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Eurovision Song Contest 1978

International song competition

Eurovision Song Contest 1978

Summary

International song competition

FieldValue
nameEurovision Song Contest
year1978
logoESC 1978 logo.png
size200px
final22 April 1978
presenters
musdirectorFrançois Rauber
directorBernard Lion
scrutineerFrank Naef
organiserEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU)
hostTélévision Française 1 (TF1)
venuePalais des Congrès
Paris, France
winner
"A-Ba-Ni-Bi"
voteEach country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs
entries20
return
Map NoSemisY

Paris, France "A-Ba-Ni-Bi"

The Eurovision Song Contest 1978 was the 23rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 22 April 1978 at the Grand Amphitheatre of the Palais des Congrès in Paris, France, and presented by Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Télévision Française 1 (TF1), who staged the event after winning the for with the song "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" by Marie Myriam. This was the first time that more than one presenter had hosted the contest as well as the first to have a male presenter since the .

Broadcasters from twenty countries participated, the highest number of competing countries in the history of the competition at the time. and both returned to the contest. Denmark had not participated since , 12 years before.

The winner of the contest was with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. The winning entry was a love song sung in the Hebrew equivalent of Ubbi dubbi (the title is an expansion of the Hebrew word ani, meaning "I"). This was 's first Eurovision win, and it was also the first winning song to be performed in one of the Semitic languages. Furthermore, it was also the only winning song to be conducted by a woman, Nurit Hirsh. finished last for the fifth time, gaining the first nul points after the new voting system was implemented in .

Location

i=unset}}, Paris – host venue of the 1978 contest.

Télévision Française 1 (TF1) staged the contest at the Palais des congrès de Paris, a multi propose venue in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. Designed by French architect Guillaume Gillet, the venue was inaugurated in 1974.

Participants

Denmark returned to the competition after having been absent for twelve years, while Turkey did so after missing out two years. This meant that, for the first time, the contest had twenty entries competing.

Several of the performing artists had previously competed as lead artists representing the same country in past editions: Jean Vallée had represented ; and Norbert Niedermeyer as part of had represented as part of Milestones. In addition, Ireen Sheer representing Germany, had represented .

CountryBroadcasterArtistSongLanguageSongwriter(s)Conductor
ORF"Mrs. Caroline Robinson"GermanRichard Oesterreicher
RTBFJean Vallée"L'amour ça fait chanter la vie"FrenchJean Vallée
DRMabel"Boom Boom"Danish
YLESeija Simola"Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus"FinnishOssi Runne
TF1Joël Prévost"Il y aura toujours des violons"FrenchAlain Goraguer
SWFIreen Sheer"Feuer"GermanJean Frankfurter
ERTTania Tsanaklidou"Charlie Chaplin" (Τσάρλυ Τσάπλιν)GreekHaris Andreadis
RTÉColm C. T. Wilkinson"Born to Sing"EnglishColm C. T. WilkinsonNoel Kelehan
IBAIzhar Cohen and the Alphabeta"A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (א-ב-ני-בי)HebrewNurit Hirsh
RAIRicchi e Poveri"Questo amore"ItalianNicola Samale
CLTBaccara"Parlez-vous français ?"FrenchRolf Soja
TMCand Olivier Toussaint"Les Jardins de Monaco"FrenchYvon Rioland
NOSHarmonynl't Is OKi=unset}}"DutchHarry van Hoof
NRKJahn Teigen"Mil etter mil"NorwegianCarsten Klouman
RTPGemini"Dai li dou"Portuguese
TVEJosé Vélez"Bailemos un vals"SpanishRamón Arcusa
SRBjörn Skifs"Det blir alltid värre framåt natten"Swedish
SRG SSR"Vivre"French
TRTNilüfer and Nazar"Sevince"TurkishOnno Tunç
BBCCo-Co"The Bad Old Days"EnglishAlyn Ainsworth

Format

The postcards were filmed live, featuring the artists making their way to the stage. They took a corridor, then an elevator. Leaving the lift, they were greeted by the previous participants and then made their entrances to the stage. The camera also made several shots of the audience, notably Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg.

Each song was accompanied by a 45-piece orchestra.

The Swedish participant Björn Skifs was unhappy with the rule that every country would have to perform in their native language. He planned to sing in English anyway, but changed his mind at the last moment, causing him to completely forget the lyrics. He therefore sang the first few lines in gibberish before finding the words again.

The Israeli win caused problems for several North African and Middle-Eastern nations that were televising the contest, even though they were not participating. According to author and political commentator John Kennedy O'Connor in his book The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History, when Israel became the clear winners during the voting, most of the Arabic stations ended their transmission of the contest. Jordan Television finished the show with a photo of a bunch of daffodils on screen, later announcing that the Belgian entry (which finished second) was the winner.

Contest overview

The contest was held on 22 April 1978, beginning at 21:30 (CEST).

