Eurovision Song Contest 1978

The Eurovision Song Contest 1978 was the 23rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 22 April 1978 in Paris. The contest was won by Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta who represented Israel with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi". Although 'A-Ba-Ni-Bi' is the correct title, French television mistakenly captioned on screen the song title as 'Ah-Bah-Nee-Bee'. The presenters were Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone, and this was the first time more than one presenter hosted an edition of the Contest and the first to have a male presenter since 1956. In addition, the two presenters served as commentators for France. Twenty countries participated, a record at the time.

Eurovision Song Contest 1978
Dates
Final	22 April 1978
Host
Venue	Palais des Congrès Paris, France
Presenter(s)	Denise Fabre Léon Zitrone
Conductor	François Rauber[1]
Executive supervisor	Frank Naef
Executive producer	Bernard Lion
Host broadcaster	Télévision Française 1 (TF1)
Interval act	Stéphane Grappelli and Oscar Peterson, Yehudi Menuhin, Kenny Clarke, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen
Website	eurovision.tv/event/paris-1978
Participants
Number of entries	20
Debuting countries	None
Returning countries	Denmark  Turkey
Non-returning countries	None
Participation map      Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1978
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs
Nul points	Norway
Winning song	Israel "A-Ba-Ni-Bi"

The winning entry was a love song sung in the Hebrew equivalent of Ubbi dubbi (the title is an expansion of the Hebrew word ani אני, meaning "I"). This was Israel's first Eurovision win, which was also the first winning song to be performed in one of the Semitic languages. The win caused problems for several North African and Middle-Eastern nations that were televising the contest, even though they were not participating. According to author and political commentator John Kennedy O'Connor in his book The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History, when Israel became the clear winners during the voting, most of the Arabic stations ended their transmission of the contest. Jordanian TV finished the show with a photo of a bunch of daffodils on screen,[2] later announcing that the Belgian entry (which finished second) was the winner. Television of the USSR for the first time showed a competition, and until 1988 only performances of several participants, each time with the exception of representatives of Israel.[3] Norway finished last for the fifth time, gaining the first nul points during the current voting system was implemented in 1975.

Location

The event took place in Paris, the capital and largest city of France, with the host venue being the Palais des congrès de Paris which is a concert venue, convention centre and shopping mall in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. The venue was built by French architect Guillaume Gillet, and was inaugurated in 1974.

Format

The postcards were filmed live, once they showed the entry of the artist. They took a corridor, then an elevator which led them behind the scenes of the scene. Then they greeted the previous participants and made their entrance. The camera also made several shots of the audience, notably Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg.

Björn Skifs was unhappy with the rule that every country would have to perform in their native language. He planned to sing in English anyway, but changed his mind at the very last moment, causing him to completely forget the lyrics. He therefore sang the first few lines in gibberish before finding the words again. Along with the 20 participating countries, the show was also broadcast live in Yugoslavia, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Dubai, Hong Kong, the Soviet Union and Japan.

Participating countries

Denmark returned to the competition after eleven years of absence, while Turkey did so after missing out one year.[4]

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who conducted the orchestra.[5][6]

•  Ireland – Noel Kelehan
•  Norway – Carsten Klouman
•  Italy – Nicola Samale
•  Finland – Ossi Runne
•  Portugal – Thilo Krasmann
•  France – Alain Goraguer
•  Spain – Ramón Arcusa
•  United Kingdom – Alyn Ainsworth
•   Switzerland – Daniel Janin
•  Belgium – Jean Musy
•  Netherlands – Harry van Hoof
•  Turkey – Onno Tunç
•  Germany – Jean Frankfurter
•  Monaco – Yvon Rioland
•  Greece – Haris Andreadis
•  Denmark – Helmer Olesen
•  Luxembourg – Rolf Soja
•  Israel – Nurit Hirsh
•  Austria – Richard Oesterreicher
•  Sweden – Bengt Palmers

Returning artists

Several artists returned to the 1978 Contest. Ireen Sheer had previously represented Luxembourg in 1974, and finished in equal fourth place. Jean Vallée also returned, eight years after representing Belgium in 1970, while Norbert Niedermeyer, who had represented Austria in 1972 as part of the band The Milestones, was back as a member of the Austrian band Springtime.

