Eurovision Song Contest 1979
The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the 1978 contest with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held at the International Convention Centre on 31 March 1979, and was hosted by Israeli television presenter Daniel Pe'er and singer Yardena Arazi. This was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was held outside Europe.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1979 | |
|---|---|
| File:ESC 1979 logo.png | |
| Dates | |
| Final | 31 March 1979 |
| Host | |
| Venue | International Convention Center Jerusalem, Israel |
| Presenter(s) | |
| Musical director | Izhak Graziani |
| Directed by | Yossi Zemach |
| Executive supervisor | Frank Naef |
| Executive producer | Alex Gilady |
| Host broadcaster | Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 19 |
| Debuting countries | None |
| Returning countries | None |
| Non-returning countries |  Turkey |
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs |
| Winning song |  Israel"Hallelujah" |
Nineteen countries participated in the contest, with Turkey deciding not to participate after Arab countries had pressured it into not participating in a contest held in Israel.[1] Yugoslavia, which had missed the 1977 and 1978 contests, also did not take part in or broadcast the contest this year for political reasons,[2] despite an earlier public poll in which almost 100,000 people supported a Yugoslav return to the contest.[3]
For the second year in a row, Israel won with the song "Hallelujah", performed by the Israeli group Milk and Honey featuring Gali Atari.
Location
The contest took place at the International Convention Centre, also called Binyenei HaUma in Jerusalem, following Israel's win at the 1978 edition with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" performed by Izhar Cohen and Alphabeta. The venue, the largest convention center in the Middle East, hosted the contest in the Ussishkin Auditorium which seats an audience of more than 3,000 and where it traditionally hosts other musical events including classical and pop stars concerts.[4]
The city's ancient, religious and modern scenery was reflected through a film which opened the broadcast. The city's history as one of the oldest and holiest in the world, was shown through the biblical and medieval monuments and sites sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as well as visitors and city's residents who frequent them while practicing their faiths. The city's governmental, cultural and educational institutions and monuments, as well as the streets and people outside the ancient wall, were shown at the opening and conclusion of the film.
Participating countries
| Eurovision Song Contest 1979 – Participation summaries by country | |
|---|---|
At one point before the contest Turkey had planned to participate. The country would have appeared 11th on stage (between Israel and France), represented by Maria Rita Epik and 21. Peron with the song "Seviyorum". However, Turkey later ended up withdrawing from the contest following pressure from Arab states, who objected to a predominantly Muslim country taking part in a contest held in Israel.[5][6]
Returning artists
Bold indicates a previous winner
| Artist | Country | Previous year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Peter, Sue and Marc |  Switzerland
|
1971, 1976 |
| Xandra |  Netherlands
|
1972 (Along with Andres Holten), 1976 (as Sandra Reemer) |
| Anne-Marie David |  France
|
1973 (for  Luxembourg)
|
| Anita Skorgan |  Norway
|
1977 |
Format
The 24th contest's logo featured a combination of a G-clef, the IBA logo, and the names of all participating countries in order of appearance.
The stage concept was designed by Dov Ben David. On stage there was a moving symbol which was based on the IBA logo (which was built like a lamp with 3 concentric rings) using a small projected model.[11]
Since Israeli Television had yet to broadcast in colour at that point (except for a few special occasions), the production had to borrow cameras from the BBC - the same had happened when RTÉ had hosted the 1971 contest in Dublin.
The IBA Symphony Orchestra, directed by conductor Izhak Graziani played the music of each song (except for the Italian entry, which did not use the orchestra). This was the only contest where the orchestra was composed of 39 musicians.
This year, the postcards between each song featured mime artists rather than the participating singers. The mime artists featured were the Yoram Boker Mime Group, and included some of Israel's leading mime artists, among them Ezra Dagan and Hanoch Rozen. The group performed on a background of illustrations created by Dudu Geva and Yochanan Lakitzevitz, that featured landmarks and typical landscapes of the respective countries.
