Tag: Luxembourg

Eurovision 1984

Tonight the 29th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country’s victory at the 1983 contest with the song Si la vie est cadeau by Corinne Hermes. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Télévision Luxembourg(RTL), the contest was held at the Théâtre Municipal on 5 May 1984 and was hosted by Luxembourgish multimedia personality Désirée Nosbusch, who was only 19 years at the date, making her the youngest presenter in adult Eurovision history.

Nineteen countries took part in the contest. Israel did not enter due to it conflicting with the country’s Yom HaZikaron holiday again. Greece was also absent. On the other hand, Ireland, who had not participated the previous year, returned this year.

The winner was Sweden with the song Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley performed by Herreys. This was the first winning song in Swedish, as ABBA had performed Waterloo in English when they won in 1974. Richard and Louis Herrey became the first teenage males to win Eurovision and as of 2023 remain the youngest ever adult Eurovision male winners, being 19 years and 260 days and 18 years and 184 days of age respectively.

Eurovision 1983

Today the 28th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest was held in Munich, West Germany, following the country’s victory at the 1982 contest with the song Ein bißchen Frieden by Nicole. Although this was Germany’s first victory, 1983 was the second time Germany had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1957. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) on behalf of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD), the contest was held at the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halleon and was hosted by German dancer Marlene Charell.

Twenty countries took part this year, with France, Greece and Italy all returning this year, while Ireland decided not to participate.

The winner was Luxembourg with the song Si la vie est cadeau by Corinne Hermes, which equalled the record of 5 victories set by France in 1977. This record would in turn be beaten by Ireland in 1994. It was also the second year in a row where the winning entry was performed last on the night and the second year in a row in which Israel won 2nd place. For the third year in a row, at least one country ended up with nul points, and in this case, it happened to be two countries, Spain and Turkey, neither of whom were able to get off the mark.

The 1983 contest was the first to be televised in Australia, via Channel 0/28 (now the Special Broadcasting Service) in Sydney and Melbourne. The contest went on to become popular in Australia, leading to the country’s eventual debut at the 60th anniversary contestin 2015.

Eurovision 1974

On this day in 1974, the 19th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was held in Brighton, United Kingdom, and was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC). The UK agreed to host the event after Luxembourg, having won in both 1972 and 1973, declined to host it for a second successive year on the grounds of expense. The contest was held at the Brighton Dome on 6 April 1974 and was hosted by Katie Boyle for the fourth and final time (having hosted the 1960, 1963 and 1968 editions).

Seventeen countries took part in the contest, with France being absent and Greece competing for the first time this year.

The winner was Sweden with the song Waterloo, performed by ABBA, who would later go on to become one of the best-selling acts in pop music history.

Eurovision 1973

On this day in 1973, the 18th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country’s victory at the 1972 contest with the song Après toi by Vicky Leandros. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), the contest was held at the Grand Théâtre, and was hosted by German television presenter Helga Guitton.

Seventeen countries took part in the contest this year, with Austria and Malta deciding not to participate, and Israel competing for the first time.

In a back-to-back victory, Luxembourg won the contest again with the song Tu te reconnaîtras by Anne-Marie David. The voting was a very close one, with Spain with Eres tú by Mocedades finishing only 4 points behind and the United Kingdom with Power to All Our Friends by Cliff Richard (who had come second in 1968 just behind Spain) another 2 points further back. The winning song scored the highest score ever achieved in Eurovision under any voting format until 1975, recording 129 points out of a possible 160, which represented almost 81% of the possible maximum. This was partly due to a scoring system which guaranteed all countries at least two points from each country.

Eurovision 1972

This evening the 17th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in Edinburgh, United Kingdom and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC), who agreed to stage the event after Monaco, who won in 1971, were unable to meet the demands of hosting the event and could not find a suitable venue. The contest was held at the Usher Hall on 25 March 1972 and was hosted by Scottish ballet dancer Moira Shearer.

Eighteen countries took part in the contest, the same countries as the previous year.

