Eurovision Song Contest 1964

The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the 9th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the 1963 contest with the song "Dansevise" by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR), the contest was held at Tivolis Koncertsal on 21 March 1964, and was hosted by Danish TV presenter Lotte Wæver.

Eurovision Song Contest 1964
Dates
Final21 March 1964
Host
VenueTivolis Koncertsal
Copenhagen, Denmark
Presenter(s)Lotte Wæver
Musical directorKai Mortensen
Directed byPoul Leth Sørensen
Executive supervisorMiroslav Vilček
Host broadcasterDanmarks Radio (DR)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/copenhagen-1964
Participants
Number of entries16
Debuting countries Portugal
Non-returning countries Sweden
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of Europe
         Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1964
Vote
Voting systemTen-member juries awarded points (5, 3 and 1) to their three favourite songs.
Winning song Italy
"Non ho l'età"

Sixteen countries participated in the contest. Portugal made its debut this year, while Sweden decided not to enter.

The winner of the contest was Italy with the song "Non ho l'età", performed by Gigliola Cinquetti, written by Nicola Salerno and composed by Mario Panzeri. At the age of 16 years and 92 days, Gigliola Cinquetti became the youngest winner of the contest yet; a record she held until 1986.[1] The entry had one of the widest margins of victory ever witnessed in the competition. It garnered almost three times as many points as the second-placed song.

Location
Tivolis Koncertsal, Copenhagen - host venue of the 1964 contest.

The host venue for the contest was Tivolis Koncertsal (Tivoli Concert Hall) in Denmark's capital city Copenhagen, which lies within Denmark's famous amusement park and pleasure garden Tivoli Gardens. The park, alluding by its name to the Jardin de Tivoli that existed in Paris, was opened on 15 August 1843, and is the second oldest amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg.[2]

At the night of the contest, 800 spectators followed the show in the audience.[3]

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

Sweden did not participate this year due to a strike among members of the Swedish Union for Performing Arts and Film (Swedish: Teaterförbundet). Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio however did ultimately broadcast the event.[4] Portugal competed in the contest for the first time, however they became the first country to score nul points on their début entry. Germany, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia also scored nul points for the first time. The Netherlands became the first country to send a singer of non-European ancestry, Anneke Grönloh who was of Indonesian descent.[5] Spain decided to send the Italian-Uruguayan group Los TNT who were the first group of three or more participants in the history of the contest.

Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 1964[6][7][8][9]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) Conductor
 Austria ORF Udo Jürgens "Warum nur, warum?" German Udo Jürgens Johannes Fehring
 Belgium RTB Robert Cogoi "Près de ma rivière" French Robert Cogoi Henri Segers
 Denmark DR Bjørn Tidmand "Sangen om dig" Danish
  • Mogens Dam
  • Aksel V. Rasmussen
 Kai Mortensen
 Finland YLE Lasse Mårtenson "Laiskotellen" Finnish[lower-alpha 1]
George de Godzinsky
 France RTF Rachel "Le Chant de Mallory" French
Franck Pourcel
 Germany HR[lower-alpha 2] Nora Nova "Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne" German
  • Rudi von der Dovenmühle
  • Niels Nobach
 Willy Berking
 Italy RAI Gigliola Cinquetti "Non ho l'età" Italian
Gianfranco Monaldi
 Luxembourg CLT Hugues Aufray "Dès que le printemps revient" French
Jacques Denjean
 Monaco TMC Romuald "Où sont-elles passées" French
Michel Colombier
 Netherlands NTS Anneke Grönloh "Jij bent mijn leven" Dutch
  • Ted Powder
  • René de Vos
 Dolf van der Linden
 Norway NRK Arne Bendiksen "Spiral" Norwegian
Karsten Andersen
 Portugal RTP António Calvário "Oração" Portuguese
Kai Mortensen
 Spain TVE Nelly with Tim and Tony "Caracola" Spanish Fina de Calderón Rafael Ibarbia
  Switzerland SRG SSR Anita Traversi "I miei pensieri" Italian
  • Sanzio Chiesa
  • Giovanni Pelli
 Fernando Paggi
 United Kingdom BBC Matt Monro "I Love the Little Things" English Tony Hatch Harry Rabinowitz
 Yugoslavia JRT Sabahudin Kurt "Život je sklopio krug" (Живот је склопио круг) Serbo-Croatian
Radivoje Spasić

