3 months ago

Date: 25 March 1972 - Host Venue: Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Presenter: Moira Shearer - Musical director: Malcolm Lockyer
Directed by Terry Hughes - Executive supervisor: Clifford Brown
Executive producer: Bill Cotton
Host broadcaster: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Interval act: Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle

The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, and was held at the Usher Hall on Saturday 25 March 1972. The show was hosted by Moira Shearer.

Following Séverine's win for Monaco at the 1971 contest in Dublin, Ireland with the song "Un banc, un arbre, une rue", the principality were unable to meet the demands of hosting the event. Rainier III of Monaco received a letter from the European Broadcasting Union about hosting the 1972 contest in the principality, but he was unable to provide a venue, the props and the remainder of the requirements. The BBC stepped in, and chose to stage the contest in Edinburgh. This was the fourth time the UK played host, after the 1960, 1963, and 1968 editions, however, this is the first (and, so far, only) time that the UK hosted the contest in a venue outside England.

The winner was Luxembourg with the song "Après toi", performed by Vicky Leandros, written by Klaus Munro and Yvess Dessca, and composed by Munro and Mario Panas. Munro also conducted the song at the contest. This was Luxembourg's third victory in the contest, following their wins in 1961, and 1965. Yves Dessca also wrote for "Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue" that won the previous edition, and other than conductors of the winning song, became the second person to win the Contest twice, the first person to win for two different countries and the first person to win two years in a row. Germany finished in third place for the third consecutive year, equalling their highest placement from the previous two editions.

Séverine made the trip to Edinburgh to pass on the 'Grand Prix' to Vicky Leandros. However, she looked thoroughly uninterested in the Monegasque entry when seen by viewers checking her watch before the song was performed.

The 1972 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted by Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. The Usher Hall, the venue for the 1972 contest, is a concert hall, situated on Lothian Road, in the west end of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914 and can hold approximately 2,900 people in its recently restored auditorium, which is well loved by performers due to its acoustics. The Hall is flanked by The Royal Lyceum Theatre on the right and The Traverse Theatre on the left. Historic Scotland has registered the Hall with Category A listed building status.

Each country had two jury members, one aged between 16 and 25 and one aged between 26 and 55. They each awarded 1 to 5 points for each song, other than the song of their own country. They cast their votes immediately after each song was performed and the votes were then collected and counted. For the public voting sequence after the interval act, the jury members were shown on the stage's screen with each lifting a signboard with the number between 1 and 5 for each song, as a visual verification of the scores they had awarded earlier. The eventual winner, Luxembourg, remained in a strong scoring position throughout the voting.

1972 was the first year that had no ties in the voting. Every year prior to 1972, at least two countries had received the same score.

Results:

Draw Country Artist Song Language Place Points
01 Germany Mary Roos "Nur die Liebe läßt uns leben" German 3 107
02 France Betty Mars "Comé-comédie" French 11 81
03 Ireland Sandie Jones "Ceol an Ghrá" Irish 15 72
04 Spain Jaime Morey "Amanece" Spanish 10 83
05 United Kingdom The New Seekers "Beg, Steal or Borrow" English 2 114
06 Norway Grethe Kausland & Benny Borg "Småting" Norwegian 14 73
07 Portugal Carlos Mendes "A festa da vida" Portuguese 7 90
08 Switzerland Véronique Müller "C'est la chanson de mon amour" French 8 88
09 Malta Helen and Joseph "L-imħabba" Maltese 18 48
10 Finland Päivi Paunu & Kim Floor "Muistathan" Finnish 12 78
11 Austria Milestones "Falter im Wind" German 5 100
12 Italy Nicola Di Bari "I giorni dell'arcobaleno" Italian 6 92
13 Yugoslavia Tereza Kesovija "Muzika i ti" (Музика и ти) Serbo-Croatian 9 87
14 Sweden Family Four "Härliga sommardag" Swedish 13 75
15 Monaco Anne-Marie Godart & Peter MacLane "Comme on s'aime" French 16 65
16 Belgium Serge & Christine Ghisoland "À la folie ou pas du tout" French 17 55
17 Luxembourg Vicky Leandros "Après toi" French 1 128
18 Netherlands Sandra & Andres "Als het om de liefde gaat" Dutch 4 106