TheEurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition of theEurovision Song Contest, held on 25 March 1972 at theUsher Hall in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, and presented byMoira Shearer. It was organised by theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who staged the event afterTélé Monte-Carlo (TMC), which had won the1971 contest forMonaco, declined hosting responsibilities, citing the lack of a suitable venue, technical limitations, and related costs. As the Spanish and German broadcasters, which had placed second and third in 1971 respectively, also declined the offer to host, the BBC stepped in to stage the 1972 contest after no other offers were received. It was the first, and as of 2025[update] only, edition of the contest to take place inScotland. Broadcasters from a total of eighteen countries – the same line-up as had competed the previous year – participated.
The winner wasLuxembourg, represented by the song "Après toi", composed byKlaus Munro [de] andLeo Leandros under the pseudonym Mario Panas, written by Leandros andYves Dessca [fr], and performed byVicky Leandros. It was Luxembourg's third contest victory, following wins in1961 and1965. TheUnited Kingdom,Germany, theNetherlands andAustria rounded out the top five positions, with the UK achieving its eighth runner-up position and Germany placing third for the third year in succession.Portugal achieved its best result to date, with a seventh-place finish, whileMalta placed last for the second year in a row.
TheUsher Hall, Edinburgh – host venue of the 1972 contest
The 1972 contest was held inEdinburgh, United Kingdom. It was the fourth time that the contest was hosted in the UK, following the1960,1963, and1968 editions.[1] It was the first contest held in the UK to be staged outside of London, and the first, and as of 2025[update] only, contest to be held inScotland, as well as the only contest held in the UK to be staged outside ofEngland.[2][3][4] The selected venue was theUsher Hall, a concert hall opened in 1914 and named afterAndrew Usher, awhisky distiller who donated to the city specifically to fund a new concert venue.[5][6][7] Around 1,500 people were present in the audience during the contest.[7]
The1971 contest was won byMonaco, represented byTélé Monte-Carlo (TMC), with the song "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" performed bySéverine, which according to Eurovision tradition made TMC the presumptive host of the 1972 contest.[2][8] This was the first time that Monaco had won the contest and following its win the Monégasque broadcaster initially announced its intention to stage the event in 1972, which would have been the first time the contest was staged in the principality.[6][9] As Monaco had no suitable television studio or contest venue large enough to stage the event, TMC proposed hosting the contest at an outdoor location in June 1972;[10] an indoor venue was also reportedly already under construction, which TMC had hoped to get accelerated in time to host the contest.[6][7]
TheEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) held parallel discussions with other member broadcasters to determine other suitable options in other countries; those ofSpain andGermany, which had placed second and third in 1972, had let the EBU know that they would decline the offer to stage the event if asked, withTelevisión Española (TVE) having held the contest only two years prior in1969, andARD believing that hosting both the song contest and leading broadcast responsibilities for the upcomingOlympic Games in Munich would be too much for the broadcaster in one year.[6][7][11] The BBC had also suggested that France'sOffice de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF) could take on the contest, given the French had lost out on staging the1970 contest to the Netherlands following adraw between them and DutchNederlandse Televisie Stichting (NTS) following thefour-way tie for first place in 1969.[7][12] The EBU subsequently declared that the contest had to be held in either March or April, precluding TMC's outdoor option, and by July 1971 citing the lack of a suitable venue, as well as technical limitations at the broadcaster and the costs of staging the event, TMC declared they would be unable to stage the event.[7][10][11] At this stage no firm offers to stage the contest had been received by the EBU from other member broadcasters, leading to the organisation to "call loudly" for volunteers, and it looked quite possible that the contest could be cancelled if no offers were to materialise.[6][7][11] The BBC ultimately put in an offer to stage the event, with Edinburgh andBlackpool considered as potential host cities,[7] and on 20 September 1971 it was publicly announced byBill Cotton, the BBC's head of light entertainment, that the contest would be staged in the UK by the BBC if no other offers were received.[13][14] On 19 October the Usher Hall in Edinburgh was confirmed publicly as the contest venue, with 25 March solidified as the date of the event; in his announcement, Cotton expressed a desire for the first time to bring a UK-held contest outside of London, which had been the host city on all three occasions that the event had been held in the UK.[15][16]
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Eurovision Song Contest 1972 – Participation summaries by country
The voting sequence was conducted from the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle
