Eurovision 1973: Luxembourg City

Luxembourg hosted for the third time, in the Nouveau Théâtre, a nine-year-old arts venue whose 800 seats were cut by about a hundred to fit the equipment in. Helga Guitton presented. Members of the grand ducal family watched from the audience.

The audience had been told not to stand up.

Israel, and the security

Israel entered for the first time. Its broadcaster was a member of the EBU and entitled to take part, and it became the first entrant from outside Europe.

The contest came only months after the attack on the Israeli team at the Munich Olympics, and Luxembourg took no chances. The theatre was sealed off for the whole of the preparations. When the Israeli delegation was not needed there, it was kept on the top floor of the Holiday Inn behind armed guards.

There were armed men inside the theatre on the night as well. That was the reason for the instruction: anyone who stood up during the show was told they risked being shot.

Israel’s singer, Ilanit, was rumoured to have worn a bulletproof vest under her outfit.

Seventeen, not eighteen

Austria dropped out, reportedly because its head of entertainment was at odds with the country’s record labels.

Malta had signed up, and was in the draw to sing sixth. Then its broadcaster listened to the songs it had been sent, decided none of them was good enough, and withdrew.

Greece asked to join in October 1972. It was past the deadline, and Greece waited a year.

Familiar names

Cliff Richard came back for the United Kingdom, five years after losing by one vote. Finland’s Marion Rung returned after eleven years and Italy’s Massimo Ranieri after two.

Nicole and Hugo finally got their turn for Belgium. They had been chosen in 1971 and replaced when Nicole fell ill. This time they sang, and finished last.

Sweden’s group had a problem with its name. It had won the Swedish selection calling itself Malta. To avoid confusion with the country — which, as it turned out, wasn’t there — it performed in Luxembourg as the Nova.

Three rules change at once

Any language. For the first time a song did not have to be in a language of the country it came from. Finland and Sweden sang in English. Norway’s entry was mostly in English and French, with lines in several other languages besides.

Backing tracks. Pre-recorded tracks were allowed for the first time, with or without the orchestra playing along. There was a condition: the tape could only contain instruments that the performers were seen miming on stage. The United Kingdom was the first country to use one.

Women with the baton. Sweden’s Monica Dominique became the first woman to conduct the orchestra at the contest. Israel’s Nurit Hirsh became the second a few songs later.

The jurors

The two-per-country jury system had its third and last outing. The jurors watched from the television studios at Villa Louvigny and were put up in a hotel in the spa town of Mondorf-les-Bains, with orders not to mix with the delegations.

A diva at the interval

The interval act was introduced as the great diva Carlotta Rivello. It was the Spanish clown Charlie Rivel, in a dress, doing a comic turn as an operatic prima donna — the first drag performance on the Eurovision stage.

The result

The top three finished within six votes of one another. Luxembourg’s Anne-Marie David won with “Tu te reconnaîtras” on 129 votes. Spain’s Mocedades had 125 with “Eres tú”. Cliff Richard, third this time, had 123.

Luxembourg had now won four times, level with France, and was the first country to win outright two years running.

David’s 129 came out of a possible 160. As a share of the maximum available, just over 80 per cent, no winner has ever scored higher.

Israel finished fourth, the best debut since Denmark’s third place in 1957. Sweden was fifth, despite some consternation over a line likening a lover’s breasts to nesting swallows, and Finland’s sixth was its best result to date.

The one that travelled

The runner-up did best of all afterwards. “Eres tú” became a hit around the world and reached the top ten of the American chart in 1974 — one of very few songs not in English to have done so. In 2005 it was one of fourteen songs chosen for the contest’s fiftieth-anniversary show, where it came eleventh.