Results

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language[7]	Place	Points
01	Ireland	Colm C. T. Wilkinson	"Born to Sing"	English	5	86
02	Norway	Jahn Teigen	"Mil etter mil"	Norwegian	20	0
03	Italy	Ricchi e Poveri	"Questo amore"	Italian	12	53
04	Finland	Seija Simola	"Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus"	Finnish	18	2
05	Portugal	Gemini	"Dai li dou"	Portuguese	17	5
06	France	Joël Prévost	"Il y aura toujours des violons"	French	3	119
07	Spain	José Vélez	"Bailemos un vals"	Spanish^a	9	65
08	United Kingdom	Co-Co	"The Bad Old Days"	English	11	61
09	Switzerland	Carole Vinci	"Vivre"	French	9	65
10	Belgium	Jean Vallée	"L'amour ça fait chanter la vie"	French	2	125
11	Netherlands	Harmony	"'t Is OK"	Dutch	13	37
12	Turkey	Nilüfer & Nazar	"Sevince"	Turkish	18	2
13	Germany	Ireen Sheer	"Feuer"	German	6	84
14	Monaco	Caline & Olivier Toussaint	"Les jardins de Monaco"	French	4	107
15	Greece	Tania Tsanaklidou	"Charlie Chaplin" (Τσάρλυ Τσάπλιν)	Greek	8	66
16	Denmark	Mabel	"Boom Boom"	Danish	16	13
17	Luxembourg	Baccara	"Parlez-vous français?"	French	7	73
18	Israel	Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta	"A-Ba-Ni-Bi" (א-ב-ני-בי)	Hebrew	1	157
19	Austria	Springtime	"Mrs. Caroline Robinson"	German^b	15	14
20	Sweden	Björn Skifs	"Det blir alltid värre framåt natten"	Swedish	14	26

Notes:

a. ^ Contains some words in French.

b. ^ Contains some words in English.

Scoreboard

		Results
		Total score	Ireland	Norway	Italy	Finland	Portugal	France	Spain	United Kingdom	Switzerland	Belgium	Netherlands	Turkey	Germany	Monaco	Greece	Denmark	Luxembourg	Israel	Austria	Sweden
Contestants	Ireland	86		12		3		5			7	10		10	5		10		10		6	8
	Norway	0
	Italy	53	10	6			1	4	8	6	1	1		1	2	8	2		3
	Finland	2		2
	Portugal	5			4				1
	France	119	6	3	10	2	2		5	8	6	8	6	4	10	5	8	8	1	5	12	10
	Spain	65				7					8	2	4	7		4	6	12	2	6	7
	United Kingdom	61	3				6	2	3		2	4	2	6	8	7	3		5	2	5	3
	Switzerland	65		5	1	1		7	4	2		7	8		6	2		3	8	1	10
	Belgium	125	12	7	6	6	4	12	2	12	10		5		3	12	12		7	7	4	4
	Netherlands	37			5					3					4	1		5	6	12		1
	Turkey	2		1						1
	Germany	84	1		3	12	7		10		3	5	7	8		10	7	1		3		7
	Monaco	107	4	4	7	8	5	1		10	5	6	10	5	7		4	10		8	1	12
	Greece	66	7		2	5	8	10	7		4							4	4	10	3	2
	Denmark	13						6					1							4	2
	Luxembourg	73	2		12		12		12	7		3	3	2		6	1	7				6
	Israel	157	8	8	8	10	10	8	6	5	12	12	12	12	12	3	5	6	12		8
	Austria	14					3							3	1			2				5
Sweden	26	5	10		4		3		4
The table is ordered by appearance

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.	Contestant	Voting nation
6	Israel	Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey
5	Belgium	France, Greece, Ireland, Monaco, United Kingdom
3	Luxembourg	Italy, Portugal, Spain
1	France	Austria
	Germany	Finland
	Ireland	Norway
	Monaco	Sweden
	Netherlands	Israel
	Spain	Denmark

Broadcasters, commentators and spokespersons

Spokespersons

Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1978 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country.

1.  Ireland – John Skehan
2.  Norway – Egil Teige[8]
3.  Italy – Mariolina Cannuli
4.  Finland – Kaarina Pönniö[9]
5.  Portugal – Isabel Wolmar
6.  France - Marc Menant
7.  Spain – Matías Prats Luque
8.  United Kingdom – Colin Berry[6]
9.   Switzerland – Michel Stocker[10]
10.  Belgium – André Hagon
11.  Netherlands – Dick van Bommel
12.  Turkey – Meral Savcı
13.  Germany – Ute Verhoolen
14.  Monaco – Carole Chabrier
15.  Greece – Niki Venega
16.  Denmark – Jens Dreyer
17.  Luxembourg – Jacques Harvey
18.  Israel – Yitzhak Shim'oni[11]
19.  Austria – Jenny Pippal
20.  Sweden – Sven Lindahl[12]

Broadcasters and commentators

Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language.