Returning artists
Artist Country Previous year(s)
Anita Traversi   Switzerland 1956 (Backing Singer), 1960

Format

Poul Leth Sørensen served as producer, Bent Fabricius Bjerre and Marianne Drewes acted as co-producers.[11]

Each country had 10 jury members who distributed three points among their one, two, or three favourite songs. The points were totaled and the first, second, and third placed songs were awarded 5, 3, and 1 votes in order. If only one song got every point within the jury it would get all 9 points. If only two songs were chosen, the songs would get 6 and 3 points in order.[5]

The prize to be awarded to the winning artist took the form of an engraved medallion made of silver.[12]

The event was covered by around 100 journalists and photographers.[13] The artists were accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra.[13] Rehearsals started on 19 March 1964.[13]

Contest overview

The contest was held on 21 March 1964, beginning at 22:00 CET (21:00 UTC).[14]

A political protest occurred after the Swiss entry: a man trespassed onto the stage holding a banner that read "Boycott Franco & Salazar". Whilst this was going on, television viewers were shown a shot of the scoreboard; once the man was removed the contest went on.[15]

The interval act consisted of a ballet dance performance by dancers Solveig Østergaard, Niels Kehlet, Inge Olafsen and Mette Hønningen from the Royal Danish Ballet, choreographed by Niels Bjørn Larsen, and over the music of the "Columbine porka mazurka" and the "Champagne Galop" by Hans Christian Lumbye.[16]

The immediate response of the Koncertsal audience to the Italian entry was markedly enthusiastic and prolonged and, most unusually for a contest performance, after leaving the stage Gigliola Cinquetti was allowed to return to take a second bow. Her performance was given an unscheduled repeat on British television the following afternoon. In the event, she won the most crushing victory in the history of the contest, with a score almost three times that of her nearest rival, a feat extremely unlikely ever to be beaten under the post-1974 scoring system.

An aftershow party was held for the participating delegations at the restaurant Ambassadeur in Copenhagen.[17] Each of the 16 participating acts was awarded a silver trophy on this occasion.[17]

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1964[18]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1  Luxembourg Hugues Aufray "Dès que le printemps revient" 14 4
2  Netherlands Anneke Grönloh "Jij bent mijn leven" 2 10
3  Norway Arne Bendiksen "Spiral" 6 8
4  Denmark Bjørn Tidmand "Sangen om dig" 4 9
5  Finland Lasse Mårtenson "Laiskotellen" 9 7
6  Austria Udo Jürgens "Warum nur, warum?" 11 6
7  France Rachel "Le Chant de Mallory" 14 4
8  United Kingdom Matt Monro "I Love the Little Things" 17 2
9  Germany Nora Nova "Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne" 0 13
10  Monaco Romuald "Où sont-elles passées" 15 3
11  Portugal António Calvário "Oração" 0 13
12  Italy Gigliola Cinquetti "Non ho l'età" 49 1
13  Yugoslavia Sabahudin Kurt "Život je sklopio krug" 0 13
14   Switzerland Anita Traversi "I miei pensieri" 0 13
15  Belgium Robert Cogoi "Près de ma rivière" 2 10
16  Spain Nelly with Tim and Tony "Caracola" 1 12

Detailed voting results
Dutch contestant Anneke Grönloh's dress
Detailed voting results[19][20]
Total score
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Denmark
Finland
Austria
France
United Kingdom
Germany
Monaco
Portugal
Italy
Yugoslavia
Switzerland
Belgium
Spain
Contestants
 Luxembourg 143353
Netherlands 211
Norway 651
Denmark 413
Finland 9333
Austria 11515
France 14135311
United Kingdom 171531115
Germany 0
Monaco 1535313
Portugal 0
Italy 4955555335535
Yugoslavia 0
Switzerland 0
Belgium 211
Spain 11

5 points

Below is a summary of all 5 points in the final:

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 5 points
8  Italy  Austria,  Belgium,  Finland,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  Portugal,  United Kingdom,  Yugoslavia
2  Austria  Italy,  Spain
 United Kingdom  Norway,   Switzerland
1  France  Monaco
 Luxembourg  Germany
 Monaco  France
 Norway  Denmark

Broadcasts

Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants". Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.[21]

No official accounts of the viewing figures are known to exist. Estimates given in the press ranged from 100 to 150 million viewers.[3][13]