Fears of terrorist attacks like at the Summer Olympics 1972 in Munich and of stage invasions like in meant that security measures in and around the Palais des Congrès were particularly tight: 200 police officers, some of them as undercover agents, tried to prevent any potential incidents. Spectators had to go through metal detectors upon arrival at the Palais des Congrès.

In addition to his duties as a host together with Denise Fabre, Léon Zitrone also served as commentator for France, in an own commentary box backstage.

R/OCountryArtistSongPointsPlace1234567891011121314151617181920
"Born to Sing"865
"Mil etter mil"020
Ricchi e Poveri"Questo amore"5312
"Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus"218
Gemini"Dai li dou"517
"Il y aura toujours des violons"1193
"Bailemos un vals"659
Co-Co"The Bad Old Days"6111
"Vivre"659
"L'amour ça fait chanter la vie"1252
Harmonynl't Is OKi=unset}}"3713
Nilüfer and Nazar"Sevince"218
"Feuer"846
Caline and Olivier Toussaint"Les Jardins de Monaco"1074
"Charlie Chaplin"668
Mabel"Boom Boom"1316
Baccara"Parlez-vous français ?"737
and the Alphabeta"A-Ba-Ni-Bi"1571
Springtime"Mrs. Caroline Robinson"1415
"Det blir alltid värre framåt natten"2614

Spokespersons

Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for its respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1978 contest are listed below.

  • FinlandKaarina Pönniö
  • Germany
  • SpainMatías Prats Luque
  • SwedenSven Lindahl
  • TurkeyMeral Savcı
  • United KingdomColin Berry

Detailed voting results

nb=1Total score}}nb=1Ireland}}nb=1Norway}}nb=1Italy}}nb=1Finland}}nb=1Portugal}}nb=1France}}nb=1Spain}}nb=1United Kingdom}}nb=1Switzerland}}nb=1Belgium}}nb=1Netherlands}}nb=1Turkey}}nb=1Germany}}nb=1Monaco}}nb=1Greece}}nb=1Denmark}}nb=1Luxembourg}}nb=1Israel}}nb=1Austria}}nb=1Sweden}}va=middleContestants}}IrelandNorwayItalyFinlandPortugalFranceSpainUnited KingdomSwitzerlandBelgiumNetherlandsTurkeyGermanyMonacoGreeceDenmarkLuxembourgIsraelAustriaSweden
861235710105101068
0
5310614861112823
22
541
11963102258686410588151210
65782474612267
61362324268735253
65511742786238110
12512766412212105312127744
37534156121
211
8413127103578107137
107447851105610574108112
6672581074441032
136142
73212121273326176
15788810108651212121212356128
1433125
26510434

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.ContestantNation(s) giving 12 points6531
****, , , , ,
, , , ,
, ,

Broadcasts

Each 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. TF1 provided 29 commentary boxes in the auditorium for foreign broadcasters.

In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in 17 other countries, including Algeria, Iceland, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yugoslavia; in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and the Soviet Union via Intervision; and in Hong Kong, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. No official accounts of the viewing figures are known to exist; an estimate given in French press outlets ahead of the contest put the expected audience at around 350 million viewers worldwide, while media reports put viewing figures between 500 and 600 million.

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Commentator(s)Ref(s)AustriaBelgiumDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceIrelandIsraelItalyLuxembourgMonacoNetherlandsNorwayPortugalSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUnited Kingdom
ORFFS2Ernst Grissemann
RTBFRTBF1
BRTTV1Luc Appermont
DRDR TVJørgen de Mylius
YLETV1
TF1Léon Zitrone
ARDDeutsches FernsehenWerner Veigel
ERTERT, A Programma
RTÉRTÉLarry Gogan
RTÉ RadioLiam Devally
IBAIsraeli Television,
RAIRete Due, Rai Radio 2Tullio Grazzini
CLTRTL Télé-LuxembourgJacques Navadic and
Télé Monte-Carlo
NOSNederland 2Willem Duys
NRKNRK FjernsynetBjørn Scheele
NRK
RTPI ProgramaEládio Clímaco
RDPRDP Programa 1
TVETVE 1
RNERNE Canarias
SRTV1Ulf Elfving
SR P3Kent Finell
SRG SSRTV DRS
TSR
TSI
RSR 1Robert Burnier
TRTTRT Televizyon
BBCBBC1Terry Wogan
BBC Radio 2Ray Moore
CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Commentator(s)Ref(s)BulgariaCyprusHong KongHungaryIcelandJordanNetherlands AntillesPolandYugoslavia
BTBT 1
CyBCRIK
TVBTVB Pearl
RTVRTV-2
MTVMTV2
RÚVSjónvarpiðRagna Ragnars
JTVJTV2
ATMTeleCuraçao
TPTP1
JRTTV Beograd 1
TV Koper-Capodistria
TV Ljubljana 1
TV Zagreb 1

Notes

References

References

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