Eurovision Song Contest 1979

The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the Template:Escyr with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held at the Menachem Ussishkin auditorium of the International Convention Centre on 31 March 1979, and was hosted by Israeli television presenter Daniel Pe'er and singer Yardena Arazi. This was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was held outside Europe.

Nineteen countries participated in the contest, with Template:Esccnty deciding not to participate after Arab countries had pressured it into not participating in a contest held in Israel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Esccnty, which had missed the 1977 and 1978 contests, also did not take part in or broadcast the contest this year for political reasons,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> despite an earlier public poll in which almost 100,000 people supported a Yugoslav return to the contest.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

For the second year in a row, Template:Esccnty won with the song "Hallelujah", performed by the Israeli group Milk and Honey featuring Gali Atari.

Location

File:Binyanei-HaUmah.JPG

International Convention Center, Jerusalem – host venue of the 1979 contest.

The 1979 contest took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the win of Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) at the Template:Escyr with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" performed by Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta. IBA staged the contest at the Menachem Ussishkin auditorium of the International Convention Centre, also called {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. The venue, inside the largest convention center in the Middle East, seats an audience of 3,104 and traditionally hosts other musical events.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Maariv">Template:Cite news</ref>

Participants

Template:Further Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1979 participants Initially, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (TRT) intended to participate in the contest. Template:Esccnty would have appeared 11th on stage (between Israel and France), represented by the song "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" performed by Maria Rita Epik and 21. Peron. However TRT later ended up withdrawing from the contest following pressure from Arab states, who objected to a predominantly Muslim country taking part in a contest held in Israel.<ref>O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 Template:ISBN</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Several of the performing artists had previously competed as lead artists representing the same country in past editions: Peter, Sue and Marc had represented Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty; Xandra had represented the Template:Esccnty along with Andres Holten and Template:Esccnty as Sandra Reemer; and Anita Skorgan had represented Template:Esccnty. In addition, Anne-Marie David representing France, had won the contest for Template:Esccnty.

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Roxburgh" />
Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)	Conductor
Template:Esc	ORF	Christina Simon	lang}}"	German	Template:Hlist	Richard Oesterreicher
Template:Esc	BRT	Micha Marah	"Hey Nana"	Dutch	Template:Hlist	Francis Bay
Template:Esc	DR	Tommy Seebach	"Disco Tango"	Danish	Template:Hlist	Allan Botschinsky
Template:Esc	YLE	Katri Helena	lang}}"	Finnish	Template:Hlist	Ossi Runne
Template:Esc	TF1	Anne-Marie David	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Guy Mattéoni
Template:Esc	BRTemplate:Efn	Dschinghis Khan	lang}}"	German	Template:Hlist	Norbert Daum
Template:Esc	ERT	Elpida	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Greek	Template:Hlist	Lefteris Halkiadakis
Template:Esc	RTÉ	Cathal Dunne	"Happy Man"	English	Cathal Dunne	Proinnsías Ó Duinn
Template:Esc	IBA	Milk and Honey	"Hallelujah" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Hebrew	Template:Hlist	Kobi Oshrat
Template:Esc	RAI	Matia Bazar	lang}}"	Italian	Template:Hlist	Template:N/A
Template:Esc	CLT	Jeane Manson	lang}}"	French	Template:Ill	Hervé Roy
Template:Esc	TMC	Laurent Vaguener	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	NOS	Xandra	"Colorado"	Dutch	Template:Hlist	Harry van Hoof
Template:Esc	NRK	Anita Skorgan	"Oliver"	Norwegian	Template:Hlist	Sigurd Jansen
Template:Esc	RTP	Manuela Bravo	lang}}"	Portuguese	Template:Ill	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	TVE	Betty Missiego	lang}}"	Spanish	Fernando Moreno	José Luis Navarro
Template:Esc	SR	Ted Gärdestad	lang}}"	Swedish	Template:Hlist	Lars Samuelson
Template:Esc	SRG SSR	Peter, Sue and Marc, Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri	lang}}"	German	Template:Ill	Rolf Zuckowski
Template:Esc	BBC	Black Lace	"Mary Ann"	English	Peter Morris	Ken Jones

