The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Once again, the contest was held in the French seaside city of Cannes, which had also hosted the 1959 edition. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), the contest was again held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on Saturday 18 March 1961, becoming the first contest to take place on a Saturday evening, a tradition that has continued ever since (with the exception of 1962). The show was directed by Marcel Cravenne and again hosted by Jacqueline Joubert, who had also hosted in 1959.[1]
Eurovision Song Contest 1961 | |
---|---|
Dates | |
Final | 18 March 1961 |
Host | |
Venue | Palais des Festivals et des Congrès Cannes, France |
Presenter(s) | Jacqueline Joubert |
Musical director | Franck Pourcel |
Directed by | Maurice Barry |
Executive producer | Marcel Cravenne |
Host broadcaster | Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) |
Website | eurovision |
Participants | |
Number of entries | 16 |
Debuting countries | |
Non-returning countries | None |
| |
Vote | |
Voting system | Ten-member juries distributed 10 points among their favourite songs. |
Winning song | Luxembourg "Nous les amoureux" |
Sixteen countries participated in the contest - three more than in the previous edition; Finland, Spain and Yugoslavia all competed for the first time this year.
The winner was Luxembourg with the song "Nous les amoureux", performed by Jean-Claude Pascal, written by Maurice Vidalin, and composed by Jacques Datin, with the United Kingdom finishing in second place for the third consecutive year.
Location
editThe event took place in Cannes, France, following the nation's victory at the 1960 edition with the song "Tom Pillibi", performed by Jacqueline Boyer. The selected venue was the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, built in 1949 to host the Cannes Film Festival and located on the Promenade de la Croisette along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.[2][3] Due to the growth in the film festival a new building bearing the same name was opened in 1982, with the original building renamed as the Palais Croisette and subsequently demolished in 1988.[4] It also hosted the 1959 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.[2]
Participating countries
editEurovision Song Contest 1961 – Participation summaries by country | |
---|---|
Interest in the competition began to grow across Europe as three new countries participated for the first time: Finland, Spain, and Yugoslavia.[5]
Both Belgium's Bob Benny and Norway's Nora Brockstedt made their second appearances at the contest; Benny had previously represented Belgium in the 1959 contest with the song "Hou toch van mij", while Brockstedt represented Norway for the second consecutive year, having performed "Voi Voi" the previous year.[2]
Country | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language(s) | Songwriter(s) | Conductor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austria | ORF | Jimmy Makulis | "Sehnsucht" | German | Leopold Andrejewitsch | Franck Pourcel |
Belgium | BRT | Bob Benny | "September, gouden roos" | Dutch |
|
Francis Bay |
Denmark | DR | Dario Campeotto | "Angelique" | Danish | Aksel V. Rasmussen | Kai Mortensen |
Finland | YLE | Laila Kinnunen | "Valoa ikkunassa" | Finnish |
|
George de Godzinsky |
France | RTF | Jean-Paul Mauric | "Printemps (avril carillonne)" | French |
|
Franck Pourcel |
Germany | HR[a] | Lale Andersen | "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" | German, French |
|
Franck Pourcel |
Italy | RAI | Betty Curtis | "Al di là" | Italian | Gianfranco Intra | |
Luxembourg | CLT | Jean-Claude Pascal | "Nous les amoureux" | French |
|
Léo Chauliac |
Monaco | TMC | Colette Deréal | "Allons, allons les enfants" | French | Raymond Lefèvre | |
Netherlands | NTS | Greetje Kauffeld | "Wat een dag" | Dutch |
|
Dolf van der Linden |
