1966

VENUE Villa Louvighny, Luxemburg City		ENTRIES 18
HOST Josiane Shen		DEBUTS None

Udo Jurgens finally hit the bullseye after finishing 6th and 4th in the two previous years. Herr Jurgen's success was a rare bright spot in Austria's mediocre Eurovision history. Take away his contribution and Austria would be languishing in the basement of the Eurovision league table with the likes of Portugal and Finland. His success also marked the end of an era in some ways. Male balladeers had triumphed in 1958 and 1961 and had generally fared OK through the early sixties. However, Jurgens would be the last male soloist to triumph for thirteen years, until Johnny Logan claimed the first of his brace of victories in 1980.

This was also the last year when a jury only awarded points to three countries. Three very different systems have been utilised since then, all of them designed to splash points about more liberally than was the fashion in the early sixties. It is no accident that most of the nul pointers in Eurovision history originate from 1966 or earlier.

1966 also saw the first widely noticed evidence of neighbour voting as Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland merrily lavished votes on each other, and the voting system in place ensured that the first two garnered enough to each attain their first top three place. Meanwhile the UK presented Kenneth McKellar in a kilt and his sweet song could not prevent the UK's worst placing in the first two decades of the contest.

Germany	Die Zeiger Der Uhr	Margot Eskens	10
Denmark	Stop Mens Legen Er God	Ulla Pia	14
Belgium	Un Peu De Poivre, Un Peu De Sel	Tonia Philippe	4
Luxembourg	Ce Soir Je T'Attendrais	Michèle Torr	10
Yugoslavia	Brez Besed	Berta Ambroz	7
Norway	Intet Er Nytt Under Solen	Åse Kleveland	3
Finland	Playboy	Ann Christine Nyström	10
Portugal	Ele E Ela	Madalena Iglesias	13
Austria	Merci Chérie	Udo Jürgens	1
Sweden	Nygammal Vals	Lill Lindfors & Svante Thuresson	2
Spain	Yo Soy Aquel	Raphael	7
Switzerland	Ne Vois-Tu Pas	Madelaine Pascal	6
Monaco	Bien Plus Fort	Tereza	17
Italy	Dio Come Ti Amo	Domenico Modugno	17
France	Chez Nous	Dominique Walter	16
Netherlands	Fernando En Phillipo	Milly Scott	15
Ireland	Come Back To Stay	Dickie Rock	4
United Kingdom	A Man Without Love	Kenneth McKellar	9

WINNER:

Austria

MERCI CHERIE

Udo Jurgens

Voting

IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK:

John Lennon sparks outrage by declaring the Beatles are "bigger than Jesus".