Production

The contest was organised and broadcast by the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The event was produced by Alex Gilady, directed by Yossi Zemach, musically directed by Izhak Graziani who conducted the IBA Symphony Orchestra, and overseen by the EBU with scrutineer Frank Naef.<ref name="Maariv" /> Since Israeli Television had yet to broadcast in colour at that point (except for a few special occasions), the production had to borrow cameras from the BBC – the same had happened when RTÉ had hosted the Template:Escyr in Dublin. The 24th contest's logo featured a combination of a G-clef, the IBA logo, and the names of all participating countries in order of appearance. The IBA Symphony Orchestra played the music of each song, except for the Italian entry, which did not use the orchestra. This was the only contest where the orchestra was composed of 39 musicians.

The stage concept was designed by Dov Ben David. On stage there was a moving symbol which was based on the IBA logo (which was built like a lamp with 3 concentric rings) using a small projected model.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The event showcased stage decorations of several types of flora which represent the Land of Israel, and a film of Jerusalem's varied ancient, modern and religious scenery. The left side of the stage where the presentation was held, was decorated with prickly pear cactus, date, pomegranate, and orange plants. The film which opened the programme and repeated over its closing credits, screened Jerusalem's biblical and medieval monuments sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam with residents and visitors who frequent them while its opening and concluding images showcased the city's cultural and governmental institutions along with different types of people outside the ancient walls.<ref name="Maariv" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

This year, the postcards between each song featured mime artists rather than the participating singers. The mime artists featured were the Yoram Boker Mime Group, and included some of Israel's leading mime artists, among them Ezra Dagan and Hanoch Rozen. The group performed on a background of illustrations created by Dudu Geva and Yochanan Lakitzevitz, that featured landmarks and typical landscapes of the respective countries.

Format

The following tables reflect the confirmed, verified scores, which were adjusted after the live broadcast. During the voting announcement, mistakes kept appearing as some spokespersons gave multiple votes of the same amount to two countries. Importantantly, due to a misunderstanding by the presenter Yardena Arazi, Spain appeared to award 10 points to both Portugal and Israel and these scores were added to the scoreboard. After the programme, verification confirmed that Portugal should only have received six points, leaving the total Portuguese score reduced by four points to 64.

The intermission between the songs and the voting was presented by a performance of the Shalom '79 Dancing Ensemble, who performed a variety of Israeli folk dances. The performance was directed by the ensemble's manager and choreographer Gavri Levy.

citation

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Template:Abbr	Country	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	64	9
2	Template:Esc	Matia Bazar	lang}}"	27	15
3	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Disco Tango"	76	6
4	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Happy Man"	80	5
5	Template:Esc	Katri Helena	lang}}"	38	14
6	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	12	16
7	Template:Esc	Elpida	lang}}"	69	8
8	Template:Esc	Peter, Sue and Marc, Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri	lang}}"	60	10
9	Template:Esc	Dschinghis Khan	lang}}"	86	4
10	Template:Esc	Milk and Honey	"Hallelujah"	125	1
11	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	106	3
12	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Hey Nana"	5	18
13	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	44	13
14	Template:Esc	Xandra	"Colorado"	51	12
15	Template:Esc	Ted Gärdestad	lang}}"	8	17
16	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Oliver"	57	11
17	Template:Esc	Black Lace	"Mary Ann"	73	7
18	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	5	18
19	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	116	2

Spokespersons

Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for its respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1979 contest are listed below.

• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndKaarina Pönniö<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndIvo Niehe<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndSven Lindahl<ref name="Melfest">Template:Cite book</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndColin Berry<ref name=Roxburgh>Template:Cite book</ref>

Detailed voting results

Each participating broadcaster assembled a jury who awarded 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 point(s) for their top ten songs. This was the last year in which the points were announced via order of appearance, as opposed to order of preference. From the next year's contest onwards, the points were announced in ascending order instead. This has remained in place ever since.