Norway | NRK | Nora Brockstedt | "Sommer i Palma" | Norwegian |
|
Øivind Bergh |
Spain | TVE | Conchita Bautista | "Estando contigo" | Spanish |
|
Rafael Ferrer |
Sweden | SR | Lill-Babs | "April, april" | Swedish |
|
William Lind |
Switzerland | SRG SSR | Franca di Rienzo | "Nous aurons demain" | French | Fernando Paggi | |
United Kingdom | BBC | The Allisons | "Are You Sure?" | English |
|
Harry Robinson |
Yugoslavia | JRT | Ljiljana Petrović | "Neke davne zvezde" (Неке давне звезде) | Serbo-Croatian | Jože Privšek |
Production
editMarcel Cravenne directed the show, the director of photography was Maurice Barry .[10] Roger Valat served as technical director.[11] Six TV cameras were used, including one showing the Mediterranean sea and the outside of the venue during the first seconds of the show.[10]
Like in 1959, the stage was designed by Gérard Dubois.[1][12] It was notably larger than in previous years and featured a central staircase decorated with flowers, leading up to a terrace flanked by trees, so that the entire stage gave the impression of a Mediterranean garden.[10] Dubois first made a scale model of the stage in Paris, then went to Cannes and chose the trees together with André Racot, head of the Cannes municipal gardens,[13] paying attention that the trees were not too dark-colored for the TV cameras.[10] The flower pots were then added on the day of the show so that they were fresh and unaltered by unsuitable temperature and light conditions.[10]
Format
editInitial plans foresaw that the greenroom was part of the stage so that artists stayed on the stage after having performed.[10] However, this idea finally was not realised in the live show.[14]
The draw to determine the running order took place on 16 March 1961 at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes.[11] It was presented by Jacqueline Joubert, assisted by two children aged six and four.[11]
Rehearsals started on 16 March 1961.[11]
Contest overview
editThe contest was held on 18 March 1961, beginning at 22:00 (CET) and lasted 1 hour and 30 minutes.[2][15] The event was hosted by French television presenter Jacqueline Joubert, who had previously presented the previous contest held in France in 1959.[2][5]
The interval act was a ballet performance under the title "Rendez-vous à Cannes" with music written by Raymond Lefèvre and performed by Tessa Beaumont and Max Bozzoni .[10][16]
The winner was Luxembourg represented by the song "Nous les amoureux", composed by Jacques Datin, written by Maurice Vidalin and performed by Jean-Claude Pascal.[17] This was the first of an eventual five contest victories that Luxembourg would go on to achieve.[18]
After the show, a supper for the participating delegations was held at the Salon des Ambassadeurs of the Casino municipal .[19]
R/O | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Spain | Conchita Bautista | "Estando contigo" | 8 | 9 |
2 | Monaco | Colette Deréal | "Allons, allons les enfants" | 6 | 10 |
3 | Austria | Jimmy Makulis | "Sehnsucht" | 1 | 15 |
4 | Finland | Laila Kinnunen | "Valoa ikkunassa" | 6 | 10 |
5 | Yugoslavia | Ljiljana Petrović | "Neke davne zvezde" | 9 | 8 |
6 | Netherlands | Greetje Kauffeld | "Wat een dag" | 6 | 10 |
7 | Sweden | Lill-Babs | "April, april" | 2 | 14 |
8 | Germany | Lale Andersen | "Einmal sehen wir uns wieder" | 3 | 13 |
9 | France | Jean-Paul Mauric | "Printemps (avril carillonne)" | 13 | 4 |
10 | Switzerland | Franca di Rienzo | "Nous aurons demain" | 16 | 3 |
11 | Belgium | Bob Benny | "September, gouden roos" | 1 | 15 |
12 | Norway | Nora Brockstedt | "Sommer i Palma" | 10 | 7 |
13 | Denmark | Dario Campeotto | "Angelique" | 12 | 5 |
14 | Luxembourg | Jean-Claude Pascal | "Nous les amoureux" | 31 | 1 |
15 | United Kingdom | The Allisons | "Are You Sure?" | 24 | 2 |
16 | Italy | Betty Curtis | "Al di là" | 12 | 5 |
Spokespersons
editEach country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1961 contest are listed below.
