AlthoughLuxembourg had won the1973 contest with the song "Tu te reconnaîtras" byAnne-Marie David, makingCompagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT) the presumptive host for 1974, the broadcaster opted not to organise the event as it had staged the contest in 1973, followingtheir win in1972. AsSpain had placed second the previous yearTelevisión Española (TVE) was approached, however the Spanish broadcaster also declined the opportunity to stage the contest. TheIsrael Broadcasting Authority (IBA), and the British broadcasters the BBC andITV, all subsequently made bids to stage the contest, with the BBC ultimately winning out. This was the fourth time that the BBC had staged the contest after another broadcaster declined the opportunity, having done so previously in1960,1963, and 1972.
Entries representing eighteen countries were submitted for the contest, withGreece making its first appearance. However,France ultimately did not participate as the contest coincided with the death ofFrench presidentGeorges Pompidou, and with a national day of mourning scheduled for the date of the contest the French broadcaster,Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF), deemed participating in the event to be inappropriate. The voting system used between1971 and 1973 was scrapped, and was replaced by the system last used in1970, with ten people in each country awarding one vote to their favourite song.
The winner wasSweden, with the song "Waterloo", composed byBenny Andersson andBjörn Ulvaeus, written byStig Anderson and performed byABBA.Italy and theNetherlands placed second and third respectively, followed by a three-way tie for fourth place between Luxembourg,Monaco and the United Kingdom. It was Sweden's first contest win. After previous success within European markets with "Ring Ring", with which ABBA had attempted to representSweden in 1973, "Waterloo" gave the group their first global hit, and their Eurovision win was a launching point for ABBA to become one of theworld's best-selling music artists.Olivia Newton-John, who represented the United Kingdom at this event, would also go on to achieve worldwide success in the years following the contest.
The Concert Hall of theDome, Brighton – host venue of the 1974 contest
The 1974 contest was held inBrighton, United Kingdom. It was the fifth time that the United Kingdom had hosted the contest, having previously done so in1960,1963,1968, and1972.[1] The selected venue was theDome, completed in 1805 and originally built for thePrince Regent as stables and a riding school for his personal use. Sold byQueen Victoria in 1850, the stables were converted into a concert hall and assembly rooms in 1867, and the riding school into a market for corn merchants in 1868.[2][3] The concert hall could normally seat up to 2,102 people, but for the contest some seating was removed for the commentator booths and technical equipment, leaving space for an audience of just over 1,000 people.[4][5]
Among the other venues considered to stage the event by the BBC were theRoyal Opera House andRoyal Albert Hall in London, the latter of which had previously staged the 1968 contest. Both venues proved to be unavailable however, with the broadcaster then looking outside of the capital for potential venues. The Dome was then ultimately selected, and this choice was announced publicly by the BBC and EBU in July 1973.[4]
The1973 contest was won byLuxembourg, represented byCompagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), with the song "Tu te reconnaîtras" performed byAnne-Marie David, which according to Eurovision tradition made CLT the presumptive host of the 1974 contest.[6][7] The broadcaster had staged the event on three previous occasions, in1962,1966, and 1973, each time inLuxembourg City.[8] As CLT had hosted the event the previous year, it declined the opportunity to stage the event for a second consecutive year due to the financial strain such an undertaking would entail.[2][4]Spain, which had come second in 1973, was also considered as a potential host for the event, howeverTelevisión Española (TVE) also turned down the opportunity to stage the 1974 contest; TVE had previously hosted the event in1969.[4][9]
TheEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU) originally asked theBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), as the participating broadcaster which came third the previous year, not to make an offer at this initial stage in order to determine if other participating broadcasters were willing to stage the event.[4] Of the four previous events held by the BBC three of these had been staged in place of the previous year's winning broadcaster, specifically the 1960, 1963, and 1972 events.[1][10] Two offers were subsequently made, from theIsrael Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and from the BBC's commercial rivalITV. Concerns were raised about the prospect of hosting the event in Israel; they had just joined the contest in 1973 and it was felt some countries would not be prepared to accept an Israeli-held contest.[4][11] Israel was also some distance geographically from the core of Western European nations which participated in the event at this time, and IBA still lagged behind many European broadcasters from a technological perspective. A successful ITV bid would have effectively barred the BBC from participating, as only one entry from a given country can participate in the event, resulting in the BBC submitting a counter-offer which the EBU accepted on 7 June 1973.[4]
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Eurovision Song Contest 1974 – Participation summaries by country
Broadcasters from a total of eighteen countries submitted entries to compete in this edition of the contest, comprising all seventeen countries which had participated in 1973, andGreece, which was making its first appearance in the contest.[2][4] Turkish broadcaster, theTurkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), had also expressed an interest in competing but it had been too late in submitting its request to the EBU and was subsequently informed that, as the scoreboard with space for eighteen countries had already been constructed, its planned entry would not have been possible.[4] Ultimately, however, only seventeen participating entries were performed at the contest, as French broadcaster,Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF), made the decision to withdraw from the event due to the death ofFrench presidentGeorges Pompidou on 2 April. With the state memorial service and anational day of mourning scheduled to be held on the same day as the contest, it was deemed by ORTF that competing in and broadcasting the contest would be inappropriate. France would have been represented by the song "La Vie à vingt-cinq ans", written by Christine Fontaine and to have been performed byDani, withJean-Claude Petit scheduled to conduct the orchestra during the performance.[2][12][13]
The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was produced by the BBC.Bill Cotton served as executive producer,Michael Hurll served as producer and director, John Burrowes served as designer, andRonnie Hazlehurst served as musical director, leading theBBC Concert Orchestra.[2][19] A separate musical director could be appointed by each participating broadcaster to lead the orchestra during their performance, with the host musical director also available toconduct for those which did not appoint their own conductor.[12] On behalf of the EBU, the event was overseen byClifford Brown asscrutineer.[19][20][21]
Each participating broadcaster submitted one song, which was required to be no longer than three minutes in duration.[6][22] As with the previous year's event, artists were able to perform in any language, and not necessarily that of the country they represented.[7][23] A maximum of six performers were allowed on stage during each country's performance. Each entry could utilise all or part of the live orchestra and could use instrumental-onlybacking tracks, however any backing tracks used could only include the sound of instruments featured on stage beingmimed by the performers.[6][24][25]
Rehearsals in the contest venue began on Tuesday 2 April, involving technical rehearsals with the production team, the orchestra, and tests of the voting system and scoreboard. This was followed by rehearsals with the competing acts over subsequent days. The first rehearsals for all countries were held over two days on 3 and 4 April, with each participating act having a 50-minute slot on stage to perform through their entry with the orchestra without their stage costumes. A second round of rehearsals, this time in costume, was held for all acts on 5 April, with each country given 20 minutes on stage, followed that evening by a complete run-through of the whole show, including dummy voting. Further technical rehearsals were held on the morning of 6 April, and a second fulldress rehearsal was held that afternoon; this rehearsal was also recorded for use as a back-up in case technical failure meant the contest could not go ahead as planned.[4][5]
Security in Brighton was tight in the lead-up to, and during, the contest, due to the threat of actions byIrish republican militants.[4][26] There was an increased police presence, and tanks could be seen in the streets of Brighton during the week of the contest.[4][27] The contest presenterKatie Boyle also recalled being ferried inbulletproof coaches between the hotel and the contest venue, each time taking a different route.[4]
