Eurovision Song Contest 1970

Infobox Eurovision
name = Eurovision Song Contest 1970


final = 21 March 1970
presenters = Willy Dobbe
conductor = Dolf van der Linden
director =
host = flagicon|Netherlands NOS
venue = Rai Congrescentrum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
winner = flag|Ireland
"All Kinds of Everything"
vote = Each country had 10 jury members who each awarded 1 point to their favourite song.
entries = 12
debut = None
return = None
withdraw = flag|Finland
flag|Norway
flag|Portugal
flag|Sweden
null = flag|Luxembourg
interval = The Don Lurio Dancers from Amsterdam
opening =
con = Eurovision Song Contest
pre = ◄1969
nex = 1971►

The Eurovision Song Contest 1970 was the 15th Eurovision Song Contest, held on March 21, 1970 at the Rai Congrescentrum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The Amsterdam contest is regarded as one of the most significant in Eurovision history for a number of reasons.

Due to the four-way tie in 1969, lots were drawn to choose which country would host this Eurovision. Austria (who had not taken part in 1969), Finland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden boycotted this contest as they were not pleased with the result of 1969 and the voting structure. [O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3] .

The Dutch producers were forced to pad out the show as only 12 nations decided to make the trip to Amsterdam. The result was a format which has endured almost to the present day. An extended opening sequence set the scene, while every entry was introduced by a short video 'postcard'. [O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3] .

The set design was devised by Roland de Groot; a simple design was composed of a number of curved horizontal bars and silver baubles which could be moved in a variety of different ways.

Of the participating singers, a number were already established performers. Notably, the UK sent Mary Hopkin while David Alexandre Winter represented Luxembourg. The contest is also notable for the appearance of the then unknown Julio Iglesias, singing for Spain. Ireland won the contest with "All Kinds of Everything", penned by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith and sung by another unknown, Dana, an 18 year-old Derry schoolgirl. The song became a million-seller and the singer an international star. As the contest was held in the Netherlands this year, and the country was one of the four winners in 1969, Dana received her awards from joint winner Lenny Kuhr.

To avoid an incident like in 1969, a tie rule was created. It stated that, if two or more songs gained the same number of points, each song would have to be performed again. After that every jury except the juries of the countries concerned would have a show of hands of which they thought was the best. If the countries tied again, then they would share first place.

Ireland's win was their first. It is notable that 9 of the ten Belgian jury members awarded their votes to Ireland. The UK were second, 6 points behind Ireland. Luxembourg scored nul points for the first and only time.

Results

core sheet

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 85%"!colspan="2" rowspan="2"
!colspan="43"|Results
- Netherlands 0 3 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Switzerland 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 2 1 Italy 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 Yugoslavia 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 Belgium 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 France 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 United Kingdom 3 2 2 4 0 2 2 0 4 4 3 Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Spain 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 Monaco 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 Germany 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 4 1 2 Ireland 5 6 0 0 9 1 4 2 3 0 2 THE TABLE IS ORDERED BY APPEARANCE

Map

Interesting Facts

*Seconds before her winning performance, Dana said to herself: "Do not screw this up".
*Each performance was introduced by a video of the performers sightseeing around the capital cities of their home nations. During Dana's video, RTÉ commentator Valerie McGovern, who gave short speeches about the backgrounds of the rest of the performers, simply said, "And now, the moment we've all been waiting for. Dana, the little girl from Ireland, on whom all our hopes are pinned. What can I say about Dana? You know everything already. So let's just watch the film."
*"This is a very cheerful Dublin calling", said the juror for Ireland, the last country to vote and so knowing, before anyone else, who was going to win.
*Julio Iglesias' suit jacket had no pockets, and was purposely a vibrant blue colour, so it would stand out on a black and white TV set (as Spain did not yet have colour TV).
*Eurovision sites state that during the rehearsals, one of the marbles from the set came tumbling down. No one was hurt, and it was repaired before the final.
*Dolf Van Der Linden directed the orchestra for the Dutch entry as well as Ireland's entry.
*Despite not participating in 1970, Portugal still held its annual national song contest which was won by Sergio Borges with the song Onde vais rio que eu canto.

References