Eurovision Song Contest 1976

The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 was the 21st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the 1975 contest with the song "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), the contest was held at the Nederlands Congrescentrum on Saturday 3 April 1976 and was hosted by previous Dutch winner Corry Brokken.

Eurovision Song Contest 1976
Dates
Final3 April 1976
Host
VenueNederlands Congresgebouw
The Hague, Netherlands
Presenter(s)
Musical directorJan Stulen
Directed byTheo Ordeman
Executive supervisorClifford Brown
Executive producerFred Oster
Host broadcasterNederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS)
Interval actThe Dutch Swing College Band
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/the-hague-1976
Participants
Number of entries18
Debuting countriesNone
Returning countries
Non-returning countries
Participation map
  •      Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1976
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs
Nul points in finalNone
Winning song United Kingdom
"Save Your Kisses for Me"

Eighteen countries took part in the contest with Sweden, Malta and Turkey 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, Austria and Greece returned to the competition, having been absent since 1972 and 1974 respectively.

United Kingdom won this year with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man.[1] 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.[2]

Location
Nederlands Congresgebouw – host venue of the 1976 contest.

The Hague is the seat of government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the capital city of the province of South Holland. It is also the third-largest city in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad 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, 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.[3]

The interval act was The Dutch Swing College Band led by Peter Schilperoort, 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 (also held in The Hague).

Participating countries
Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest

Sweden, Malta and Turkey all decided not to participate this year, while Austria and Greece returned to the contest, making for eighteen participating countries.[1]

Sweden did not enter the contest as broadcaster Sveriges Radio (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 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.[4]

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who led the orchestral accompaniment.[5][6]

Returning artists
Artist Country Previous year(s)
Fredi (Along with "The Friends")  Finland 1967
Anneli Koivisto (As part of "The Friends")  Finland 1971 (as part of Koivistolaiset)
Peter, Sue and Marc   Switzerland 1971
Sandra Reemer  Netherlands 1972
Corry Brokken (as presenter) 1956, 1957, 1958
Anne-Karine Strøm  Norway 1973 (as part of Bendik Singers)
1974 (Along with Bendik Singers)

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.[N 1]

Draw Country Artist Song Language[7][8] Place[9] Points
01  United Kingdom Brotherhood of Man "Save Your Kisses for Me" English 1 164
02   Switzerland Peter, Sue and Marc "Djambo, Djambo" English 4 91
03  Germany Les Humphries Singers "Sing Sang Song" German, English 15 12
04  Israel Chocolate, Menta, Mastik "Emor Shalom" (אמור שלום) Hebrew 6 77
05  Luxembourg Jürgen Marcus "Chansons pour ceux qui s'aiment" French 14 17
06  Belgium Pierre Rapsat "Judy et Cie" French 8 68
07  Ireland Red Hurley "When" English 10 54
08  Netherlands Sandra Reemer "The Party's Over" English 9 56
09  Norway Anne-Karine Strøm "Mata Hari" English 18 7
10  Greece Mariza Koch "Panagia mou, Panagia mou" (Παναγιά μου, Παναγιά μου) Greek 13 20
11  Finland Fredi and the Friends "Pump-Pump" English 11 44
12  Spain Braulio "Sobran las palabras" Spanish 16 11
13  Italy Al Bano and Romina Power "We'll Live It All Again" English, Italian 7 69
14  Austria Waterloo and Robinson "My Little World" English 5 80
15  Portugal Carlos do Carmo "Uma flor de verde pinho" Portuguese 12 24
16  Monaco Mary Christy "Toi, la musique et moi" French 3 93
17  France Catherine Ferry "Un, deux, trois" French 2 147
18  Yugoslavia Ambasadori "Ne mogu skriti svoju bol" (Не могу скрити своју бол) Serbo-Croatian 17 10

Scoreboard
Voting results[10][11]
Total score
United Kingdom
Switzerland
Germany
Israel
Luxembourg
Belgium
Ireland
Netherlands
Norway
Greece
Finland
Spain
Italy
Austria
Portugal
Monaco
France
Yugoslavia
Contestants
 United Kingdom 16412812812310121210124101210710
Switzerland 91125417161027487467
Germany 12221223
Israel 776737542781106218
Luxembourg 17665
Belgium 68761461283885
Ireland 541013385122631
Netherlands 5644844217324625
Norway 734
Greece 2024518
Finland 44266514677
Spain 1131331
Italy 69182123106110106
Austria 8043101053107265852
Portugal 24641112
Monaco 935577128885277534
France 14781012510107128531061251212
Yugoslavia 101234

12 points

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

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
7  United Kingdom  Belgium,  Greece,  Israel,  Norway,  Portugal,  Spain,   Switzerland
5  France  Austria,  Germany,  Monaco,  Netherlands,  Yugoslavia
1  Belgium  Finland
 Italy  Ireland
 Ireland  Italy
 Monaco  Luxembourg
 Portugal  France
  Switzerland  United Kingdom

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.