- Netherlands – Siebe van der Zee[21]
- Sweden – Roland Eiworth[22]
- United Kingdom – Michael Aspel[2]
Detailed voting results
editEach country had 10 jury members who each awarded 1 point to their favourite song. The jury members were television viewers representing the public.[1]
It is noticeable that during the voting, Luxembourg gave the UK eight points, and Norway also gave Denmark eight points. It was the largest number of points given to a country by a single jury since 1958, when Denmark provided France with nine points. Such a high number of points obtained by a country would not be achieved until 1970, when Ireland would receive nine points from Belgium.[5]
Total score
|
Italy
|
United Kingdom
|
Luxembourg
|
Denmark
|
Norway
|
Belgium
|
Switzerland
|
France
|
Germany
|
Sweden
|
Netherlands
|
Yugoslavia
|
Finland
|
Austria
|
Monaco
|
Spain
| ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Contestants
|
Spain | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
Monaco | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||
Austria | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Finland | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
Yugoslavia | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||
Netherlands | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
Sweden | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Germany | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
France | 13 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
Switzerland | 16 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
Belgium | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Norway | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
Denmark | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
Luxembourg | 31 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | |||||
United Kingdom | 24 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||
Italy | 12 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Broadcasts
editEach participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants". Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.[25] The local press reported a total number of 14 commentators for the contest, and a total of 16 countries broadcasting the event.[10][19]
No official accounts of the viewing figures are known to exist. An estimate given in the French press ahead of the contest was 40 million viewers all over Europe.[10]
Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "Samedi 18 Mars". Télérama. No. 582. Paris, France. 12 March 1961. p. 24. ISSN 0040-2699. OCLC 840599726.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 254–264. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
- ^ "The Palais Croisette : 33 years of service". cannes.com. 4 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ "The 1983 festival inaugurates the Palais des Festivals". cannes.com. 4 October 2021. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
- ^ a b c "Eurovision Song Contest 1961". EBU. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
- ^ "Participants of Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ "1961 – 6th edition". diggiloo.net. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ "Detailed overview: conductors in 1961". And the conductor is... Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Alle deutschen ESC-Acts und ihre Titel". www.eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Dany, Pierre (15 March 1961). "Le Palais des Festivals est fin prêt pour accueillir les concurrents du Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson". L'Espoir de Nice et du Sud-Est. Nice, France. p. 4. ISSN 1166-9012.
- ^ a b c d Dany, Pierre (17 March 1961). "Grand Prix Eurovision de la chanson demain soir, à Cannes au Palais des Festivals". Nice-Matin. Nice, France. p. 6. ISSN 0224-5477.
- ^ Montaigne, Pierre (11 March 1959). "Le Grand Prix 1959 de la chanson européenne". Nice-Matin. Nice, France. p. 2. ISSN 0224-5477.
- ^ Ville de Cannes, ed. (2007). Cannes, elles & eux. Des hommes des femmes, leur destin à Cannes (in French). Vol. 2. Cannes: Archives communales. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-2-9162-6101-0. OCLC 213499510.
- ^ Grand Prix Eurovision 1961 de la chanson européenne (Television production) (in French). Cannes, France: Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF). 18 March 1961.
- ^ a b "TV". Radio TV – Je vois tout (in French). No. 10. Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 9 March 1961. pp. 24, 26. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
- ^ Dany, Pierre (20 March 1961). "A la suite d'une lutte serrée avec le Royaume-Uni, le Luxembourg remporte le Grand Prix Eurovision de la chanson". L'Espoir de Nice et du Sud-Est (in French). Nice, France. p. 6. ISSN 1166-9012.
- ^ "Jean-Claude Pascal – Luxembourg – Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 12 May 2018. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
- ^ "Luxembourg – Country Profile". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ a b "Grand Prix Eurovision de la chanson" [Eurovision Song Grand Prix]. L'Espoir de Nice et du Sud-Est. Nice, France. 18 March 1961. p. 4. ISSN 1166-9012.