Contest overview
The following tables reflect the confirmed, verified scores, which were adjusted after the live broadcast. During the voting announcement, due to a misunderstanding by the presenter Yardena Arazi, Spain appeared to award 10 points to both Portugal and Israel and these scores were added to the scoreboard. After the programme, verification confirmed that Portugal should only have received six points, leaving the total Portuguese score reduced by four points to 64.
The intermission between the songs and the voting was presented by a performance of the Shalom '79 Dancing Ensemble, who performed a variety of Israeli folk dances. The performance was directed by the ensemble's manager and choreographer Gavri Levy.
Spokespersons
Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1979 contest are listed below.
Italy – Paola Perissi[13]- Netherlands – Ivo Niehe[14]
Sweden – Sven Lindahl[15]
United Kingdom – Colin Berry[8]
Detailed voting results
Each country had a jury who awarded 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 point(s) for their top ten songs. This was the last year in which the points were announced via order of appearance, as opposed to order of preference. From the next year's contest onwards, the points were announced in ascending order instead. This has remained in place ever since.
The voting was extremely close. Israel gained a good lead in the early stages of the voting, but Spain eventually caught up and took a good lead themselves. At the close of the penultimate jury's votes, Israel were one point behind Spain, and only the Spanish jury had yet to give their votes. Spain ended up giving Israel 10 points, causing the crowd to erupt into enormous cheers.
Total score
|
Portugal
|
Italy
|
Denmark
|
Ireland
|
Finland
|
Monaco
|
Greece
|
Switzerland
|
Germany
|
Israel
|
France
|
Belgium
|
Luxembourg
|
Netherlands
|
Sweden
|
Norway
|
United Kingdom
|
Austria
|
Spain
| ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Contestants
|
Portugal | 64 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 6 | ||||||
| Italy | 27 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Denmark | 76 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||||||
| Ireland | 80 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 4 | |||||||
| Finland | 38 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Monaco | 12 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Greece | 69 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||||||
| Switzerland | 60 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Germany | 86 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 12 | ||||||
| Israel | 125 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 10 | ||||
| France | 106 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | |||||
| Belgium | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||
| Luxembourg | 44 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 | ||||||||||
| Netherlands | 51 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Sweden | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 57 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| United Kingdom | 73 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | ||||||||
| Austria | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spain | 116 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 10 | ||||||
12 points
Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:
| N. | Contestant | Nation(s) giving 12 points |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Israel
|
 Finland,  Ireland, Norway,  Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom
|
| 4 |  Germany
|
 Denmark, France,  Monaco,  Spain
|
| Spain
|
 Belgium, Germany, Italy, Switzerland
| |
| 2 | Denmark
|
 Greece, Israel
|
| France
|
Luxembourg, Netherlands
| |
| 1 | Switzerland
|
 Austria
|
Broadcasts
Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants". Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.[18]
Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below. In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Hong Kong, Iceland and Romania. The contest was not broadcast in Yugoslavia for the first time since 1961, as the nation had no diplomatic ties with Israel.[8]
| Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hong Kong
|
TVB | TVB Jade[d] | Regina Hing Yue Tsang and Lee Chi-chung | [49] |
| TVB Pearl[d] | George Lam | |||
 Iceland
|
RÚV | Sjónvarpið[e] | Björn Baldursson | [50] |
 Netherlands Antilles
|
TeleAruba[f] | [51] | ||
| TeleCuraçao[g] | [52] | |||
See also
Notes
- ^ On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD[10]
- ^ Deferred broadcast at 21:50 CET (20:50 UTC)[35]
- ^ Broadcast through a second audio programme on TSR[19]
- ^ 4.0 4.1 Deferred broadcast on 1 April at 10:30 HKT (02:30 UTC)[49]
- ^ Delayed broadcast on 16 April 1979 at 21:20 WET (21:20 UTC)[50]
- ^ Delayed broadcast on 18 June 1979 at 21:00 (ADT)[51]
- ^ Delayed broadcast on 13 April 1979 at 21:11 (ADT)[52]
References
- ^ "Jerusalem 1979". Eurovision.tv.
