Eurovision Song Contest 1971

The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the 16th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song " All Kinds of Everything" by Dana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ), the contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre on 3 April 1971, and was hosted by Irish television presenter Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir.

Eighteen countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the and editions. returned after their two-year absence, while , , , and all returned after having boycotted the competition the previous year. On the other hand, competed for the first time.

The winner was with the song "", performed by Séverine, written by Yves Dessca, and composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre. This was Monaco's first and only victory in the contest. This was also the only time in the contest's history, where the second and third-placed entrants were also awarded.

Location

The contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, the capital and most populous city of Ireland. This was the first time that the contest was held in Ireland. The Gaiety Theatre was selected as the venue for the 1971 contest as it was celebrating 100 years since its establishment in 1871.

Participants

made their début in this year's contest, while , , , , and all returned after a brief absence. This brought the total number of countries to eighteen.

Two of the performing artists had previously competed as lead artists representing the same country in past editions: Jacques Raymond had represented and Katja Ebstein had represented . In addition, María Jesús Aguirre and Mercedes Valimaña, who provided backing vocals for and , and Cristina Fernández who did so in 1970, returned as backing singers for Spain as .

Format

The overall costs to organize the contest was £65,000, which was bigger than the original estimate of £30,000.

For the first time, each participating broadcaster was required to televise all the songs in " previews" prior to the live final. Belgium's preview video featured Nicole and Hugo performing the song "", but Nicole was struck with a sudden illness days before the contest final, with Jacques Raymond and Lily Castel stepping in at short notice to perform the entry in their place. Reports suggested that Castel had not even had enough time to buy a suitable dress for the show.

The BBC were worried about the possible audience reaction to the British song due to the hostilities raging in Northern Ireland. They specifically selected a singer from Northern Ireland, Clodagh Rodgers, who was popular in both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, to ease any ill-feeling from the Dublin audience. However, Rodgers still received death threats from the IRA for representing the United Kingdom.

Groups of up to six people were allowed to perform for the first time, with the rule in previous contests of performing either solo or as a duet abolished.

In between each song, a film depicting the tourist highlights of each nation was shown, using stock footage provided by the participant tourism bureaus, accompanied by a piece of organ music chosen to complement the country.

This is the only time in the contest's history where the second and third placing entrants were also awarded.

Contest overview

Detailed voting results

A new voting system was introduced in this year's contest: each participating broadcaster appointed two jury members, one aged over 25 and the other under 25 (with at least ten years' difference between their ages), with both awarding each country (except their own) a score of between one and five.

While this meant that no entry could score fewer than 34 votes (and in the event all eighteen scored at least 52), it had one major problem: some jury members tended to award only one or two votes. Whether this was done to increase their respective countries' chances of winning is not known for sure, but this shortcoming was nonetheless plain. However, the system remained in place for the and .

10 votes

Below is a summary of all perfect 10 scores that were given during the voting.

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. In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Greece, Iceland, Morocco, and Tunisia; in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania via Intervision; and in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kenya, Mauritania, Mauritius, Sierra Leone, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, and the United States. Germany, Ireland, Portugal and Turkey have been reported to broadcast on radio. At least 28 commentators were reportedly in the contest, with an estimated 500 million viewers reported in the media.

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Notes

References

Bibliography

*''The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History'', John Kennedy O'Connor, Carlton Books Ltd,

External links

*

{{Coord, 53.340312, N, 6.261601, W, type:landmark_region:IE, display=title

1971
Music festivals in Ireland
1971 in Irish music
1971 in Irish television
1971 in radio
1971 music festivals
1970s in Dublin (city)
April 1971 in Europe
Events in Dublin (city)
1970s in Irish music