José Guardiola

Basic information

Date:

13 March 1963

Venue:

BBC Television Centre, London, United Kingdom

Broadcaster:

BBC

Presenter(s):

Katie Boyle

About the contest:

France declined to host the contest for the second time in three years, so the same 16 countries as the previous two years travelled to London. Katie Boyle hosted the contest for the second time. The result was the subject of some controversy. Norway weren’t ready when Katie asked them for their votes, and the spokesman had to stop part of the way through to ask for time to sort himself out. When Katie returned to him later, he gave different scores than earlier. This was to the advantage of the Danes and the detriment of Switzerland. This left the Danes as victors and the Swiss in a bad mood! Ronnie Carroll made his second appearance in successive contests.

Extending the voting system used in the 1962 contest, each country had ten jurors who gave each song a score. All the scores were added together and the top five countries were awarded points from five down to one.

Trivia:

The BBC used the new Television Centre to host the event. The audience, Katie Boyle and, very conveniently for her, the scoreboard, were based in one studio while the performers and orchestra were in another.

About the songs:

Ronnie Carroll	UK – Ronnie Carroll – Say Wonderful Things (English) Music/Lyrics: Philip Green/Norman Newell Conductor: Eric Robinson In contrast to his first Eurovision entry the year before, this is a sincere ballad. Slightly dated perhaps, but still not unpleasant to listen to.
Annie Palmen	The Netherlands - Annie Palmen - Een Speeldoos (Dutch) Music/Lyrics: Pieter Goemans/Pieter Goemans Conductor: Dolf Van der Linden One of four songs to score zero, the Dutch were starting to make a habit of either winning or finishing near the bottom. Drawn second, it possibly got lost among the plethora of ballads it was up against.
Heidi Brühl	Germany - Heidi Brühl – Marcel (German) Music/Lyrics: Charly Niessen/Charly Niessen Conductor: Willy Berking The Germans were already showing that they were not afraid to be different and ‘Marcel’ works well. There is a slight circus feel to it but at least they are not stuck in the 1950s.
Carmella Corren	Austria - Carmela Corren - Vielleicht Geschieht Ein Wunder (German) Music/Lyrics: Erwin Halletz/Peter Wehle Conductor: Erwin Halletz There are a few bursts of energy from the orchestra but other than that, this is quite an uneventful, steady ballad.
Anita Thallaug	Norway - Anita Thallaug – Solhverv (Norwegian) Music/Lyrics: Dag Kristoffersen/Dag Kristoffersen Conductor: Øivind Bergh Sporting a very 1960s hair style, Anita has the ‘honour’ of scoring Norway’s first ‘nul points’. She can count herself as little unlucky. She sang this nice ballad very clearly.
Emilio Pericoli	Italy - Emilio Pericoli - Uno Per Tutte (Italian) Music/Lyrics: Tony Renis/Alberto Testa and Giulio Rapetti Conductor: Gigi Ciccherello This is one of the most un-Italian songs they have ever entered, its cabaret style differing wildly from the traditional Italian sound. A brave song to try, but justified with the resulting third place.
Laila Halme	Finland - Laila Halme - Muistojeni Laulu (Finnish) Music/Lyrics: Börje Sundgren/Börje Sundgren Conductor: George de Godzinsky The first and last 30 seconds of Finland’s third entry consists almost exclusively of “la-la-la”. In between, Laila sings a very gentle, inoffensive ballad.
Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann	Denmark - Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann – Dansevise (Danish) Music/Lyrics: Otto Francker/Sejr Volmer-Sørensen Conductor: Kai Mortensen The husband and wife team gave Denmark and Scandinavia their first winner. Jurgen’s guitar arrangement makes the song distinctive from its competitors, managing to be different enough to stand out but not too different to annoy the more conservative jurors.
Vice Vukov	Yugoslavia - Vice Vukov – Brodovi (Serbo-Croat) Music/Lyrics: Mario Nardelli/Mario Nardelli Conductor: Miljenko Prohaska Like their first two entries, this is an international style ballad, but this year, a male represented them for the first time. The arrangement is quite dramatic at times.
Esther Ofarim	Switzerland - Esther Ofarim - T'en Va Pas (French) Music/Lyrics: Géo Voumard/Emile Gardaz Conductor: Eric Robinson The song which finished second (or was it first? We’ll never know) is a lovely ballad. It’s certainly a cut above most of its rivals, supported mainly by piano and strings.
Alain Barrière	France - Alain Barrière - Elle Était Si Jolie (French) Music/Lyrics: Alain Barrière/Alain Barrière Conductor: Franck Pourcel OK, so France had already won twice by now, but this is arguably their best entry yet. A lovely ballad with a piano arrangement adding to its beauty.
José Guardiola	Spain - José Guardiola - Algo Prodigioso (Spanish) Music/Lyrics: Fernando Garcia Morcillo/Camillo Murillo Janero Conductor: Rafael Ibarbia Not exactly third time lucky for Spain! ‘Algo Prodigioso’ wants to be a Spanish epic but doesn’t quite manage it.
Monica Zetterlund	Sweden - Monica Zetterlund - En Gång I Stockholm (Swedish) Music/Lyrics: Bobbie Ericsson/Beppe Wolgers Conductor: William Lind Images of a Stockholm jazz club are conjured up listening to this. There were apparently no jazz fans on the juries as this didn’t score.
Jacques Raymond	Belgium - Jacques Raymond – Waarom (Flemish) Music/Lyrics: Hans Flower/Wim Brabants Conductor: Francis Bay This is a ballad in the classic style. It’s neither particularly interesting nor particularly boring.
Françoise Hardy	Monaco - Françoise Hardy - L'amour S'en Va (French) Music/Lyrics: Françoise Hardy/Françoise Hardy Conductor: Raymond Lefévre As with the preceding Belgian song, this is a ballad typical of the day but clearly appealed more to the juries. Depending on your taste, it’s either dull or pure class.
Nana Mouskouri	Luxembourg - Nana Mouskouri - A Force De Prier (French) Music/Lyrics: Raymond Bernard/Pierre Delanoë Conductor: Eric Robinson Greek born star Nana was one of the many foreigners to represent Luxembourg. The principality had sent standard French ballads up to now; this is one of them but is slightly superior.