Red Hurley	"When"	English	Brendan Graham	Noel Kelehan
Template:Esc	IBA	Chocolate, Menta, Mastik	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Hebrew	Template:Hlist	Matti Caspi
Template:Esc	RAI	Romina and Al Bano	"We'll Live It All Again"	English, Italian	Template:Hlist	Maurizio Fabrizio
Template:Esc	CLT	Jürgen Marcus	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Jo Plée
Template:Esc	TMC	Mary Christy	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Raymond Donnez
Template:Esc	NOS	Sandra Reemer	"The Party Is Over Now"	English	Hans van Hemert	Harry van Hoof
Template:Esc	NRK	Anne-Karine Strøm	"Mata Hari"	English	Template:Hlist	Frode Thingnæs
Template:Esc	RTP	Carlos do Carmo	lang}}"	Portuguese	Template:Hlist	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	TVE	Braulio	lang}}"	Spanish	Braulio García Bautista	Joan Barcons
Template:Esc	SRG SSR	Peter, Sue and Marc	"Djambo Djambo"	English	Template:Ill	Mario Robbiani
Template:Esc	BBC	Brotherhood of Man	"Save Your Kisses for Me"	English	Template:Hlist	Alyn Ainsworth
Template:Esc	JRT	Ambasadori	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Serbo-Croatian	Template:Hlist	Template:Ill

Format

Following the confirmation of the eighteen competing countries, the draw to determine the running order of the contest was held on 8 January 1976.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

As with the Dutch hosted contest of 1970, each song was introduced by a pre-recorded film of the performing artist on location in their home nation. Unlike the 1970 films, the Dutch broadcaster made all of the films themselves, sending a crew to each nation to capture the footage. Both the artists from Monaco and Luxembourg were filmed in their respective nations, despite again not being from the country they were representing. Each film was preceded by an animated insert featuring the flags of the eighteen participating nations and ended with a profile shot of the artists.

The interval act was The Dutch Swing College Band led by Peter Schilperoort, who performed live on the stage, intercut with brief interviews with the artists from France, Israel, Austria, Belgium and Spain backstage in the green room conducted by Hans van Willigenburg. Willigenburg asked each of the five artists which song they thought would win, but only French singer Catherine Ferry was willing to give a definite answer; correctly predicting the United Kingdom.

The scoring system introduced in the previous year's competition returned in 1976. Each jury voted internally and awarded 12 points to the highest scoring song, 10 to the second highest, then 8 to the third, and then 7 to 1 (from fourth to tenth best song, according to the jury). Unlike today, the points were not given in order (from 1 up to 12), but in the order the songs were performed. The current procedure was not established until 1980 (also held in The Hague).

Contest overview

The following tables reflect the officially verified scores given by each jury, adjusted after the transmission. During the live broadcast, France failed to announce the 4 points they awarded to Yugoslavia, an error overlooked by the scrutineer, Clifford Brown. Thus in the live show, Norway were placed 17th and Yugoslavia 18th. After the broadcast, the scores were adjusted and the two nations swapped places, with Yugoslavia's score being adjusted from 6 to 10 points, moving Norway down to last place.

In terms of points gained as a percentage of maximum available, the winning UK entry from Brotherhood of Man is statistically the most successful winning Eurovision entry since the introduction of the 'douze points' scoring system inaugurated in 1975.Template:Efn

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Abbr	Country	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Template:Esc	Brotherhood of Man	"Save Your Kisses for Me"	164	1
2	Template:Esc	Peter, Sue and Marc	"Djambo Djambo"	91	4
3	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Sing, Sang, Song"	12	15
4	Template:Esc	Chocolate, Menta, Mastik	lang}}"	77	6
5	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	17	14
6	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	68	8
7	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"When"	54	10
8	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"The Party Is Over Now"	56	9
9	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Mata Hari"	7	18
10	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	20	13
11	Template:Esc	Fredi and the Friends	"Pump-Pump"	44	11
12	Template:Esc	Braulio	lang}}"	11	16
13	Template:Esc	Romina and Al Bano	"We'll Live It All Again"	69	7
14	Template:Esc	Waterloo and Robinson	"My Little World"	80	5
15	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	24	12
16	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	93	3
17	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	147	2
18	Template:Esc	Ambasadori	lang}}"	10	17

Spokespersons

Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for its respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1976 contest are listed below.

• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndJacques Harvey<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndJosé María Íñigo<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndRay Moore<ref name=Roxburgh>Template:Cite book</ref>

Detailed voting results

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=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	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header
rowspan="19" Template:Vert header	United Kingdom	164		12	8	12	8	12	3	10	12	12	10	12	4	10	12	10	7	10
Switzerland	91	12		5	4	1	7	1	6	10	2	7	4		8	7	4	6	7
Germany	12		2			2	1						2					2	3
Israel	77	6	7	3		7	5	4	2	7		8	1	10	6	2	1		8
Luxembourg	17						6	6	5
Belgium	68	7	6		1				4	6		12		8	3	8	8	5
Ireland	54	10		1	3	3					8		5	12	2		6	3	1
Netherlands	56		4	4	8	4	4	2		1	7		3	2	4	6	2		5
Norway	7								3							4
Greece	20						2					4		5		1		8
Finland	44	2		6	6			5	1	4			6		7		7
Spain	11	3									1			3			3	1
Italy	69	1	8		2			12		3	10	6			1	10		10	6
Austria	80	4	3	10	10	5	3	10	7	2	6	5	8				5		2
Portugal	24					6					4	1		1				12
Monaco	93	5	5	7	7	12	8	8	8	5		2	7	7	5	3			4
France	147	8	10	12	5	10	10	7	12	8	5	3	10	6	12	5	12		12
Yugoslavia	10		1	2							3							4

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
7	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
5	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
1	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc

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.<ref name=ESC1976 /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The contest was reportedly broadcast in 33 countries, including the participating countries, EBU member broadcasters in Algeria, Morocco, Iceland, Tunisia, and Turkey; in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union via Intervision; and in Hong Kong, Japan, and Mexico.<ref name="Roxburgh" /><ref name="Leeuwarder">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="De Waarheid">Template:Cite news</ref> There were also reportedly 27 television and 17 radio commentator teams present at the contest.<ref name="Leeuwarder" /> At least 25 radio stations from eight countries were reported to have broadcast the contest. There was an estimated global audience of 450 to 500 million television viewers and 80 million listeners.<ref name="De Waarheid" /><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	ORF	FS2	Ernst Grissemann	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTB	RTB	Paule Herreman	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	BRT	BRT, BRT 1	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	YLE	TV1	Template:Ill	<ref name="HS">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="HS2">Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Ill	Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	TF1		Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	ARD	lang}}	Werner Veigel	<ref name="Fernsehen" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	ERT	ERT, A Programma	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTÉ	RTÉ	Mike Murphy	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		RTÉ Radio	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	IBA	Israeli Television	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RAI	lang}}	Silvio Noto	<ref name="Radiocorriere">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	CLT	lang}}	Jacques Navadic	<ref name="Luxemburger">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	NOS	lang}}	Willem Duys	<ref name="Limburgs">Template:Cite news</ref>
		lang}}	Willem van Beusekom
Template:Flagu	NRK	lang}}	Template:Ill	<ref name="Norsk">Template:Cite news</ref>
		NRKTemplate:Efn	Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	RTP	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVE	TVE 1	José Luis Uribarri	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	SRG SSR	TV DRS	Template:Ill	<ref name="Fernsehen">Template:Cite news</ref>
		TSR	Template:Ill	<ref name="Je vois tout">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		TSI	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		RSI 1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	BBC	BBC1	Michael Aspel	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		BBC Radio 2Template:Efn	Terry Wogan	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
	BFBS	BFBS Radio	Andrew Pastouna	<ref name=Roxburgh />
Template:Flagu	JRT	lang}}, TV Zagreb 1	Oliver Mlakar	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		TV Koper-Capodistria	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		TV Ljubljana 1	Template:N/A

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Template:Abbr
Template:Flagu	ČST	ČST2Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Czechoslovakia">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	DR	DR TV	Per Møller Hansen	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	MR	Petőfi RádióTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Hungary">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	RÚV	lang}}Template:Efn	Jón Skaptason	<ref name="Iceland">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	JTV	JTV2Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Jordan">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TP	TP1Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Poland">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVR	lang}}Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Romania">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	SR	SR P3	Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TRT	lang}}	Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• OTI Festival 1976

External links

• Template:Official website