Eurovision Song Contest 1973

The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the 18th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It 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 on Saturday 7 April 1973 and was hosted by German television presenter Helga Guitton.

Eurovision Song Contest 1973
Dates
Final7 April 1973
Host
VenueGrand Théâtre
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Presenter(s)Helga Guitton
Musical directorPierre Cao
Directed byRené Steichen
Executive supervisorClifford Brown
Executive producerPaul Ulveling
Host broadcasterCompagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT)
Opening actPierre Cao and the orchestra performing "Après toi" to a montage of views of Luxembourg and behind the scenes.
Interval actCharlie Rivel
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/luxembourg-1973
Participants
Number of entries17
Debuting countries Israel
Returning countriesNone
Non-returning countries
Participation map
  •      Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1973
Vote
Voting systemTwo-member juries (one aged 16 to 25 and the other 25 to 55) rated songs between one and five points.
Nul points in finalNone
Winning song Luxembourg
"Tu te reconnaîtras"

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.[1]

Location
Grand Théâtre, Luxembourg City – host venue of the 1973 contest.

Luxembourg City is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg. The city contains the historic Luxembourg Castle, established by the Franks in the Early Middle Ages, around which a settlement developed.

The Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, inaugurated in 1964 as the Théâtre Municipal de la Ville de Luxembourg, became the venue for the 1973 contest. It is the city's major venue for drama, opera and ballet.[2][3]

Format

The language rule forcing countries to enter songs sung in any of their national languages was dropped this year, so performers from some countries sang in English.

The orchestra was positioned on stage, behind and to the stage right of the singers, in a stacked gallery on three tiers. Giant clear tubes containing multi-coloured flowers were set on the stage left. No introductions were made for each individual entry, with the commentators providing the details of the songs and singers, speaking over a still photograph of the artists taken during the dress rehearsal shown on screen.

In light of the events that had happened during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, there were fears of a terrorist threat, particularly directed against Israel's first-ever entrant, leading to unusually tight security for the contest. This gave rise to one of the best-known Eurovision anecdotes, frequently recounted by the UK's long-serving commentator Terry Wogan. He recalled that the floor manager strongly advised the audience to remain seated while applauding the performances, otherwise they risked being shot by security forces.[4]

This contest holds the record for the most watched Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom, and is also the 18th most watched television show in the same country, with an estimated 21.54 million tuning in on the night. Cliff Richard represented the UK with the song "Power to All Our Friends". He came 3rd with 123 points. The winner though was Anne-Marie David with "Tu te reconnaîtras". In the UK it was released in English under the title "Wonderful Dream" and released on Epic. It made number 13.

Voting

Each country had two jury members, one aged between 16 and 25 and one aged between 26 and 55. They each awarded 1 to 5 points for each song (other than the song from their own country) immediately after it was performed and the votes were collected and counted as soon as they were cast. The juries watched the show on TV from the Ville du Louvigny TV Studios of CLT and appeared on screen to confirm their scores.

Participating countries

Seventeen nations took part in this year's contest with Malta being drawn to perform in 6th place between Norway and Monaco, but the Maltese broadcaster withdrew before the deadline to select an entry. Austria also decided not to participate either.[5][6]

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who directed the orchestra.[7][5] The 1973 contest marked the first time that women conducted the orchestra. Monica Dominique conducted the Swedish entry and Nurit Hirsh conducted the Israeli entry.

Returning artists
Artist Country Previous year(s)
Marion Rung  Finland 1962
Cliff Richard  United Kingdom 1968
Massimo Ranieri  Italy 1971

Results
Draw Country Artist Song Language[8][9] Place[10] Points
01  Finland Marion Rung "Tom Tom Tom" English 6 93
02  Belgium Nicole and Hugo "Baby, Baby" Dutch[lower-alpha 1] 17 58
03  Portugal Fernando Tordo "Tourada" Portuguese 10 80
04  Germany Gitte "Junger Tag" German 8 85
05  Norway Bendik Singers "It's Just a Game" English, French[lower-alpha 2] 7 89
06  Monaco Marie "Un train qui part" French 8 85
07  Spain Mocedades "Eres tú" Spanish 2 125
08   Switzerland Patrick Juvet "Je vais me marier, Marie" French 12 79
09  Yugoslavia Zdravko Čolić "Gori vatra" (Гори ватра) Serbo-Croatian 15 65
10  Italy Massimo Ranieri "Chi sarà con te" Italian 13 74
11  Luxembourg Anne-Marie David "Tu te reconnaîtras" French 1 129
12  Sweden The Nova and the Dolls "You're Summer" English 5 94
13  Netherlands Ben Cramer "De oude muzikant" Dutch 14 69
14  Ireland Maxi "Do I Dream" English 10 80
15  United Kingdom Cliff Richard "Power to All Our Friends" English 3 123
16  France Martine Clémenceau "Sans toi" French 15 65
17  Israel Ilanit "Ey Sham" (אי שם) Hebrew 4 97

