Eurovision Song Contest 1966

The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the 1965 contest with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" by France Gall. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), the contest was held at the Villa Louvigny on 5 March 1966 and was hosted by Luxembourgish television presenter Josiane Chen.

Eurovision Song Contest 1966
Dates
Final5 March 1966
Host
VenueVilla Louvigny
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Presenter(s)Josiane Shen
Musical directorJean Roderès
Directed by
Executive supervisorClifford Brown
Host broadcasterCompagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/luxembourg-1966
Participants
Number of entries18
Debuting countriesNone
Non-returning countriesNone
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of Europe
         Participating countries
Vote
Voting systemTen-member juries awarded points (5, 3 and 1) to their three favourite songs.
Winning song Austria
"Merci, Chérie"

Eighteen countries participated in the contest, the same that had competed the year before.

The winner was Austria with the song "Merci, Chérie", performed and composed by Udo Jürgens, and written by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger.[1] This was Udo Jürgens third consecutive entry in the contest, finally managing to score a victory for his native country Austria. Austria would not go on to win again until the 2014 edition. This was also the first winning song to be performed in German. The contest is also noted for its historic results for several countries. Austria who came first, Sweden who came second, Norway who came third and Belgium who came fourth all achieved their best results up until then, some of which would stand for several decades. In contrast traditional Eurovision heavyweights such as France, United Kingdom and Italy all achieved their worst result by far up till that point, with the general public in the aforementioned countries meeting these results with a degree of consternation.

The rule stating that a country could only sing in any of its national languages was originally created this year, possibly due to the 1965 edition's Swedish entry which was sung in English.[2]

Location
Villa Louvigny, Luxembourg – host venue of the 1966 contest

The 1966 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in Luxembourg City. The venue chosen to host the 1966 contest was the Villa Louvigny, which was also the venue for the 1962 edition. The building served as the headquarters of Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion, the forerunner of RTL Group. It is located in Municipal Park, in the Ville Haute quarter of the centre of the city.

Participating countries
Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest
Udo Jürgens with last year's winner France Gall

All countries who had participated in the 1965 contest returned for a second consecutive year.[2]

Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 1966[3][4][5][6]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) Conductor
 Austria ORF Udo Jürgens "Merci, Chérie" German[lower-alpha 1]
Hans Hammerschmid
 Belgium RTB Tonia "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" French
  • Paul Quintens
  • Phil Van Cauwenbergh
 Jean Roderès
 Denmark DR Ulla Pia "Stop – mens legen er go'" Danish Erik Kåre Arne Lamberth
 Finland YLE Ann-Christine "Playboy" Finnish Ossi Runne Ossi Runne
 France ORTF Dominique Walter "Chez nous" French
  • Claude Carrère
  • Jacques Plante
 Franck Pourcel
 Germany HR[lower-alpha 2] Margot Eskens "Die Zeiger der Uhr" German
Willy Berking
 Ireland RÉ Dickie Rock "Come Back to Stay" English Rowland Soper Noel Kelehan
 Italy RAI Domenico Modugno "Dio, come ti amo" Italian Domenico Modugno Angelo Giacomazzi
 Luxembourg CLT Michèle Torr "Ce soir je t'attendais" French
  • Jacques Chaumelle
  • Bernard Kesslair
 Jean Roderès
 Monaco TMC Téréza "Bien plus fort" French
  • Gérard Bourgeois
  • Jean-Max Rivière
 Alain Goraguer
 Netherlands NTS Milly Scott "Fernando en Philippo" Dutch
Dolf van der Linden
 Norway NRK Åse Kleveland "Intet er nytt under solen" Norwegian Arne Bendiksen Øivind Bergh
 Portugal RTP Madalena Iglésias "Ele e ela" Portuguese Carlos Canelhas Jorge Costa Pinto
 Spain TVE Raphael "Yo soy aquél" Spanish Manuel Alejandro Rafael Ibarbia
 Sweden SR Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson "Nygammal vals" Swedish
Gert-Ove Andersson
  Switzerland SRG SSR Madeleine Pascal "Ne vois-tu pas ?" French
  • Pierre Brenner
  • Roland Schweizer
 Jean Roderès
 United Kingdom BBC Kenneth McKellar "A Man Without Love" English
Harry Rabinowitz
 Yugoslavia JRT Berta Ambrož "Brez besed" Slovene
Mojmir Sepe

Returning artists
Artist Country Previous year(s)
Domenico Modugno  Italy 1958, 1959
Udo Jürgens  Austria 1964, 1965

Format

A new change in rules was introduced this year, allowing music experts to be present in the juries again. 1966 also marked the year the first ever black singer graced the Eurovision stage, Milly Scott representing the Netherlands. She was also the first singer to use a portable microphone.