The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was produced by theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).[2][24]Bill Cotton served as executive producer,Terry Hughes served as producer and director, Brian Tregidden served as designer, andMalcolm Lockyer served as musical director, leading the 44-pieceBBC Radio Orchestra.[2][7][25] A separate musical director could be nominated by each participating delegation to lead the orchestra during its country's performance, with the host musical director also available toconduct for those countries which did not nominate their own conductor.[20] On behalf of the EBU, the event was overseen byClifford Brown asscrutineer.[25][26][27] The contest was presented by the Scottishballet dancer and actorMoira Shearer.[2][7]
Each participating broadcaster submitted one song, which was required to be no longer than three minutes in duration and performed in the language, or one of the languages, of the country which it represented.[8][28] A maximum of six performers were allowed on stage during each country's performance.[8][29]
The voting system introduced at the previous year's contest returned: each participating broadcaster appointed two individuals – one aged between 16 and 25, the other between 26 and 55, and with at least 10 years between their ages – who awarded each song a score between one and five votes, except for the song from their own country. For this year's edition the jurors were kept in a separate location during the contest, and were based within the Great Hall ofEdinburgh Castle where they followed the contest on television. After each country had performed they were required to record their votes, so that they could not be altered later, and during the voting sequence were shown on screen, with the scores being announced by the jurors themselves in blocks of three countries.[6][30][31][32] The voting sequence was projected in black-and-white onto anEidophor screen in the Usher Hall for the benefit of the audience;[31][32] this screen was also used during the contest itself to introduce the artists and song titles, and was the first time thatvideo wall technology was introduced to the contest.[2][32]
Rehearsals in the contest venue began on 21 March with presenter Moira Shearer.[7] The competing delegations took part rehearsals beginning on 22 March, with each country having an initial 50-minute slot with the orchestra in casual dress.[6][7] Countries took to the stage in the order in which they would perform during the contest over two days, with the first eight rehearsing on 22 March and the remaining ten rehearsing on 23 March; the only exceptions were France and Belgium, who swapped their slots, with Belgium as the second country on stage on 22 March and France the third-last to rehearse on 23 March. A second round of rehearsals was held on 24 March, with each country getting a 20-minute slot, performing in their show outfits and taking to the stage in full performance order. At the same time the jurors were assembled in Edinburgh Castle for a run-through of the voting procedure and to conduct test voting sequences. In the evening of 24 March a full dress rehearsal of the contest was held, including a test voting sequence. Further technical checks and rehearsals with Shearer and the scoreboard were held on the morning of the final, followed by another full dress rehearsal in the afternoon before the live transmission that evening.[7]
The Greek-born singerVicky Leandros(pictured in 2018) became the third artist to win the contest forLuxembourg.
The contest was held on 25 March 1972, beginning at 21:30 (BST) and lasting 1 hour and 45 minutes.[2][20] Following the confirmation of the eighteen participating countries, the draw to determine the running order (R/O) of the contest was held on 1 December 1971 in London,[7] and announced by the BBC at the end of December 1971.[33][34]
Following an introduction pre-recorded video montage of various Edinburgh locations, Moira Shearer was played onto the stage by a fanfare composed by the contest's musical director Malcolm Lockyer; this same fanfare had previously been used in the opening title music of the filmDr. Who and the Daleks, for which Lockyer had provided the score.[20][32] The interval entertainment between the competing songs and the voting segment was a 4-minute segment with pre-recorded footage taken from the 1968Edinburgh Military Tattoo, featuring the massed pipes and drums of eightScottish regiments marching to "The Inverness Gathering".[2][20][32] The prize for the winning artist and songwriters was presented by the previous year's winning artistSéverine;[32][35] before the Monégasque entry a planned camera cut showed Séverine sitting in the audience, however this shot would become somewhat infamous after she was seen glancing down at her watch in apparent boredom.[6][20]
The winner wasLuxembourg represented by the song "Après toi", composed byKlaus Munro [de] andLeo Leandros under the pseudonym Mario Panas, with lyrics by Leandros andYves Dessca [fr], and performed by the Greek singerVicky Leandros.[19][36] It was Luxembourg's third contest victory, following wins in1961 and1965.[37] Dessca had also provided the lyrics to the previous year's winning song "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" for Monaco and thus became the first person to win back-to-back contests and to win for multiple countries.[2][38] Vicky Leandros had previously representedLuxembourg in 1967, where she had performed mononymously and placed fourth with the song "L'amour est bleu"; this song went on to become a massive global hit after the contest, particularly following the release of an instrumental version byPaul Mauriat released as "Love Is Blue" which topped the USBillboard Hot 100 in 1968.[19][39] TheUnited Kingdom finished in second place for a record-extending eighth time, whileGermany placed third for the third year in succession. Further down the scoreboardPortugal in seventh achieved its best-ever result up to that point, whileMalta finished in last place for the second year in a row.[31]
