United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968
- Bill Martin
- Phil Coulter
◄1967 • | 1968 | • 1969► |
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1968.
Before Eurovision
Artist selection
Cilla Black had been the BBC's first choice to sing the 1968 UK entry, but she had turned it down as she did not believe any nation was likely to win back-to-back contests. As in 1967 when the UK won with Sandie Shaw, a current pop singer, Cliff Richard, was chosen to sing the song.
A Song for Europe 1968
The show was held on 5 March 1968 and presented by Cilla Black as a special edition of her debut BBC1 TV series 'Cilla'. Unlike the last three UK selections, the songs were not presented at all before the final. Instead, for the first time, the songs were broadcast twice in the final, with the performances repeated immediately after Richard had sung them successively. Viewers cast votes by postcard via mail to choose the winner and 171,300 chose Congratulations, a catchy party song, with the runner up over 140,000 behind in the poll. The result was broadcast one week later on 12 March 1968. The votes presented below were only announced rounded up.
Draw | Song | Votes | Place |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Wonderful World" | 19,990 | 3 |
2 | "Do You Remember?" | 4,200 | 6 |
3 | "High 'n' Dry" | 30,500 | 2 |
4 | "The Sound of the Candyman's Trumpet" | 11,200 | 4 |
5 | "Congratulations" | 171,300 | 1 |
6 | "Little Rag Doll" | 10,400 | 5 |
Chart success
Richard released all six short listed songs on an Extended Play maxi single titled Congratulations: Cliff sings 6 Songs for Europe, with the winner and the runner up being released on a standard single that spent two weeks at No.1 in the UK Singles Chart. This was the first of only two tracks from the Eurovision Song Contest that topped the UK chart without winning the competition. Cliff recorded French, German, Italian and Spanish versions of the winning song, as well as a German version of Wonderful World, which was also recorded (in English) by Elvis Presley.
At Eurovision
"Congratulations" won the national and went on to come a close second in the contest, losing only to Spain by one point.
As the contest was held in the UK, the BBC opted not to send a television commentator, instead Katie Boyle introduced each act from the stage. However Pete Murray provided commentary for BBC Radio 1. Michael Aspel served as the spokesperson for the U.K jury.
Voting
|
|
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest
In 2005, "Congratulations" was one of fourteen songs chosen by Eurovision fans and an EBU reference group to participate in the Congratulations anniversary competition. It was one of two British entries to appear in the main competition (along with "Save Your Kisses for Me"). The song was drawn to perform first, preceding "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan.
At the end of the first round, "Congratulations" was not among the five songs proceeding to the final round. It was later revealed that "Congratulations" finished eighth with 105 points.[3]
Voting
Score | Country |
---|---|
12 points | |
10 points | |
8 points | |
7 points | |
6 points | Denmark |
5 points | |
4 points | |
3 points | |
2 points | |
1 point |
References
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 444–453. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of London 1968". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Congratulations: Results from the voting (Round 1)" (PDF). Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 20 May 2006. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- v
- t
- e
- 1957
- 1959
- 1960
- 1961
- 1962
- 1963
- 1964
- 1965
- 1966
- 1967
- 1968
- 1969
- 1970
- 1971
- 1972
- 1973
- 1974
- 1975
- 1976
- 1977
- 1978
- 1979
- 1980
- 1981
- 1982
- 1983
- 1984
- 1985
- 1986
- 1987
- 1988
- 1989
- 1990
- 1991
- 1992
- 1993
- 1994
- 1995
- 1996
- 1997
- 1998
- 1999
- 2000
- 2001
- 2002
- 2003
- 2004
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
2020- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024
- Andy Abraham
- Olly Alexander
- The Allisons
- Michael Ball
- Bardo
- Belle and the Devotions
- Black Lace
- Blue
- Patricia Bredin
- Brotherhood of Man
- Bucks Fizz
- Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson
- Ronnie Carroll
- Co-Co
- Josh Dubovie
- Electro Velvet
- Emma
- Jade Ewen
- Scott Fitzgerald
- James Fox
- Nicki French
- Jessica Garlick
- Gina G
- Mary Hopkin
- Engelbert Humperdinck
- Imaani
- Samantha Janus
- Javine
- Jemini
- Joe and Jake
- Bryan Johnson
- Lucie Jones
- Katrina and the Waves
- Kathy Kirby
- Lindsay
- Live Report
- Love City Groove
- Lulu
- Kenneth McKellar
- Molly
- Matt Monro
- Mike Moran
- Mae Muller
- The New Seekers
- James Newman
- Olivia Newton-John
- Lynsey de Paul
- Precious
- Prima Donna
- Michael Rice
- Cliff Richard
- Rikki
- Clodagh Rodgers
- Frances Ruffelle
- Ryder
- Sam Ryder
- Daz Sampson
- Scooch
- The Shadows
- Sandie Shaw
- Sonia
- SuRie
- Sweet Dreams
- Bonnie Tyler
- Vikki
- "All"
- "Are You Sure?"
- "The Bad Old Days"
- "Beg, Steal or Borrow"
- "Believe in Me"
- "Better the Devil You Know"
- "Bigger than Us"
- "Boom Bang-a-Bang"
- "Children of the Universe"
- "Come Back"
- "Congratulations"
- "Cry Baby"
- "Dizzy"
- "Don't Play That Song Again"
- "Embers"
- "Even If"
- "Flying the Flag (For You)"
- "Give a Little Love Back to the World"
- "Go"
- "Hold On to Our Love"
- "I Belong"
- "I Can"
- "I Love the Little Things"
- "I Wrote a Song"
- "I'm Never Giving Up"
- "It's My Time"
- "Jack in the Box"
- "Knock, Knock Who's There?"
- "Let Me Be the One"
- "Long Live Love"
- "Looking High, High, High"
- "Love City Groove"
- "Love Enough for Two"
- "Love Games"
- "Love Is..."
- "Love Shine a Light"
- "Love Will Set You Free"
- "Making Your Mind Up"
- "A Man Without Love"
- "Mary Ann"
- "A Message to Your Heart"
"My Last Breath"- "Never Give Up on You"
- "No Dream Impossible"
- "One Step Further"
- "One Step Out of Time"
- "Only the Light"
- "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit"
- "Power to All Our Friends"
- "Puppet on a String"
- "Ring-A-Ding Girl"
- "Rock Bottom"
- "Runner in the Night"
- "Save Your Kisses for Me"
- "Say It Again"
- "Say Wonderful Things"
- "Sing, Little Birdie"
- "Space Man"
- "Still in Love with You"
- "Storm"
- "Teenage Life"
- "That Sounds Good to Me"
- "Touch My Fire"
- "We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)"
- "Where Are You?"
- "Why Do I Always Get It Wrong"
- "You're Not Alone"
- Note: Entries scored out signify where the United Kingdom did not compete