The Eurovision Song Contest 1963 was the eighth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in London, United Kingdom. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who agreed to stage the event after France, who had won the 1962 edition, declined to host it due to financial shortcomings, also having hosted the competition in 1959 and 1961. The contest was held at the BBC Television Centre on Saturday 23 March 1963 and was hosted by Katie Boyle for a second time.
Sixteen countries participated in the contest, the same countries that had participated the previous year.
The contest this year was won by Denmark with the song "Dansevise", performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann. This was the first victory for any of the Nordic countries. Four countries got nul points, with Finland, Norway and Sweden failing to score any points for the first time and the Netherlands for the second time, becoming the first country to go two years in a row without scoring a single point.
After the 1962 edition was the only one to be held on a Sunday, the contest was held on a Saturday again in 1963.
Results[]
Country in gold is the winning entry and the country in silver is the host country.
| Rank | Country | EBU member station | Artist | Song | Conductor | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Denmark | DR | Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann | "Dansevise" | Kai Mortensen | 42 |
| 02 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Esther Ofarim | "T'en va pas" | Eric Robinson | 40 |
| 03 | Italy | RAI | Emilio Pericoli | "Uno per tutte" | Gigi Cichellero | 37 |
| 04 | United Kingdom | BBC | Ronnie Carroll | "Say Wonderful Things" | Eric Robinson | 28 |
| 05 | France | RTF | Alain Barrière | "Elle était si jolie" | Franck Pourcel | 25 |
| Monaco | TMC | Françoise Hardy | "L'amour s'en va" | Raymond Lefèvre | 25 | |
| 07 | Austria | ORF | Carmela Corren | "Vielleicht geschieht ein Wunder" | Erwin Halletz | 16 |
| 08 | Luxembourg | CLT | Nana Mouskouri | "À force de prier" | Eric Robinson | 13 |
| 09 | Germany | ARD/HR | Heidi Brühl | "Marcel" | Willy Berking | 5 |
| 10 | Belgium | BRT | Jacques Raymond | "Waarom?" | Francis Bay | 4 |
| 11 | Yugoslavia | JRT | Vice Vukov | "Brodovi" | Miljenko Prohaska | 3 |
| 12 | Spain | TVE | José Guardiola | "Algo prodigioso" | Rafael Ibarbia | 2 |
| 13 | Netherlands | NTS | Annie Palmen | "Een speeldoos" | Eric Robinson | 0 |
| Norway | NRK | Anita Thallaug | "Solhverv" | Øivind Bergh | 0 | |
| Finland | YLE | Laila Halme | "Muistojeni laulu" | George de Godzinsky | 0 | |
| Sweden | SR | Monica Zetterlund | "En gång i Stockholm" | William Lind | 0 |
Broadcast[]
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | ORF | Hanns Joachim Friedrichs | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | BRT | Herman Verelst, Denise Maes | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | RTB | Pierre Delhasse | |
| Denmark | Danmarks Radio TV, Program 1 | Ole Mortensen | Unknown |
| Finland | Suomen Televisio | Aarno Walli | Unknown |
| Yleisohjelma | Erkki Melakoski | ||
| Ruotsinkielinen yleisohjelma | Jan Sederholm | ||
| France | RTF | Pierre Tchernia | Unknown |
| Germany | Deutsches Fernsehen | Hanns Joachim Friedrichs | Unknown |
| Italy | Programma Nazionale | Renato Tagliani | Unknown |
| Luxembourg | Télé-Luxembourg | Pierre Tchernia | Unknown |
| Monaco | Télé Monte-Carlo | Pierre Tchernia | Unknown |
| Netherlands | NTS | Willem Duys | Unknown |
| Hilversum 1 | Coen Serré | ||
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet, NRK | Øivind Johnssen | Unknown |
| Spain | TVE | Federico Gallo | Unknown |
| RNE | Unknown | ||
| Sweden | Sveriges TV, SR P1 | Jörgen Cederberg | Edvard Matz |
| Switzerland (German) | TV DRS | Theodor Haller | Unknown |
| DRS 1 | Unknown | ||
| Switzerland (French) | TSR | Georges Hardy | |
| RSR 1 | Unknown | ||
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI | Renato Tagliani | |
| RSI 1 | Unknown | ||
| United Kingdom | BBC TV | David Jacobs | Unknown |
| Yugoslavia | Televizija Ljubljana | Saša Novak | Unknown |
| Televizija Zagreb | Unknown |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Ireland | Telefís Éireann | Unknown |
| Portugal | RTP | Federico Gallo |
Broadcast notes[]
- Spain - The show was broadcast on a deferred basis on RNE at 23:00 CET
- Switzerland - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis on DRS 1 at 20:00 CET