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria ORF ORF Unknown [22]
 Belgium RTB RTB Unknown [23][24]
BRT BRT Unknown [23]
 Denmark DR DR TV, DR P1, DR P3 No commentary [25]
 Finland YLE Suomen Televisio Aarno Walli [26][27]
Yleisohjelma Erkki Melakoski
Ruotsinkielinen ula-ohjelma Unknown
 France RTF RTF, Inter Jeunesse Robert Beauvais [24][28][29][30]
 Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen Unknown [23][31]
 Italy RAI Programma Nazionale Renato Tagliani [32][33]
 Luxembourg CLT Télé-Luxembourg Robert Beauvais [24][3]
 Monaco Télé Monte-Carlo Robert Beauvais [34][3]
 Netherlands NTS NTS Ageeth Scherphuis [23][35]
NRU Hilversum 2 Unknown [23]
 Norway NRK NRK Fjernsynet, NRK Odd Grythe [36][37]
 Portugal RTP RTP Unknown [38]
 Spain TVE TVE Federico Gallo [39][40]
RNE RNE[lower-alpha 3] Unknown [39]
  Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS Unknown [28][31][41][42]
TSR Robert Burnier
TSI Unknown
DRS 1[lower-alpha 4] Unknown
RSR 1 Unknown
RSI 1 Unknown
 United Kingdom BBC BBC TV David Jacobs [7][43]
 Yugoslavia JRT Televizija Ljubljana Unknown [44][45]
Televizija Zagreb Unknown
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Ireland RÉ Telefís Éireann Unknown [46]
 Sweden SR Sveriges TV Sven Lindahl [4]

Lost recordings

As with the 1956 contest, no complete video recording of the actual contest is known to have survived; however, unlike the 1956 contest (where the interval act is mostly missing), a complete audio recording does exist in the form of the DR radio broadcast. Some clips of the contest have survived, including part of the opening ceremonies, including some of presenter Lotte Wæver's welcoming remarks, as well as the majority of the repeat performance of "Non ho l'età" from the end of the broadcast. For some time, there was a rumour that a copy of the entire contest existed in the French television archives.[47] In 2021, INA confirmed to Wiwibloggs that the French television archives do not possess a copy of the contest.[48]

A persistent myth, even repeated on the official Eurovision site, is that the tape was destroyed in a fire in the 1970s. In more recent interviews, DR claimed that the broadcast was never recorded in the first place, allegedly due to no tape machines being available at the studio at the time.[49] The audio of the entire show, however, is still available online, and some short video clips and photos remain available.[50]

Notes
  1. Live performance contains one phrase in English
  2. On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD[10]
  3. Deferred broadcast at 23:00 CET (22:00 UTC)[39]
  4. Delayed broadcast on 23 March at 20:00 CET (19:00 UTC)[31]

