Eurovision Song Contest 1969

The Spanish capital of Madrid hosted the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest after Massiel won the trophy in London the year before. Austria decided to stay home for political reasons, so the number of participants went down to 16 as no new countries entered.

Tie for the first place

For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, the outcome of the voting resulted in a tie for the first place. Four countries gained 18 points each: France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. Since there was no solution for this situation, all four countries were declared winners. Luckily, there were four medals available to the four winning singers - the four medals were intended for the winning singer and three winning songwriters.

About the winners

The four winners differed a lot from one another: France had a haunting ballad performed by Frida Boccara, the Netherlands sent in Lenny Kuhr with a guitar, Spain and Salomé performed the energetic Vivo Cantando whereas the star from the British islands, Lulu, had a happy, clap-along song. However, having four winners caused lots of criticism from the media and several TV-stations re-considered participating in the following Eurovision Song Contest. Had the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest still attracted 16 countries, the number went down to only 12 in the 1970 edition of the contest.

Facts & Figures

Date

Saturday 29 March 1969

Location

Teatro Real, Madrid, Spain

Winner

Salomé from Spain

Lulu from United Kingdom

Lenny Kuhr from The Netherlands

Frida Boccara from France

Broadcaster

TVE

Hosts

Laurita Valenzuela

EBU Scrutineer

Clifford Brown

Director

Ramon Diaz

Interval Act

La España diferente

The Participants

# Representing country Performer(s) Song title, writer(s) and composer(s) Points Place
01 Yugoslavia
Flag of YugoslaviaJRT
Ivan Pozdrav Svijetu 005 13
02 Luxembourg
Flag of LuxembourgCLT
Romuald Cathérine 007 11
03 Spain
Flag of SpainTVE
Salomé Vivo Cantando 018 01
04 Monaco
Flag of MonacoTMC
Jean-Jacques Maman, Maman 011 06
05 Ireland
Flag of IrelandRTÉ
Muriel Day and the Lindsays The Wages Of Love 010 07
06 Italy
Flag of ItalyRAI
Iva Zanicchi Due Grosse Lacrime Bianche 005 13
07 United Kingdom
Flag of United KingdomBBC
Lulu Boom Bang-a-bang 018 01
08 The Netherlands
Flag of The NetherlandsNTS
Lenny Kuhr De Troubadour 018 01
09 Sweden
Flag of SwedenSR
Tommy Körberg Judy, Min Vän 008 09
10 Belgium
Flag of BelgiumBRT
Louis Neefs Jennifer Jennings 010 07
11 Switzerland
Flag of SwitzerlandSSR SRG
Paola del Medico Bonjour, Bonjour 013 05
12 Norway
Flag of NorwayNRK
Kirsti Sparboe Oj, Oj, Oj, Så Glad, Jeg Skal Bli 001 16
13 Germany
Flag of GermanyARD
Siw Malmkvist Primaballerina 008 09
14 France
Flag of FranceORTF
Frida Boccara Un Jour, Un Enfant 018 01
15 Portugal
Flag of PortugalRTP
Simone de Oliveira Desfolhada Portuguesa 004 15
16 Finland
Flag of FinlandYLE
Jarkko and Laura Kuin Silloin Ennen 006 12

Scoreboard

Participant Belgium Finland France Germany Ireland Italy Luxembourg Monaco Norway Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland The Netherlands United Kingdom Yugoslavia Points Place
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
131 5 13
Luxembourg Luxembourg
11311 7 11
Spain Spain
323123121 18 1
Monaco Monaco
14222 11 6
Ireland Ireland
311311 10 7
Italy Italy
11111 5 13
United Kingdom United Kingdom
11341512 18 1
The Netherlands The Netherlands
1632114 18 1
Sweden Sweden
3311 8 9
Belgium Belgium
22213 10 7
Switzerland Switzerland
1223122 13 5
Norway Norway
1 1 16
Germany Germany
11123 8 9
France France
141221124 18 1
Portugal Portugal
112 4 15
Finland Finland
111111 6 12