The winner wasAustria with the song "Merci, Chérie", performed and composed byUdo Jürgens, and written by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger.[1] This was Udo Jürgens third consecutive entry in the contest, finally managing to score a victory for his native country. Austria would not go on to win again until the2014 edition. This was also the first winning song to be performed in German. The contest is also noted for its historic results for several countries. Austria who came first,Sweden who came second,Norway who came third andBelgium who came fourth all achieved their best results up until then, some of which would stand for several decades. In contrast, traditional Eurovision heavyweights such asFrance,United Kingdom, andItaly all achieved their worst result by far up till that point, with the general public in the aforementioned countries meeting these results with a degree of consternation.
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Eurovision Song Contest 1966 – Participation summaries by country
Broadcasters from eighteen countries participated in the 1966 contest, the same countries which had participated in the previous year's event.[2][3]
The event featured two artists which had previously competed in the contest for their countries:Udo Jürgens made a third consecutive appearance in the contest, after previously representingAustria in 1964 andin 1965;[4] andDomenico Modugno also participated in the contest a third time, after representingItaly in 1958 andin 1959.[5] Also notable among the participants wasMilly Scott, representing theNetherlands, who was the firstblack singer to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest.[2][6]
The contest was organised and broadcast byCLT.[2] The same production team which had worked on the 1962 contest returned to help stage this event, with Jos Pauly and René Steichen serving as producers and directors and Jean Roderès serving asmusical director.[10][11] Each participating broadcaster was allowed to appoint their own musical director to lead the orchestra during the performance of their entry, with the host musical director alsoconducting for those countries which did not nominate their own conductor.[12] The contest was presented byJosiane Shen.[2]
Following the confirmation of the eighteen competing countries, the draw to determine the running order of the contest was held on 13 January 1966.[13]
A new change in rules was introduced this year, allowing music experts to be present in the juries again.
This was one of the first contests in which an entry was not accompanied by an orchestra. The Italian entry "Dio, come ti amo" performed byDomenico Modugno had been rearranged since its performance at theSanremo Music Festival 1966 and officially broke the EBU rule that stated the arrangement should be finalised well in advance. During the Saturday afternoon rehearsal Modugno performed the new arrangement with three of his own musicians as opposed to the orchestra, which went over the three-minute time limit. Following his rehearsal Modugno was confronted by the show's producers about exceeding the time limit and was asked to use the original arrangement with the orchestra. Modugno was so dissatisfied with the orchestra that he threatened to withdraw from the contest. Both the producers and EBU scrutineer Clifford Brown felt it was too short notice to flyGigliola Cinquetti to Luxembourg to represent Italy, so the EBU gave in and allowed Modugno to use his own ensemble instead of the orchestra. Despite websites and the official programme listingAngelo Giacomazzi as the conductor, Giacomazzi actually played the piano for the entry.[8]
Udo Jürgens, 1966 winner, with his winner's medallion, presented by the previous year's winnerFrance Gall
The contest was held at 5 March 1966 at 22:00 (CET) and lasted 1 hour and 27 minutes.[14][15] The interval act was a performance by the FrenchDixieland jazz groupLes Haricots rouges [fr].[16][17] The prize for the winning artist and songwriters, a medallion engraved with theEurovision logo designed byHans Mettel [de], was presented by the previous year's winning artistFrance Gall.[16]
Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson, connected to the contest venue viatelephone lines and responsible for announcing, in English or French, the votes for their respective country.[19][20] Known spokespersons at the 1966 contest are listed below.
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.[30]
The contest was reportedly broadcast in 25 countries, including in the participating countries and Morocco; and in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union viaIntervision; with an estimated global audience of 500 million viewers.[8][31][32] Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
^Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson Européenne 1966 [Eurovision Song Contest Grand Prix 1966] (Television programme) (in French and English).Luxembourg City, Luxembourg:Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT). 5 March 1966.
^"Köszönöm, kedves" [Thank you, dear].Magyar Szó (in Hungarian).Novi Sad, Yugoslavia. 7 March 1966. p. 2. Retrieved8 December 2024 – viaVajdasági Magyar Digitális Adattár.
^abcL'Eurovision (in French).Institut national de l'audiovisuel (INA). 12 March 1966. Retrieved20 November 2024.Hans-Joachim Rauschenbach: Guten abend meine damen und herren in Deutschland, in Österreich und in der Schweiz. [Hans-Joachim Rauschenbach: Good evening ladies and gentlemen in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.]
^ab"Programmes radiophoniques" [Radio programmes].Radio TV – Je vois tout (in French). Vol. 44, no. 9. Lausanne, Switzerland. 3 March 1966. pp. 66–67, 69. Retrieved30 December 2022 – via Scriptorium.
^"A TV műsora | febr. 28–márc. 6" [The TV programme | 28 Feb.–6 Mar.].Rádió és Televízióújság (in Hungarian). Vol. 11, no. 9.Budapest, Hungary. 28 February 1966. pp. 22–24. Retrieved28 December 2022 – via Nemzeti Archívum.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2012).Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. One: The 1950s and 1960s.Prestatyn, United Kingdom:Telos Publishing.ISBN978-1-84583-065-6.
Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). "Errata".Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Vol. Two: The 1970s.Prestatyn, United Kingdom:Telos Publishing. pp. 368–372.ISBN978-1-84583-093-9.
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, Sweden: Premium Publishing.ISBN91-89136-29-2.
