The Eurovision Song Contest 1975 was the 20th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 22 March 1975 at the in Stockholm, Sweden, and presented by Karin Falck. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (SR), who staged the event after winning the for with the song "Waterloo" by ABBA.
Broadcasters from nineteen countries were represented at the contesta new record number of participants. made its first entry in the contest, and and returned after a one- and two-year absence, respectively. , after participating for the first time in the previous year's event, opted not to participate in 1975, due to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.
The winner was the with the song "Ding-a-dong", composed by Dick Bakker, written by and Eddy Ouwens, and performed by the group Teach-In. This was the Netherlands' fourth contest victory, matching the record number of contest wins previously set by France and . Having been the opening song of the contest, it was also the first time that a country had won from first position in the running order. The , , , and rounded out the top five, with the United Kingdom achieving a record-extending ninth second-place finish.
A new voting system was introduced at this contest; each country gave 12 points to its favourite, 10 points to its second favourite, and then 8 points to 1 point to other countries in descending order of preference. This numerical order of awarded points has since been used in every subsequent edition of the contest.
Location
thumb|250px|left|, Stockholm – host venue of the 1975 contest
The 1975 contest took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Waterloo" performed by ABBA. It was the first time that Sweden had hosted the event.
The Swedish broadcaster (SR) had initially been reluctant to stage the event, mainly due to the high costs that came with it which would have been placed on the organisation. There had also been considerable pressure and disquiet from left-wing groups in the country that initially opposed the amount of money being spent by the public broadcaster on a commercial event, which subsequently developed into a wider protest against the general commercialisation of music in Sweden; this led to street protests and a counter-festival, (), being held during the week of Eurovision 1975.
SR had attempted to negotiate with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and other participating broadcasters to enact a form of cost-sharing to fund the event, however a solution failed to materialise prior to the contest and SR was ultimately faced with funding the contest alone. These discussions, however, did eventually lead to the introduction of a new financing system for and future events, with the running costs of the event being split across all participating countries. Broadcasters in , which participated for the first time in , and , last seen in the contest in 1972, had also considered participating in the contest, however no entries from these countries were ultimately submitted;
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sticky-header"
|-
|+ Eurovision Song Contest 1975 participants
|-
! scope="col" | Country
! scope="col" | Broadcaster
! scope="col" | Artist
! scope="col" | Song
! scope="col" | Language
! scope="col" | Songwriter(s)
! scope="col" | Conductor
|-
! scope="row" |
| BRT
| Ann Christy
| ""
| Dutch, English
|
| Francis Bay
|-
! scope="row" |
| YLE
|
| "Old Man Fiddle"
| English
|
| Ossi Runne
|-
! scope="row" |
| TF1
| Nicole
| ""
| French
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| HR
| Joy Fleming
| ""
| German, English
|
| Rainer Pietsch
|-
! scope="row" |
| RTÉ
| The Swarbriggs
| "That's What Friends Are For"
| English
|
| Colman Pearce
|-
! scope="row" |
| IBA
| Shlomo Artzi
| "" <small>()</small>
| Hebrew
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| RAI
| Wess and Dori Ghezzi
| ""
| Italian
|
| Natale Massara
|-
! scope="row" |
| CLT
| Géraldine
| ""
| French
|
| Phil Coulter
|-
! scope="row" |
| MBA
| Renato
| "Singing This Song"
| English
|
| Vince Tempera
|-
! scope="row" |
| TMC
| Sophie
| ""
| French
|
| André Popp
|-
! scope="row" |
| NOS
| Teach-In
| "Ding-a-dong"
| English
|
| Harry van Hoof
|-
! scope="row" |
| NRK
| Ellen Nikolaysen
| "Touch My Life with Summer"
| English
|
| Carsten Klouman
|-
! scope="row" |
| RTP
| Duarte Mendes
| ""
| Portuguese
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| TVE
| Sergio and Estíbaliz
| ""
| Spanish
| Juan Carlos Calderón
| Juan Carlos Calderón
|-
! scope="row" |
| SR
| Lars Berghagen
| "Jennie, Jennie"
| English
| Lars Berghagen
| Lars Samuelson
|-
! scope="row" |
| SRG SSR
| Simone Drexel
| "Mikado"
| German
| Simone Drexel
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| TRT
| Semiha Yankı
| ""
| Turkish
|
| Timur Selçuk
|-
! scope="row" |
| BBC
| The Shadows
| "Let Me Be the One"
| English
| Paul Curtis
| Alyn Ainsworth
|-
! scope="row" |
| JRT
|
| ""
| Slovene
|
|
|}
Production and format
The Eurovision Song Contest 1975 was produced by SR.