Two separate disturbances were reported to have occurred on the evening of the event. Before the contest began, a local headmaster began shouting towards the stage at a BBC producer who was welcoming the audience, complaining that local schoolchildren were unable to attend the event and that they would have appreciated it more than the largely invited audience members. Later on, during the Irish and Spanish songs, another man was seen scattering a substance among the audience close to the Irish delegation, which led to small explosions; this was reported to have been a protest against the commercialisation of themusic industry, and led to a partial evacuation of the venue by police and military for a short time.[3][40][41][42]
Jury voting was used to determine the votes awarded by all countries.[31] The announcement of the results from each country's two jury members was conducted in the order in which their nation performed; the jurors were shown on camera when presenting their scores, with each juror using small boards in front of their desks with numbers 1 to 5 which they flipped up to reveal their votes for the country being awarded. The results of three countries at a time were totalled and presented as one score, with all eighteen countries receiving their scores before moving on to the next three countries to award their scores: e.g. in the first round of voting the scores of the German, French and Irish juries were revealed together, which were announced as 14 votes for Germany, 10 votes for France, and so on until the Netherlands received the final scores from these three countries, with 20 votes; this was then followed by the votes from the Spanish, UK and Norwegian jurors, which awarded their scores starting again for Germany and ending with the Netherlands, with further countries voting in groups of three in the same manner.[31][32] The detailed breakdown of the votes awarded by each country is listed in the tables below, with voting countries listed in the order in which they presented their votes.
The below table summarises where the potential maximum of 10 votes were awarded from one country to another. The winning country is shown in bold. Luxembourg received the maximum score of 10 votes from two of the voting countries, and Austria, Portugal and the United Kingdom received one set of 10 votes each.[44][45]
Distribution of 10 votes awarded at the Eurovision Song Contest 1972[44][45]
Broadcasters competing in the event were required to relay the contest via its networks; non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest. 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.[29]
The 1972 contest was the first to be broadcast in Asia, with the contest reportedly bought for transmission by broadcasters in Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.[2] A global audience of 400 million was expected, and in addition to the participating countries and the previously mentioned Asian nations the contest was also reportedly broadcast by EBU member broadcasters in Iceland, Israel, Morocco and Tunisia, byOIRT member broadcasters in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania viaIntervision, and in Brazil, Chile and Zaire.[46][47][48] 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
^"Radio | sabato 25 marzo" [Radio | Saturday 25 March].Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 49, no. 12. Turin, Italy. 19–25 March 1972. pp. 74–75. Retrieved6 June 2024 – via Rai Teche.
^"Télé-Programmes".Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 24 March 1972. p. 17. Retrieved5 January 2023 – via National Library of Luxembourg.
^"Die Luxemburger Jury-Mitglieder" [The Luxembourg jury members].Luxemburger Wort (in German). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 25 March 1972. p. 28. Retrieved5 January 2023 – via National Library of Luxembourg.
^"Radio – samedi 25 mars" [Radio – Saturday 25 March].Radio TV – Je vois tout (in French). No. 12. Lausanne, Switzerland. 23 March 1972. pp. 62–63. Retrieved5 January 2023 – via Scriptorium.
^"Canal 6 hoje a cores" [Channel 6 today in color].Diario do Paraná [pt] (in Brazilian Portuguese).Curitiba,Paraná, Brazil. 25 March 1972. p. 3. Retrieved12 June 2024 – via National Library of Brazil.A transmissão a cores de hoje, pelo Canal 6, será direta de Edimburgo, na Escócia, gerada pela BBC d Londres. 18 países participam desta finalíssima do Festival da Eurovision. [...] Não perca hoje, ás 17h30m, esta iniciativa pioneira do Canal 6. [Today's color broadcast, on Channel 6, will be direct from Edinburgh, Scotland, generated by BBC London. 18 countries participate in this final of the Eurovision Festival. [...] Don't miss today, at 5:30 pm, this pioneering initiative by Channel 6.]
^ab"So 25/3" [Sat 25/3].Týdeník Československé televize (in Czech). No. 13.Prague, Czechoslovakia. 20 March 1972. p. 9. Retrieved13 March 2025 – viaArcanum Newspapers.
^ab"TV – szerda IV.5" [TV – Wednesday 5 April].Rádió- és Televízió-újság (in Hungarian). Vol. 17, no. 14.Budapest, Hungary. 3 April 1972. p. 7.Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved5 January 2023 – via Nemzeti Archívum.
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.
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