- ^ "Final of Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Greetje vanavond nummer zes" [Greetje number six tonight]. Nieuwe Leidsche Courant. Amsterdam, Netherlands. 18 March 1961. p. 7. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
De Nederlandse jury-van-tien, onder leiding van Siebe van der Zee, zal in de Irene-studio in Bussum bijeen komen.
[The Dutch jury of ten, led by Siebe van der Zee, will meet in the Irene studio in Bussum.] - ^ Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna [Melodifestivalen through the ages: the Swedish selections and international finals] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Premium Publishing. pp. 34–35. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
- ^ "Results of the Final of Cannes 1961". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1961 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ "The Rules of the Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
- ^ "Fernsehprogramm vom 12. bis 18. März 1961 – Samstag, 18. März" [Television schedule from 12 to 18 March 1961 – Saturday 18 March]. Burgenländische Freiheit (in German). Wiener Neustadt, Austria. 11 March 1961. p. 12. Retrieved 25 June 2024 – via Austrian National Library.
- ^ "Televisie – Zaterdag 18 maart" [Television – Saturday 18 March]. Brugsch Handelsblad Weekwijzer (in Dutch). Bruges, Belgium. 3 March 1961. p. 28. Retrieved 5 July 2024 – via Openbare Bibliotheek Brugge .
- ^ a b c d "6ème concours Eurovision de la chanson 1961" [6th Eurovision Song Contest 1961]. INA Mediapro (television broadcast). Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française. 2023 [18 March 1961]. Retrieved 14 April 2024 – via Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA).
Robert Beauvis: j'ai la charge d'assurer le commentaire pour le Grand Duché de Luxembourg, Monaco, la Suisse romande et parallèlement [...] Nic Bal, qui le fait en langue flamande pour la Belgique.
[Robert Beauvis: I am responsible for ensuring the commentary for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Monaco, French-speaking Switzerland, in parallel with [...] Nic Bal, who does it in the Flemish language for Belgium.] - ^ "Alle tiders programoversigter – Lørdag den 18. marts 1961" [All-time programme overviews – Saturday 18 March 1961] (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ "Radio ja televisio" [Radio and television]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. 18 March 1961. p. 33. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
- ^ Pajala, Mari (2013). Badenoch, Alexander; Fickers, Andreas; Henrich-Franke, Christian (eds.). "Intervision Song Contests and Finnish Television between East and West". Airy Curtains in the European Ether: Broadcasting and the Cold War. Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos: 215–270. doi:10.5771/9783845236070-215. ISBN 9783845236070 – via Academia.edu.
Walli was closely involved in YLE's ESC productions; among other things he [...] provided the commentary for all the 1960s ESCs on Finnish television.
- ^ a b c "Programmes des Émissions Suisses et Étrangères" [Swiss and Foreign Broadcast Programmes]. Radio TV – Je vois tout (in French). No. 10. Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 9 March 1961. pp. 33, 35–36. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
- ^ "Remise du Grand Prix Eurovision 1961 à Jean-Claude Pascal (Luxembourg)" [Presentation of the 1961 Eurovision Grand Prix to Jean-Claude Pascal (Luxembourg)] (in French). Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA). Retrieved 19 June 2022.
- ^ "Sieh fern mit Hör Zu! – SA 18. März" [Watch TV with Hör Zu! – Sat 18 March]. Hör Zu! (in German). No. 11. Hamburg, West Germany. 12 March 1961. p. 72. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Rundfunk – SA | 18. März" [Radio – Sat | 18 March]. Hör Zu! (in German). No. 11. Hamburg, West Germany. 12 March 1961. pp. 74–75. Retrieved 24 May 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "TV | sabato 18 marzo" [Radio | Saturday 18 March]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 38, no. 11. 12–18 March 1961. p. 46. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ "Radio | sabato | Secondo Programma" [Radio | Saturday | Second Programme]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 38, no. 11. 12–18 March 1961. p. 44. Retrieved 1 June 2024.