The voting was extremely close. Israel gained a good lead in the early stages of the voting, but Spain eventually caught up and took a good lead themselves. At the close of the penultimate jury's votes, Israel were one point behind Spain, and only the Spanish jury had yet to give their votes. Spain ended up giving Israel 10 points, causing the crowd to erupt into enormous cheers.

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rowspan="19" Template:Vert header	Portugal	64		6			2	5		4	4		10	5	3	3	3	6		7	6
Italy	27	8				8											3			8
Denmark	76				2		3	12	1	10	12	6	7	4	8	1		3	3	4
Ireland	80	5	5	5		6		10	6	6	3		10	7		8	5	4
Finland	38		7					7	8	5		5		6
Monaco	12	1	2	4								3								2
Greece	69	10		1	4		7		7	2	10	4	1	5	7	2			2	7
Switzerland	60			7	1	10	2	2		7	4	7					8		12
Germany	86	2	1	12	5	3	12				6	12	4	1	2	6		8		12
Israel	125	12		6	12	12	8	4	5			1	2	8	1	12	12	12	8	10
France	106	6	10			1	10	8	10		5		6	12	12	5	7	6	5	3
Belgium	5			2						1								2
Luxembourg	44	7			3	4	4	5	3			2			4		2	10
Netherlands	51			8	10	5		3		3	7		3			4	4		4
Sweden	8				6			1			1
Norway	57	3	3		8		6				2		8	2	6	10		7	1	1
United Kingdom	73	4	8	10	7	7	1		2	8					5		10		6	5
Austria	5		4															1
Spain	116		12	3				6	12	12	8	8	12	10	10	7	1	5	10

12 points

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

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
6	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
4	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
2	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc
1	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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Hong Kong, Iceland, and Romania.<ref name="Roxburgh" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The contest was not broadcast in Yugoslavia for the first time since 1960, as the nation had no diplomatic ties with Israel.<ref name="Roxburgh" /> Estimates ranged from 200 to 500 million viewers were reported prior to the contest.<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	FS1	Ernst Grissemann	<ref name="Fernsehen" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	BRT	TV1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	RTBF	RTBF1	Paule Herreman
Template:Flagu	DR	DR TV	Jørgen de Mylius	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	YLE	TV1, Template:Ill	Template:Ill	<ref name="HS">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TF1		Marc Menant	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Je vois tout" />
Template:Flagu	ARD	lang}}	Gaby Schnelle and Template:Ill	<ref name="Fernsehen" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	ERT	ERT, A Programma	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTÉ	RTÉ 1	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>
	Army Radio		Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RAI	lang}}Template:Efn	Rosanna Vaudetti	<ref name="Radiocorriere">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	CLT	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref name="Luxemburger">Template:Cite news</ref>
		RTL Radio	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	NOS	lang}}	Willem Duys	<ref name="Limburgs">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	NRK	lang}}	Template:Ill	<ref name="Norsk">Template:Cite news</ref>
		NRK	Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	RTP	RTP1	Fialho Gouveia	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	RDP	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVE	TVE 1	Template:Ill	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	SR	TV1	Ulf Elfving	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		SR P3	Kent Finell	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	SRG SSR	TV DRSTemplate:Efn	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	John Dunn	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 1 VHF	Ray Moore	<ref name="Roxburgh" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Template:Abbr
Template:Flagu	TVB	TVB JadeTemplate:Efn	Regina Hing Yue Tsang and Lee Chi-chung	<ref name="HongKong1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="HongKong2">Template:Cite news</ref>
		TVB PearlTemplate:Efn	George Lam
Template:Flagu	RÚV	lang}}Template:Efn	Björn Baldursson	<ref name="Iceland">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TeleArubaTemplate:Efn		Template:N/A	<ref name="Aruba">Template:Cite news</ref>
	TeleCuraçaoTemplate:Efn		Template:N/A	<ref name="Curaçao">Template:Cite news</ref>

See also

• OTI Festival 1979

External links

• Template:Official website