Each participating broadcaster submitted one song, which was required to be no longer than three minutes in duration. As in 1973 and 1974, artists were able to perform in any language, and not necessarily that of the country their represented. A maximum of six performers were allowed on stage during each country's performance. Each entry could utilise all or part of the live orchestra and could use instrumental-only backing tracks, however any backing tracks used could only include the sound of instruments featured on stage being mimed by the performers.
Rehearsals in the contest venue for the competing entries began on 19 March 1975, with each participating act having a 50-minute slot on stage to perform through its entry with the orchestra. The first full rehearsals for all entries were held over two days on 19 and 20 March and conducted without stage costumes. A second round of rehearsals, this time in full costume, was held for all acts on 21 March, with each country given 20 minutes on stage. This was followed that evening with a general dress rehearsal, including a dummy voting process. Technical rehearsals and a final dress rehearsal were held on the morning of 22 March. During the dress rehearsals some of the artists performed their songs in different languages to that which they would be presented during the live broadcast; specifically, the Yugoslav and Portuguese acts performed their entries in English in the dress rehearsal, and then in Slovene and Portuguese in the final, respectively. The Dutch entrants were given an additional rehearsal shortly before the live transmission; this was requested by Dick Bakker, the composer of the Dutch song. Bakker felt that during the general rehearsals the sound quality was noticeably poorer during their entry, the first to perform each time, and that the sound technicians needed time to fix their equipment, which was generally done during their rehearsal slot.
There was a tight security situation at the venue in the run-up to, and during, the event; Following the confirmation of the 19 participating countries, a draw was held in Geneva on 24 January 1975 to determine the running order (R/O) of the contest.
The contest was opened by a film montage portraying various cultural stereotypes of Sweden and the Swedish people. Each entry was preceded by a video postcard, which served as an introduction to that country's entry and to create a transition between entries to allow stage crew to make changes on stage; the postcards showed each country's entrant backstage painting a portrait of themselves and the flag of their nation onto a blank canvas. The medallions awarded to the winning songwriters were presented by the Secretary-General of the European Broadcasting Union . It was the Netherlands' fourth contest win, following victories in , and ; the Netherlands thus joined and as the countries with the most contest wins at that point. It was additionally the first time that the song which was performed first had gone on to win the contest. Turkey, meanwhile, finished in last place on its debut appearance.
{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders sticky-header"
|-
|+ Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1975
|-
! scope="col" |
! scope="col" | Country
! scope="col" | Artist
! scope="col" | Song
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Points
! scope="col" | Place
|- style="font-weight:bold; background:gold;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1
|
| Teach-In
| "Ding-a-dong"
| 152
| 1
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2
|
|
| "That's What Friends Are For"
| 68
| 9
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3
|
| Nicole
| ""
| 91
| 4
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4
|
|
| ""
| 15
| 17
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5
|
| Géraldine
| ""
| 84
| 5
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6
|
|
| "Touch My Life with Summer"
| 11
| 18
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 7
|
|
| "Mikado"
| 77
| 6
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 8
|
|
| ""
| 22
| 13
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 9
|
|
| "Let Me Be the One"
| 138
| 2
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 10
|
| Renato
| "Singing This Song"
| 32
| 12
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 11
|
|
| ""
| 17
| 15
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 12
|
|
| ""
| 40
| 11
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 13
|
|
| ""
| 3
| 19
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 14
|
| Sophie
| ""
| 22
| 13
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 15
|
|
| "Old Man Fiddle"
| 74
| 7
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 16
|
|
| ""
| 16
| 16
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 17
|
| Sergio and Estíbaliz
| ""
| 53
| 10
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 18
|
|
| "Jennie, Jennie"
| 72
| 8
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 19
|
| Wess and Dori Ghezzi
| ""
| 115
| 3
|}
Spokespersons
Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson, connected to the contest venue via telephone lines and responsible for announcing, in English or French, the votes for its respective country. Known spokespersons at the 1975 contest are listed below.
