| Main Performers | Contestants:
Carlos Mendes (Portugal),
Ronnie Tober (Netherlands),
Claude Lombard (Belgium),
Karel Gott (Austria),
Chris Baldo and Sophie Garel (Luxembourg),
Gianni Mascolo (Switzerland),
Line and Willy (Monaco),
Claes-Goeran Hederstroem (Sweden),
Kristina Hautala (Finland),
Isabelle Aubret (France),
Sergio Endrigo (Italy)
Cliff Richard (UK),
Odd Borre (Norway),
Pat McGeegan (Ireland),
Massiel (Spain), WINNER
Wencke Myhre (Germany),
Luci Kapurso and Hamo Hajdarhodzic (Yugoslavia) - The Dubrovnik Troubadours |
| Secondary Performers | Sandie Shaw - prize giver |
| Conductors | Norrie Paramor (United Kingdom),
Mario Robbiani (Switzerland),
Oivind Bergh (Norway),
Joaquim Luis Gomes (Portugal),
Michel Colombier (Monaco),
Noel Kelehan (Ireland),
Dolf Van Der Linden (Netherlands),
Mats Olsson (Sweden),
Rafael Ibarbia (Spain),
Henri Segers (Belgium),
Ossi Runne (Finland),
Robert Opratko (Austria),
Alain Goraguer (France),
Andre Borly (Luxembourg),
Giancarlo Chiaramello (Italy),
Mijenko Prohaska (Yugoslavia),
Horst Jankowski (Germany) |
| Set List | 'Verao', Pedro Vaz Osorio (Carlos Mendes, Joaquim Luis Gomes),
'Morgen', Joop Stokkermans (Ronnie Tober, Dolf Van Der Linden),
'Quand Tu Reviendras', Jo Van Wetter (Claude Lombard, Henri Segers),
'Tausend Fenster', Udo Jurgens (Karel Gott, Robert Opratko),
'Nous Vivrons D'Amour', Carlos Leresche (Chris Baldo and Sophie Garel, André Borly),
'Guardando Il Sole', Aldo D'Addario (Gianni Mascolo, Mario Robbiani),
'A Chacun Sa Chanson', Jean-Claude Oliver (Line and Willy, Michel Colombier),
'Det Boerjar Verka Kaerlek, Banne Mej', Peter Himmelstrand (Claes-Goeran Hederstroem, Mats Olsson),
'Kun Kello Kay', Esko Linnavalli (Kristina Hautala, Ossi Runne),
'La Source', Daniel Faure (Isabelle Aubret, Alain Goraguer),
'Marianne', Sergio Endrigo (Sergio Endrigo, Giancarlo Chiaramello),
'Congratulations', Bill Martin and Phil Coulter (Cliff Richard, The Breakaways, Norrie Paramor),
'Stress', Tor Hultin (Odd Borre, Oivind Bergh),
'Chance of a Lifetime', John Kennedy (Pat McGeegan, Noel Kelehan),
'La, La, La', Ramon Arcusa and Manuel De La Calva (Massiel, Mercedes Valimana, Maria Jesus Aquirre, Dolores Arenas Maria, Rafael Ibarbia), WINNER
'Ein Hoch Der Liebe', Horst Jankowski (Wencke Myhre, Gisela Schaeuble, Rosemarie Gongolski, Rosemarie Siegel, Horst Jankowski),
'Jedan Dan', Djelo Jusic (Luci Kapurso and Hamo Hajdarhodzic, Dubrovnik Troubadours, Miljenko Prohaska),
'London Medley', arr. Arthur Wilkinson,
'Puppet on a String', Bill Martin/Phil Coulter, arr. Kenny Woodman |
| Performance Notes | The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th Eurovision Song Contest. The contest was won by the Spanish song "La, la, la", performed by Massiel, closely followed by the United Kingdom and Cliff Richard with "Congratulations!" with a margin of just one point. Originally Spain entered Joan Manuel Serrat to sing "La La La", but his demand to sing in Catalan was an affront to Francoist Spain. Serrat was withdrawn and replaced by Massiel, who sang the same song in Spanish.
1968 was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast in colour. The countries that broadcast it in colour were France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom; although in the UK it was broadcast as an encore presentation in colour on BBC Two the next day. Also all of Eastern Europe and Tunisia broadcast the contest.
Katie Boyle hosted the contest for a third time.
In May 2008, a documentary by Spanish film-maker Montse Fernández Villa, 1968. Yo viví el mayo español, centred on the effects of May 1968 in Francoist Spain, and alleged that the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest was rigged by the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who would have sent state television officials across Europe offering cash and promising to buy television series and contract unknown artists. The allegation was based on a testimony by journalist José María Íñigo, a TVE employee at the time, who claimed the rigging was common knowledge and suggested that Spanish record label representatives offered to release albums by Bulgarian and Czech artists (neither Bulgaria nor Czechoslovakia were members of the European Broadcasting Union at the time).
The documentary claimed that the contest should in fact have been won by the United Kingdom's entry "Congratulations" performed by Cliff Richard which finished second by one vote. Massiel, the performer of the winning entry, was outraged by the allegations, and claimed that if there had been fixes, "other singers, who were more keen on Franco's regime, would have benefited". José María Iñigo, author of the statement in the documentary, personally apologized to Massiel and said that he had repeated a widespread rumour. Both Massiel and Iñigo accused television channel La Sexta, broadcaster of the documentary, of manufacturing the scandal. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurovision_Song_Contest_1968)
The event was broadcast by BBC One television from 22:00 on 6 April 1968. |
| Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1968/42),
Photographs (RAHE/3/1968/1) |