| Eurovision Song Contest 1977 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date and venue | |
| Final |
|
| Venue | Wembley Conference Centre London, United Kingdom |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | European Broadcasting Union (EBU) |
| Scrutineer | Clifford Brown |
| Production | |
| Host broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| Director | Stewart Morris |
| Executive producer | Bill Cotton |
| Musical director | Ronnie Hazlehurst |
| Presenter | Angela Rippon |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 18 |
| Returning countries |  Sweden |
| Non-returning countries |  Yugoslavia |
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs |
| Winning song |  France"L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" |
| 1976 ← Eurovision Song Contest →1978 Event page at eurovision.tv  | |
TheEurovision Song Contest 1977 was the 22nd edition of theEurovision Song Contest, held on 7 May 1977 at theWembley Conference Centre inLondon, United Kingdom, and presented byAngela Rippon. It was organised by theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who staged the event after winning the1976 contest for theUnited Kingdom with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" byBrotherhood of Man. It was the first time the event took place in the month of May since the first contest in1956.[1][2]
Broadcasters from eighteen countries participated in the contest;Sweden returned after its absence from the previous edition, whileYugoslavia decided not to enter.
The winner wasFrance with the song "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant", performed byMarie Myriam, written by Joe Gracy, and composed by Jean-Paul Cara. TheUnited Kingdom,Ireland,Monaco andGreece rounded out the top five. Greece's fifth place finish was their best result up to that point. France' fifth win was also a record at the time, and one that France held onto for six years, until being equalled by Luxembourg in1983.
TheBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) staged the contest at theWembley Conference Centre. The venue was the first purpose-built conference centre in the United Kingdom, and opened on 31 January 1977—making it a newly built venue at the time. It was demolished in 2006.
At the night of the contest, 2,000 spectators were present in the audience.[3]
Glasgow was the first bidder for hosting the contest, with the venues either theKelvin Hall or theKing's Theatre.[4]
 | This section contains numerous links to pages onforeign language Wikipedias. They are shown asred links with the language codes in [small blue letters] in brackets. Click on the language code to see the page in that language. |
| Eurovision Song Contest 1977 – Participation summaries by country | |
|---|---|
Tunisia was set to participate in the contest and had been drawn to participate in fourth place, but later withdrew.[1]Yugoslavia decided not to enter and would not return to the contest until 1981 due to bad results in the years prior,[5] while Sweden returned to the competition, having missed out the year before.[6] This made for eighteen participating nations.
Several of the performing artists had previously competed as lead artists representing the same country in past editions: Beatrix Neundlinger and Günter Grosslercher as part of Schmetterlinge had representedAustria in 1972 as part ofMilestones;Ilanit had representedIsrael in 1973;The Swarbriggs had representedIreland in 1975; andFernando Tordo andPaulo de Carvalho as part ofOs Amigos [pt] had representedPortugal in 1973 andin 1974 respectively. In addition, Patricia Maessen, Bianca Maessen, andStella Maessen as part ofDream Express [de] representing Belgium, had represented theNetherlands in 1970 asHearts of Soul; andMichèle Torr representing Monaco, had representedLuxembourg in 1966.
The language rule was brought back in this contest, four years after it had been dropped in1973. HoweverGermany andBelgium were allowed to sing in English, because they had already chosen the songs they were going to perform before the rule was reintroduced.