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref(s)
Participating countries
Austria	FS2	Ernst Grissemann	[13][14]
	Hitradio Ö3	Walter Richard Langer
Belgium	RTBF1	French: Claude Delacroix	[13]
	BRT1	Dutch: Luc Appermont	[13][15]
	RTB La Première	Jacques Bauduin
	BRT Radio 1	Nand Baert and Herwig Haes
Denmark	DR TV	Jørgen de Mylius	[13][16]
	DR P3	Kjeld Koplev
Finland	YLE TV1	Erkki Toivanen	[13][17]
	YLE Rinnakkaisohjelma	TBC
France	TF1	Léon Zitrone and Denise Fabre	[18]
	France Inter	René Boyer and Michel Polac
Germany	Deutsches Fernsehen	Werner Veigel	[13][19]
	Deutschlandfunk/Bayern 2	Wolf Mittler
Greece	EIRT	Mako Georgiadou	[20]
	Proto Programma	Dimitris Konstantaras
Ireland	RTÉ	Larry Gogan	[13]
	RTÉ Radio	Mike Murphy
Israel	Israeli Television	No commentator
Italy	Rete 2 and Rai Radio 2	Tullio Grazzini
Luxembourg	RTL Télé Luxembourg	Jacques Navadic	[13][18]
	RTL	André Torrent
Monaco	Télé Monte Carlo	José Sacré
Netherlands	Nederland 2	Willem Duys	[21]
	Hilversum 3	Jan van Veen
Norway	NRK	Bjørn Scheele	[22]
	NRK P1	Erik Heyerdahl
Portugal	RTP1	Eládio Clímaco	[13][23]
	RDP Programa 1	Amadeu Meireles
Spain	TVE1	Miguel de los Santos	[13][24]
Sweden	SR TV1	Ulf Elfving	[13][12]
	SR P3	Kent Finell	[12]
Switzerland	TV DRS	German: Theodor Haller	[13]
	TSR	French: Georges Hardy	[13][25]
	TSI	Italian: Enzo Guidi	[13]
	RSR 1	French: Robert Burnier	[26]
Turkey	Ankara Television	Bülend Özveren	[13]
	Radyo 3	Şebnem Savaşçı
United Kingdom	BBC1	Terry Wogan	[13][6][27]
	BBC Radio 2	Ray Moore	[6]
Non-participating countries
Algeria	ENTV	Unknown	[6]
Czechoslovakia	ČST	Unknown	[6]
East Germany	Deutscher Fernsehfunk	Unknown	[6]
Hong Kong	RTHK	Unknown	[6]
Hungary	RTV	Unknown	[6]
Iceland	Sjónvarpið	Ragna Ragnars	[6][28]
Japan	TBC	Unknown	[6]
Jordan	JRTV	Unknown	[6]
Morocco	TVM	Unknown	[6]
Poland	TVP	Unknown	[6]
Soviet Union	Soviet Central Television	Unknown	[6]
Tunisia	RTT	Unknown	[6]
United Arab Emirates	Dubai Radio and Colour Television	Unknown	[6]
Yugoslavia	TVB 2	Serbo-Croatian: Milovan Ilić	[6]
	TVZ 1	Serbo-Croatian: Oliver Mlakar
	TVL 1	Slovene: Tomaž Terček

References

1. O'Connor, John Kennedy (2007). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. UK: Carlton Books. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3.
2. O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
3. Телевизионная передача "Мелодии и ритмы зарубежной эстрады"
4. "Paris 1978". Eurovision.tv.
5. "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 10 August 2020.
6. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 312–327. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
7. "Eurovision Song Contest 1978". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
8. Dyrseth, Seppo (OGAE Norway)
9. "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
10. Baumann, Peter Ramón (OGAE Switzerland)
11. "פורום אירוויזיון". Sf.tapuz.co.il. 1999-09-13. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
12. "Infosajten.com". Infosajten.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
13. "Eurovision 1978 - Cast and Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
14. Archived October 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
15. Adriaens, Manu & Loeckx-Van Cauwenberge, Joken. Blijven kiken!. Lannoo, Belgium. 2003 ISBN 90-209-5274-9
16. "Forside". esconnet.dk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
17. "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
18. Christian Masson. "1978 – Paris". Songcontest.free.fr. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
19. "Eurovision Song Contest 1978". Ecgermany.de. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
20. "Η Μακώ Γεωργιάδου και η EUROVISION (1970–1986)". Retromaniax.gr. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
21. "Welkom op de site van Eurovision Artists". Eurovisionartists.nl. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
22. "Hvem kommenterte før Jostein Pedersen? - Debattforum". Nrk.no. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
23. "Comentadores Do ESC – escportugalforum.pt.vu | o forum eurovisivo português". 21595.activeboard.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
24. "FORO FESTIVAL DE EUROVISIÓN • Ver Tema – Uribarri comentarista Eurovision 2010". Eurosongcontest.phpbb3.es. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
25. "Programme radio du 22 au 28 avril". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 20 April 1978.
26. "Programme radio du 22 au 28 avril". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 20 April 1978.
27. "Grand Final: 1978, 1978, Eurovision Song Contest". BBC.
28. Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands -. "Timarit.is". timarit.is.

External links

• Official website