The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's first victory at the 1967 contest with the song "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw. Despite having won for the first time the year before, it was actually the third time that the United Kingdom had hosted the competition, having previously done so in 1960 and 1963, both of which also took place in London.
Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the contest was held at Royal Albert Hall on 6 April 1968, and was hosted by Katie Boyle for the third time. It was notably also the first time that the contest was broadcast in colour.
Seventeen countries participated in the contest, the same countries that had participated the previous year. The winner was Spain with the song "La La La" by Massiel, and written/composed by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa. This was Spain's first victory - and their first ever top five placing - in the contest.
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 | Spain | TVE | Massiel | "La La La" | Rafael Ibarbia | 29 |
| 02 | United Kingdom | BBC | Cliff Richard | "Congratulations" | Norrie Paramor | 28 |
| 03 | France | ORTF | Isabelle Aubret | "La Source" | Alain Goraguer | 20 |
| 04 | Ireland | RTÉ | Pat McGeegan | "Chance of a Lifetime" | Noel Kelehan | 18 |
| 05 | Sweden | SR | Claes-Göran Hederström | "Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mej" | Mats Olsson | 15 |
| 06 | Germany | ARD/HR | Wencke Myhre | "Ein Hoch der Liebe" | Horst Jankowski | 11 |
| 07 | Belgium | RTB | Claude Lombard | "Quand tu reviendras" | Henri Segers | 8 |
| Monaco | TMC | Line and Willy | "À chacun sa chanson" | Michel Colombier | 8 | |
| Yugoslavia | JRT | Lući Kapurso and Hamo Hajdarhodžić | "Jedan dan" (Један дан) | Miljenko Prohaska | 8 | |
| 10 | Italy | RAI | Sergio Endrigo | "Marianne" | Giancarlo Chiaramello | 7 |
| 11 | Portugal | RTP | Carlos Mendes | "Verão" | Joaquim Luís Gomes | 5 |
| Luxembourg | CLT | Chris Baldo and Sophie Garel | "Nous vivrons d'amour" | André Borly | 5 | |
| 13 | Austria | ORF | Karel Gott | "Tausend Fenster" | Robert Opratko | 2 |
| Switzerland | SRG SSR | Gianni Mascolo | "Guardando il sole" | Mario Robbiani | 2 | |
| Norway | NRK | Odd Børre | "Stress" | Øivind Bergh | 2 | |
| 16 | Netherlands | NTS | Ronnie Tober | "Morgen" | Dolf van der Linden | 1 |
| Finland | YLE | Kristina Hautala | "Kun kello käy" | Ossi Runne | 1 |
Broadcasts[]
The contest was reportedly broadcast in Tunisia, and in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision.
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | FS1 | Willy Kralik | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | RTB | Paule Herreman | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | BRT | Unknown | |
| Finland | TV-ohjelma 1 | Aarno Walli | Poppe Berg |
| Ruotsinkielinen ulaohjelma | Unknown | ||
| France | Deuxième Chaîne | Pierre Tchernia | Unknown |
| France Inter | Unknown | ||
| Germany | Deutsches Fernsehen | Unknown | Unknown |
| Ireland | RTÉ | Brendan O'Reilly | Unknown |
| RTÉ Radio | Unknown | ||
| Italy | Secondo Programma | Renato Tagliani | Unknown |
| Luxembourg | Télé-Luxembourg | Unknown | Unknown |
| Monaco | Télé Monte-Carlo | Unknown | Unknown |
| Netherlands | Nederland 1 | Elles Berger | Unknown |
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet, NRK | Roald Øyen | Unknown |
| Portugal | RTP | Unknown | Unknown |
| Spain | TVE 1 | Federico Gallo | Unknown |
| Radio Peninsular | José María Íñigo | ||
| Sweden | Sveriges TV | Christina Hansegård | Edvard Matz |
| Switzerland (German) | TV DRS | Theodor Haller | Unknown |
| DRS 1 | Albert Werner | ||
| Switzerland (French) | TSR | Georges Hardy | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI | Unknown | |
| United Kingdom | BBC1, BBC2 | No commentary | Michael Aspel |
| BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 | Pete Murray | ||
| Yugoslavia | Televizija Ljubljana | Unknown | Unknown |
| Televizija Zagreb | Unknown |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian Television | Unknown |
| Czechoslovakia | ČST | Miroslav Horníček |
| East Germany | Deutscher Fernsehfunk | Unknown |
| Hungary | MTV | Unknown |
| Malta | MTS, National Network | Unknown |
| Poland | Telewizja Polska | Unknown |
| Puerto Rico | WKAQ | Unknown |
| Romania | TVR | Unknown |
| Soviet Union | CT USSR | Unknown |
| Tunisia | RTT | Unknown |
Broadcast notes[]
- East Germany - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis.
- Norway - The show was broadcast on a deferred basis on NRK at 22:30 CET.
- Puerto Rico - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis on WKAQ on 30 April at 20:30 AST.
- Switzerland - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis on DRS 1, two days after the contest, at 22:30 CET.
- United Kingdom - The show was re-broadcast the next day on BBC2 in colour at 16:30 BST.