One Day Love

The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the 16th edition of the annual 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 1965 and 1966 editions. Austria returned after their two-year absence, while Finland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden all returned after having boycotted the competition the previous year. On the other hand, Malta competed for the first time.

The winner was Monaco with the song "Un banc, un arbre, une rue", performed by Séverine, written by Yves Dessca, and composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre. This was Monaco's first and only victory in the contest. The song was performed by a French singer, living in France, sung in French, conducted by a French native and written by a French team. Séverine later claimed she never visited Monaco before or after her victory – a claim easily disproved by the preview video submitted by Télé-Monte-Carlo featuring the singer on location in the Principality. 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.

Format

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 "Goeiemorgen, morgen", 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 UK 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 UK 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 UK.

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.

This was only RTÉ's second outside broadcast in colour. The contest was broadcast in Iceland, the United States and Hong Kong several days later.

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

Voting system

A new voting system was introduced in this year's contest: each country sent 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 points.

While this meant that no country could score fewer than 34 points (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 points. 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 1972 and 1973 contests.

Participating countries

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

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who directed the orchestra. This marked the first contest to feature someone other than the musical director conducting the host country's entry; Noel Kelehan conducted Ireland's entry instead of musical director Colman Pearce (who would subsequently conduct the Irish entries between 1972 and 1975). This would consequently be the first contest in which the musical director did not conduct any of the competing entries, followed by , -, -, , and .

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* Anthony Chircop
* Jean-Claude Petit
* Hardy Schneiders
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* Waldo de los Ríos
* Franck Pourcel
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* Johnny Arthey
* Francis Bay
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* Noel Kelehan
* Dolf van der Linden
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* Miljenko Prohaska
* Ossi Runne
* Arne Bendiksen

Returning artists

Participants and results

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

Detailed voting results

10 points

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

Jury members

Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1971 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.

# Beatrix Neundlinger and Jochen Lieben
# Spiro Sillato and Gaetan Abela"It was all in the game", Fred Barry, Times of Malta, 7 April 1971
# ''Unknown''
# ''Unknown''
# Kirsten Ludwig and Wolfgang Henk
# Noelia Afonso and Francisco Madariaga
# Claude Crémieux and Jacques Ourevitch
# Mady Heinen and Michel Klein
# Jeremy Paterson Fox and Gay Lowe
# ''Unknown''
# ''Unknown''
# Eva Blomqvist and Putte Wickman
# Vivienne Colgan and Ken StewardEriksen, Espen: "Vi tjener inn tapet på turisme", VG, page 13, 7 April 1971
# Jos Cléber and ''Unknown''
# Pedro Albergaria and Luís Filipe Costa
# Mišo Kukić and Zoran Kržišnik
# Markku Veijalainen and Vieno Kekkonen
# Sten Fredriksen and Liv Usterud

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 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.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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

External links

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