Scoreboard
Voting results[11][12]
Total score
Finland
Belgium
Portugal
Germany
Norway
Monaco
Spain
Switzerland
Yugoslavia
Italy
Luxembourg
Sweden
Netherlands
Ireland
United Kingdom
France
Israel
Contestants
 Finland 939566566726755945
Belgium 584343664424234522
Portugal 804655488634254565
Germany 852564597437656574
Norway 898556767657333369
Monaco 856324365986456954
Spain 1253899498910871010498
Switzerland 794334757646387723
Yugoslavia 655334258624245444
Italy 742535555755544554
Luxembourg 1296687876109989810108
Sweden 948445857965665745
Netherlands 694425545554735362
Ireland 803724667555656544
United Kingdom 123966778488510910989
France 654324455472355552
Israel 976657574677866755

10 points

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

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 10 points
3  Luxembourg  France,   Switzerland,  United Kingdom
 Spain  Ireland,  Italy,  Netherlands
2  United Kingdom  Netherlands,  Luxembourg

Jury members

Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1973 contest along with the names of the two jury members who voted for their respective country. Each country announced their results in groups of three, with the final two countries voting in a group of two.

  1.  Finland – Kristiina Kauhtio and Heikki Sarmanto[13]
  2.  Belgium – Unknown
  3.  Portugal – José Calvário[lower-alpha 3] and Teresa Silva Carvalho
  4.  Germany – Unknown
  5.  Norway – Inger Ann Folkvord and Johannes Bergh[14]
  6.  Monaco – Unknown
  7.  Spain – Teresa González and José Luis Balbín[15]
  8.   Switzerland – Paola del Medico[lower-alpha 4] and Yor Milano[16]
  9.  Yugoslavia – Dušan Lekić and Ivan Antonov[17][18]
  10.  Italy – Unknown
  11.  Luxembourg – Unknown
  12.  Sweden – Lena Andersson and Lars Samuelson[lower-alpha 5][19]
  13.  Netherlands – Unknown
  14.  Ireland – Unknown
  15.  United Kingdom – Catherine Woodfield and Pat Williams[5]
  16.  France – Adeline Estragnat and Danièle Heymann
  17.  Israel – Unknown

Broadcasts and commentators

Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Belgium RTB French: Paule Herreman [20]
BRT Dutch: Herman Verelst
RTB La Première French: André Hagon
BRT Radio 1 Dutch: Nand Baert] and Jan Theys
 Finland YLE TV1 Erkki Pohjanheimo [21]
Yleisohjelma Erkki Melakoski
 France Première Chaîne ORTF Pierre Tchernia [20]
 Germany Deutsches Fernsehen Hanns Verres
Deutschlandfunk Wolf Mittler
 Ireland RTÉ Frank Hall
RTÉ Radio Liam Devally [22]
 Israel Israeli Television No commentary
 Italy Programma Nazionale Renato Tagliani
 Luxembourg RTL Télé Luxembourg Jacques Navadic [20]
RTL Camillo Felgen
 Monaco Télé Monte Carlo Hélène Vida
 Netherlands Nederland 1 Pim Jacobs [23]
 Norway NRK, NRK P1 John Andreassen [14]
 Portugal I Programa Artur Agostinho [24]
Emissora Nacional Programa 1 Amadeu Meireles
 Spain Primera Cadena Julio Rico [25]
 Sweden SR TV1 Alicia Lundberg [19]
SR P3 Ursula Richter [19]
  Switzerland TV DRS German: Theodor Haller
TSR French: Georges Hardy [26]
TSI Italian: Giovanni Bertini
1e Programme French: Robert Burnier [27]
 United Kingdom BBC1 Terry Wogan [5]
BBC Radio 2 Pete Murray [5]
BFBS Radio Richard Astbury [5]
 Yugoslavia TVB 1 Serbo-Croatian: Milovan Ilić
TVZ 1 Serbo-Croatian: Oliver Mlakar
TVL 1 Slovene: Tomaž Terček
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria FS2 Ernst Grissemann [5]
 Bulgaria BT Unknown [5]
 Czechoslovakia ČST Unknown [5]
 East Germany Deutscher Fernsehfunk Unknown [5]
 Greece EIRT Mako Georgiadou [5]
 Hungary Magyar Televízió Unknown [5]
 Iceland Sjónvarpið Jón O. Edwald [28]
 Japan TBC Unknown [5]
 Malta MTV Charles Saliba [5]
 Poland TVP Unknown [5]
 Romania TVR Unknown [5]
 Turkey Ankara Television Bülend Özveren [5]
 Soviet Union Soviet Central Television Info themed programme presented by Alexander Kavyerznyev, only shown are performances of songs (excluding the performance of Israel, voting procedure and winning performance) [5]

