1/2 I wonder how close we came to having Greece and Turkey in the same Contest this year, but so close to the invasion of Cyprus and the political nature of Greece’s song ‘Panagia Mou’. Turkey did broadcast the final, but censored the Greek entry, playing a nationalist song ‘Memleketim’ - a symbol of the invasion. Austria make their return finally, having last competed in 1972. To my ears, it’s one of the worst songs there, but it was Austria’s first English only entry and they were rewarded with another 5th place (they finished 5th at their last appearance in Edinburgh). Austria would have a few words in English in 1977 and then switch back to German because of the rule changes until 1999. 1976 seems to be the year of contested spellings. Greece’s controversial song subject also reveals a couple of different spellings of ‘Panagia’…I think, based on the Greek, ‘Panagia’ is correct, although several places have it as ‘Panaghia’. Monaco’s singer…Christy or Cristy? Holland or The Netherlands? England, Great Britain or the United Kingdom? West Germany or Germany? Italy’s song is listed both with its Italian and English name. I ended up splitting the difference with Israel’s Chocolate Menta Mastik…comma or no commas!? I found this scoring sequence fascinating, particularly because it looked so close and you start to ignore the rest of the pack falling back quite sharply. ‘Save All Your Kisses’ ended up taking home 80.39% of the points available, just a behind 1973’s ‘Tu the reconnaîtras’ for Luxembourg that got 80.63%. As mentioned above, only Ireland, Italy and France gave the UK below 8 points. Needless to say, the UK scored in every round, together with France. France however, had six countries who gave them below 8 points, giving them an average 1 point per round deficit over the UK (8.65 v 9.65). Compare this to third place Monaco who scored 5.47 per round and only achieved 3 eight points, and 1 twelve. A top heavy race, but thrilling to watch which really only turned until the second half of the voting. Remarkably, and perhaps annoyingly for purists, the scoreboard only highlights the UK’s winning amount on a tie-break! Of course the count back doesn’t exist in Eurovision until the late 1980s, but it’s the UK’s dominance in the high value points that mean it can be declared the winner despite it being mathematically possible for a tie when Monaco give the UK 10 points. France go on to get the 12 of course, and the code knows that’s possible when the UK start flashing…however, even if France then get 12 from their remaining jury, Yugoslavia and France give the UK nothing AND Yugoslavia give the UK zero, both would be on 147 points but with the UK having an advantage in the count back. Thus we get a flashing Union Jack. Obviously that is immediately broken by France awarding the UK 7 points in the next round but that’s why the UK starts flashing when it does. I would have thought Italy’s entry is one of the most low energy and vocally ropey songs I’ve heard on a Eurovision stage. Of course Al Bano slightly forgetting the words wasn’t great and perhaps the pair thought very little of the Contest. You might be surprised to know, based on that performance, that they’ve sold 150 million copies of albums over the 6 decades they’ve been active. They do indeed return to Eurovision in 1985 (finishing 7th with ‘Magic Oh Magic’). Somehow this song made it to number 2 in France, but failed to chart elsewhere. Their breakthrough hit didn’t come until 1981 to be fair, after which they released a Spanish language album. In 1999 the couple separated, but they did reunited professionally, even appearing at San Remo 2015. Al Bano is about to be 79 years old in May 2022, with Romina turning 71 in October 2022.