Due in part to the closeness of the voting in the previous year's contest, a new voting system was planned to be introduced for this event, which incorporated elements from the two previous voting systems used in the contest: each participating broadcaster would assemble a jury comprising ten members, which would be based in their own country, with each member awarding between one and five votes for each song, with no abstentions allowed and without the option to vote for their own country's entry. This would have resulted in each country potentially awarding a maximum of 50 votes and a minimum of 10 votes to any other country's song; with eighteen planned participating countries, this would have meant that the highest possible score any country could have received was 850, and the lowest possible score was 170. In case of a tie between two or more countries for first place, these acts would have performed again and each country not involved in the tie would have had one vote each to determine the winner. A lottery element to the voting, in order to add greater suspense, was also devised: the order of the voting would have been determined on stage during the voting segment, with cards being drawn at random to decide the order in which countries would vote.[4]
During rehearsals however, it quickly became apparent to the organisers that they had misjudged how long it would take to conduct this new voting system, as well as mounting concerns that any issues with totalling the scores live could exacerbate the problems. Although a computerised system to calculate each country's total had been investigated, this was rejected for cost reasons. Ultimately the contest's executive producer Bill Cotton took the unilateral decision to abandon the proposed voting system and, given the jury structure of ten people had already been established and jury members had most likely already been recruited by the broadcasters, determined that the only alternative was to revert to the scoring system last used in1970: each of the ten jury members had one vote to award to their favourite song. The lottery aspect of the voting system was, however, retained, although due to timing and sound quality reasons this draw was held before the contest by the EBU's scrutineer Clifford Brown.[2][4][28]
The contest was held on 6 April 1974, beginning at 21:30 (BST) and lasting 1 hour and 49 minutes.[2][12] The contest was presented by the British television presenter and actressKatie Boyle, who had previously presented the contest in 1960, 1963 and 1968. Having hosted the contest four times, Boyle holds the record for most contest appearances as a presenter as of 2024[update].[2][31][32] Following the confirmation of the eighteen planned participating countries, the draw to determine the running order (R/O) of the contest was held on 5 December 1973; prior to its withdrawal, France was scheduled to perform in fourteenth position, between the entries fromIreland andGermany.[4][12]
Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson, connected to the contest venue viatelephone lines and responsible for announcing, in English or French, the votes for its respective country.[6][40] Known spokespersons at the 1974 contest are listed below.
Jury voting was used to determine the votes awarded by all countries.[38] The announcement of the results from each country was conducted in a predetermined order chosen at random, with the spokespersons announcing their country's votes in English or French in performance order.[4][33] 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.
Detailed voting results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1974[47][48]
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.[22]
In addition to the participating nations, which, with the exception of Italy, all broadcast the contest live on television, the contest was also reportedly aired, live or deferred, by broadcasters in Algeria, Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Japan, Jordan, Iceland, Morocco, Poland, South Korea, the Soviet Union and Tunisia. In addition to television coverage, participating broadcasters in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom were also reported to have relayed the contest via radio.[4] Although the script for the contest's opening remarks by Katie Boyle and the press suggested that around 500 million viewers were expected to watch and listen to the contest,[49] the EBU later put the actual estimated figure for the total audience at 231 million.[4]
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
The 1974 contest has retrospectively gained notability for a number of aspects, particularly due to the success of some of the competing acts, as well as political developments within Europe that have indirect links to this edition of the event. Two competing artists at this year's event, in particular, went on to sustained worldwide success after the contest: Sweden'sABBA and the United Kingdom'sOlivia Newton-John.