  1.  United Kingdom – Ray Moore[6]
  2.   Switzerland – Michel Stocker[12]
  3.  Germany – Hans-Joachim Scherbening
  4.  Israel – Yitzhak Shim'oni[13]
  5.  Luxembourg – Jacques Harvey
  6.  Belgium – André Hagon
  7.  Ireland – Brendan Balfe
  8.  Netherlands – Dick van Bommel
  9.  Norway – Sverre Christophersen[14]
  10.  Greece – Irini Gavala
  11.  Finland – Erkki Vihtonen[15]
  12.  Spain – José María Íñigo
  13.  Italy – Rosanna Vaudetti
  14.  Austria – Jenny Pippal
  15.  Portugal – Ana Zanatti[16]
  16.  Monaco – Carole Chabrier
  17.  France – Marc Menant
  18.  Yugoslavia – Sandi Čolnik

Broadcasts

Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language.[1]

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria FS2 Ernst Grissemann
Hitradio Ö3 TBC
 Belgium RTB French: Georges Désir [17]
BRT Dutch: Luc Appermont [18]
RTB La Première French: TBC
BRT Radio 1 Dutch: Nand Baert and Jan Theys
 Finland YLE TV1 Vesa Nuotio [19]
Yleisohjelma Erkki Melakoski
 France TF1 Jean-Claude Massoulier [20][21]
Radio France Patrice Laffont
 Germany Deutsches Fernsehen Werner Veigel [22]
Deutschlandfunk/Bayern 2 Wolf Mittler
 Greece ERT Mako Georgiadou [23]
 Ireland RTÉ Mike Murphy
RTÉ Radio Liam Devally
 Israel Israeli Television No commentator
 Italy Rete 1 and Rai Radio 2 Silvio Noto
 Luxembourg RTL Télé Luxembourg Jacques Navadic
RTL André Torrent
 Monaco Télé Monte Carlo Hélène Vida
 Netherlands Nederland 2 Willem Duys [24]
Hilversum 3 Willem van Beusekom [25]
 Norway NRK Jo Vestly [14][26]
NRK P1 Erik Heyerdahl
 Portugal I Programa Eládio Clímaco
RDP Programa 1 Amadeu Meireles
 Spain Primera Cadena José Luis Uribarri [27]
  Switzerland TV DRS German: Theodor Haller
TSR French: Georges Hardy [20]
TSI Italian: Giovanni Bertini
 United Kingdom BBC1 Michael Aspel [6][28]
BBC Radio 2 Terry Wogan [6]
BFBS Radio Andrew Pastouna and Richard Astbury [6]
 Yugoslavia TVB 1 Serbian: Milovan Ilić
TVZ 1 Croatian: Oliver Mlakar
TVL 1 Slovene: Tomaž Terček
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Algeria ENTV Unknown [6]
 Denmark DR TV Claus Toksvig
 Iceland Sjónvarpið Jón Skaptason [29]
 Morocco TVM Unknown [6]
 Sweden SR P3 Ursula Richter [30]
 Tunisia RTT Unknown [6]
 Turkey Ankara Television Bülend Özveren [6]

See also

Notes
  1. 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's "Ein bißchen Frieden" in 1982 (161 out of 204 or 78.92%) and Brotherhood of Man's "Save Your Kisses for Me" 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%.

References
  1. "The Hague 1976 - Eurovision Song Contest". European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  2. O'Connor, John Kennedy (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. UK: Carlton Books. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
  3. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Eurovision 1976 : The Postcards". YouTube.
  4. O'Connor, John Kennedy (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. UK: Carlton Books. pp. 64–67. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
  5. "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 227–243. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
  7. "Eurovision Song Contest 1976". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  8. "Eurovision Song Contest 1976". 4Lyrics.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  9. "Final of The Hague 1976". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  10. "Results of the Final of The Hague 1976". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  11. "Eurovision Song Contest 1976 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  12. Baumann, Peter Ramón (OGAE Switzerland)
  13. "פורום אירוויזיון". Sf.tapuz.co.il. 1999-09-13. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  14. Dyrseth, Seppo (OGAE Norway)
  15. "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  16. "Comentadores Do ESC – escportugalforum.pt.vu | o forum eurovisivo português". 21595.activeboard.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  17. "Concours Eurovision de la Chanson • Consulter le sujet – Commentateurs des pays francophones". Eurovision.vosforums.com. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  18. Adriaens, Manu & Loeckx-Van Cauwenberge, Joken. Blijven kiken!. Lannoo, Belgium. 2003 ISBN 90-209-5274-9
  19. "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  20. "Au Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 1 April 1976.
  21. Christian Masson. "1976 – La Haye". Songcontest.free.fr. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  22. "Eurovision Song Contest 1976". Ecgermany.de. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  23. "Η Μακώ Γεωργιάδου και η EUROVISION (1970–1986)". Retromaniax.gr. Archived from the original on 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  24. "Nederlandse televisiecommentatoren bij het Eurovisie Songfestival". Eurovision Artists (in Dutch).
  25. RadioVisie.eu (1976-04-17). "RetroVisie: april 1976 [ RadioVisie.eu /nl /actueel ]". Radiovisie.eu. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  26. "Hvem kommenterte før Jostein Pedersen? - Debattforum". Nrk.no. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  27. "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.
  28. Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final: 1976. The Hague, Netherlands: British Broadcasting Corporation. 3 April 1976.
  29. Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands -. "Timarit.is". timarit.is.
  30. "Infosajten.com". Infosajten.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
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