The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 6 April 1974 in the Dome in Brighton, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and presented by Katie Boyle, this was the fifth time that the United Kingdom had staged the contest.
Although Luxembourg had won the 1973 contest with the song "Tu te reconnaƮtras" by Anne-Marie David, which made Luxembourg the presumptive host in 1974, the Luxembourgish broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de TƩlƩdiffusion (CLT) opted not to host the event in 1974 as they had staged the contest in 1973, following their win in 1972. Spain, which had placed second the previous year, also declined the opportunity to stage the contest. The Israeli broadcaster IBA, and the British broadcasters the BBC and ITV, all subsequently made bids to stage the contest, with the BBC ultimately winning out. This was the fourth time that the BBC had staged the contest after another broadcaster declined the opportunity, having done so previously in 1960, 1963 and 1972.
Entries representing eighteen countries were submitted for the contest, with Greece making its first appearance. However, France ultimately did not participate as the contest coincided with the death of French president Georges Pompidou, and with a national day of mourning scheduled for the date of the contest the French broadcaster ORTF deemed participating in the event to be inappropriate. The voting system used between 1971 and 1973 was scrapped, and was replaced by the system last used in 1970, with ten people in each country awarding one vote to their favourite song.
The winner was Sweden, with the song "Waterloo", composed by Benny Andersson and Bjƶrn Ulvaeus, written by Stig Anderson and performed by ABBA. Italy and the Netherlands placed second and third respectively, followed by a three-way tie for fourth place between Luxembourg, Monaco and the United Kingdom. It was Sweden's first contest win. After previous success within European markets with "Ring Ring", with which ABBA had attempted to represent Sweden at Eurovision in 1973, "Waterloo" gave the group their first global hit, and their Eurovision win was a launching point for ABBA to become one of the world's best-selling music artists. Olivia Newton-John, who represented the United Kingdom at this event, would also go on to achieve worldwide success in the years following 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 | Sweden | SR | ABBA | "Waterloo" | Sven-Olof Walldoff | 24 |
| 02 | Italy | RAI | Gigliola Cinquetti | "SƬ" | Gianfranco Monaldi | 18 |
| 03 | Netherlands | NOS | Mouth and MacNeal | "I See a Star" | Harry van Hoof | 15 |
| 04 | United Kingdom | BBC | Olivia Newton-John | "Long Live Love" | Nick Ingman | 14 |
| Luxembourg | CLT | Ireen Sheer | "Bye Bye I Love You" | Charles Blackwell | 14 | |
| Monaco | TMC | Romuald | "Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va" | Raymond Donnez | 14 | |
| 07 | Israel | IBA | Poogy | "Natati La Khaiai" (× ×Ŗ×Ŗ× ×× ×××) | Yonatan Rechter | 11 |
| Ireland | RTĆ | Tina Reynolds | "Cross Your Heart" | Colman Pearce | 11 | |
| 09 | Spain | TVE | Peret | "Canta y sƩ feliz" | Rafael Ibarbia | 10 |
| Belgium | RTB | Jacques Hustin | "Fleur de libertƩ" | Pierre Chiffre | 10 | |
| 11 | Greece | EIRT | Marinella | "Krassi, thalassa ke t' agori mou" (ĪĻĪ±ĻĪÆ, ĪøĪ¬Ī»Ī±ĻĻĪ± ĪŗĪ±Ī¹ Ļ' Ī±Ī³ĻĻĪ¹ Ī¼ĪæĻ ) | Giorgos Katsaros | 7 |
| 12 | Yugoslavia | JRT | Korni Grupa | "Generacija '42" (ŠŠµŠ½ŠµŃŠ°ŃŠøŃŠ° '42) | Zvonimir Skerl | 6 |
| 13 | Finland | YLE | Carita | "Keep Me Warm" | Ossi Runne | 4 |
| 14 | Norway | NRK | Anne-Karine and the Bendik Singers | "The First Day of Love" | Frode ThingnƦs | 3 |
| Germany | ARD/HR | Cindy and Bert | "Die Sommermelodie" | Werner Scharfenberger | 3 | |
| Switzerland | SRG SSR | Piera Martell | "Mein Ruf nach dir" | Pepe Ederer | 3 | |
| Portugal | RTP | Paulo de Carvalho | "E depois do adeus" | JosƩ CalvƔrio | 3 |
Broadcasts[]
As well as the participating nations, which, with the exception of Italy, all broadcast the contest live on television, the contest was also reportedly aired, live or deferred, by broadcasters in Algeria, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Japan, Jordan, Iceland, Morocco, Poland, South Korea, the Soviet Union, and Tunisia.
