The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the 1978 contest with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held at the International Convention Centre on 31 March 1979, and was hosted by Israeli television presenter Daniel Pe'er and singer Yardena Arazi. This was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was held outside Europe.
Nineteen countries participated in the contest, with Turkey deciding not to participate after Arab countries had pressured it into not participating in a contest held in Israel. Yugoslavia, which had missed the 1977 and 1978 contests, also did not take part in or broadcast the contest this year for political reasons, despite an earlier public poll in which almost 100,000 people supported a Yugoslav return to the contest.
For the second year in a row, Israel won with the song "Hallelujah", performed by the Israeli group Milk and Honey featuring Gali Atari.
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 | Israel | IBA | Milk and Honey | "Hallelujah" (הללויה) | Kobi Oshrat | 125 |
| 02 | Spain | TVE | Betty Missiego | "Su canción" | José Luis Navarro | 116 |
| 03 | France | TF1 | Anne-Marie David | "Je suis l'enfant soleil" | Guy Mattéoni | 106 |
| 04 | Germany | ARD/BR | Dschinghis Khan | "Dschinghis Khan" | Norbert Daum | 86 |
| 05 | Ireland | RTÉ | Cathal Dunne | "Happy Man" | Proinnsías Ó Duinn | 80 |
| 06 | Denmark | DR | Tommy Seebach | "Disco Tango" | Allan Botschinsky | 76 |
| 07 | United Kingdom | BBC | Black Lace | "Mary Ann" | Ken Jones | 73 |
| 08 | Greece | ERT | Elpida | "Socrates" (Σωκράτη) | Lefteris Halkiadakis | 69 |
| 09 | Portugal | RTP | Manuela Bravo | "Sobe, sobe, balão sobe" | Thilo Krasmann | 64 |
| 10 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Peter, Sue and Marc, Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri | "Trödler und Co." | Rolf Zuckowski | 60 |
| 11 | Norway | NRK | Anita Skorgan | "Oliver" | Sigurd Jansen | 57 |
| 12 | Netherlands | NOS | Xandra | "Colorado" | Harry van Hoof | 51 |
| 13 | Luxembourg | CLT | Jeane Manson | "J'ai déjà vu ça dans tes yeux" | Hervé Roy | 44 |
| 14 | Finland | YLE | Katri Helena | "Katson sineen taivaan" | Ossi Runne | 38 |
| 15 | Italy | RAI | Matia Bazar | "Raggio di luna" | No conductor | 27 |
| 16 | Monaco | TMC | Laurent Vaguener | "Notre vie c'est la musique" | Gérard Salesses | 12 |
| 17 | Sweden | SR | Ted Gärdestad | "Satellit" | Lars Samuelson | 8 |
| 18 | Belgium | BRT | Micha Marah | "Hey Nana" | Francis Bay | 5 |
| Austria | ORF | Christina Simon | "Heute in Jerusalem" | Richard Oesterreicher | 5 |
Broadcasts[]
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | FS1 | Ernst Grissemann | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | TV1 | Luc Appermont | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | RTBF1 | Paule Herreman | |
| Denmark | DR TV | Jørgen de Mylius | Unknown |
| Finland | TV1, Rinnakkaisohjelma | Matti Paalosmaa | Unknown |
| France | TF1 | Marc Menant | Unknown |
| Germany | Deutsches Fernsehen | Gaby Schnelle, Ado Schlier | Unknown |
| Greece | ERT, A Programma | Mako Georgiadou | Unknown |
| Ireland | RTÉ 1 | Mike Murphy | Unknown |
| RTÉ Radio 1 | Unknown | ||
| Israel | Israeli Television | Yoram Arbel | Dan Kaner |
| Army Radio | Yitzhak Shim'oni | ||
| Italy | Rete Uno | Rosanna Vaudetti | Paola Perissi |
| Luxembourg | RTL Télé-Luxembourg, RTL Radio | Unknown | Unknown |
| Monaco | Télé Monte-Carlo | Unknown | Unknown |
| Netherlands | Nederland 1 | Willem Duys | Ivo Niehe |
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet | Egil Teige | Unknown |
| NRK | Erik Heyerdahl | ||
| Portugal | RTP1 | Fialho Gouveia | Unknown |
| RDP Programa 1 | Unknown | ||
| Spain | TVE 1 | Miguel de los Santos | Unknown |
| Sweden | TV1 | Ulf Elfving | Sven Lindahl |
| SR P3 | Kent Finnell | ||
| Switzerland (German) | TV DRS | Max Rüeger | Unknown |
| Switzerland (French) | TSR | Georges Hardy | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI | Giovanni Bertini | |
| RSI 1 | Unknown | ||
| United Kingdom | BBC1 | John Dunn | Colin Berry |
| BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 1 VHF | Ray Moore |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong (Cantonese) | TVB Jade | Regina Hing Yue Tsang, Lee Chi-chung |
| Hong Kong (English) | TVB Pearl | George Lam |
| Iceland | Sjónvarpið | Björn Baldursson |
| Netherlands Antilles | TeleAruba, TeleCuraçao | Unknown |
Broadcast notes[]
- Hong Kong - The show was broadcast on TVB Jade and TVB Pearl deferred on 1 April 1979 at 10:30 HKT (02:30 UTC).
- Iceland - The show was broadcast on Sjónvarpið on a delayed basis on 16 April 1979 at 21:20 WET (21:20 UTC).
- Italy - The show was broadcast on Rete Uno deferred at 21:50 CET (20:50 UTC).
- Netherlands Antilles (Aruba) - The show was broadcast on TeleAruba on a delayed basis on 18 June 1979 at 21:00 ADT.
- Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao) - The show was broadcast on TeleCuraçao on a delayed basis on 13 April 1979 at 21:11 ADT.
- Switzerland - TV DRS broadcast the show through a second audio programme on TSR.