Tag: Spain

Eurovision 1969

Today the 14th edition edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in Madrid, Spain, following the country’s victory at the 1968 contest with the song La La La by Massiel. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union(EBU) and host broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE), the contest was held at the Teatro Real and was hosted by Spanish television presenter and actress Laurita Valenzuela.

Sixteen countries took part in the contest with Austria deciding not to participate this year.

At the close of voting, four countries were declared joint-winners: the United Kingdom with Boom Bang-a-Bang by Lulu, Spain with Vivo cantando by Salomé, the Netherlands with De troubadour by Lenny Kuhr, and France 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.

France’s win was their fourth, thus making it the first country to win the contest four times. The Netherlands’ win was their third. Spain and the United Kingdom each won for the second time, with Spain becoming the first country to win the Eurovision Song Contest twice in a row.

Eurovision 1968

On this day in 1968, the 13th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country’s first victory at the 1967 contest with the song Puppet on a String by Sandie Shaw. Despite having won for the first time the year before, it was actually the third time that the United Kingdom had hosted the competition, having previously done so in 1960 and 1963, both of which also took place in London. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC), the contest was held at Royal Albert Hall and was hosted by Katie Boyle for the third time. It was notably also the first time that the contest was broadcast in colour.

Seventeen countries participated in the contest, the same countries that had participated the previous year.

The winner was Spain with the song La La La by Massiel, and written/composed by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa. This was Spain’s first victory – and their first ever top five placing – in the contest.