Singing the praises of the 70's

The 1970's was the decade when Eurovision really took on the character it has today. Let's review..

1970 saw the first ever win by an act from Ireland - a foretaste of things to come, but who knew then that this sweet little convent girl would create a behemoth that might bankrupt a television company?



So Ireland hosts the contest the following year, and we start to see the developmetns of that particular 1970's style with the Uk entry from Clodagh Rogers.



The winners, however, were tiny Monaco with this little ditty.



So it's off to the principality in 1972, where the winner is someone we saw in an earlier post - Vicky Leandros, who wins with a recognisable song we know as "Come What May"



So on to 1973, and Luxembourg win with this little number.



Here's the song that came second...



1974 comes all too quickly, and we go to Brighton for some reason where a little known Swedish group make a surprise hit...



The following year the winner is the song, that rather than Abba, to me epitomises the essence of Eurovision in this period. Enjoy the deep meaningful lyrics sung by Teach-In...



So we're off to Holland in 1976, the wackiest stage set ever, and the second clear win for the UK. If you can, track down the Kernickie version of this number...



So it's back to Blighty in 1977. I had started studying French as an exam subject in this year, so this song was drummed into my head at the time.



Here's a trivia question - what was the first non-European country to win Eurovision? Here's a hint from 1978...



This, by the way, is one of the great misheard lyrics of all time. All together now, "I wanna be a polar bear...."

Finally, in 1979 Israel decided they liked hosting the contest they won again with this ditty to peace.



They would go on to win in future years, but there was a behemoth waiting in the wings - a behemoth that is known now as Mister Eurovision. More on him tomorrow, but in the meantime enjoy THE performance from 1979 - the German entry...