Eurovision Song Contest 1973
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the 18th 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
Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...
,
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
, following the country's victory at the with the song " Après toi" by
Vicky Leandros Vasiliki Papathanasiou ( el, Βασιλική Παπαθανασίου; born 23 August 1949), generally known as Vicky Leandros ( el, Βίκυ Λέανδρος, links=no), is a Greek singer living in Germany. She is the daughter of singer, music ...
. 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
Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion RTL Group (for "Radio Television Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate centre in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 68 television channels and 31 radio stations in Germany, France a ...
(CLT), the contest was held at the Grand Théâtre on 7 April 1973 and was hosted by German television presenter
Helga Guitton Helga Guitton (born 18 December 1942) is a German radio and television presenter. She was a disc jockey and interviewer for RTL and was presenter of the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest. Biography Guitton worked for RTL from 1964 to 1994. On Radio ...
. Seventeen countries took part in the contest this year, with and deciding not to participate, and competing for the first time. In a back-to-back victory, won the contest again with the song "
Tu te reconnaîtras "Tu te reconnaîtras" (; "You'll Recognize Yourself"), sung in French by French singer Anne-Marie David representing , was the winning song at the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 – the first time a country won the contest two years in successi ...
" by
Anne-Marie David Anne-Marie David (born 23 May 1952) is a French singer. She has represented both Luxembourg and France at the Eurovision Song Contest, winning in 1973 and placing third in 1979. Career David was born and raised in Casablanca, French Protecto ...
. The voting was a very close one, with with "
Eres tú Eres (English: "You Are") may refer to: * "Eres" (Alejandro Fernández song), 2008 * "Eres" (Café Tacuba song), 2003 * "Eres", a song by Anahí from her album ''Inesperado'', 2016 * "Eres", a song by José María Napoleón, 1975, later covered ...
" by
Mocedades Mocedades () is a Spanish singing group from the Basque Country, who represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the hit song "Eres Tú". Since June 2014, ''Mocedades'' has been the name of two bands: one with Izaskun Uranga ...
finishing only 4 points behind and the with "
Power to All Our Friends "Power to All Our Friends" is a song by Cliff Richard which was chosen as the entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1973, by a postal vote which was decided by BBC viewers after Richard performed six contending songs on ''A Song For Europe'', f ...
" by
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
(who had come second in 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.


Location

Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lëtzebuerg, link=no or ; french: Ville de Luxembourg, link=no; german: Stadt Luxemburg, link=no or ), is the capital city of the Lu ...
is a
commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...
with
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...
, and the
capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...
. It is located at the
confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of the
Alzette The Alzette (; ; ) is a river with a length of in France and Luxembourg. It is a right tributary of the Sauer (a tributary to the Moselle), and ultimately to the Rhine. It rises in Thil near the town Villerupt in the Meurthe-et-Moselle ''dé ...
and
Pétrusse The Pétrusse (; lb, Péitruss, german: Petruss) is a river flowing through Luxembourg, joining the Alzette at Luxembourg City Luxembourg ( lb, Lëtzebuerg; french: Luxembourg; german: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City ( lb, Stad Lë ...
Rivers in southern Luxembourg. The city contains the historic
Luxembourg Castle The Bock ( lb, Bockfiels) is a promontory in the north-eastern corner of Luxembourg City's old historical district. Offering a natural fortification, its rocky cliffs tower above the River Alzette, which surrounds it on three sides. It was here ...
, established by the
Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
in the
Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...
, 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."Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg"
, ''Théâtre Info Luxembourg''. Retrieved 27 December 2010.


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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
. 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 The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
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 Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...
. 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. This contest holds the record for the most watched Eurovision Song Contest in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, 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 Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
represented the with the song "
Power to All Our Friends "Power to All Our Friends" is a song by Cliff Richard which was chosen as the entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1973, by a postal vote which was decided by BBC viewers after Richard performed six contending songs on ''A Song For Europe'', f ...
". He came 3rd with 123 points. The winner though was
Anne-Marie David Anne-Marie David (born 23 May 1952) is a French singer. She has represented both Luxembourg and France at the Eurovision Song Contest, winning in 1973 and placing third in 1979. Career David was born and raised in Casablanca, French Protecto ...
with "
Tu te reconnaîtras "Tu te reconnaîtras" (; "You'll Recognize Yourself"), sung in French by French singer Anne-Marie David representing , was the winning song at the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 – the first time a country won the contest two years in successi ...
". 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 Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
being drawn to perform in 6th place between
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, but the Maltese broadcaster withdrew before the deadline to select an entry.
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
also decided not to participate either.


Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who directed the orchestra. The 1973 contest marked the first time that women conducted the orchestra.
Monica Dominique Monica Dominique (née ''Danielsson'', born 20 July 1940 in Västerås) is a Swedish pianist, composer, and actress.Nurit Hirsh Nurit Hirsh ( he, נורית הירש, b. Tel Aviv, August 13, 1942) is an Israeli composer, arranger and conductor who has written over a thousand Hebrew songs. Three of her most famous and widely known songs are '' Ba-Shanah ha-Ba'ah'' (''Next ...
conducted the Israeli entry. *
Ossi Runne Ossi Runne (23 April 1927 – 5 November 2020) was a Finnish trumpeter, bandleader, orchestra leader, composer, and record producer.
*
Francis Bay Francis Bay (27 December 1914 – 24 April 2005) was a Belgian conductor. Born as Frans Bayezt, he conducted many Belgian entries in the Eurovision Song Contest and had his own Big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of mu ...
* * Günther-Eric Thöner * Carsten Klouman *
Jean-Claude Vannier Jean-Claude Vannier (born 1943) is a French musician, composer and arranger. Vannier has composed music, written lyrics, and produced albums for many singers. Vannier is regarded as an important musician in his native country; music critic Andy V ...
*
Juan Carlos Calderón Juan Carlos Calderón López de Arróyabe (7 July 1938 – 25 November 2012) was a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician. Born in Santander, he was the author of "Eres tú", which, performed by Mocedades, came second in the Eurovision Song Con ...
*
Hervé Roy Hervé Roy (1943 – 2009) was a French musician, singer, composer, and record producer. Biography After studying musical composition and dramatic art at the ''Conservatoire de Paris'', he composed and arranged for many performers since 1966, i ...
* * *
Pierre Cao Pierre Cao (born 22 December 1937 in Dudelange) is a Luxembourgian composer and conductor. He studied composition and conducting at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Classical music Cao is the regular conductor of Arsys Bourgogne with whom he ...
*
Monica Dominique Monica Dominique (née ''Danielsson'', born 20 July 1940 in Västerås) is a Swedish pianist, composer, and actress.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 ...
*
Colman Pearce Colman Pearce (born 22 September 1938) is an Irish pianist and conductor. Born in Dublin, Pearce was educated at University College Dublin and studied conducting in Hilversum and Vienna. He became a conductor for the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in ...
* David Mackay * *
Nurit Hirsh Nurit Hirsh ( he, נורית הירש, b. Tel Aviv, August 13, 1942) is an Israeli composer, arranger and conductor who has written over a thousand Hebrew songs. Three of her most famous and widely known songs are '' Ba-Shanah ha-Ba'ah'' (''Next ...


Returning artists


Participants and results


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 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. # Kristiina Kauhtio and Heikki Sarmanto # ''Unknown'' #
José Calvário José Carlos Barbosa Calvário (1951, Porto – 17 June 2009, Oeiras) was a Portuguese songwriter and conductor. He was also a composer, and conducted at many Portuguese festivals.
and Teresa Silva Carvalho # ''Unknown'' # Inger Ann Folkvord and Johannes Bergh # ''Unknown'' # Teresa González and José Luis Balbín #
Paola del Medico Paola del Medico Felix (born 5 October 1950) is a Swiss singer. Career Born in Saint-Gall to an Italian father and a Swiss mother, Paola del Medico has sung mostly in German and French. She represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Conte ...
and Jochen Lieben # Dušan Lekić and Ivan Antonov # ''Unknown'' # ''Unknown'' # Lena Andersson and Lars Samuelson # ''Unknown'' # ''Unknown'' # Catherine Woodfield and Pat Williams # Adeline Estragnat and Danièle Heymann # ''Unknown''


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 Austria, Greece, Iceland, Malta and Turkey, in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision, and in Japan.


Incidents


Spanish song plagiarism allegation

The event was marked by controversy when the song, "Eres tú" sung by Mocedades, was accused of
plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...
due to reasonable similarities in the melody with "
Brez besed Yugoslavia was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, held in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Before Eurovision ''Jugovizija 1966'' The Yugoslav national final to select their entry, was held on 23 January at the Dom Sindikata in Belgrade. Th ...
" sung by
Berta Ambrož Berta Ambrož (29 October 1944 – 1 July 2003) was a Yugoslav Slovene singer. She is best known for representing Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision S ...
, the entry from the ; 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 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 (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
immediately sent over another singer,
Tina Reynolds Philomena "Phil" Tully (née Quinn; born 1949/50), known by the stage name Tina Reynolds or simply Tina, is an Irish singer. Early life Born Philomena Quinn, she has tuberculosis from a young age and grew up in hospitals. Career Tina's career b ...
, 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 .


Notes


References


External links

* {{Portal bar, Music
1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
Music festivals in Luxembourg 1973 in Luxembourg 1973 in music 20th century in Luxembourg City April 1973 events in Europe Events in Luxembourg City Music in Luxembourg City