- ^ Anselmi, Eddy (January 2020). Il festival di Sanremo: 70 anni di storie, canzoni, cantanti e serate [The Sanremo festival: 70 years of stories, songs, singers and evenings] (in Italian). Milan, Italy: Planeta DeAgostini. ISBN 978-88-511-7854-3.
Nel 1961 è il commentatore Rai dell'Eurovision Song Contest
[In 1961 he was the commentator for Rai at the Eurovision Song Contest] - ^ "Radio-Télévision". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 18 March 1961. p. 19. Retrieved 11 November 2022 – via National Library of Luxembourg.
- ^ "Programma's binnen- en buitenlandse zenders" [Programmes on domestic and foreign channels]. De Telegraaf (in Dutch). Amsterdam, Netherlands. 17 March 1961. p. 9. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via Delpher.
- ^ "Eurovisie Songfestival ook op radio" [Eurovision Song Contest also on radio]. De Tijd De Maasbode (in Dutch). Amsterdam, Netherlands. 7 March 1961. p. 6. Retrieved 26 June 2023 – via Delpher.
Coen Serré zal uit Cannes het radiocommentaar verzorgen. Piet te Nuyl jr licht de televisie-uitzending toe.
[Coen Serré will provide the radio commentary from Cannes. Piet te Nuyl Jr. explains the television broadcast.] - ^ "Hørt i Radio" [Heard on the radio]. Haugesunds Dagblad (in Norwegian). Haugesund, Norway. 20 March 1961. p. 3. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via National Library of Norway.
Leif Rustad ved mikrofonen virket så hjelpeløs og opptrådte så stavrende beskjedent, at vi skjønte ikke stort va hele konkurransen.
[Leif Rustad at the microphone seemed so helpless and acted so modestly, that we didn't really understand what the whole competition was about.] - ^ "Radioprogrammet" [The radio programme]. Sandefjords Blad (in Norwegian). Sandefjord, Norway. 18 March 1961. p. 8. Retrieved 19 June 2022 – via National Library of Norway.
- ^ a b "Radio y TV" [Radio and TV]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 18 March 1961. p. 30. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ HerGar, Paula (28 March 2018). "Todos los comentaristas de la historia de España en Eurovisión (y una única mujer en solitario)" [All the commentators in the history of Spain in Eurovision (and only a single woman)] (in Spanish). Los 40. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
- ^ "TV. och radioprogrammen" [TV. and the radio programmes]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden. 18 March 1961. p. 22.
- ^ a b "Radio und Fernsehen" [Radio and television]. Der Bund (in German). Bern, Switzerland. 17–18 March 1961. p. 4. Retrieved 31 October 2024 – via E-newspaperarchives.ch.
- ^ a b "Spettacoli" [Shows]. Gazzetta Ticinese (in Italian). Lugano, Switzerland. 18 March 1961. p. 2. Retrieved 3 July 2024 – via Sistema bibliotecario ticinese .
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix 1961". Radio Times. 18 March 1961. Retrieved 10 July 2022 – via BBC Genome Project.
- ^ "Радио Телевизија Београд – Телевизијски програм – За суботу, 18. III" [Radio Television Belgrade – Televised programme – For Saturday, 18 March]. Borba (in Serbian). Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia. 18 March 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 25 May 2024 – via Pretraživa digitalna biblioteka.
- ^ "RTV – Televizija" [RTV – Television]. Delo (in Slovenian). Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia. 18 March 1961. p. 11. Retrieved 28 October 2024 – via Digital Library of Slovenia.
- ^ Mitrović, Nemanja (6 March 2022). "Evrovizijski put Jugoslavije - od socijalističkog autsajdera do festivalskog pobednika" [Yugoslavia's Eurovision journey - from a socialist outsider to a festival winner] (in Serbian (Latin script)). BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022.
- ^ "TV Program". Slobodna Dalmacija (in Serbo-Croatian). Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia. 18 March 1961. p. 8. Retrieved 22 July 2022.