The individual members of ABBA had made previous attempts to reach Eurovision, participating in Sweden's national selection,Melodifestivalen, several times, both as a group and individually.Anni-Frid Lyngstad participated inMelodifestivalen 1969, placing fourth with the song "Härlig är vår jord", whileBenny Andersson competed in the same edition as a songwriter, placing second with the song "Hej clown" performed byJan Malmsjö. Andersson andBjörn Ulvaeus subsequently competed as a songwriting partnership in1972, penning theLena Andersson song "Säg det med en sång", which placed third. Following the formation of ABBA, the group (performing under the name "Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid") competed inMelodifestivalen 1973 with the song "Ring Ring", which ultimately placed third. While "Ring Ring" was popular within European markets, wider success for the group, particularly in English-speaking markets, proved elusive, and the group saw Eurovision as a launchpad for exposure among these markets, resulting in a further attempt to get to the contest in1974.[113][114] Although "Waterloo" had been written with Eurovision in mind, the group also considered submitting the song "Hasta Mañana" to Swedish broadcasterSveriges Radio (SR), as the latter song was felt to be more in-line with the songs that had done well in Eurovision in previous years. Ultimately, however, "Waterloo" was chosen, given it was more likely to be unlike other entries submitted, and therefore would stand out more; "Hasta Mañana" was also mainly sung only byAgnetha Fältskog, whereas with "Waterloo" all four members of the group could give their vocals to the song.[2][5][114]
Following the group's win, "Waterloo" went on to top the charts in multiple European countries, including theUK singles chart, as well as reaching the top ten in theBillboard Hot 100.[5][29] Long-term success for the group, however, did not materialise until the release of "SOS" in 1975, which allowed the group to shrug off a perception of being "one-hit wonders" and led to a string of hits through the rest of the 1970s and early 1980s, which catapulted the foursome to become one of thebest-selling music groups of all time.[114][115] ABBA's international success within the global music scene, starting from their Eurovision win, additionally led to a large growth in the accessibility ofSwedish pop music worldwide, with Sweden often considered asuperpower in the realm of music export and claims made by the 2000s of being the third-largest exporter of music globally, behind only the United States and the United Kingdom.[116][117]
Olivia Newton-John was in the early stages of her career when she was approached by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom at Eurovision; she had achieved previous success in the charts in both the UK and US, particularly withcountry pop songs, and had been a frequent guest on theIt's Cliff Richard show, fronted by two-time Eurovision entrant for the United KingdomCliff Richard.[29][118] Newton-John had performed six songs atthat year'sA Song for Europe contest, with "Long Live Love" being chosen by the viewing public through postcard voting; although it was considered a favourite to win the contest, she later told the press after placing fourth that she felt the wrong song had been chosen and that she would have preferred to have performed a ballad.[5][12][118] Newton-John subsequently achieved considerable success in the United States and global recognition after starring in the musical filmsGrease (1978) andXanadu (1980).[119][120]
The Italian broadcaster,Radiotelevisione italiana (RAI), did not air the contest for two months due to the content of its own entry. The contest coincided with the campaigning period for areferendum on abolishing divorce within the country, which was held a month after the contest, and there were fears that theItalian entry, "Sì" ("Yes") byGigliola Cinquetti, could have been seen as an attempt to sway the result of the vote.[4][124] The contest was, however, available to watch in parts ofnorthern Italy where transmissions of Swiss and Yugoslav Italian-language television were accessible.[125][126] The contest was eventually broadcast on RAI on 6 June 1974, a month after the referendum.[60][127]
"Waterloo" was subsequently nominated in 2005 to compete inCongratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, a special broadcast to determine the contest's most popular entry of its first 50 years as part of the contest's anniversary celebrations. One of 14 entries chosen to compete, "Waterloo" was ultimately declared the winner of the competition over two rounds of jury and public voting.[128][129][130]
^Delayed shortened broadcast on 9 April 1974 at 20:30 (CET), lasting one hour and ten minutes and featuring only the participating entries, with no postcards, voting sequence or winner's reprise, followed by the announcement of the winner byPierre Tchernia and a pre-recorded presentation of the planned French entry, "La Vie à vingt-cinq ans" byDani.[102][13]
^Delayed broadcast on 25 May 1974 at 21:45 (CET)[103]
^ab"The Rules of the Contest". European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 31 October 2018.Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved24 October 2023.
^"Programas de Radio" [Radio Programmes].Línea [es] (in Spanish).Murcia, Spain. 6 April 1974. p. 22. Retrieved3 October 2024 – via Archivo Municipal de Murcia.
^"Radio y Television" [Radio and Television].Libertad [es] (in Spanish).Valladolid, Spain. 6 April 1974. p. 4. Retrieved3 December 2024 – via Virtual Library of Historical Newspapers.
^"TV Avstrija" [TV Austria].Naš tednik (in Slovenian).Klagenfurt, Austria. 28 March 1974. p. 8. Retrieved2 January 2024 – via Digital Library of Slovenia.
^ab"Szombat – május 25" [Saturday – 25 May].Rádió– és Televízióújság (in Hungarian). Vol. 19, no. 20.Budapest, Hungary. 20 May 1974. p. 20. Retrieved15 February 2025 – 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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