2/2 Germany had had an eventful build up to the Contest, and as you can tell on stage, a chaotic performance in the final. ‘Ein Lied für Den Haag’ had selected ‘Der Star’ as the 1976 entry, but it was later found to have been performed in public before the national final and therefore was disqualified after the public had voted for it (the full final is here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/j8t3qbt1lqe7e2w.html ) The result was the ‘Les Humphries Singers’, a name I originally thought was French - but no…the group, which often had up to 20 members on stage, was formed by Croydon born Les Humphries, who had formed the group in Hamburg in 1969. They had had a couple of hits prior the ESC, including appearing in a German movie in 1974. Les is pictured here on ZDF Disko in 1972: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pbGidtCbl5i8haM.html The Song Contest rules reduced them to 6 on stage of course, and well, perhaps the lack of Gospel realness on stage robbed ‘Sing Sang Song’ of greatness…or perhaps not. This was songwriter and producer Ralph Siegel’s second entry at the Eurovision final, after ‘Bye Bye I Love You’ (Ireen Sheer for Luxembourg in Brighton 1974). Of course, together with Bernd Meinunger, they’d write plenty of Eurovision songs and have a particularly successful period in the early 1980s, taking two second places and the trophy itself in 1982. Ralph would also be responsible for all the fun Valentina Monetta San Marino entries between 2012’s ‘Social Network Song’ and 2017’s ‘Spirit of the Night’. Only ‘Maybe’ got through to the final in Copenhagen 2014, finishing 24th. I’m always thankful that Terry Wogan became the UK’s regular commentator, but I do think Michael Aspel might have been great had he stuck around. He’s got the right mix of information and wit, with a little boyish/English country gentleman charm that takes a Wogan-like side swipe at things. His mention of the bouzouki, and the ‘small nudist’ was great, as well as the comment about ‘a man’s shame’. Aspel is a man that if you were born in the 1980s like me, was always on programmes for old people, namely ‘Antiques Roadshow’ and ‘This Is Your Life’, but he actually had a very mixed career. Starting in BBC Wales acting in children’s show, he quickly became on the BBC’s main newsreaders. Counter to this ‘straight’ career, he also presented ‘Come Dancing’ (the amateur version of Strictly), anarchic children’s sketch show ‘Crackerjack’ and also the Miss World contest, which he covered 14 times. He appeared in The Morecambe & Wise show doing a dance routine, just like fellow newsreader and 1977 host, Angela Rippon. He was a presenter who could also turn his hands to documentaries, doing some on radio about the then compulsory British National Service. He narrated the Oscar winning ‘The War Game’ documentary about a nuclear attack on the UK in 1966 - it was not shown on British television until 1966. Brotherhood of Man: Please don’t tell me that they look 24 and 25 years old in their postcard!? I’ve already mentioned their previous chart success. ‘United We Stand’ became a top 20 hit in the UK, US, Australia and Canada in January 1970. After Eurovision, Pye Records decided against releasing the soulful music from the groups up coming album but instead sticking with pop. ‘My Sweet Rosaline’ was a carbon copy song with the lyrical twist that the song was about a dog, rather than a child - it failed to chart highly. In 1977 a more female led ‘Oh Boy (The Mood I’m In) lead to more success. By 1979 three singles released in the first 6 months of the year all failed to chart. In 1980, the group produced a cover album (the result of a deal) that covered some top-20 hits from previous years. This was met with middling success, but performed much better than anything in the 1977-9 period. In 1982, one of the male members (Lee Sheridan) left the group and Barry Upton would join. Barry would go on to write many hits for 1993 Eurovision entrant Sonia, and then Steps. In 1983 three members of the group wrote ‘When the Kissing Stops’ and entered it into A Song For Europe. The group decided not to perform it themselves: "We all agreed it would be better to be remembered as winners, and we couldn't bear to lose!”. The band reformed in 1990s largely performing on the cabaret circuit, including teaming up with Bucks Fizz. In 2006 they appeared at the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark. Plenty going on in 1976: In January, the first commercial Concorde flight between London and Bahrain and Paris to Rio. In March, Harold Wilson suddenly resigns as Prime Minister of the UK. He had claimed to intimate friends that he was exhausted by the job (he had served from 1964-70, and then again from 1974. By this time, Wilson was drinking brandy during the day to deal with the stress, and doctors would detect problems that would lead to a colon cancer diagnosis and perhaps Wilson himself was aware of the symptoms of early onset dementia that were troubling his usually exemplary memory. A few weeks later, Star Wars would start filming in Tunisia. On April 1st a little known two Steves, Jobs & Wozniak form ‘Apple Computer Company’., releasing the ‘Apple 1’ days later. Two days after Eurovision on April 3rd, Jim Callaghan succeeds Harold Wilson. If you’re ever asked about Labour Party leaders called James, remember James Callaghan is not one of the 4 answers as Callaghan’s first name is Leonard. In the summer, as Wilson had resigned, when the G6 nations met, the German Chancellor and US President Gerald Ford decided they needed another experienced English speaker in the group, so they invited long time Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Trudeau…the G7 was born. Portugal enact a new constitution on their road to democracy. In June the long running dispute between Iceland and the UK over fishing rights ends. At the end of June Palestinians hijack an Air France plane with 246 passengers and 12 crew and fly it to Entebbe, Uganda. Days later, Israeli operatives free 103 of the hostages. On July 2nd, North and South Vietnam reunite. The UK suffers a heat wave, with associated water shortages. An explosion in Seveso Italy causes pollution over large parts of Milan. Also in July, the Montreal Olympics are held and the USA celebrates it’s 200th birthday. Delegates attending an American Legion convention at The Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia begin falling ill with a form of pneumonia: this will eventually be recognised as the first outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and will end in the deaths of 29 attendees. Ebola is identified in Zaire in August. In September, Mao Zedong dies of a heart attack, aged 82. The Muppet Show is broadcast for the first time on ITV- two pilot shows produced by Jim Henson had failed to be picked up by American broadcaster ABC, meanwhile UK producer Lew Grade agreed to co-produce the programme in the UK. Henson was aware he was being typecast as a children’s entertainer by being in Sesame Street. By Christmas 1976, the Muppet Show series in the UK saw around 14 million viewers tuning in on Sunday evenings. In January 1977, over 100 countries had either acquired the series or were making offers, which had resulted in over £6 million in overseas sales. In October, during the Presidential race between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, Ford stumbles when he declares that "there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. October 18th, Ford begin producing its ‘Fiesta’ car at its Valencia plant. October 22nd: Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, the 5th President of Ireland, resigns after being publicly insulted by the Minister for Defense. November 2nd: Carter beats incumbent Gerald Ford, becoming the first candidate from the Deep South to win the US Presidency since the Civil War. November 26th, ‘Microsoft’ is registered in New Mexico. In December, Denis Healey announces to the British Parliament that he has successfully negotiated a £2.3bn loan from the International Monetary Fund - often seen as the one of the lowest points of the UK’s post-war period.