- ^ "Yugoslavya da Eurovision'a katılmama kararı verdi" [Yugoslavia also decided not to participate in Eurovision]. Milliyet (in Türkçe). Istanbul, Turkey. 27 March 1979. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Milionski žiri čitalaca domaćih TV magazina zahteva: Vratimo najzad Jugoslaviju na Pesmu Evrovizije". yugopapir.com.
- ^ "International Convention Centre - Binyanei Ha'Ooma], WCities Destination Guide". eventseeker.
- ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
- ^ "Türkiye, Eurovision Yarışması'ndan cekildi" [Turkey withdrew from the Eurovision Contest]. Milliyet (in Türkçe). Istanbul, Turkey. 6 March 1979. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Participants of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 352–365. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
- ^ "1979 – 24th edition". diggiloo.net. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ "Alle deutschen ESC-Acts und ihre Titel" [All German ESC acts and their songs]. www.eurovision.de (in Deutsch). ARD. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ "An interview with Dov Ben David on the preparations for the Eurovision in Jerusalem". Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- ^ Abbate, Mauro (7 May 2022). "Italia all'Eurovision Song Contest: tutti i numeri del nostro Paese nella kermesse europea" [Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest: all the numbers about our country in the European event] (in italiano). Notizie Musica. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Hallelujah: Het goede liedje op de goede plaats op de goede tijd". Leidse Courant (in Nederlands). Leiden, Netherlands. 2 April 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ 15.0 15.1 Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna (in svenska). Stockholm: Premium Publishing. pp. 140–141. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
- ^ "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1979 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "The Rules of the Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 "Tele-tip heute" [Tele-tip today]. Thuner Tagblatt (in Deutsch). Thun, Switzerland. 31 March 1979. p. 13. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via E-newspaperarchives.ch.
- ^ Halbhuber, Axel (22 May 2015). "Ein virtueller Disput der ESC-Kommentatoren". Kurier (in Deutsch). Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
- ^ "TV Programma's BRT – NED. 1 & 2 – RTB – FR. 1, 2 & 3" [TV Programmes BRT – NED. 1 & 2 – RTB – FR. 1, 2 & 3]. Gazet van Halle (in Nederlands). Halle, Belgium. 30 March 1979. p. 4. Retrieved 5 July 2024 – via Krantencollectie.be.
- ^ "Alle tiders programoversigter – Lørdag den 31. marts 1979" [All-time programme overviews – Saturday 31st March 1979] (in dansk). DR. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Radio ja TV" [Radio and TV]. Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). 31 March 1979. p. 39. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ "Euroviisut" [Eurovision]. Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). 31 March 1979. p. 39. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ "Radio-Télévision – Samedi 31 mars" [Radio-Television – Saturday 31 March]. Le Monde. Paris, France. 31 March 1979. p. 30. Retrieved 18 June 2024 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ 26.0 26.1 "TV – samedi 31 mars" [TV – Saturday 31 March]. Radio TV - Je vois tout (in français). No. 13. Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 29 March 1979. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
- ^ Lietzberg, Horst. "Schlager-Quiz mit Spannung" [Bat quiz with excitement]. Hörzu (in Deutsch). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ "Τηλεόραση" [TV]. Makedonia (in Ελληνικά). Thessaloniki, Greece. 31 March 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 21 September 2024 – via National Library of Greece.
- ^ "Το ραδιοφωνο" [The radio]. Makedonia (in Ελληνικά). Thessaloniki, Greece. 31 March 1979. p. 3. Retrieved 21 September 2024 – via National Library of Greece.
- ^ "Television Today". The Irish Times. 31 March 1979. p. 21. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "Celebrities and public figures launch Irish campaign to boycott Eurovision 2019 in Israel". Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. 30 July 2018. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "Radio Today". The Irish Times. 31 March 1979. p. 21. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
- ^ "he:שבת – 31.3.79 – טלוויזיה" [Saturday – 31.3.79 – TV]. Davar (in עברית). Tel Aviv, Israel. 30 March 1979. p. 60. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via National Library of Israel.
