Eurovision Song Contest 1979
Dates
Final31 March 1979
Host
VenueInternational Convention Center
Jerusalem, Israel
Presenter(s)
Musical directorIzhak Graziani
Directed byYossi Zemach
Executive supervisorFrank Naef
Executive producerAlex Gilady
Host broadcasterIsraeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/jerusalem-1979
Participants
Number of entries19
Debuting countriesNone
Returning countriesNone
Non-returning countries Turkey
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of Europe
         Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1979
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Winning song Israel
"Hallelujah"

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 Israeli 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.

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, who had missed the 1977 and 1978 contest, also did not want to take part nor transmit the show this year for political reasons, despite a poll held earlier in which almost 100,000 people declared that they wanted Yugoslavia to return to the contest.[2]

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

International Convention Center, Jerusalem – host venue of the 1979 contest.

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.[3]

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

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.[4]

Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 1979[5][6][7][8]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) Conductor
 Austria ORF Christina Simon "Heute in Jerusalem" German Richard Oesterreicher
 Belgium BRT Micha Marah "Hey Nana" Dutch
  • Guy Beyers
  • Charles Dumolin
 Francis Bay
 Denmark DR Tommy Seebach "Disco Tango" Danish Allan Botschinsky
 Finland YLE Katri Helena "Katson sineen taivaan" Finnish Ossi Runne
 France TF1 Anne-Marie David "Je suis l'enfant soleil" French Guy Mattéoni
 Germany BR[lower-alpha 1] Dschinghis Khan "Dschinghis Khan" German Norbert Daum
 Greece ERT Elpida "Socrates" (Σωκράτη) Greek
Lefteris Halkiadakis
 Ireland RTÉ Cathal Dunne "Happy Man" English Cathal Dunne Proinnsías Ó Duinn
 Israel IBA Milk and Honey "Hallelujah" (הללויה) Hebrew
Kobi Oshrat
 Italy RAI Matia Bazar "Raggio di luna" Italian No conductor
 Luxembourg CLT Jeane Manson "J'ai déjà vu ça dans tes yeux" French Jean Renard Hervé Roy
 Monaco TMC Laurent Vaguener "Notre vie c'est la musique" French Gérard Salesses
 Netherlands NOS Xandra "Colorado" Dutch Harry van Hoof
 Norway NRK Anita Skorgan "Oliver" Norwegian Sigurd Jansen
 Portugal RTP Manuela Bravo "Sobe, sobe, balão sobe" Portuguese Carlos Nóbrega e Sousa Thilo Krasmann
 Spain TVE Betty Missiego "Su canción" Spanish Fernando Moreno José Luis Navarro
 Sweden SR Ted Gärdestad "Satellit" Swedish Lars Samuelson
  Switzerland SRG SSR Peter, Sue and Marc, Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri "Trödler und Co." German Peter Reber Rolf Zuckowski
 United Kingdom BBC Black Lace "Mary Ann" English Peter Morris Ken Jones

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)
Yardena Arazi (as presenter)  Israel 1976 (as part of Chocolate, Menta, Mastik)
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.[10]

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 danced to a medley of Israeli Folk Dances. The performance was directed by the ensemble's manager and choreographer Gavri Levy.

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1979[11]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1  Portugal Manuela Bravo "Sobe, sobe, balão sobe" 64 9
2  Italy Matia Bazar "Raggio di luna" 27 15
3  Denmark Tommy Seebach "Disco Tango" 76 6
4  Ireland Cathal Dunne "Happy Man" 80 5
5  Finland Katri Helena "Katson sineen taivaan" 38 14
6  Monaco Laurent Vaguener "Notre vie c'est la musique" 12 16
7  Greece Elpida "Socrates" 69 8
8   Switzerland Peter, Sue and Marc, Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri "Trödler und Co." 60 10
9  Germany Dschinghis Khan "Dschinghis Khan" 86 4
10  Israel Milk and Honey "Hallelujah" 125 1
11  France Anne-Marie David "Je suis l'enfant soleil" 106 3
12  Belgium Micha Marah "Hey Nana" 5 18
13  Luxembourg Jeane Manson "J'ai déjà vu ça dans tes yeux" 44 13
14  Netherlands Xandra "Colorado" 51 12
15  Sweden Ted Gärdestad "Satellit" 8 17
16  Norway Anita Skorgan "Oliver" 57 11
17  United Kingdom Black Lace "Mary Ann" 73 7
18  Austria Christina Simon "Heute in Jerusalem" 5 18
19  Spain Betty Missiego "Su canción" 116 2

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.

