LONDON 1968

The thirteenth Eurovision Song Contest which took place in the Royal Albert Hall in London was the first Eurovision Song Contest to be broadcast in colour. The bookmakers were sure of another British victory since Cliff Richard – who had dominated the European charts for several years already – decided to represent his native country.
Congratulations… with your second place!

France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom broadcast the 1968 contest in colour despite the fact that very few TV-viewers at home owned a colour TV set. However, colour was here to stay and all song contests since then have been broadcast primarily in colour. Some countries hired foreign singers to sing for them: Germany was represented by Norwegian Wenche Myhre and Austria’s entry was performed by Karel Gott from Prague.

About the winner

The 1968 Eurovision Song Contest turned out to have a nailbiting finish when the United Kingdom entry and big favourite Congratulations by Cliff Richard was beaten by just one point by Spain’s Massiel. Originally Massiel’s song La La La was supposed to be sung by Spanish singer Joan Manuel Serrat who wanted perfom the song La, La, La in Catalan. However, Juan Manuel Serrat’s wish of singing in his native tongue was not met by the Spanish officials, and Juan Manuel was replaced by Massiel who sang the same song in Spanish.

The 1968 Eurovision Song Contest was not only broadcast in the participating countries, but also all of Eastern Europe and Tunisia could follow it; For Katie Boyle, it was already her third Eurovision Song Contest as a presenter, but not her last: Mrs. Boyle would return for yet another contest just as the unlucky Cliff Richard!

VOTING GRID: FINAL