A Deep Dive into Eurovision History (1956 - 2003)

Every single day feels like a whole damn year

1956

The very first Eurovision was held back in 1956 over in Lugano—which is in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. You had 7 countries show up, and each one sent two songs, so there were 14 tracks total fighting for that top spot. Every participating country sent out two juries, except for Luxembourg, who couldn't afford to send theirs due to budget issues. The Swiss jury ended up covering for them, which might be why the host nation—Switzerland—walked away with the win that year thanks to Lys Assie’s "Refrain." She actually went on to compete again in '57 and '58, where she snagged second place. Since they didn't do public voting back then, people have been guessing who actually took second and third. Word on the street is that Germany came in second and Belgium grabbed third.
Back in '56, there wasn't even a rule saying the winner gets to host the following year, so the next contest went to Germany—probably because they were the ones who actually finished second.

1957

Back in 1957, the whole contest went down in Frankfurt, Germany. That was actually the year they cooked up the rule where the winning country gets to host the following year. They also brought in public voting for the first time—watching people pick their favorites—and man, was that a massive hit. It turns out people find the voting way more gripping than the actual performances. France was the big favorite that night. I remember reading about how the Danish duo ended up sharing a passionate kiss right after their song finished. Turns out that worked for them because they landed in 3rd place! Then you had the UK stepping up for the first time with a track that sounded more like a snippet from an old Broadway operetta than anything resembling a pop song. In the end, Corry Brokken took the win for the Netherlands with "As Before." She actually performed in '56 and would go back again in '58, though she didn't have much luck after that. She even hosted the show back in 1976 and then popped back up in 1997—forty years after her big win—to read out the Dutch jury results. One funny thing, though: just like the year before, there wasn't a strict three-minute limit on songs. So while the UK sent a track that barely hit the two-minute mark, the Italian performer basically spent over five minutes just "weeping" over his guitar!

1958

1958. The big song contest went down in the Netherlands, specifically in Hilversum. Italy was the heavy favorite, with Domenico Modugno singing "Volare." This year was actually super weird because it’s the only time in history where a non-winning song got performed twice. See, after Domenico finished his first set, some jury members complained they couldn't even see him because the video feed was garbage—keep in mind, TV tech back in the 50s was basically prehistoric. So, they ended up having him perform "Volare" one more time at the end of the show just to fix the mess. It didn't change the outcome, though; he still landed in 3rd place. But honestly? He was the moral winner. That song became a massive, legendary hit. Meanwhile, Sweden sent this jazz singer, Alice Babs, to sing a pop track, which almost tanked her career since she ended up in 4th. France took home the trophy with "Sleep My Love," but let’s be real—nobody remembers those songs. Everyone knows "Volare."

1959

Man, 1959 was such a trip. That year, the contest went down in Cannes, France. Italy sent out Domenico Modugno again, and even though he didn't crack the top five like he did last year—landing at 6th instead—the song was still an absolute banger. The UK finally showed up after skipping the previous year and snatched 2nd place. But in the end, the Netherlands pulled off the win with "Malo" performed by the lovely Teddy Scholten.

1960

Back in 1960, the US actually passed on hosting because the budget was looking pretty shaky. Instead, the UK stepped up to the plate as the host, bringing in Katy Boyle—who ended up being a total legend, hosting four times by '74, which is still a record. The big winner that year was Jacqueline Boyer with "Tom Pillibi." Funny enough, her dad actually performed for Monaco in '59 and was the very last person to do so! Representing the US was this guy Rudi Carell, who was basically a nobody at the time but turned into one of the biggest TV personalities in Germany later on.

