| 1966 |
|
1967 |
|
1968 |
|
1969 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| A Man Without Love -
Kenneth McKellar |
|
Puppet On A String -
Sandie Shaw |
|
Congratulations -
Cliff Richard |
|
Boom Bang A Bang -
Lulu |
| Primarily
a classical and traditional singer, and a Hogmanay TV regular, Kenneth
took to the Luxemburg stage in a kilt and sang his sweet
song to little effect. This remained the worst UK
result for two decades, yet ninth for the UK today would be
a success! |
|
Sandie
was of course an absolute superstar in the mid sixties and not
best pleased when her management put her forward for Eurovision. The UK (or as
presenter said at one point "Great
Brittany") romped to victory in Vienna, and after many
decades Sandie seems to have come to terms with the song. |
|
In these
golden days of Eurovision our biggest and best turned out for the UK. Cliff was odds-on to win with this timeless classic
but saw his lead wiped out by the German jury and thus a bonnie Spanish lass in a mini skirt singing "La La La"
ad nauseam pipped him at
the post. |
|
Lulu had
enjoyed film and recording success in the mid sixties and secured her
own BBC show and thus was an obvious choice for the contest. The
second UK success was a partial one. Four countries tied, and
there was no tie-breaker. The song has been widely derided
but it still appears proudly on compilation albums. |
| 1970 |
|
1971 |
|
1972 |
|
1973 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Knock Knock Who's
There - Mary Hopkin |
|
Jack In The Box -
Clodagh Rodgers |
|
Beg Steal Or Borrow -
New Seekers |
|
Power To All Our
Friends - Cliff Richard |
| Welsh folk singer Mary
was one of the very first signings to the Beatles Apple label and scored
a huge hit with "Those Were
The Days". Two years later she was a strong second behind Dana, and
might have won but for Belgium awarding nine out of their
ten votes to
Ireland. |
|
In 1971
the troubles in Northern Ireland were in full flow and this apparently
was behind the BBC's decision to pick Ulster's Clodagh for Dublin.
Her
sparkly pink hot-pants helped the UK to fourth, which at the
time was only average by UK standards. Clodagh no longer sings
but occasionally appears on TV in acting roles |
|
The
first group to represent the UK were coming straight off a
million-seller from a Coke ad, "I'd Like To Teach The World
To Sing". Lead vocals were shared by Lyn Paul and Australian Peter Doyle
(who sadly passed away in 2001) who were, it is thought, romantically
linked at the time of the contest. |
|
Undeterred by his 1968 result, Cliff returned to the contest as he
needed another hit record. He actually got two, as unusually, one of the
losing Song For Europe songs "Help It Along" was also released as a
single and charted. Cliff's Euro show contained some of the
oddest gyrating ever witnessed on a Eurovision stage. |