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium (French) | RTB, Radio Une | Unknown | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | BRT, BRT 1 | Unknown | |
| Finland | TV1, Yleisohjelma | Matti Paalosmaa | Aarre Elo |
| Ruotsinkielinen ohjelma | Ć ke Grandell | ||
| Germany | Deutsches Fernsehen | Unknown | Unknown |
| Ireland | RTĆ | Mike Murphy | Unknown |
| RTĆ Radio | Unknown | ||
| Israel | Israeli Television | Unknown | Unknown |
| Italy | Secondo Programma | Rosanna Vaudetti | Unknown |
| Luxembourg | RTL TƩlƩ-Luxembourg | Unknown | Unknown |
| Monaco | TƩlƩ Monte-Carlo | Unknown | Sophie Hecquet |
| Netherlands | Nederland 2 | Willem Duys | Unknown |
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet | John Andreassen | Unknown |
| NRK | Erik Heyerdahl | ||
| Portugal | I Programa, Emissora Nacional Programa 1 | Artur Agostinho | Unknown |
| Spain | TVE 1 | JosƩ Luis Uribarri | Unknown |
| Radio Nacional | Carlos Tena | ||
| Sweden | TV1 | Johan Sandstrƶm | Sven Lindahl |
| SR P3 | Ursula Richter | ||
| Switzerland (German) | TV DRS | Theodor Haller | Unknown |
| DRS 1 | Max RĆ¼eger | ||
| Switzerland (French) | TSR | Georges Hardy | |
| RSR 1 | Robert Burnier | ||
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI | Unknown | |
| RSI 1 | |||
| United Kingdom | BBC1 | David Vine | Colin Ward-Lewis |
| BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 | Terry Wogan | ||
| BFBS Radio | Richard Astbury | ||
| Yugoslavia | TV Beograd 1 | Unknown | Helga VlahoviÄ |
| TV Koper-Capodistria | Unknown | ||
| TV Ljubljana 1 | Unknown | ||
| TV Zagreb | Unknown |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Algeria | RTA | Unknown |
| Austria | FS2 | Ernst Grissemann |
| Bulgaria | BNT | Unknown |
| Cyprus | CyBC | Unknown |
| Czechoslovakia | ÄST | Unknown |
| France | PremiĆØre ChaĆ®ne | Pierre Tchernia |
| Hungary | MTV1 | Unknown |
| Iceland | SjĆ³nvarpiĆ° | Unknown |
| Japan | Fuji Television | Shizue Abe, Ben Okano |
| Jordan | JRTV | Unknown |
| Malta | National Network | Victor Aquilina |
| Morocco | RTM | Unknown |
| Netherlands Antilles | Voz di Aruba | Unknown |
| Poland | TVP | Unknown |
| South Korea | Unknown | Unknown |
| Soviet Union | CT USSR | Unknown |
| Tunisia | RTT | Unknown |
| Turkey | TRT Televizyon | Unknown |
Broadcast notes[]
- France - The show was broadcast on PremiĆØre ChaĆ®ne on a delayed basis and a shortened format on 9 April 1974 at 20:30 CET, lasting one hour and ten minutes and featuring only the participating entries, with no postcards, voting sequence or winner's reprise, followed by the announcement of the winner by Pierre Tchernia and a pre-recorded presentation of the planned French entry, "La Vie Ć vingt-cinq ans" by Dani.
- Hungary - The show was broadcast on MTV1 on a delayed basis on 25 May 1974 at 21:45 CET.
- Italy - The show was broadcast on Secondo Programma on a delayed basis on 6 June 1974 at 21:45 CEST.
- Japan - The show was broadcast on Fuji Television on a delayed basis on 29 April 1974.
- Netherlands Antilles - The show was broadcast on Voz di Aruba on a delayed basis on 5 May 1974 at 17:00 ADT.
- Switzerland - The show was broadcast on DRS 1 on a delayed basis on 9 April 1974 at 21:30 CET.