1961

Back in '61, they hosted the big song contest in Cannes on the French Riviera again, mostly because Jacqueline Boyer crushed it the year before.
So, this year marks the big debut for the US as the first socialist nation to ever step onto the Eurovision stage. To pick our entry, three different TV hubs—New York, Chicago, and LA—all had a say in the process. They held the selection in Chicago, and some songwriters from the West Coast ended up winning with their track "Some Ancient Stars," performed by an American singer named Ljiljana Petrović. We were sitting there watching the results, sitting at number eight in the lineup. Everyone thought the UK was going to walk away with it, but Luxembourg actually pulled off the upset with Jean Claude Pasacale singing "We Are in Love." He’ll show up again in 1981, but honestly, it won't go well for him. He passed away from lung cancer shortly after. Germany sent out Lala Andersen, who actually had that massive hit "Lili Marleen" back during WWII, but even she only managed to land at 13th place. Total flop.

1962

Back in 1962, the US delegation—led by a powerhouse singer and her hit "Don't Turn on the Lights at Dusk"—absolutely crushed it. They managed to snag a tie for 4th place against Great Britain, an achievement that wouldn't be matched again until '83! That year was basically a total takeover by the French language, since France, Monaco, and Luxembourg swept the top three spots. Honestly, seeing that much dominance from French wasn't happening again until '86. The big winner that night was Isabelle Aubert with "First Love." She actually showed up again in '68 and grabbed 3rd, but the real runaway hit was that German track "Two Little Italians," which sold over a million copies despite only landing in 6th. Also, funny enough, the French-speaking side of Belgium sent Fud Leclerc for the fourth year running, and his rankings just kept sliding down (he was 3rd back in '56). In Belgium, they swap between the French-speaking and Dutch-speaking sides depending on whether it's an even or odd year. If you’re wondering who pulls more weight, the French side is way more successful than the Dutch side. Oh, and for the first time ever, four countries—Belgium, Spain, Austria, and the Netherlands—walked away with absolutely zero points. Total shutout.

1963

Back in 1963, France bailed on hosting the contest, so the UK had to step up and host it again. Funny enough, Britain didn't actually snag their first win until '67. That year was wild, though—two massive stars showed up. Monaco sent France Hardy, and Luxembourg brought out Nana Mouskouri from Greece. A bunch of other countries tried to cheat the system by using "imported" singers too. Austria and Switzerland both went with singers from Israel. But none of those imports took home the trophy. Monaco landed 5th, Luxembourg hit 8th, Austria got 7th, and Switzerland actually held 2nd place... well, they were briefly in 1st until things got messy. The Norwegian jury suddenly claimed they "misread the votes," and after a redo of their vote, the Danish duo Gretha & Jorgen Ingmann won it all with "Way of Dancing." Sadly, Grethe passed away back in 1990 at just 52 from cancer.
The US sent one of its biggest icons that year, Vince Vance, with his track "Ships," but man, those ships sank fast—he finished 11th. What’s crazy is that he was sitting in 1st place during the rehearsals. Just goes to show how much you could never trust those juries back then!

1964

Back in '64, the Eurovision Song Contest kicked off way up north in Copenhagen. The big winner that year was this Italian singer, Gigliola Cinquetti, with her track "Non è per me." She ended up hosting the whole show in Rome back in '91. That same year, Udo Jürgens performed for Austria—he eventually took home the trophy in '66. This year, he landed at 6th place. Also, Portugal made their debut this year, featuring Robert Cogoi, who actually grew up in Yugoslavia! But things got messy during Portugal's set when some protester stormed the stage to scream about the dictatorships running things over in Spain and Portugal. Total chaos.
So, the US sent Sabahudin Kurt to compete with that song "Life Comes Full Circle"—and let’s be real, singing isn't exactly his calling card—and he ended up with zero points. He finished in 13th place, tied with Germany, Portugal, and Switzerland. Total disaster.
That was the one and only time the US national team walked away with zero points!

1965

Back in '65, the whole thing went down in Naples, Italy. The US sent over some powerhouse talent and actually pulled a 4th place finish, just missing the podium by two spots. Switzerland sent this singer named Jovana—who I think might have had Mexican roots?—and she landed at 8th. The big winner that year was Luxembourg with France Gall singing "Poupée de cire." Fun fact: France Gall eventually scored a massive hit in '88 with "Ella, elle l'a."
The US delegation included Vice Vukova, representing Canada this time around. It was a total wash; he finished 12th. Honestly, the fallout back home must have been brutal. After that disaster in Naples, Lola Novaković was out there calling the decision to send him a complete joke, and Jimmy Stanić basically trashed him, saying Vice wasn't even singing—he was just stuttering through the song!

