| Eurovision Song Contest 1973 |
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|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Final date | 7 April 1973 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Grand Théâtre Luxembourg, Luxembourg |
| Presenter(s) | Helga Guitton |
| Conductor | Pierre Cao |
| Host broadcaster | CLT |
| Interval act | Charlie Rivel |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 17 |
| Debuting countries | Israel |
| Returning countries | None |
| Withdrawing countries | Austria Malta |
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Participation map
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| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country had two jury members, one aged between 16 and 25 and 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 & 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. |
| Winning song | Luxembourg "Tu te reconnaîtras" |
| Eurovision Song Contest | |
| ◄1972 1974► | |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the eighteenth Eurovision Song Contest and was held in Luxembourg. The language rule forcing countries to enter songs sung in any of their national languages was dropped, so performers from some countries sang in English.
The event was marked by controversy when the Spanish song, "Eres tú" (by Mocedades), was accused of plagiarism due to reasonable similarities in the melody with the Yugoslav entry from the 1966 contest ("Brez besed" sung by Berta Ambrož); however, "Eres tú" was not disqualified. After finishing second in the contest, the song went on to become a huge international hit.
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.
An argument broke out between the singer Maxi and her Irish 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 immediately sent over another singer, Tina Reynolds, 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 the following year.)
Malta was drawn to perform in 6th place between Norway and Monaco, but the Maltese broadcaster withdrew before the deadline to select an entry.[1]
The 1973 contest marked the first time that a woman conducted the ESC orchestra. There were actually two — Monica Dominique conducted the Swedish entry and Nurit Hirsh conducted the Israeli entry.
This contest holds the record for the most watched Eurovision Song Contest in the United Kingdom, 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 represented the UK with the song Power to All Our Friends. He came 3rd with 123 points.
In the light of events at the 1972 Summer Olympics 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. 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.[2]
Luxembourg's win was their fourth. The voting was a very close one, with Spain finishing only 4 points behind and Cliff Richard (who came second in 1968) another 2 points after. According to The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History by John Kennedy O'Connor, the winning song scored the highest score ever achieved in Eurovision under any voting format, recording 129 points out of a possible 160; scoring just under 81% of the possible maximum.[3]
Contents |
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| Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | 9 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 4 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Germany | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monaco | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spain | 3 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Switzerland | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yugoslavia | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Italy | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Luxembourg | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sweden | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Netherlands | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ireland | 3 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 9 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| France | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Israel | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| THE TABLE IS ORDERED BY APPEARANCE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Artist | Country | Previous year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Marion Rung | Finland | 1962 |
| Massimo Ranieri | Italy | 1971 |
| Cliff Richard | United Kingdom | 1968 |
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