The winner was Luxembourg with the song “Après toi”, performed by Vicky Leandros, with lyrics by Yves Dessca, and music composed by Mario Panas (which was the writing pseudonym of Vicky’s father Leo Leandros). “Après toi” became the winner with the lowest percentage of the total vote, winning with just 8.30% of the points available. Yves Dessca also wrote “Un banc, un arbre, une rue” that had won the previous edition, and became the second person to win the contest twice, the first person to win for two different countries and the first person to win two years in a row. Germany finished in third place for the third consecutive year, equalling their highest placement from the previous two editions.

Eurovision 1966

This evening the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country’s victory at the 1965 contest with the song Poupée de cire, poupée de son by France Gall. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), the contest was held at the Villa Louvigny on 5 March 1966 and was hosted by Luxembourgish television presenter Josiane Chen.

Eighteen countries participated in the contest, the same that had competed the year before.

The winner was Austria with the song Merci, Chérie, performed and composed by Udo Jürgens, and written by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger. This was Udo Jürgens third consecutive entry in the contest, finally managing to score a victory for his native country Austria. Austria would not go on to win again until the 2014 edition. This was also the first winning song to be performed in German. The contest is also noted for its historic results for several countries. Austria who came first, Sweden who came second, Norway who came third and Belgium who came fourth all achieved their best results up until then, some of which would stand for several decades. In contrast traditional Eurovision heavyweights such as France, United Kingdom and Italy all achieved their worst result by far up till that point, with the general public in the aforementioned countries meeting these results with a degree of consternation.

The rule stating that a country could only sing in any of its national languages was originally created this year, possibly due to the 1965 edition’s Swedish entry which was sung in English.

Eurovision 1965

Tonight the tenth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in Naples, Italy, following the country’s victory at the 1964 contest with the song Non ho l’età by Gigliola Cinquetti. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union(EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), the contest was held at Sala di Concerto della RAI on 20 March 1965, and was hosted by Italian singer Renata Mauro.

Eighteen countries participated in the contest – setting a new record for the highest number of entrants in the competition until that point. Sweden returned after being absent from the previous edition, while Ireland made its debut.

Luxembourg won for the second time with the highly controversial Poupée de cire, poupée de son sung by the French singer France Gall, and written by Serge Gainsbourg, which later went on to be a massive hit in almost all European countries. It was the first winning song since the Netherlands’ Een beetje in 1959 to not be a ballad, being the first pop song to ever win the competition. For the fourth consecutive year, four countries all scored nul points; Belgium, Finland, Germany, and Spain – all of which finished with no points for the second time in the contest’s history.

Eurovision 1962

Today the 7th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest 1962 took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country’s victory at the 1961 contest with the song Nous les amoureux by Jean-Claude Pascal. The contest was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), and was held at the Villa Louvigny on Sunday 18 March 1962 hosted by the Luxembourgish speaker Mireille Delannoy. This remains the last time that the final of the contest was not held on a Saturday, as since 1963 the final of the contest has consistently been held on a Saturday evening.

Sixteen countries participated in the contest – the same that took part the year before.

The winner was France with the song Un premier amour, performed by Isabelle Aubret, written by Roland Valade and composed by Claude Henri Vic. This was France’s third victory in the contest in just five years, having also won in 1958 and 1960. It was also the third consecutive winning song performed in French. For the first time in the contest’s history, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Spain all scored nul points.

Eurovision 1961

Tonight the 6th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest was once again held in the French seaside city of Cannes, having also hosted the 1959 edition. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), the contest was again held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on Saturday 18 March 1961, becoming the first contest to take place on a Saturday evening, a tradition that has continued ever since (with the exception of 1962). The show was directed by Marcel Cravenne and again hosted by Jacqueline Joubert, who had also hosted in 1959.

Sixteen countries participated in the contest – three more than in the previous edition; Finland, Spain and Yugoslavia all competed for the first time this year.

The winner was Luxembourg with the song Nous les amoureux, performed by Jean-Claude Pascal, written by Maurice Vidalin, and composed by Jacques Datin, with the United Kingdom finishing in second place for the third consecutive year.