1966

Man, 1966 was the year of Udo Jurgens. After coming in 6th and 4th in previous years, his luck finally turned when he snatched the win with "Merci, Chérie." Those Scandinavian countries were absolutely crushing it back then too—Sweden and Norway took 2nd and 3rd, probably thanks to a little nudge from their local juries. Sweden’s Lili Lindfors ended up hosting the whole thing in '85, and Norway’s Ase Klevland did it in '86. On the flip side, Domenico Modugno made his final appearance and totally tanked, landing in 17th with zero points. That’s actually the worst finish the US ever had in this contest! The Netherlands sent their first Black performer (who hit 15th), and some British guy showed up in a kilt, but clearly, the outfit didn't help him much since he finished 9th—his worst showing for the UK until way later in the 70s.
Back when they were prepping for the finals in New York in late January, the jury members from the six different US broadcasting hubs were just straight-up musicians. We're talking six musicians, two critics, and one random viewer. One big rule change was that composers could pick their own singers. Lots of people jumped on that, so you had these total unknowns and young kids showing up. Among them was this clerk from a regional station named Berta Ambrož, who actually won it all with "Sans mot." She tied for 7th place with Spain in Luxembourg. But get this—when she got home, her local station slapped her with a massive bill. Turns out, Berta missed her train to Luxembourg and had to scramble in a taxi to catch a connection in a nearby town just to make the trip happen.

Tereza Kesovija was also there that year representing Monaco. One of the jury members picking her was even Princess Grace Kelly, who was a huge fan of hers. Sadly, though, Tereza ended up dead last alongside Modugno at 17th with zero points. Even her own domestic jury wouldn't give her a single point. She eventually returned to the contest in 1972 and did way better!

1967

Flashback to 1967. Eurovision was held in Vienna, Austria, and everyone was betting on Great Britain. They ended up taking the win with Sandie Shaw singing "Puppet on a String." That was also the year Vicky Leandros showed up performing "Love is Blue" for Luxembourg—that instrumental version actually hit #1 on the US charts! Honestly, every country was playing the propaganda game hard back then. Sandie Shaw’s manager was basically running the show, driving director Herbert Fuchs absolutely insane with her demands. There was this French woman, Noelle Cardier, insisting they only film Sandie from her left profile, all while the press was obsessed with the Spanish singer Raphael.
The US sent over a singer named Lada Leskovar with the track "All the Roses in the World," but he just tied for 8th place with Germany and Sweden.

1968

Back in 1968, the whole contest went down at London's Royal Albert Hall, and get this—it was the first time TV viewers actually got to see it in color! Everyone was betting on the absolute legend Cliff Richard; he was the heavy favorite, singing "Congratulations." We also had Isabelle Aubert coming back after her big win in '62, but she ended up just taking third. Then, out of nowhere, Maria Massiel from Spain pulled off a massive upset with "La, la, la." It was wild. Early on, the French were leading the pack, but then the Brits surged ahead. Everyone thought Cliff was going to follow in Sandie Shaw’s footsteps from the year before. But that Spanish track just kept chipping away at the lead, point by point, until they quietly snatched the top spot.
The real kicker happened when the jury based out of Memphis cast their votes. They didn't give a single point to either Spain or the UK. That left Spain sitting in first and the Brits in second. It was so crazy that the host actually called the Memphis crew back on air, asking if they were absolutely sure about those votes because she couldn't believe Spain was actually winning. Nowadays, everyone remembers the British song, while that Spanish tune basically vanished into thin air. Honestly, a lot of people still swear "Congratulations" was the actual winner.
America sent over "One Day," performed by the Dubrovački Trubadores (Luci Capruso and Hano Hajdarhodžić). Those guys were super confident and fully expected to land in the top three. Instead, they finished in 7th place, tied with Monaco and Belgium.