Incidents

Spanish song plagiarism allegation

The event was marked by controversy when the Spanish song, "Eres tú" sung by Mocedades, was accused of plagiarism due to reasonable similarities in the melody with "Brez besed" sung by Berta Ambrož, the Yugoslav entry from the 1966 contest; however, "Eres tú" was not disqualified. After finishing second in the contest, it went on to become a huge international hit.

Concerns with lyrics

The somewhat elliptical lyrics to Portugal's entry "Tourada" provided sufficient cover for a song that was clearly understood as a blistering assault on the country's decaying dictatorship. Also, the word "breasts" was used during Sweden's song entry. However, no action was taken by the EBU.

Disagreements within the Irish delegation

An argument broke out between the singer Maxi and her Irish delegation over how the song should be performed. During rehearsals she repeatedly stopped performing in frustration. When it began to appear possible that Maxi might withdraw from the contest, RTÉ immediately sent over another singer, Tina Reynolds, to take her place just in case. In the end Miss Reynolds wasn't needed as Maxi did perform, with her entry earning 10th place on the scoreboard. Reynolds would perform the following year.

Notes
  1. Also contains some lyrics in English, Spanish and French
  2. Also contains some lyrics in Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, Irish, Hebrew, Serbo-Croatian, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian
  3. Composer of the 1972 Portuguese entry; later conductor of the 1974, 1977, 1985, and 1988 Portuguese entries
  4. Swiss representative at the 1969 and 1980 contests
  5. Conductor of the 1969, 1975, and 1979 Swedish entries

References
  1. O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History. Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1 April 2010
  2. "The "Grand Théâtre" of Luxembourg City offers high quality cultural events" Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, Luxembourg National Tourist Office, London. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  3. "Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg" Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, Théâtre Info Luxembourg. (in French) Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  4. O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
  5. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 113–128. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
  6. "No, No, Never!!! - Songs That Did Not Make It To Eurovision". eurovisionsongs.net. Archived from the original on 2009-03-01. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  7. "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  8. "Eurovision Song Contest 1973". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  9. "Eurovision Song Contest 1973". 4Lyrics.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  10. "Final of Luxembourg 1973". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  11. "Results of the Final of Luxembourg 1973". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  12. "Eurovision Song Contest 1973 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  13. "Muistathan: Eurovision laulukilpailu 1973". Viisukuppila.fi. 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  14. Eriksen, Espen: "Dyster skygge over Melodi Grand Prix", VG, page 14, 6 April 1973
  15. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Eurovisión 1978 Jurado TVE (I)". YouTube. 2008-01-25. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  16. "ESC 1973 - French comments (ORTF) - The voting". YouTube. 2015-01-16. Archived from the original on 2020-04-13. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
  17. Vladimir Pinzovski
  18. "OGAE Macedonia". OGAE Macedonia. Archived from the original on 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  19. Thorsson, Leif (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna [Melodifestivalen through time]. Stockholm: Premium Publishing AB. p. 102. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
  20. Christian Masson. "1973 – Luxembourg". Songcontest.free.fr. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  21. "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  22. "RTÉ Archives". Stills Library. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  23. "Nederlandse televisiecommentatoren bij het Eurovisie Songfestival" (in Dutch). Eurovision Artists. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  24. "Festival da Canção, mezinha do pinga amor", Mário Castrim, Diário de Lisboa, 9 April 1973
  25. "FORO FESTIVAL DE EUROVISIÓN • Ver Tema – Uribarri comentarista Eurovision 2010". Eurosongcontest.phpbb3.es. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  26. "Au Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 5 April 1973.
  27. "Au Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 5 April 1973.
  28. Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands -. "Timarit.is". timarit.is.
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