The contest was originally planned to be held on 2 April 1977, but because of a strike of the BBCcameramen and itstechnicians, it got postponed for a month. The BBC considered moving the contest to theTelevision Centre, where people who work for the outside broadcast are not involved. However, it would require a guarantee by theAssociation of Broadcasting and Allied Staffs, which didn't come to fruition.[10] 3 countries offered to stage the contest, including the Netherlands, which hostedlast year's contest.[11][12] This was the first Eurovision Song Contest to be staged in May since the inaugural edition.[1]
Due to strikes by the BBC camera staff, and lack of time to organise the contest, there were no postcards for the viewers in between the songs. However, various shots of the contest's audience were shown, with the various countries' commentators informing the viewers of the upcoming songs. The intended postcards had been devised using footage of the artists in London during a party hosted by the BBC at a London nightclub. When the postcards were seen for the first time by the participant heads of delegation at the Friday dress rehearsal the day before the final, the Norwegian delegation objected to the way their artist was portrayed. However, as it was not possible for the BBC to edit or revise footage, all the postcards had to be dropped from the broadcast. Footage from the party still formed the interval act broadcast prior to the voting sequence.[13]
The following tables reflect the final official scores, verified after the contest transmission. During the voting sequence of the live show, several errors were made in the announcement of the scores, which were then adjusted after the broadcast. Both Greece and France duplicated scores, awarding the same points to multiple countries. From the Greek scores, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Austria, and Finland all had 1 point deducted after the contest and from the French scores, Austria, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Belgium all had 1 point deducted. None of the adjustments affected the placing of any of the songs.
| R/O | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ireland | The Swarbriggs Plus Two | "It's Nice to Be in Love Again" | 119 | 3 |
| 2 |  Monaco | Michèle Torr | "Une petite française" | 96 | 4 |
| 3 |  Netherlands | Heddy Lester | "De mallemolen" | 35 | 12 |
| 4 |  Austria | Schmetterlinge | "Boom Boom Boomerang" | 11 | 17 |
| 5 |  Norway | Anita Skorgan | "Casanova" | 18 | 14 |
| 6 |  Germany | Silver Convention | "Telegram" | 55 | 8 |
| 7 |  Luxembourg | Anne-Marie B | "Frère Jacques" | 17 | 16 |
| 8 |  Portugal | Os Amigos | "Portugal no coração" | 18 | 14 |
| 9 |  United Kingdom | Lynsey de Paul andMike Moran | "Rock Bottom" | 121 | 2 |
| 10 |  Greece | Pascalis, Marianna,Robert andBessy | "Mathema solfege" | 92 | 5 |
| 11 |  Israel | Ilanit | "Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim" | 49 | 11 |
| 12 |  Switzerland | Pepe Lienhard Band | "Swiss Lady" | 71 | 6 |
| 13 | Sweden | Forbes | "Beatles" | 2 | 18 |
| 14 |  Spain | Micky | "Enséñame a cantar" | 52 | 9 |
| 15 |  Italy | Mia Martini | "Libera" | 33 | 13 |
| 16 |  Finland | Monica Aspelund | "Lapponia" | 50 | 10 |
| 17 |  Belgium | Dream Express | "A Million in One, Two, Three" | 69 | 7 |
| 18 | France | Marie Myriam | "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" | 136 | 1 |
Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for its respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1977 contest are listed below.
