The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 was the 21st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the 1975 contest with the song "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), the contest was held at the Nederlands Congrescentrum on 3 April 1976 and was hosted by 1957 Dutch Eurovision winner Corry Brokken.
Eighteen countries took part in the contest with Sweden, Malta and Turkey opting not to return to the contest after participating the previous year. Malta would not return to the contest again until 1991. On the other hand, Austria and Greece returned to the competition, having been absent since 1972 and 1974 respectively.
United Kingdom won the contest this year with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man. The song went on to become the biggest selling winning single in the history of the contest and won with 80.39% of the possible maximum score and an average of 9.65 of 12; a record under the voting system introduced in 1975.
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 | United Kingdom | BBC | Brotherhood of Man | "Save Your Kisses for Me" | Alyn Ainsworth | 164 |
| 02 | France | TF1 | Catherine Ferry | "Un, deux, trois" | Tony Rallo | 147 |
| 03 | Monaco | TMC | Mary Christy | "Toi, la musique et moi" | Raymond Donnez | 93 |
| 04 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Peter, Sue and Marc | "Djambo Djambo" | Mario Robbiani | 91 |
| 05 | Austria | ORF | Waterloo and Robinson | "My Little World" | Erich Kleinschuster | 80 |
| 06 | Israel | IBA | Chocolate, Menta, Mastik | "Emor Shalom" (אמור שלום) | Matti Caspi | 77 |
| 07 | Italy | RAI | Romina and Al Bano | "We'll Live It All Again" | Maurizio Fabrizio | 69 |
| 08 | Belgium | RTB | Pierre Raspat | "Judy et Cie" | Michel Bernholc | 68 |
| 09 | Netherlands | NOS | Sandra Reemer | "The Party Is Over Now" | Harry van Hoof | 56 |
| 10 | Ireland | RTÉ | Red Hurley | "When" | Noel Kelehan | 54 |
| 11 | Finland | YLE | Fredi and the Friends | "Pump-Pump" | Ossi Runne | 44 |
| 12 | Portugal | RTP | Carlos do Carmo | "Uma flor de verde pinho" | Thilo Krasmann | 24 |
| 13 | Greece | ERT | Mariza Koch | "Panaghia mou, panaghia mou" (Παναγιά μου, παναγιά μου) | Mihalis Rozakis | 20 |
| 14 | Luxembourg | CLT | Jürgen Marcus | "Chansons pour ceux qui s'aiment" | Jo Plée | 17 |
| 15 | Germany | ARD/HR | Les Humphries Singers | "Sing, Sang, Song" | Les Humphries | 12 |
| 16 | Spain | TVE | Braulio | "Sobran las palabras" | Joan Barcons | 11 |
| 17 | Yugoslavia | JRT | Ambasadori | "Ne mogu skriti svoju bol" (Не могу скрити своју бол) | Esad Arnautalić | 10 |
| 18 | Norway | NRK | Anne-Karine Strøm | "Mata Hari" | Frode Thingnæs | 7 |
Broadcasts[]
The contest was also reportedly broadcast in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey, in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision, and in Hong Kong, Iceland, Japan, and Mexico.
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | FS2 | Ernst Grissemann | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | TV1 | Luc Appermont | Unknown |
| Radio 1 | Unknown | ||
| Belgium (French) | RTB1 | Georges Désir | |
| Finland | TV1 | Heikki Seppälä | Unknown |
| Rinnakkaisohjelma | Erkki Melakoski | ||
| France | TF1 | Jean-Claude Massoulier | Unknown |
| Germany | Deutsches Fernsehen | Werner Veigel | Unknown |
| Greece | ERT, A Programma | Mako Georgiadou | Unknown |
| Ireland | RTÉ | Mike Murphy | Unknown |
| RTÉ Radio | Unknown | ||
| Israel | Israeli Television | Unknown | Unknown |
| Italy | Rete Uno | Silvio Noto | Unknown |
| Luxembourg | RTL Télé-Luxembourg | Unknown | Unknown |
| Monaco | Télé Monte-Carlo | Unknown | Unknown |
| Netherlands | Nederland 2 | Willem Duys | Dick van Bommel |
| Hilversum 3 | Willem van Beusekom | ||
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet | Jo Vestly | Unknown |
| NRK | Erik Heyerdahl | ||
| Portugal | I Programa | Unknown | Unknown |
| Spain | TVE 1 | José Luis Uribarri | José María Íñigo |
| Switzerland (German) | TV DRS | Theodor Haller | Unknown |
| Switzerland (French) | TSR | Georges Hardy | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI | Giovanni Bertini | |
| RSI 2 | Unknown | ||
| United Kingdom | BBC1 | Michael Aspel | Ray Moore |
| BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 | Terry Wogan | ||
| BFBS Radio | Andrew Pastouna | ||
| Yugoslavia | TV Beograd 1, TV Zagreb 1 | Oliver Mlakar | Unknown |
| TV Koper-Capodistria, TV Ljubljana 1 | Unknown |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Algeria | RTA | Unknown |
| Bulgaria | BNT | Unknown |
| Czechoslovakia | ČST | Unknown |
| Denmark | DR TV | Per Møller Hansen |
| Hong Kong | Unknown | Unknown |
| Hungary | Petőfi Rádió | Unknown |
| Iceland | Sjónvarpið | Unknown |
| Japan | Fuji Television | Unknown |
| Jordan | JTV2 | Unknown |
| Mexico | Unknown | Unknown |
| Morocco | RTM | Unknown |
| Poland | TP1 | Unknown |
| Romania | Programul 1 | Unknown |
| Soviet Union | CT USSR | Unknown |
| Sweden | SR P3 | Ursula Richter |
| Tunisia | RTT | Unknown |
| Turkey | TRT Televizyon | Başak Doğru |
Broadcast notes[]
- Hungary - The show was broadcast on Petőfi Rádió on a delayed basis and in a shortened format on 8 August 1976 at 15:33 CET.
- Iceland -The show was broadcast on Sjónvarpið on a delayed basis on 25 April 1976 at 20:35 WET.
- Japan - The show was broadcast on Fuji Television on a delayed basis.
- Jordan - The show was broadcast on JTV2 on a delayed basis and in a shortened format on 17 April 1976 at 21:10 EET.
- Poland - The show was broadcast on TP1 deferred and in a shortened format at 01:15 CET.
- Romania - The show was broadcast on Programul 1 on a delayed basis and in a shortened format on 29 April 1976 at 21:40 EET.
- Turkey - The show was cut during the Greek entry, criticizing the Cyprus Peace operation. The broadcast was replaced with Ayten Alpman's "My Country" until the Greek entry had ended.