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The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1967 with the song " Puppet on a String", written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, and performed by Sandie Shaw. The British participating broadcaster, the
British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...
(BBC), selected its entry through a national final titled ''A Song for Europe 1967'', after having previously selected the performer internally. The entry eventually won the Eurovision Song Contest.


Before Eurovision


''A Song for Europe 1967''

The
British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...
(BBC) held a national pre-selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1967. It was held on 25 February 1967 and presented by
Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...
. Harris's weekly show had been the showcase for the five songs in the competition, which had been performed in successive weeks prior to the final. The internal BBC selection of Sandie Shaw as the singer was something of a departure; in recognition of changing trends in the contest, she was arguably the first real "pop" star to be chosen as the British representative. Shaw and her manager Eve Taylor were permitted to select one of the finalists, submitting "Had a Dream Last Night", written by her regular songwriter and producer Chris Andrews, who had previously had a song in the , "One Day", performed by
Kathy Kirby Kathy Kirby (born Catherine Ethel O'Rourke; 20 October 1938 – 20 May 2011) was an English singer. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's " Secret Love" and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song C ...
. Shaw had recorded a version of that track herself. Viewers voted on postcards via mail to decide the winner and the chosen song was " Puppet on a String". Shaw released all five songs from the contest, with the winner featuring the runner up on the B-side of a single that reached No.1 in the single chart for three weeks and selling in excess of 4,000,000 copies worldwide. Some estimates make this the biggest selling single globally by a British female artist. In Germany it sold in excess of 1,000,000 copies and was the biggest selling single of the year. Shaw also released an extended play maxi single featuring four of the five finalists, excluding the winner. This EP titled ''Tell The Boys'', reached No.4 in the EP chart top 10. Shaw later recorded all five songs in Spanish, Italian, French and German. Eventually, all the various recordings of all five songs became available on various CD compilations.


At Eurovision

After placing second five times, the United Kingdom finally won Eurovision ten years after its first entry in 1957. Harris himself would be the BBC's commentator for the final in Vienna. The show was seen by over 22 million viewers.


Voting

Every participating broadcaster assembled a jury panel of ten people. Every jury member could give one point to his or her favourite song.


References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1967
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1967 Eurovision Eurovision