- ^ "שבת – 31.3.79 – רדיו" [Saturday – 31.3.79 – Radio]. Davar (in עברית). Tel Aviv, Israel. 30 March 1979. p. 60. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via National Library of Israel.
- ^ 35.0 35.1 "sabato 22 aprile" [Saturday 22 April]. Radiocorriere TV (in italiano). Vol. 56, no. 13. 25–31 March 1979. pp. 146–147. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Télé hebdo – samedi 31 mars" [Weekly TV – Saturday March 31]. Luxemburger Wort (in Deutsch and français). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 30 March 1979. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ 37.0 37.1 "Radio en televisie dit weekend" [Radio and television this weekend]. Limburgs Dagblad (in Nederlands). Heerlen, Netherlands. 31 March 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Delpher.
- ^ "De volgorde van opkomst" [The order of emergence]. Algemeen Dagblad (in Nederlands). Rotterdam, Netherlands. 31 March 1979. p. 11. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Delpher.
- ^ 39.0 39.1 "TV-radio programmene" [TV-radio programmes]. Oppland Arbeiderblad (in norsk). Gjøvik, Norway. 31 March 1979. p. 43. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via National Library of Norway.
- ^ "Televisão – Hoje" [Television – Today]. Diário de Lisboa (in português). 31 March 1979. p. 17. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Casa Comum.
- ^ "Festival da Eurovisão: "Aleluia", venceu o balão de Israel" [Eurovision Contest: "Hallelujah", won the Israeli balloon]. Diário de Lisboa (in português). 2 April 1979. p. 24. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Casa Comum.
- ^ "Rádio". Diário de Lisboa (in português). 31 March 1979. p. 22. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Casa Comum.
- ^ "Programas de televisión" [Programmes of television]. La Vanguardia (in español). Barcelona, Spain. 31 March 1979. p. 63. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ HerGar, Paula (28 March 2018). "Todos los comentaristas de la historia de España en Eurovisión (y una única mujer en solitario)" [All the commentators in the history of Spain in Eurovision (and only a single woman)] (in español). Los 40. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- ^ "Oggi e domani sul video". Popolo e Libertà (in italiano). Bellinzona, Switzerland. 31 March 1979. p. 11. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Sistema bibliotecario ticinese.
- ^ "Radio – samedi 31 mars" [Radio – Saturday 31 March]. Radio TV - Je vois tout (in français). No. 13. Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 29 March 1979. p. 73. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1979 – BBC1". Radio Times. 31 March 1979. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via BBC Genome Project.
- ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1979 – BBC Radio 2". Radio Times. 31 March 1979. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via BBC Genome Project.
- ^ 49.0 49.1 "本年度歐洲歌唱大賽 無線獲得獨家播映權 翡翠明珠台同時直播" [This year’s Eurovision Song Contest, TVB obtains exclusive broadcast rights, and TVB Pearl Channel broadcasts simultaneously]. Wah Kiu Yat Po (in 中文（繁體）). 31 March 1979. p. 7.4 – via Hong Kong Public Libraries.
- ^ 50.0 50.1 "Sjónvarp – Mánudagur 16. apríl" [Television – Monday 16 April]. Dagblaðið (in íslenska). Reykjavík, Iceland. 11 April 1979. p. 18. Retrieved 10 January 2023 – via Timarit.is.
- ^ 51.0 51.1 "Agenda Aruba | Telearuba". Amigoe (in Nederlands). Willemstad, Curaçao. 18 June 1979. p. 5. Retrieved 16 July 2024 – via Delpher.
- ^ 52.0 52.1 "Telecuraçao – Zaterdag" [Telecuraçao – Saturday]. Amigoe (in Nederlands). Willemstad, Curaçao. 12 April 1979. p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2024 – via Delpher.
External links
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