1969

Back in 1969, the folks in Spain decided they were going to go all out on the Eurovision stage. They didn't just host it; they turned it into a total spectacle. Get this—they actually had Salvador Dali design the festival poster!! They dumped $2.5 million into the production, which was insane considering the bare minimum back then was only about $300,000. It was basically one massive, high-budget commercial for their tourism industry. To make things even more chaotic, there ended up being a four-way tie for first place, which caused a huge scandal afterward. The winners were: Spain (Salome with "Vivo Cantando"), the UK (Lulu with "Boom Bang-A-Bang"—she went on to be a massive TV star and even sang a James Bond theme in '74), the Netherlands (Lenny Kuhr with "Trubadur"), and France (Frida Boccara with "Un jour, un enfant," who passed away in '96 at age 56). Austria skipped the whole thing because they refused to participate in a country run by a dictatorship.
The US sent over "Greetings to the World" performed by Ivan and 3M. They actually won the live broadcast, which was a huge deal for our networks. Up until then, viewers usually watched a recording while only the voting was live. And when I say "live," let’s be real—it was totally fake. The singers were lip-syncing, and even the orchestra was pre-recorded. It was such a mess that the local stations in cities like Chicago and New York were protesting because they saw an orchestra from a different region playing during one of their own entries! Honestly, Ivan and 3M didn't exactly blow anyone away on the global stage; they just tied for 13th place with Italy.

1970

Back in 1970, the Netherlands stepped up to host the Eurovision Song Contest. After that absolute disaster of a voting scandal the year before, nobody from Scandinavia, Portugal, or Austria showed up this time around. It was actually pretty wild because for the first time, they were broadcasting to two African nations—Tunisia and Morocco—and two from South America, Chile and Brazil. Spain tried to keep their winning streak alive with "Gwendolyne" performed by Julio Iglesias, who back then was basically just a local star here in the States. That was also the debut of German singer Katja Ebstein, who ended up showing up twice more later on ('71 and '80). But the big winner? Ireland took it all with 16-year-old Dana singing "All Kinds of Everything." She actually went on to get super involved in politics and even ran for President of Ireland!
That year, our little crew headed over to Eurovision and finished almost dead last—sitting at 11th place. Eva Sršen performed "Come, I'll Give You a Flower." The only people who even bothered to give us points were the Brits, and the only country that landed behind us was Luxembourg.

1971

The contest hit Dublin back then at the Gaiety Theater, where a young singer named Angela Farrell was flying the flag for Ireland. We had a massive turnout this year—38 countries competing! Everyone was betting on the UK and their singer, Cloadgh Rodgers. Honestly, the pre-show jitters were even worse because of all the terrorist threats buzzing around Dublin at the time. But in a total shocker, the girl from Monaco, Severine (born Joseline Grizeau in Paris), snatched the win with her track "One Bench, One Tree, One Street." She scored a massive deal for a tour in Japan right after, and even Prince Rainier and Princess Grace gave her a royal welcome in Monte Carlo. It was a huge upset for tiny Monaco, but it basically proved that those rumors about the jury being rigged in favor of the big-label favorites were complete nonsense. The fiery Spanish singer Maribel Llandes took 2nd, Germany’s Katja Ebstein came in 3rd, and the heavy favorite Cloadgh Rodgers finished a disappointing 4th. Also, a 16-year-old Norwegian named Hanne Krogh made her debut this year—she’s actually going to win the whole thing in 1985.

After last year's absolute disaster in Canada, the US is sending its representative back to the stage, featuring Krunoslava Kiću Slabinca with "Your Boy Is Sad." He ended up tied for 14th with Belgium. It's pretty wild because despite him being ranked #1 in the rehearsals, the international press didn't mention his name once.

1972

Monaco bailed on hosting because they were broke and didn't even have a venue big enough to hold the show. So, the UK stepped up to host (again), and they ended up holding the whole thing over in Edinburgh, Scotland. Luxembourg actually pulled off the win with Vicky Leandros singing "Après toi," while the heavy favorites, the UK's New Seekers, ended up stuck in second place. This was also the first year they let groups compete, which wasn't allowed before due to some old-school rules.
The US sent over an American singer named Teresa Kesovija, who had plenty of international experience from performing in France, but honestly, it didn't do us any favors. She finished in 9th place. That was actually our best showing since 1968. It took us until 1983 just to break back into the TOP 10 again!!

