The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 was the 21st edition of the annual

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. It took place in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, following the country's victory at the with the song "

Ding-a-dong "Ding-a-dong" (original Dutch title: "Ding dinge dong", as it was introduced in the titles when broadcast) was the title of the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975. It was sung by Teach-In, representing the , and was written by Di ...

" by

Teach-In A teach-in is similar to a general educational forum on any complicated issue, usually an issue involving current political affairs. The main difference between a teach-in and a seminar is the refusal to limit the discussion to a specific time fr ...

. Organised by the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

(EBU) and host broadcaster

Nederlandse Omroep Stichting The Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (; NOS ; English: Dutch Broadcasting Foundation) is one of the broadcasting organisations making up the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. It has a special statutory obligation to make news and sports program ...

(NOS), the contest was held at the Nederlands Congrescentrum on 3 April 1976 and was hosted by 1957 Dutch Eurovision winner

Corry Brokken Cornelia Maria "Corry" Brokken (3 December 1932 – 31 May 2016) was a Dutch singer, television presenter and jurist. In 1957, she won the second edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Net als toen", representing the Netherlands. ...

. Eighteen countries took part in the contest with , and opting not to return to the contest after participating the previous year. Malta would not return to the contest again until 1991. On the other hand, and returned to the competition, having been absent since 1972 and 1974 respectively. won the contest this year with the song "

Save Your Kisses for Me "Save Your Kisses for Me" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performed for the by Brotherhood of Man in The Hague, Netherlands. The lyrics and music were written by Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden, and Martin Lee, the latter two ...

" by

Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me". Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initia ...

. The song went on to become the biggest selling winning single in the history of the contest and won with 80.39% of the possible maximum score and an average of 9.65 of 12; a record under the voting system introduced in 1975.

Location

is the seat of government of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

and the capital city of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

. It is also the third-largest city in the Netherlands, after

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the

Haaglanden :''Parts of this article have been translated from the Dutch version of this page'' Haaglanden (, literally ''Haguelands'') was a conurbation surrounding The Hague in the Netherlands from 1992 until 2015. The city's position as the country's se ...

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

and lies at the southwest corner of the larger

Randstad The Randstad (; "Rim" or "Edge" City) is a roughly crescent-shaped conurbation in the central-western Netherlands, consisting primarily of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht); their suburbs, and many tow ...

conurbation. The contest took place at the Congresgebouw (presently known as the '' World Forum''). The venue was constructed in 1969.

Format

As with the Dutch hosted contest of

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, each song was introduced by a pre-recorded film of the performing artist on location in their home nation. Unlike the 1970 films, the Dutch broadcaster made all of the films themselves, sending a crew to each nation to capture the footage. Both the artists from Monaco and Luxembourg were filmed in their respective nations, despite again not being from the country they were representing. Each film was preceded by an animated insert featuring the flags of the eighteen participating nations and ended with a profile shot of the artists. The interval act was The

Dutch Swing College Band The Dutch Swing College Band "DSCB" is a traditional dixieland band founded on 5 May 1945 by bandleader and clarinettist/saxophonist Peter Schilperoort. Highly successful in their native home of The Netherlands, the band quickly found an interna ...

led by

Peter Schilperoort Peter Schilperoort (1919 – 1990), also known as Pat Bronx, was a Dutch musician, famous for his work with the Dutch Swing College Band, and projects with other well-known musicians. He is most recognised as a saxophone and clarinet player, but ...

, who performed live on the stage, intercut with brief interviews with the artists from France, Israel, Austria, Belgium and Spain backstage in the green room conducted by Hans van Willigenburg. Willigenburg asked each of the five artists which song they thought would win, but only French singer Catherine Ferry was willing to give a definite answer; correctly predicting the United Kingdom. The scoring system introduced in the previous year's competition returned in 1976. Each jury voted internally and awarded 12 points to the highest scoring song, 10 to the second highest, then 8 to the third, and then 7 to 1 (from fourth to tenth best song, according to the jury). Unlike today, the points were not given in order (from 1 up to 12), but in the order the songs were performed. The current procedure was not established until

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

(also held in The Hague).

Participating countries

Sweden, Malta and Turkey all decided not to participate this year, while Austria and Greece returned to the contest, making for eighteen participating countries.

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

did not enter the contest as broadcaster

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

(SR) did not have enough money to host another contest if Sweden should win again. A new rule was therefore introduced that in the future each participating broadcaster would have to pay a part of the cost of staging the contest. As the author and historian

John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous m ...

notes in his book ''The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History'', there had been public demonstrations in Sweden against the contest, which also played a part in SR's decision not to take part.

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who led the orchestral accompaniment. *

Alyn Ainsworth Alyn Ainsworth (24 August 1924 – 4 October 1990)
was a British musician, singer and conductor of light e ...

* Mario Robbiani *

Les Humphries The Les Humphries Singers was a 1970s pop group formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1969 by the English-born Les Humphries. The group had several chart hits in Germany and in other European countries. The Les Humphries Singers dissolved at the end ...

Matti Caspi Matti Caspi ( he, מתי כספי) is an Israeli composer, musician, singer, arranger, and lyricist. Born in 1949, he is regarded as one of Israel's top popular musicians. His music's style is informed by classical music, Brazilian and Latin mu ...