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.

Detailed voting results[15][16]
Total score
Portugal
Italy
Denmark
Ireland
Finland
Monaco
Greece
Switzerland
Germany
Israel
France
Belgium
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Sweden
Norway
United Kingdom
Austria
Spain
Contestants
 Portugal 6462544105333676
Italy 278838
Denmark 7623121101267481334
Ireland 80555610663107854
Finland 38778556
Monaco 1212432
Greece 691014772104157227
Switzerland 60711022747812
Germany 86211253126124126812
Israel 12512612128451281121212810
France 10661011081056121257653
Belgium 5212
Luxembourg 4473445324210
Netherlands 5181053373444
Sweden 8611
Norway 573386282610711
United Kingdom 7348107712851065
Austria 541
Spain 116123612128812101071510

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.[17]

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.[6]

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria ORF FS1 Ernst Grissemann [18][19]
 Belgium BRT TV1 Unknown [20][21]
RTBF RTBF1 Unknown [20][21][22]
 Denmark DR DR TV Jørgen de Mylius [23]
 Finland YLE TV1, Rinnakkaisohjelma Matti Paalosmaa [24][25]
 France TF1 Marc Menant [22][26]
 Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen Gaby Schnelle and Ado Schlier [18][21][27]
 Greece ERT ERT Mako Georgiadou [28]
 Ireland RTÉ RTÉ 1 Mike Murphy [29][30]
RTÉ Radio Unknown [31]
 Israel IBA Israeli Television Unknown [32]
Army Radio Unknown [33]
 Italy RAI Rete Uno[lower-alpha 2] Rosanna Vaudetti [34]
 Luxembourg CLT RTL Télé-Luxembourg Unknown [22]
RTL Radio Unknown [21]
 Monaco Télé Monte-Carlo Unknown [35]
 Netherlands NOS Nederland 2 Willem Duys [21][36]
 Norway NRK NRK Fjernsynet Egil Teige [37]
NRK Erik Heyerdahl
 Portugal RTP RTP1 Fialho Gouveia [38][39][40]
RDP Programa 1 Unknown
 Spain TVE TVE 1 Miguel de los Santos [41][42]
 Sweden SR TV1 Ulf Elfving [14][24][37]
SR P3 Kent Finell
  Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS[lower-alpha 3] Max Rüeger [18][26][43][44]
TSR Georges Hardy
TSI Unknown
RSI 1 Unknown
 United Kingdom BBC BBC1 John Dunn [6][45]
BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 1 VHF Ray Moore [6][46]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Hong Kong TVB TVB Jade[lower-alpha 4] Regina Hing Yue Tsang and Lee Chi-chung [47]
TVB Pearl[lower-alpha 4] George Lam
 Iceland RÚV Sjónvarpið[lower-alpha 5] Björn Baldursson [48]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD[9]
  2. ↑ Deferred broadcast at 21:50 CET (20:50 UTC)[34]
  3. ↑ Broadcast through a second audio programme on TSR[18]
  4. 1 2 Deferred broadcast on 1 April at 10:30 HKT (02:30 UTC)[47]
  5. ↑ Delayed broadcast on 16 April 1979 at 21:20 WET (21:20 UTC)[48]