- Kaarina Pönniö
- José María Íñigo
- Sven Lindahl
- Ray Moore
Detailed voting results<span class="anchor" id="Scoreboard"></span>
<!-- Anchor in the header is the old section name -->
Jury voting was used to determine the points awarded by all countries. The announcement of the results from each country was conducted in the order in which they performed, with the spokespersons announcing their country's points in English or French in performance order.
|-
! colspan="2" |
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
! scope="col"
|- style="background:gold;"
! rowspan="19"
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background:gold;" | Netherlands
| style="text-align:right; font-weight:bold;" | 152 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || 8 || 5 || 8 || 10 || 12 || 6 || 8 || 12 || 12 || 3 || 12 || 4 || 10 || 10 || 7 || 12 || 12 || 1
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Ireland
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 68 || 6 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || 6 || || || 4 || 7 || 1 || 6 || 4 || 12 || || || || 1 || 4 || 3 || 10 || 4
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | France
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 91 || 8 || 12 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || || || || 3 || || 8 || 7 || 2 || 7 || 1 || 7 || || 12 || 8 || 8 || 8
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Germany
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 15 || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || 8 || || || || || 3 || || || || || || || 4 || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Luxembourg
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 84 || 12 || 10 || 3 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || || || 7 || 3 || 5 || || 6 || 5 || || 5 || 8 || 6 || 4 || 10
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Norway
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 11 || 2 || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || || || || || || || || 2 || || || || || 7
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Switzerland
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 77 || 7 || 2 || 10 || 6 || 2 || 1 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || || 5 || 6 || 8 || || 7 || 5 || 4 || 2 || || || 12
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Yugoslavia
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 22 || 3 || 4 || || 2 || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || || || 5 || || || || || 1 || || 7 ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | United Kingdom
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 138 || 4 || 3 || 12 || 10 || 12 || 7 || 8 || 12 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || 8 || 10 || 10 || || 12 || 7 || 5 || 10 || 5 || 3
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Malta
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 32 || 1 || || 8 || || 5 || 2 || 4 || 2 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || 7 || 1 || 2 || || || || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Belgium
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 17 || 5 || || || 7 || || || || 3 || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || || || || || || || 2 ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Israel
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 40 || 10 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 1 || 5 || 2 || || 1 || || 1 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || 6 || || 3 || || || 6 || 2
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Turkey
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 3 || || || || || || || || || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || 3 || || || || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Monaco
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 22 || || || || 3 || 4 || || || || 2 || 1 || || 2 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || 2 || 3 || || || 5
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Finland
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 74 || || 5 || || 12 || 6 || 10 || 12 || 5 || 4 || || || 8 || || 8 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || || 1 || 3 ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Portugal
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 16 || || || 2 || || || || || || || || || || 12 || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || 2 || ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Spain
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 53 || || 7 || || 5 || || 3 || 5 || 4 || || || 4 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 8 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| || || 6
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Sweden
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 72 || || || 7 || || 7 || 8 || 1 || 6 || 7 || 2 || || 3 || 8 || 6 || 6 || 6 || 5 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"| ||
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Italy
| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 115 || || 6 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 6 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 10 || 6 || 5 || 10 || 1 || 12 || 10 || 7 || 1 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;"|
|}
12 points
The below table summarises how the maximum 12 points were awarded from one country to another. The winning country is shown in bold. The Netherlands received the maximum score of 12 points from six of the voting countries, with the UK receiving four sets of 12 points, Finland and France each receiving two sets of maximum scores, and Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland receiving one maximum score each. The contest was reported to have had a possible maximum audience of over 700 million people.
A planned broadcast in Chile by its public broadcaster was prevented by SR, following pressure from the Swedish Musicians' Union in opposition to the Chilean military dictatorship. Rolf Rembe, spokesman for the union, said that broadcasting the festival to Chile "would give the impression that relations between Chile and world artists are normal".
Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sticky-header"
|-
|+ Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
|-
! scope="col" | Country
! scope="col" | Broadcaster
! scope="col" | Channel(s)
! scope="col" | Commentator(s)
! scope="col" |
|-
! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="3" |
| BRT
| BRT, BRT 1
| and Robrecht Willaert
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
| rowspan="2" | RTB
| RTB
| Paule Herreman
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" |
|-
|
|
|-
! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" | YLE
| TV1
|
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" |
|-
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |
| colspan="2" | TF1
| Georges de Caunes
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" | RTÉ
| RTÉ
| Mike Murphy
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
| RTÉ Radio
| Liam Devally
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| IBA
| Israeli Television
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| RAI
| ,
| Silvio Noto
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| CLT
|
|
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| MBA
| TVM, Radio Malta
| Norman Hamilton
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| NOS
|
| Willem Duys
| style="text-align:center" |
|-
! scope="row" |
| NRK
| , NRK