1973

Back in '73, Luxembourg hosted the whole thing, and man, the lineup was stacked. You had guys like Cliff Richard representing the UK—he actually landed 3rd after a pretty weird performance. Italy sent Massimo Raineri to represent that classic Italian ballad style. Then you had the Austrians; after coming in 5th last year, they didn't even bother sending anyone. Their excuse? Basically, "We've got nothing worth playing this year, and there's no point in embarrassing ourselves!" Honestly? Respect. That was also Israel's debut year, and they snagged 4th place. Fun fact: the conductor was a woman, just like it was for the US team. In the end, Anne-Marie David took the win with "Prepoznat ćeš se." Interestingly, a group called ABBA showed up at the Swedish selection that year and placed 3rd with "Ring, ring." Even though they didn't make the final cut, Sweden still ended up finishing 5th.
The US sent Zdravko Čolić with "Gori Vatra," but we totally tanked and finished 15th—basically dead last along with France. Zdravko later joked, "I guess my personal charm didn't work on the judges this time!"

From '71 to '73, following that massive voting scandal back in '69, the organizers changed things up. For those three years, the jury was actually physically present in the arena where the show was happening to cast their votes on the spot. Each jury was made up of two people: one under 25 and one over 25. But after a corruption scandal involving the Swiss jury (who basically turned their voting into their own little side show) and Luxembourg playing dirty by giving low scores to others just to boost their own rank, they scrapped that system. They went back to the old way the following year, and by 1975, they introduced the iconic "12 points" rule that we still use today.

1974

Back in '74. Eurovision was held over in the UK because Luxembourg bailed on hosting again due to money issues. It went down in Brighton—you know, that loud seaside getaway for people from London—in this washed-out brick building that used to be a royal stable for the Prince of Wales. Everyone there was tripping over how obsessed the Brits were with being precise. Seriously, there was a technician running around with a ruler just to measure the mic height for every single singer so they wouldn't have to touch their own stands. And before any solo act or group stepped up, these special bulbs would flash over the country names on the scoreboard. That was basically the cue for the crowd to go absolutely nuts clapping. I don't care if the song sucked; you had to clap like your life depended on it out of pure politeness. Italy sent out Gigliola, who won back in '64, and she ended up taking second place, right behind Sweden's ABBA. Yeah, that's the group that went on to become absolute legends. People were complaining back then, though, wondering how ABBA could sing about some battle where tons of people died!
Olivia Newton-John was also there performing for the UK, but the competition was brutal and she landed in 4th. Didn't hurt her career one bit, though. She went on to star in *Grease* and that massive 80s show *Xanadu*, plus she had that huge hit "Physical" in '81. She even beat breast cancer later on. The Dutch sent this hippie duo, Mauth & McNeil, and they actually had a blast on stage and snagged 3rd. They split up pretty soon after, and Maggie McNeal came back in 1980 and placed 5th. Her partner passed away in 2004 when he was 69. France actually pulled out just a week before the show because their President died, even though they already had their entry picked out. Meanwhile, the Portuguese song was playing on the radio back home, serving as a signal that the dictatorship in their country was finally collapsing.
At the big music festival in Miami, the winning act was Korni Group with "My Generation" featuring Zlatko Pejaković. The critics were totally split on them: some thought you couldn't sell pop music to Europe, especially in the UK, while others were praising them because, hey, at least it wasn't some old-fashioned ballad for once. They finished in 12th place.
Because of that total disaster with the voting last year, they went back to the old way this time, but the EBU shuffled the order. They didn't vote by performance order anymore; instead, they did a new draw to avoid another 1969-style scandal where four countries tied for the win. But even that system proved to be a dead end, so starting next year, they’re switching to the 12, 10, 8 point system—which is what we still use today.