The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Once again, the contest was held in the French seaside city of Cannes, having also hosted the 1959 edition. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), the contest was again held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on Saturday 18 March 1961, becoming the first contest to take place on a Saturday evening, a tradition that has continued ever since (with the exception of 1962). The show was directed by Marcel Cravenne and again hosted by Jacqueline Joubert, who had also hosted in 1959.
Sixteen countries participated in the contest - three more than in the previous edition; Finland, Spain and Yugoslavia all competed for the first time this year.
The winner was Luxembourg with the song "Nous les amoureux", performed by Jean-Claude Pascal, written by Maurice Vidalin, and composed by Jacques Datin, with the United Kingdom finishing in second place for the third consecutive year.
Results[]
Finals[]
Country in gold is the winning entry and the country in silver is the host country.
| Rank | Country | EBU member station | Artist | Song | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Luxembourg | CLT | Jean-Claude Pascal | "Nous les amoureux" | 31 |
| 02 | United Kingdom | BBC | The Allisons | "Are You Sure?" | 24 |
| 03 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Franca di Rienzo | "Nous aurons demain" | 16 |
| 04 | France | RTF | Jean-Paul Mauric | "Printemps (avril carillonne)" | 13 |
| 05 | Denmark | DR | Dario Campeotto | "Angelique" | 12 |
| Italy | RAI | Betty Curtis | "Al di là" | 12 | |
| 07 | Norway | NRK | Nora Brockstedt | "Sommer i Palma" | 10 |
| 08 | Yugoslavia | JRT | Ljiljana Petrović | "Neke davne zvezde" | 9 |
| 09 | Spain | TVE | Conchita Bautista | "Estando contigo" | 8 |
| 10 | Monaco | TMC | Colette Deréal | "Allons, allons les enfants" | 6 |
| Finland | YLE | Laila Kinnunen | "Valoa ikkunassa" | 6 | |
| Netherlands | NTS | Greetje Kauffeld | "Wat een dag" | 6 | |
| 13 | Germany | ARD/HR | Lale Andersen | "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" | 3 |
| 14 | Sweden | SR | Lill-Babs | "April, april" | 2 |
| 15 | Austria | ORF | Jimmy Makulis | "Sehnsucht" | 1 |
| Belgium | BRT | Bob Benny | "September, gouden roos" | 1 |
Broadcast[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | ORF | Unknown | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | BRT | Nic Bal | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | RTB | Robert Beauvais | |
| Denmark | Danmarks Radio TV, Program 1 | Sejr Volmer-Sørensen | Unknown |
| Finland | Suomen Televisio, Yleisohjelma | Aarno Walli | Unknown |
| France | RTF, France I | Robert Beauvais | Unknown |
| Germany | Deutsches Fernsehen | Wolf Mittler | Unknown |
| Frankfurt 1 | Unknown | ||
| Italy | Programma Nazionale, Secondo Programma | Corrado Mantoni | Unknown |
| Luxembourg | Télé-Luxembourg | Robert Beauvais | Unknown |
| Monaco | Télé Monte-Carlo, Radio Monte Carlo | Robert Beauvais | Unknown |
| Netherlands | NTS | Piet te Nuyl Jr. | Siebe van der Zee |
| Hilversum 2 | Coen Serré | ||
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet, NRK | Leif Rustad | Unknown |
| Spain | TVE | Federico Gallo | Unknown |
| RNE | Unknown | ||
| Sweden | Sveriges TV, SR P1 | Jan Gabrielsson | Roland Eiworth |
| Switzerland (German) | TV DRS | Unknown | Unknown |
| DRS 2 | Unknown | ||
| Switzerland (French) | TSR, RSR 1 | Robert Beauvais | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI | Unknown | |
| RSI 1 | Unknown | ||
| United Kingdom | BBC TV | Tom Sloan | Michael Aspel |
| Yugoslavia | Televizija Beograd | Unknown | Unknown |
| Televizija Ljubljana | Saša Novak | ||
| Televizija Zagreb | Unknown |