The Eurovision Song Contest Previews are annually broadcast TV shows showcasing the entries into the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest. They were inaugurated in 1971 for the contest in Dublin, Ireland, and have been provided by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to all participating countries ever since.[1]
All participants in the Eurovision Song Contest are required to submit a video of their entry to the EBU via the host broadcaster, to be distributed across the Eurovision network. From 1971 until the early 1990s, it was compulsory for all participants to broadcast the videos. Since the mid-1990s it has become optional. Broadcasters either submit a performance of the given song - usually taken from their local national final - or a music video of the entry, specifically filmed for the purpose. Occasionally countries rely on funding from their government tourism budget to produce the video, leading to highly commercial offerings highlighting the given country's natural beauty. Often songs would vary from the version that would be heard in the contest itself; either through a change in language or a variance between the length of the recorded version and the permitted live version, or through a variance in orchestration and arrangement.
Early rules stated that the videos could not be broadcast in any less than two shows and the songs had to be broadcast in full. Later amendments allowed the videos to be broadcast incomplete, but that meant the length of each video still had to match. Generally speaking, the countries broadcast the shows in two parts, the entries divided as evenly as practicable between the two shows. In 1974, a two-night preview programme, Auftakt für Brighton (Prelude for Brighton), was coordinated by the German national broadcaster ARD in February and was hosted by the journalist Karin Tietze-Ludwig. It shares two special distinctions in that it was the first "preview"-type programme to be broadcast in many European countries simultaneously (rather than each national broadcaster showing their own preview programme), and also in that it aired nearly six weeks before the actual Contest, the earliest-ever airing of "preview week." In the same year, the French entry was broadcast by all the nations showing the previews, even though the song was withdrawn from the Eurovision final itself. Previously, in 1971, the Belgian preview video featured singers Nicole & Hugo who were forced to withdraw days before the Eurovision final due to illness, being replaced by Jacques Raymond & Lily Castel. In 1977, the previews were broadcast across Europe ahead of the original scheduled broadcast date of April 2 for the Eurovision final. When the contest was postponed to May 7, this left a long gap between the preview shows airing and the final. It was also stated in the rule book that the name of the broadcasting TV station for each country be carried on screen to introduce the songs. But many broadcasters ignored this. For a period, the BBC were responsible for 'collecting' the preview videos and distributing them to the various participating countries. This has been carried out by the contest's host nation more recently. In recent years, the Nordic broadcasters (Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland) have co-produced preview shows for broadcast across their region. From approximately 2000, the videos have been available online via the Eurovision website and most broadcasters upload them to their own, local Eurovision site.
In the United Kingdom, the BBC broadcast the programmes in two parts, every year from 1971-1994 on BBC1 and then again in the early 2000s on BBC Three in multiple shows. Generally, but by no means always, the songs were broadcast in the order they would appear in the contest, with the UK entry saved until the end. For 1979-1982, the songs were shown in a random order, despite host Terry Wogan insisting in 1979 that the songs were being shown in competition order during the broadcasts. With only two exceptions (1972 & 1973) the shows were broadcast on Sunday afternoons. In 1972 the shows were given a prime-time airing in the BBC1 evening schedule. From 1976 - 1985, the BBC provided a specifically filmed 'video' of the artist on location in the UK. In all other years, they have simply provided the performance from the national final, although often the artist's record company will also send their own commercially released video for use by the broadcasters, but these were never shown in the UK broadcasts. From 1984, the BBC included the contributing broadcasters acronym on screen for each entry. The UK broadcast details are as follows, with the countries listed in the order they were shown:
1971 - Host: Cliff Richard
Broadcast: Sunday, March 21 & Sunday, March 28.
Part 1: Austria, Malta, Monaco, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Belgium.
Part 2: Italy, Sweden, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Finland, Norway, United Kingdom.
1972 - Host: Cliff Richard
Broadcast: Monday, March 13 & Monday, March 20.
Part 1: Germany, France, Ireland, Spain, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland, Malta, United Kingdom.
Part 2: Finland, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia, Sweden, Monaco, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands.
1973 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Saturday, March 24 & Saturday, March 31.
Part 1: Finland, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Norway, Monaco, Spain, Switzerland, Yugoslavia.
Part 2: Italy, Luxembourg, Sweden, Netherlands, Ireland, France, Israel, United Kingdom.
1974 - Host: David Vine
Broadcast: Sunday, March 24 & Sunday, March 31.
Part 1: Finland, Spain, Norway, Greece, Israel, Yugoslavia.
Part 2: Sweden, Luxembourg, Monaco, Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, United Kingdom.
1975 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Sunday, March 9 & Sunday, March 16.
Part 1: Netherlands, Ireland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Malta, Belgium.
Part 2: Israel, Turkey, Monaco, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Italy, United Kingdom.
1976 - Host: Michael Aspel
Broadcast: Sunday, March 21 & Sunday, March 28.
Part 1: Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Greece.
Part 2: Finland, Spain, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Monaco, France, Yugoslavia, United Kingdom.
1977 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Sunday, March 20 & Sunday, March 27.
Part 1: Ireland, Monaco, Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Greece.
Part 2: Israel, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Finland, Belgium, France, United Kingdom.
1978 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Sunday, April 9 & Sunday, April 16.
Part 1: Ireland, Norway, Italy, Finland, Portugal, France, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands.
