1969

VENUE

Teatro Real, Madrid

ENTRIES

HOST

Laurita Valenzuela

DEBUTS

None

By 1969 the contest had been running for a dozen years and yet no-one had thought of a tie-breaker. Given the small number of points awarded in those days this was an accident just waiting to happen, and happen it did in 1969 when FOUR songs tied.

The scoreboard after the final jury had voted read: France 18 Netherlands 18 Spain 18 United Kingdom 18. The hostess Laurita Valenzuela pleaded with Clifford Brown, I got to learn the term 'ex-equo' and all four somewhat bewildered winners reprised their songs. After each one the winning songwriters had to give back their medals so they could be awarded to the next ones up!.

The interval was bizarre: spooky music played over images of Spanish art and architecture. Still an improvement over the trick cyclists of 1963. Then there was the dodgy floor: Finland's Jarkko and Laura spun around like skaters, Kirstie Sparboe (Norway) almost toppled over when she curtseyed and we had the wonderful sight of Massiel teetering onto the stage in an enormous fur coat and somehow managing not to go arse over tip. One of the most memorable contests of all time.

Yugoslavia	Pozdrav Svijetu	Ivan	13
Luxembourg	Catherine	Romuald	11
Spain	Vivo Cantando	Salomé	1
Monaco	Maman Maman	Jean Jacques	6
Ireland	The Wages Of Love	Muriel Day & The Lindsays	7
Italy	Due Grosse Lacrime Bianche	Iva Zanicchi	13
United Kingdom	Boom Bang-A-Bang	Lulu	1
Netherlands	De Troubadour	Lenny Kuhr	1
Sweden	Judy Min Vän	Tommy Körberg	9
Belgium	Jennifer Jennings	Louis Neefs	7
Switzerland	Bonjour Bonjour	Paola	5
Norway	Oj Oj Oj Så Glad Jeg Skal Bli	Kirsti Sparboe	16
Germany	Primaballerina	Siw Malmkvist	9
France	Un Jour Un Enfant	Frida Boccara	1
Portugal	Desfolhada Portuguesa	Simone De Oliveria	15
Finland	Kuin Silloin Ennen	Jarkko & Laura	12