References
  1. O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official Celebration. Carlton Books, 2015. ISBN 978-1-78097-638-9. Pages 32-33
  2. Tivoli – Tivoli Gardens Copenhagen – Copenhagen Portal – Tourist Guide. Copenhagenet.dk. Retrieved on 15 August 2011.
  3. Brincourt, André (23 March 1964). "La Télévision par Andŕe Brincourt: Le Grand Prix Eurovision de la chanson à Gigliola Cinquetti (Italie)". Le Figaro (in French). p. 21. ISSN 0182-5852.
  4. Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna (in Swedish). Stockholm: Premium Publishing. pp. 48–49. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
  5. "Eurovision Song Contest 1964". EBU. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  6. "Participants of Copenhagen 1964". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  7. Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 348–358. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  8. "1964 – 9th edition". diggiloo.net. Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  9. "Detailed overview: conductors in 1964". And the conductor is... Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  10. "Alle deutschen ESC-Acts und ihre Titel". www.eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  11. "Frankrig Grand Prix-favorit". Politiken (in Danish). 20 March 1964. p. 7. OCLC 224543818.
  12. Ahm, Leif (22 March 1964). "Små søde tralala". Politiken (in Danish). p. 8. OCLC 224543818.
  13. "16 landes top-pop-folk her". Politiken (in Danish). 19 March 1964. p. 7. OCLC 224543818.
  14. "Rachel notre chance". Le Figaro. 20 March 1964. p. 18. ISSN 0182-5852.
  15. Tragaki, Dafni (2002). Empire of Song: Europe and Nation in the Eurovision Song Contest. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 224. ISBN 9780810888173.
  16. "Lille pige storfavorit". Politiken (in Danish). 21 March 1964. p. 8. OCLC 224543818.
  17. "Natligt melodi-punktum". Politiken (in Danish). 23 March 1964. p. 10. OCLC 224543818.
  18. "Final of Copenhagen 1964". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  19. "Results of the Final of Copenhagen 1964". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  20. "Eurovision Song Contest 1964 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  21. "The Rules of the Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  22. "Austria – Copenhagen 1964". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  23. "Radio – Televisie". Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). 21 March 1964. p. 19. Retrieved 27 December 2022 – via Delpher.
  24. "Radio-Télévision". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). 21 March 1964. p. 18. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  25. "Programoversigt – 21/03/1964" (in Danish). LARM.fm. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  26. "Radio ja televisio". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 21 March 1964. p. 31. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  27. Pajala, Mari (2013). Badenoch, Alexander; Fickers, Andreas; Henrich-Franke, Christian (eds.). "Intervision Song Contests and Finnish Television between East and West". Airy Curtains in the European Ether: Broadcasting and the Cold War. Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos: 215–270. doi:10.5771/9783845236070-215. ISBN 9783845236070 – via Academia.edu. Walli was closely involved in YLE's ESC productions; among other things he [...] provided the commentary for all the 1960s ESCs on Finnish television.
  28. "Programme TV". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 12 March 1964. pp. 28–30. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  29. "Concours Eurovision de la chanson à Copenhague (catalog record)". INAthèque (in French). Institut national de l'audiovisuel. PHD89040130. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  30. "Concours Eurovision de la chanson à Copenhague". INA Mediapro (radio broadcast). Inter Jeunesse. 2023 [21 March 1964]. Retrieved 28 June 2023 – via Institut national de l'audiovisuel.
  31. "Radioprogramm / Fernsehprogramm". Neue Zürcher Nachrichten (in German). Zürich, Switzerland. 21 May 1964. p. 19. Retrieved 27 December 2022 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
  32. "Oggi sul video". La Stampa (in Italian). 21 March 1964. p. 11. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  33. "TV – sabato 21 marzo". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). 15–21 March 1964. pp. 48–49. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  34. "Monaco – Copenhagen 1964". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  35. "Anneke en Ageeth al in Kopenhagen". De Waarheid (in Dutch). 19 March 1964. p. 1. Retrieved 27 December 2022 – via Delpher.
  36. "Se og Hør idag". Oppland Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian). 21 March 1964. p. 11. Retrieved 27 December 2022 – via National Library of Norway.
  37. "Melodi Grand Prix 1964". Tiden (in Norwegian). 21 March 1964. p. 3. Retrieved 28 December 2022 – via National Library of Norway. (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries)
  38. "Boletim do dia". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 21 March 1964. p. 15. Retrieved 27 December 2022 – via Casa Comum.
  39. "Radio y TV". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 21 March 1964. p. 44. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  40. HerGar, Paula (28 March 2018). "Todos los comentaristas de la historia de España en Eurovisión (y una única mujer en solitario)" (in Spanish). Los 40. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  41. "Programmes radiophoniques – samedi 21 mars". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 12 March 1964. pp. 62–64. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  42. "Radio–TV". Libera Stampa (in Italian). Lugano, Switzerland. 21 March 1964. p. 7. Retrieved 27 December 2022 – via Sistema bibliotecario ticinese.
  43. "Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix 1964". Radio Times. 21 March 1964. Retrieved 27 December 2022 – via BBC Genome Project.
  44. "Televizija – sobota – 21. marca" (PDF). Panorama (in Slovenian). Kranj, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia. 21 March 1964. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  45. "Televizija – Subota, 21. ožujka". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Serbo-Croatian). Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia. 21 March 1964. p. 8. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  46. "To-Day's TV Programmes". The Irish Times. 21 March 1964. p. 8. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  47. "9eme-concours-eurovision-de-la-chanson-1964". inatheque.ina.fr. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  48. ten Veen, Renske (31 July 2021). "Lost in Copenhagen: French television archive INA confirms it does NOT possess a copy of missing Eurovision 1964 show". Wiwibloggs.com. Wiwibloggs. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  49. "BILLEDER: I denne uge er det 55 år siden, Danmark holdt sit første Eurovision i Tivoli" [Photos: This week, it is 55 years since Denmark held its first Eurovision in Tivoli]. DR (in Danish). 20 March 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  50. "Opmærkning af DR's billeder". Retrieved 7 August 2022.
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