This was one of the first contests in which an entry was not accompanied by an orchestra. The Italian entry "Dio, come ti amo" performed by Domenico Modugno had been rearranged since its performance at the Sanremo Music Festival and officially broke the EBU rule that stated the arrangement should be finalised well in advance. During the Saturday afternoon rehearsal Modugno performed the new arrangement with three of his own musicians as opposed to the orchestra, which went over the three-minute time limit. Following his rehearsal Modugno was confronted by the show's producers about exceeding the time limit and was asked to use the original arrangement with the orchestra. Modugno was so dissatisfied with the orchestra that he threatened to withdraw from the contest. Both the producers and EBU scrutineer Clifford Brown felt it was too short notice to fly Gigliola Cinquetti to Luxembourg to represent Italy, so the EBU gave in and allowed Modugno to use his own ensemble instead of the orchestra. Despite websites and the official programme listing Angelo Giacomazzi as the conductor, Giacomazzi actually played the piano for the entry.[4][8]

During the voting process, the presenter (Josiane Shen) accidentally greeted United Kingdom by saying "Good night London". She then realized her mistake and said "Good evening, London". Michael Aspel, who was the spokesperson for the United Kingdom at the time, replied "Good morning, Luxembourg", prompting laughter from Josiane and the audience. Additionally, the Spanish spokesperson gave their results in reverse order, presenting the 5 points first, then 3 points second and then the 1 point third.

Contest overview
Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1966[9]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1  Germany Margot Eskens "Die Zeiger der Uhr" 7 10
2  Denmark Ulla Pia "Stop – mens legen er go'" 4 14
3  Belgium Tonia "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" 14 4
4  Luxembourg Michèle Torr "Ce soir je t'attendais" 7 10
5  Yugoslavia Berta Ambrož "Brez besed" 9 7
6  Norway Åse Kleveland "Intet er nytt under solen" 15 3
7  Finland Ann-Christine "Playboy" 7 10
8  Portugal Madalena Iglésias "Ele e ela" 6 13
9  Austria Udo Jürgens "Merci, Chérie" 31 1
10  Sweden Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson "Nygammal vals" 16 2
11  Spain Raphael "Yo soy aquél" 9 7
12   Switzerland Madeleine Pascal "Ne vois-tu pas ?" 12 6
13  Monaco Téréza "Bien plus fort" 0 17
14  Italy Domenico Modugno "Dio, come ti amo" 0 17
15  France Dominique Walter "Chez nous" 1 16
16  Netherlands Milly Scott "Fernando en Philippo" 2 15
17  Ireland Dickie Rock "Come Back to Stay" 14 4
18  United Kingdom Kenneth McKellar "A Man Without Love" 8 9

Spokespersons

Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1966 contest are listed below.

Detailed voting results
Detailed voting results[13][14]
Total score
Germany
Denmark
Belgium
Luxembourg
Yugoslavia
Norway
Finland
Portugal
Austria
Sweden
Spain
Switzerland
Monaco
Italy
France
Netherlands
Ireland
United Kingdom
Contestants
 Germany 7151
Denmark 413
Belgium 145315
Luxembourg 7151
Yugoslavia 9315
Norway 1513335
Finland 7331
Portugal 615
Austria 31555113533
Sweden 165551
Spain 9153
Switzerland 121533
Monaco 0
Italy 0
France 11
Netherlands 211
Ireland 143353
United Kingdom 835

5 points

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

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

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.[15]

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below. In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Morocco, and in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision.[4]

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria ORF ORF Unknown [16]
 Belgium RTB RTB Unknown [17][18][19]
Radio Une Unknown
BRT BRT Unknown [19]
 Denmark DR DR TV Skat Nørrevig [20]
 Finland YLE TV-ohjelma 1, Yleisohjelma Aarno Walli [10][21]
Ruotsinkielinen ula-ohjelma Unknown
 France ORTF Première Chaîne, France Inter François Deguelt [17][18][22][23]
 Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen Hans-Joachim Rauschenbach [17][22][24]
 Ireland RÉ Telefís Éireann Unknown [25]
Radió Éireann Unknown
 Italy RAI Secondo Programma Renato Tagliani [26][27]
 Luxembourg CLT Télé-Luxembourg, Radio Luxembourg Unknown [17][18]
 Monaco Télé Monte-Carlo Unknown [28]
 Netherlands NTS Nederland 1 Teddy Scholten [11][19]
 Norway NRK NRK Fjernsynet, NRK Sverre Christophersen [29][30]
 Portugal RTP RTP Unknown [31]
 Spain TVE TVE Federico Gallo [32][33]
Radio Peninsular Unknown
 Sweden SR Sveriges TV, SR P1 Sven Lindahl [12][21][29]
  Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS Hans-Joachim Rauschenbach [18][22][24][34]
TSR Unknown
TSI Unknown
RSR 1 Unknown
 United Kingdom BBC BBC1 David Jacobs [4][35]
 Yugoslavia JRT Televizija Ljubljana Unknown [36][37]
Televizija Zagreb Unknown
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Hungary MTV MTV Unknown [38]
 Romania TVR TVR Unknown [39]