When will be ready the scoreboard of 1977?

Interesting info. Thanks.

Ha ha yea I liked his enthusiasm! 'it really is a knock-out!' Thanks for your comment :-)

I'm Norwegian too

Do u have a link

He was very taken with it, wasn’t he?

Thank you - I guess I'd better start adding the odds information back in! Completely forgot about that on this one!

@@thereorderboard I’d have sent these to you earlier but I only just paid for access to the Irish newspaper archive two days ago! I’ll have a look and see if I can find odds for the last three contests of the 1970s and I’ll send them on.

@@mrjdsworld80 Oh dont' worry - these videos can't be an ultimate arbiter of Eurovision history, we're still learning! Thanks for providing it, it still adds to the story!

I just saw the Norwegian 1976 pre selection again. A bit strange that mata Hari did not score better, what could be the reason when it had good odds? mata Hari was the first winner in Norway in many years that the criticts showed a little enthusiasm. Tha last place is somehow a sad record for the team: Composer Frode Thinhnæs, (then married to Anne-Karine Strøm, lyricist Philip A, Kruse and Anne-Karine are, as fare as i know, the onlye team that has lost the ESC twice. One can imagine why Anne Karine is a style icon amongst ESC fans. But it would have been more interesting to se how the act Voodoo, that became second in the pre selection, would have been received in Europe.

He did say "the only outright win" tho :)