* Jo Plée *

Michel Bernholc Michel Bernholc (1941–2002) was a French composer, arranger and producer. Using the pseudonym Mike Steïphenson, he wrote and produced the 1971 hit "Burundi Black", which made #31 on the UK Singles Chart and #74 in Australia. He also wrote the ...

Noel Kelehan John William "Noel" Kelehan (26 December 1935 – 6 February 2012) was an Irish musician, former conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and former musical director of Radio Telefís Éireann. He retired as conductor in 1998. Life and car ...

Harry van Hoof Harry van Hoof (born 16 March 1943) is a Dutch conductor, composer and music arranger. Van Hoof has written many successful productions to his name already, he has his own production company and he had his first success as an arranger with "Sof ...

Frode Thingnæs Frode Thingnæs (20 March 1940 – 15 November 2012) was a Norwegian jazz composer, arranger, conductor and trombone player who formed the Frode Thingnæs Quintet in 1960. Career Thingnæs was introduced to music at eight years old, when he sta ...

* *

Ossi Runne Ossi Runne (23 April 1927 – 5 November 2020) was a Finnish trumpeter, bandleader, orchestra leader, composer, and record producer.

* Joan Barcons *

Maurizio Fabrizio Maurizio Fabrizio (born 16 March 1952) is an Italian composer, conductor, arranger, producer, musician and singer-songwriter. Life and career Born in Milan, after studying at the conservatory in 1969 Fabrizio became a member of the La Scala orc ...

* Erich Kleinschuster * *

Raymond Donnez Raymond Donnez (September 9, 1942 – March 7, 2019), or Don Ray, was a French disco producer, arranger and performer. Early life A cult hero among fans of Eurodisco, Don Ray played keyboards on Cerrone's records "Love in C Minor", "IV", "VI" ...

* *

Returning artists

Participants and results

The following tables reflect the officially verified scores given by each jury, adjusted after the transmission. During the live broadcast, France failed to announce the 4 points they awarded to Yugoslavia, an error overlooked by the scrutineer, Clifford Brown. Thus in the live show, Norway were placed 17th and Yugoslavia 18th. After the broadcast, the scores were adjusted and the two nations swapped places, with Yugoslavia's score being adjusted from 6 to 10 points, moving Norway down to last place. In terms of points gained as a percentage of maximum available, the winning UK entry from Brotherhood of Man is statistically the most successful winning Eurovision entry since the introduction of the 'douze points' scoring system inaugurated in 1975.As noted on a TOTP2 Eurovision special, the 1997 Katrina and the Waves entry Love Shine a light ranks third in the rankings of points achieved as a percentage of maximum available with 227 out of 288 or 78.81%, behind

Nicole Nicole may refer to: People * Nicole (name) * Nicole (American singer) (born 1958), a contestant in season 3 of the American ''The X Factor'' * Nicole (Chilean singer) (born 1977) * Nicole (German singer) (born 1964), winner of the 1982 Euro ...

's "

Ein bißchen Frieden "Ein bißchen Frieden" (; "A Bit of Peace") is a German-language song, written by prolific German Eurovision-writing duo Ralph Siegel (music) and Bernd Meinunger (lyrics) for the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, held in Harrogate, United Kingdo ...

" in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

(161 out of 204 or 78.92%) and

's "

" in 1976 (164 out of 204 or 80.39%). For comparison, Elena Paparizou's 2005 win took 230 points out of a possible 456, or only 50.04% while Portugal's dominant 2017 win from Salvador Sobral took 758 points from a possible 984 available, equating to 77.04%.

Detailed voting results

12 points

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

Spokespersons

Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1976 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country. # Ray Moore # Michel Stocker # # # Jacques Harvey # André Hagon #

Brendan Balfe Brendan Balfe (born 19 September 1945 in Dublin) is an Irish radio personality, who was on-air consistently for more than 40 years on RTÉ. He retired in 2010. Comedy has been a feature of many of Balfe's programmes. He has won three Internati ...

# Dick van Bommel # # Irini Gavala # #

José María Íñigo José María Íñigo Gómez (4 June 1942 – 5 May 2018) was a Spanish journalist, radio and television presenter, and stage and screen actor. Biography Career Born in Bilbao, Íñigo began his professional career in his hometown as he was hi ...

Rosanna Vaudetti Rosanna Vaudetti is a television host and announcer for RAI. Vaudetti was born on 19 December 1937 in Ancona. She was educated at the University of Turin where she was appointed by Radiotelevisione Italiana RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; ...

# #

Ana Zanatti Ana Zanatti (born 1949) is a Portuguese theatre, film and television actor, television presenter, novelist, children's book writer, poet and a women's- and LGBT-rights campaigner. Early life Ana Maria Zanatti Olival was born in the Portuguese ca ...

# Carole Chabrier # Marc Menant #

Sandi Čolnik Sandi Čolnik, born in 1937 as Alexander Ludovik Čolnik, was a Slovene journalist, TV presenter, writer and newspaper editor. He was born in Maribor in 1938 and died in Ljubljana in 2017. Čolnik began his career as a radio host on Radio Marib ...

Broadcasts

Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language. In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Algeria, Hong Kong, Iceland, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Music

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Music festivals in the Netherlands 1976 in music 1976 in the Netherlands 20th century in The Hague April 1976 events in Europe Events in The Hague Music in The Hague