Notes
  1. Contains phrases in French
  2. On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD[7]

References
  1. "About Udo Jürgens". EBU.
  2. "Eurovision Song Contest 1966". EBU. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  3. "Participants of Luxembourg 1966". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  4. Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 407–417. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  5. "1966 – 11th edition". diggiloo.net. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  6. "Detailed overview: conductors in 1966". And the conductor is... Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  7. "Alle deutschen ESC-Acts und ihre Titel" [All German ESC acts and their songs]. www.eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  8. "Angelo Giacomazzi". And the conductor is... Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  9. "Final of Luxembourg 1966". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  10. "Katseet kohti Luxemburgia". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 5 March 1966. p. 33. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  11. "Teddy Scholten geeft commentaar op het Eurovisie Songfestival". Limburgsch Dagblad (in Dutch). Heerlen, Netherlands. 25 February 1966. p. 5. Retrieved 14 June 2021 – via Delpher.
  12. Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna (in Swedish). Stockholm: Premium Publishing. pp. 60–61. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
  13. "Results of the Final of Luxembourg 1966". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  14. "Eurovision Song Contest 1966 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  15. "The Rules of the Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  16. "Austria – Luxembourg 1966". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  17. "Radio-Télévision". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). 5 March 1966. p. 22. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  18. "Programmes radiophoniques – samedi 5 mars". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 3 March 1966. pp. 66–69. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  19. "Kijken en luisteren". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Rotterdam, Netherlands. 5 March 1966. p. 4. Retrieved 30 December 2022 – via Delpher.
  20. "Programoversigt – 05/03/1966" (in Danish). LARM.fm. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  21. "Radio ja televisio". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 5 March 1966. p. 33. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  22. "Programme TV – samedi 5 mars". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 3 March 1966. p. 28. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  23. "Remise du Grand Prix Eurovision 1966 à l'Autriche" (in French). Institut national de l'audiovisuel. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  24. "Radio / Fernsehen". Bieler Tagblatt (in German). Biel, Switzerland. 5 March 1966. p. 38. Retrieved 28 December 2022 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
  25. "Television and Radio". The Irish Times. 5 March 1966. p. 15. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  26. "Oggi alla TV". La Stampa (in Italian). 5 March 1966. p. 4. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  27. "TV – sabato 5 marzo". Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). 27 February – 5 March 1966. pp. 60–61. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  28. "Monaco – Luxembourg 1966". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  29. "Radio TV". Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian). Sarpsborg, Norway. 5 March 1966. p. 7. Retrieved 30 December 2022 – via National Library of Norway.
  30. "Christophersen kommenterer Grand Prix". Rogalands Avis (in Norwegian). Stavanger, Norway. 5 March 1966. p. 11. Retrieved 30 December 2022 – via National Library of Norway.
  31. "Boletim do dia". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 5 March 1966. p. 18. Retrieved 30 December 2022 – via Casa Comum.
  32. "Radio y TV". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 5 March 1966. p. 54. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  33. 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.
  34. "Radiotivù". Gazzetta Ticinese (in Italian). Lugano, Switzerland. 5 March 1966. p. 2. Retrieved 30 December 2022 – via Sistema bibliotecario ticinese.
  35. "Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix 1966". Radio Times. 5 March 1966. Retrieved 30 December 2022 – via BBC Genome Project.
  36. "Televizija – sobota – 5. marca" (PDF). Glas (in Slovenian). Kranj, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia. 5 March 1966. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  37. "Televizija – Subota 5. ožujka". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Serbo-Croatian). Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia. 5 March 1966. p. 13. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  38. "A TV műsora – febr. 28-márc. 6". Rádió és Televízióújság (in Hungarian). 28 February 1966. p. 23. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022 – via MTVA Archívum.
  39. "Televiziune – sîmbătă 5 martie". Programul de Radio și Televiziune (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
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