References

  1. ↑ "Jerusalem 1979". Eurovision.tv.
  2. ↑ "Milionski žiri čitalaca domaćih TV magazina zahteva: Vratimo najzad Jugoslaviju na Pesmu Evrovizije". yugopapir.com.
  3. ↑ "International Convention Centre - Binyanei Ha'Ooma], WCities Destination Guide". eventseeker.
  4. ↑ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
  5. ↑ "Participants of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 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.
  7. ↑ "1979 – 24th edition". diggiloo.net. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Detailed overview: conductors in 1979". And the conductor is... Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "Alle deutschen ESC-Acts und ihre Titel" [All German ESC acts and their songs]. www.eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  10. ↑ "An interview with Dov Ben David on the preparations for the Eurovision in Jerusalem". Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  12. ↑ 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 Italian). Notizie Musica. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  13. ↑ "Hallelujah: Het goede liedje op de goede plaats op de goede tijd". Leidse Courant (in Dutch). Leiden, Netherlands. 2 April 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  14. 1 2 Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna (in Swedish). Stockholm: Premium Publishing. pp. 140–141. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
  15. ↑ "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1979 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  17. ↑ "The Rules of the Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  18. 1 2 3 4 "Tele-tip heute". Thuner Tagblatt (in German). Thun, Switzerland. 31 March 1979. p. 13. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via e-newspaperarchives.ch.
  19. ↑ Halbhuber, Axel (22 May 2015). "Ein virtueller Disput der ESC-Kommentatoren". Kurier (in German). Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  20. 1 2 "T.V. Programma's". De Voorpost (in Dutch). Aalst, Belgium. 30 March 1979. pp. 34–35. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 "Radio en televisie dit weekend". Limburgs Dagblad (in Dutch). Heerlen, Netherlands. 31 March 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Delpher.
  22. 1 2 3 "Télé hebdo – samedi 31 mars". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 30 March 1979. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  23. ↑ "Programoversigt" (in Danish). LARM.fm. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  24. 1 2 "Radio ja TV". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 31 March 1979. p. 39. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  25. ↑ "Euroviisut". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). 31 March 1979. p. 39. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  26. 1 2 "TV – samedi 31 mars". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 29 March 1979. pp. 14–15. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  27. ↑ Lietzberg, Horst. "Schlager-Quiz mit Spannung". Hörzu (in German). Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  28. ↑ "Eurovision 2020: Giorgos Kapoutzidis -Maria Kozakou ston scholiasmo tou diagonismou gia tin ERT" Eurovision 2020: Γιώργος Καπουτζίδης -Μαρία Κοζάκου στον σχολιασμό του διαγωνισμού για την ΕΡΤ (in Greek). Matrix24. 12 February 2020. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  29. ↑ "Television Today". The Irish Times. 31 March 1979. p. 21. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  30. ↑ "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.
  31. ↑ "Radio Today". The Irish Times. 31 March 1979. p. 21. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  32. ↑ "Shabat – 31.3.79 – Televizia" שבת – 31.3.79 – טלוויזיה. Davar (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv, Israel. 30 March 1979. p. 60. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via National Library of Israel.
  33. ↑ "Shabat – 31.3.79 – Radio" שבת – 31.3.79 – רדיו. Davar (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv, Israel. 30 March 1979. p. 60. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via National Library of Israel.
  34. 1 2 "TV nazionale". Stampa Sera (in Italian). Turin, Italy. 31 March 1979. p. 15. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  35. ↑ "Monaco – Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  36. ↑ "De volgorde van opkomst". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). Rotterdam, Netherlands. 31 March 1979. p. 11. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Delpher.
  37. 1 2 "TV-radio programmene". Oppland Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian). Gjøvik, Norway. 31 March 1979. p. 43. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via National Library of Norway.
  38. ↑ "Televisão – Hoje". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 31 March 1979. p. 17. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Casa Comum.
  39. ↑ "Rádio". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 31 March 1979. p. 22. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Casa Comum.
  40. ↑ "Festival da Eurovisão: "Aleluia", venceu o balão de Israel". Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). 2 April 1979. p. 24. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Casa Comum.
  41. ↑ "Programas de televisión". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona, Spain. 31 March 1979. p. 63. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  42. ↑ HerGar, Paula (28 March 2018). "Todos los comentaristas de la historia de España en Eurovisión (y una única mujer en solitario)" (in Spanish). Los 40. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  43. ↑ "Oggi e domani sul video". Popolo e Libertà (in Italian). Bellinzona, Switzerland. 31 March 1979. p. 11. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via Sistema bibliotecario ticinese.
  44. ↑ "Radio – samedi 31 mars". Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 29 March 1979. p. 73. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  45. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1979 – BBC1". Radio Times. 31 March 1979. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via BBC Genome Project.
  46. ↑ "Eurovision Song Contest 1979 – BBC Radio 2". Radio Times. 31 March 1979. Retrieved 11 January 2023 – via BBC Genome Project.
  47. 1 2 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. Wah Kiu Yat Po (in Traditional Chinese). 31 March 1979. p. 7.4 – via Hong Kong Public Libraries.
  48. 1 2 "Sjónvarp – Mánudagur 16. apríl". Dagblaðið (in Icelandic). Reykjavík, Iceland. 11 April 1979. p. 18. Retrieved 10 January 2023 – via Timarit.is.
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