Part 2: Turkey, Germany, Monaco, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Israel, Austria, Sweden, United Kingdom.
1979 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Sunday, March 18 & Sunday, March 25.
Part 1: Portugal, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Finland, Monaco, Greece, Switzerland, Israel.
Part 2: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Spain, United Kingdom.
1980 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Sunday, April 6 & Sunday, April 13.
Part 1: Austria, Turkey, Luxembourg, Morocco, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands.
Part 2: Germany, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, France, Belgium, United Kingdom.
1981 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Sunday, March 22 & Sunday, March 29.
Part 1: Israel, Austria, Turkey, Luxembourg, Finland, Yugoslavia, Spain, Germany, France, Denmark.
Part 2: Ireland, Portugal, Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden, United Kingdom.
1982 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Sunday, April 11 & Sunday, April 18.
Part 1: Reprise of United Kingdom 1981, Portugal, Norway, Turkey, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, United Kingdom.
Part 2: Medley Reprise of Sweden 1974, Ireland 1980 & Israel 1979, Israel, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Finland, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom.
1983 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Sunday, April 10 & Sunday, April 17.
Part 1: France, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, Greece, Netherlands.
Part 2: Yugoslavia, Cyprus, Germany, Denmark, Israel, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, United Kingdom.
1984 - Host: Terry Wogan
Broadcast: Sunday, April 22 & Sunday, April 29.
Part 1: Sweden, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Norway, Cyprus, Belgium, Ireland, Denmark, Netherlands.
Part 2: Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany, Turkey, Finland, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom.
1985 - Host: Dave Lee Travis
Broadcast: Sunday, April 21 & Sunday, April 28.
Part 1: Ireland, Finland, Cyprus, Denmark Spain, France, Turkey, Belgium, Portugal, Germany.
Part 2: Israel, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Luxembourg, Austria, Greece, United Kingdom.
1986 - Host: David Hamilton
Broadcast: Sunday, April 20 & Sunday, April 27.
Part 1: Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, France, Norway, Iceland, Netherlands, Turkey, Spain, Switzerland, Israel.
Part 2: Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Portugal, United Kingdom.
1987 - Host: Ray Moore
Broadcast: Sunday, April 26 & Sunday, May 3.
Part 1: Norway, Israel, Austria, Iceland, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, Greece.
Part 2: Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Cyprus, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, United Kingdom.
1988 - Hostess: Gloria Hunniford
Broadcast: Sunday, April 18 & Sunday, April 25.
Part 1: Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Spain, Netherlands, Israel, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany.
Part 2: Austria, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, France, Portugal, Yugoslavia, United Kingdom.
1989 - Host: Ken Bruce
Broadcast: Sunday, April 23 & Sunday, April 30.
Part 1: Italy, Israel, Ireland, Netherlands, Turkey, Belgium, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Luxembourg, Denmark.
Part 2: Austria, Finland, France, Spain, Cyprus, Switzerland, Greece, Iceland, Germany, Yugoslavia, United Kingdom.
1990 - Host: Ken Bruce
Broadcast: Sunday, April 22 & Sunday, April 29.
Part 1: Spain, Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Iceland, Norway, Israel, Denmark, Switzerland.
Part 2: Germany, France, Yugoslavia, Portugal, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Austria, Cyprus Finland, United Kingdom.
1991 - Host: Ken Bruce
Broadcast: Sunday, April 21 & Sunday, April 28.
Part 1: Yugoslavia, Iceland, Malta, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Sweden, France, Turkey, Ireland.
Part 2: Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Israel, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Cyprus, Italy, United Kingdom.
1992 - Hostess: Gloria Hunniford
Broadcast: Sunday, April 26 & Sunday, May 3.
Part 1: Spain, Belgium, Israel, Turkey, Greece, France, Sweden, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta, Iceland.
Part 2: Finland, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, Yugoslavia, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom.
1993 - Hostess: Gloria Hunniford
Broadcast: Sunday, May 2 & Sunday, May 9.
Part 1: Italy, Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Greece, Belgium, Malta, Iceland, Austria, Portugal, France.
Part 2: Sweden, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Finland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Netherlands, Croatia, Spain, Cyprus, Israel, Norway, United Kingdom.
1994 - Host: Terry Wogan with analysis by Peter Snow
Broadcast: Sunday, April 17 & Sunday, April 24.
Two minutes of each song broadcast.
Including Eurovision Mastermind with four fan contestants. The competition was won by David Bridgman representing United Kingdom. The other contestants were Johnny O'Mahony (Ireland), Marc Dierckx (Belgium) and Henry Klok (Netherlands). Prizes presented by Katie Boyle.
Part 1: Guest Johnny Logan. Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Cyprus, Iceland, United Kingdom, Croatia, Portugal, Switzerland, Estonia, Romania, Malta.
Part 2: Guest Jahn Teigen. Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia, Lithuania, Norway, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greece, Austria, Spain, Hungary, Russia, Poland, France.
2002 - Hostess: Lorraine Kelly
Broadcast: Monday, May 20, Tuesday, May 21, Wednesday, May 22, Thursday, May 23 & Friday, May 24.
2003 - Hostess: Lorraine Kelly
Broadcast: Monday, May 19, Tuesday, May 20, Wednesday, May 21, Thursday, May 22 & Friday, May 23.