Cliff Richard

Finland - Marion Rung - Tom, Tom, Tom (English)

Music/Lyrics: Rauno Lehtinen/Rauno Lehtinen

Conductor: Ossi Runne

Marion sung in English and not only repeated the title several times, there were also more than enough la’s in this lively ditty to get the 18th contest underway.

Belgium - Nicole and Hugo - Baby, Baby (English)

Music/Lyrics: Ignace Baert/Erik Marijsse

Conductor: Francis Bay

An injury to Nicole prevented the duo from singing in the 1971 contest. Looking the height of fashion, their purple flares were to the fore as they kicked their way through this chirpy and entertaining little number.

Music/Lyrics: Fernando Tordo/José Carlos Ary dos Santos

Conductor: Jorge Costa Pinto

Fernando marched on the spot for a lot of his performance. Quite suitable as there is a hint of the military about the Portuguese entry. 

Germany - Gitte - Junger Tag (German)

Music/Lyrics: Gunther-Eric Thőner/Erich Offierowski

Conductor: Gunther-Eric Thőner

After a strong brass intro, things calm down for the first verse and then pick up again to mid-tempo for the chorus. The mid-tempo pace remains until the end.

Norway - The Bendik Singers - It's Just a Game (English/French)

Music/Lyrics: Arne Bendiksen/ Arne Bendiksen

Conductor: Carsten Klouman

Mixing both the harmonies and languages (English and French), it could be a very irritating little ditty. For those who don’t find it irritating, it’s a good sing-a-long which offers a bit of variety without being messy. 

Music/Lyrics: Bernard Liamis/Boris Bergman

Conductor: Jean-Claude Vannier

A very timid looking Marie entered the stage. She had no reason to be timid. Her performance was more than adequate and the song sounded like a contender.

Spain - Mocedades - Eres Tu (Spanish)

Music/Lyrics: Juan Carlos Calderón/ Juan Carlos Calderón

Conductor: Juan Carlos Calderón

This song was a big international hit after the contest in its original language. The whole group performed with belief in what they were doing, contributing well to the visual effect. 

Music/Lyrics: Patrick Juvet/Pierre Delanoë

Conductor: Hervé Roy

Patrick rather arrogantly tells an ex that he is marrying someone else. There is little sympathy for the ex in the performance or the melody. 

Yugoslavia - Zdravko Colic - Gori Vatra (Serbo-Croat)

Music/Lyrics: Kemal Montemo/Kemal Montemo

Conductor: Esad Arnautalic

The whole song is very intense, as was Zdtavko’s performance. As a result, it is very memorable, not a bad thing.

Music/Lyrics: Enrico Polito/Gaetano Savio

Conductor: Enrico Polito

Massimo is not just a singer, he is also an actor and he showed both skills as he performed at the contest for the second time. Chi Sara con Te is less Neapolitan than his song from the 1971 contest, and more like background music in a restaurant.  

Music/Lyrics: Claude Morgan/Vline Buggy

Conductor: Pierre Cao

Luxembourg won for the second time in succession and the fourth time overall. It was thoroughly deserved, a powerful song which never lets the listener s ear to stray to other things. The passage of time has been kind to the song; it has lost none of its appeal. 

Music/Lyrics: Monica Dominique, Carl-Axel Dominique

Conductor: Monica Dominique

The Nova were two men, they had to be given some of the lyrics! The song itself is quite melodic and isn’t too dissimilar to what Simon and Garfunkel were doing at the time. 

Music/Lyrics: Pierre Kartner/Pierre Kartner

Conductor: Harry van Hoof

De Oude Muzikant is a slightly old fashioned song. The use of the accordion and slight um-pa-pa feel to the arrangement conjures up images of the fairground. 

Music/Lyrics: Jack Brierly, George Crosbie/ Jack Brierly, George Crosbie

Conductor: Colman Pearce

The Irish entry didn’t stand out from the crowd, being pleasant, but no more than average fare.

Music/Lyrics: Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett/Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett

Conductor: David MacKay

The BBC persuaded Cliff to return to the contest for a second time. The song the British public chose for him had a soft rock atmosphere to the chorus, and some very silly choreography. 

Music/Lyrics: Paul Koulak/Anne Gregory

Conductor: Jean Claudric

After trying something different in 1972, the French went back to what they did best, the big ballad.

Music/Lyrics: Nurit Hirsh/Ehud Manor

Conductor: Nurit Hirsh

Israel’s debut song is dramatic and powerful, as was Ilanit’s performance. The piano is heard clearly in the arrangement. 

All is going well until the first chorus, where the song takes an unexpected and slightly odd turn. The effect is to make the song sound messy.

Ronnie gives a cheerful performance of Morgen, which is a decent enough song without being inspiring.

Claude made her way through a very gentle and understated ballad. Her voice helps to give the song a nice, haunting quality.

For the sixth year in a row, Austria entered a ballad, and a powerful one at that. Karel sings it like he means it.

Despite being one of three songs sung by a duo this year, Chris does most of the work. In fact, Sophie only joins in during the chorus.

With possibly the best song they had sent to date, Switzerland were ‘looking at the sun’ and reaching for the stars with this classy, strings based ballad. Maybe Gianni’s orange suit put the jurors off.

Generous use of the accordion makes this song more memorable than it otherwise would have been. There is a key change, but the tempo and melody stay the same.

As well as having one of the longest titles in the history of the contest, this is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, as is Claes’ performance. In an era when the singer basically stood behind the microphone and sang, it’s a lively one.

This is a nice mid-tempo song which moves along steadily and contains no surprises. It makes for pleasant listening, though.

La Source is one of the most fondly remembered songs from the 1968 contest. It’s an infinitely superior ballad to Isabelle’s 1962 winner. C’est la vie.

In Cliff Richard, the BBC had persuaded one of the biggest international stars ever to sing in the contest to perform in his own contest. The song (which was a big hit in many countries) was written by the same team who wrote Puppet on a String. It can still be heard at birthday parties over 40 years later. 

No-one could accuse Odd of not being enthusiastic. He sways Tom Jones like and adds to the impact of the song. A fat lot of good it did him!

Pat, father of former world boxing champion Barry McGuigan, continued Ireland’s by now predictable sequence of sending a male singing a ballad. That aside, it’s a decent song and does what it needs to do.

Forty years after it won, La La La is still used as an example of a typical Eurovision song. The verses are calm and the chorus a bit more bouncy.

Norwegian Wencke sung for Germany. It’s lively and Wencke’s face is very expressive throughout.

The use of a traditional guitar gives Jedan Dan an appeal it would otherwise be lacking. The song opens with the chorus, moving into a more melodic verse.