Finland – Kaarina Pönniö[15] Ireland – Brendan Balfe[16] Netherlands – Ralph Inbar[17]
Spain – Isabel Tenaille [es][18] Sweden – Sven Lindahl[19] United Kingdom – Colin Berry[8]Total score | Ireland | Monaco | Netherlands | Austria | Norway | Germany | Luxembourg | Portugal | United Kingdom | Greece | Israel | Switzerland | Sweden | Spain | Italy | Finland | Belgium | France | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Contestants | Ireland | 119 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 10 | ||
| Monaco | 96 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | |||
| Netherlands | 35 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 8 | ||||||||||
| Austria | 11 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Norway | 18 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | |||||||||||||
| Germany | 55 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | ||||||
| Luxembourg | 17 | 2 | 7 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 18 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | |||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 121 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 12 | |||||
| Greece | 92 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 | |||
| Israel | 49 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||
| Switzerland | 71 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 8 | ||||||||
| Sweden | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spain | 52 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |||||||||
| Italy | 33 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | |||||||||||
| Finland | 50 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Belgium | 69 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||
| France | 136 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 4 | ||
Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:
| N. | Contestant | Nation(s) giving 12 points |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | United Kingdom | Austria, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal |
| 4 | Ireland | Israel, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom |
| 3 | France | Finland, Germany, Switzerland |
| 2 | Monaco | Greece, Italy |
| 1 | Belgium | Netherlands |
| Finland | Ireland | |
| Greece | Spain |
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.[22]
In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Algeria, Denmark, Iceland, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yugoslavia; in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union viaIntervision; in Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa, and the countries in South America.[8][23][24] At least 36 television organizations were reported to broadcast the final.[25] Estimates for the global viewership ranged from 250 to 500 million viewers.[25][26]
Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | ORF | FS1 | Ernst Grissemann | [27][28] |
| Belgium | BRT | TV1 | Luc Appermont | [29][30] |
| BRT 1 | [29] | |||
| RTB | RTB1 | |||
| Finland | YLE | TV1 | [31] | |
| Rinnakkaisohjelma [fi] | Matti Paalosmaa [fi] | |||
| France | TF1 | Georges de Caunes | [32][33] | |
| Germany | ARD | Deutsches Fernsehen | Werner Veigel | [34][35] |
| Greece | ERT | ERT | [36] | |
| Ireland | RTÉ | RTÉ | Mike Murphy | [37][38] |
| RTÉ Radio | Liam Devally | [38][39] | ||
| Israel | IBA | Israeli Television | [40] | |
| Italy | RAI | Rete Uno[b] | Silvio Noto | [41] |
| Luxembourg | CLT | RTL Télé-Luxembourg | [42] | |
| Netherlands | NOS | Nederland 2 | Ati Dijckmeester [nl] | [30] |
| Hilversum 3 | [29] | |||
| Norway | NRK | NRK Fjernsynet | John Andreassen | [43] |
| NRK[c] | Erik Heyerdahl [no] | |||
| Portugal | RTP | I Programa | [44] | |
 Spain | TVE | TVE 1 | Miguel de los Santos [es] | [45][46] |
| Sweden | SR | TV1 | Ulf Elfving | [47] |
| SR P3 | Ursula Richter [sv] andÅke Strömmer | [48] | ||
| Switzerland | SRG SSR | TV DRS | Theodor Haller [de;fr] | [49] |
| TSR | Georges Hardy [fr] | [33] | ||
| TSI | [50] | |||
| RSR 2 | Robert Burnier | [51] | ||
| RSI 2 | [52] | |||
| United Kingdom | BBC | BBC1 | Pete Murray | [53] |
| BBC Radio 2[d] | Terry Wogan | [60] | ||
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Canada | CBC | CBC-FM[e] | Mieke Hollenbach | [61] |
 Cyprus | CyBC | RIK | [62] | |
 Czechoslovakia | ČST | II. program [cs][f] | [63] | |
 Denmark | DR | DR TV | Claus Toksvig | [64] |
| Greenland | Nuuk TV[g] | [65] | ||
 Hong Kong | TVB | TVB Pearl[h] | [66] | |
| RTV | RTV-2[i] | |||
 Hungary | MTV | MTV2[j] | [67] | |
 Iceland | RÚV | Sjónvarpið[k] | [68] | |
 Netherlands Antilles | ATM | TeleAruba[l] | [69] | |
| TeleCuraçao[m] | [70] | |||
 Poland | TP | TP1[n] | [71] | |
 Romania | TVR | Programul 1[o] | [72] | |
 Turkey | TRT | TRT Televizyon | Bülend Özveren | [73] |
| Ümit Tunçağ | ||||
| Yugoslavia | JRT | TV Beograd 1 | [74] | |
| TV Koper-Capodistria | [75] | |||
| TV Ljubljana 1[p] | ||||
| TV Zagreb 1 | [76] | |||
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| Countries |
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| National selections |
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| Related topics |
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