2/2 www.andtheconductoris.eu/ Jan Stulen - NED Quite unexpectedly, Jan Stulen received the invitation to be the chief conductor of the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest in The Hague. Stulen had not been involved at all in the Dutch preliminary contest, in which Hans van Hemert’s composition ‘The party is over’, interpreted by Sandra Reemer, was chosen as the Netherlands’ representative for the international festival. What was more, the then thirty-four year old maestro had never conducted the Metropole Orchestra before in his life and seemed a tabula rasa in the world of light entertainment music. Stulen: “It is fair to say that my musical upbringing was entirely classical. Jan Stulen: “It was Dolf van der Linden himself who wanted me to take over for this commission of musical director of the Eurovision Song Contest! Frankly speaking, Dolf admitted he was fed up with the festival. The year before, he had had a conflict with Vicky Leandros, who, in the rehearsals for some television show, had arrogantly tried to explain him how she wanted him to conduct the orchestra for her. He felt genuinely insulted, for who was Vicky Leandros to tell him, with decades of experience under his belt, how to handle a group of musicians? Dolf frowned upon being lectured for an entire week by self-willed teenage pop singers - and to my mind, he had every right to say so. Therefore, he declined working on the Eurovision Song Contest in ’76. For some strange reason, Dolf wanted me to stand in. Feeling responsible for his orchestra, he suggested me to the organizing committee. He must have seen me at work with other broadcasting orchestras and felt that this young talent should be given the opportunity of working with his orchestra. It was only a couple of months later that I was contracted by the broadcaster, meaning they had to pay me for this Eurovision commission, but apparently that was not a problem.” As the Netherlands’ entry ‘The party is over’ was conducted by its arranger, Harry van Hoof, and all other delegations had brought along a conductor as well, Stulen did not conduct any of the participating songs. This makes Stulen one of only four maestros in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest who did not conduct one single entry, the other ones being Malcolm Lockyer, Yitzhak Graziani, and Igor Kuljerić. The interval music was played by Peter Schilperoort’s Dutch Swing College Band, meaning Stulen’s main job in the rehearsal week was to help out the guest conductors from all participating countries if need be: “No, we did not rehearse the songs before the guest conductors arrived. I am not sure whether Dolf had taken care of this as well or if it was up to the guest conductors to familiarize the orchestra’s musicians with their respective scores. My duty was to be there while the guest conductors rehearsed. Amazingly, strict care was taken that all countries were given exactly the same amount of time to rehearse their songs… fifteen or twenty minutes a day. All delegations were expected to rehearse their respective items within the time which had been allotted to them - and not one second more. After all, the Eurovision Song Contest is a competition and even a suspicion of bias had to be avoided!” During the week of rehearsals, Stulen observed the guest conductors at work: “I was the watchdog, so to speak, who had to avoid any hiccups from occurring. One guest was more successful than the other, but no disasters happened. The pieces that did not go well on Monday yet, sounded well on Tuesday. Mostly, in a Eurovision Song Contest, the arrangers conducted the songs - usually excellent musicians, but no trained conductors… and conducting is a profession! These pop songs are usually played in one tempo; if a conductor counts in the orchestra correctly and the drummer picks up the right tempo, virtually nothing can go wrong. For such simple songs, musicians hardly pay attention to the conductor… they need a conductor for changes of tempo; for example, ballads with rubato, in other words: a slight speeding up and slowing down of the tempo, require strict guidance from a conductor - the rhythm section cannot help out in such cases! But even when a guest conductor lacked the required technique, the Metropole Orchestra players were extremely skilled in guiding themselves through the music… “In the course of the week”, Stulen continues, “the contact with the orchestra musicians got closer and closer. This was nice - after all, they had never worked with me before. During the rehearsals, I was there all the time and there was ample time for a chat. When they had just had to work with one of those non-conductors, some of them asked me for my opinion. “This guy was hopeless… can’t you teach him a lesson?”, is what some of them wondered. Somewhat differently from what I was used to with musicians from symphony orchestras, they liked being quite informal. The worst conductor they had to work with for this contest was without a doubt Les Humphries, who participated for West Germany with his vocal group. He was extremely bad-tempered, venting his dissatisfaction about the orchestra, but about his own singers as well; they were rebuked by him in the rudest of manners. At the same time, his conducting technique was nothing to speak of… with his antics in front of the orchestra, he gave the impression of a lumberjack rather than a conductor.” “What struck me most about this Eurovision Song Contest”, Stulen recalls, “was the huge number of security officers walking around in and outside the concert hall. Nowadays, every musician is perfectly used to having to show an accreditation before being allowed into the hall, but in those days, it was a totally new experience. With Israel participating in the contest just four years after the massacre at the Munich Olympics, our local authorities were not keen to leave anything to chance. All those cocktail parties and receptions were a new feature for me as well… and I was expected to turn up on all these occasions. I believe I never drank more alcohol in one week!” In the international final, Jan Stulen conducted the opening tune and finale, both of which had been composed and arranged by Bert Paige, one of the most experienced arrangers to work for the Metropole Orchestra in those years. When Stulen was introduced to the international television audience by host Corry Brokken, he looked quite tense. “Appearances can be deceptive!”, Stulen comments. “I cannot remember being nervous. The most difficult part of my task was to make sure the overture had to be played in tune with the introduction film which opened the programme. This can be a tricky business - much later in my career, I conducted countless film scores on stage with the Brabants Orkest while the film itself was running. If you discover, just sixteen bars before the end of the piece, that you are trailing the image by eight bars or that you have played it eight bars too fast, you find yourself in a nasty situation. In the Eurovision Song Contest, however, everything went exactly according to plan”. Looking back, Stulen adds: “In a way, this Eurovision Song Contest was a special moment in my working life. Quite opposite to nowadays, the programme used to have a huge status; I could not help but noticing this in the days and weeks after the programme, when my wife came home telling me that all kinds of acquaintances had told her how they had seen her husband on television in the Eurovision Song Contest - they probably thought I could not rise much higher than that. Realistically speaking, I had not done more than conducting two nice pieces of music which had been composed and arranged by someone else… that was it. The best part of the whole episode was that Dolf van der Linden was apparently pleased by my performance, because, in the months and years which followed, he regularly invited me to perform as a guest with his Metropole Orchestra.

@@thereorderboard What a cute and lovely addition!

Hey! As explained in the comments, it looks like that was the official Greek flag at the time....they marched out to it at the Olympics in Montreal later that year.. The flag in question was also called the Greek flag 'on land' whereas the design we see in Eurovision was often designated at flag on sea...and therefore in other countries. However, I can't see any specific evidence that it wasn't the Greek flag in all situations in 1976 (especially since they went to the Olympics with it). Remember, without the Internet, receiving this sort of information at a television producer level would have almost certainly relied on a printed book (my TV graphic design department still has them around!)...it maybe that both the Dutch and the BBC didn't know about the change.

@@thereorderboard ahhh thanks for the information!!

Yes : John Lawton. Otherwise there was Jürgen Drews, who became popular in Germany afterwards.

He will do it

@@VATJON ok