Eurovision 1967: Rise and Fall | Super-cut with animated scoreboard

An edited down version of the Eurovision Song Contest 1967 from Vienna, with a scoreboard using today’s technology. This all started as a lockdown project!

This edit will give a flavour of the evening (Saturday 8th April, the first non-March hosting since 1956) with the Austrian commentary from Emil Kollpacher.

At the beginning of the 1960s, a Contest hosted in Vienna seemed like a long shot. German songs weren’t translating well to a wider European audience (perhaps for obvious reasons) and it’s probably not just coincidence that Udo Jürgen’s song had a French title. Despite presenter Erica Vaal hoping for a swift return to Vienna perhaps someone at ORF thought it was unlikely, and so they picked the grandest setting possible. Vienna, which was divided similarly to Berlin in the immediate post-war years, was on show and there’s no better venue than an Imperial Palace…used by the Habsburgs, who ruled over varying portions of Europe from about the 1270s to 1918.

London and Vienna had something in common, both were cities of faded imperial greatness but as the points rolled in, it was London that was striking back. London had become the centre of the ‘swinging 60s’, a cultural phenomenon that emphasised modernity and hedonism expressed through fashion, music and art. Sandie Shaw, who previously worked in Ford’s massive Dagenham factory (in this YouTuber’s home county of Essex) became the face of that revolution for a time. She’d had a massive hit in 1964 with ‘(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me’ and another five Top 10 hits followed. Shaw was in a bit of a slower period in her career (the pace was quick in pop at this time) and her elderly manager wanted to reposition her in a more cabaret style: despite Shaw’s protestations that it had a terrible reputation, Eurovision was calling.

1966 was partly an aberration it seems – Eurovision was looking for the heir to France Gall and strangely it came bopping along in a song that once again talked of puppets. There’s a difference between Gall and Shaw though – Gall was unaware of the double-entendre in the lyrics. Shaw was sharply aware of it seems, saying in 1991 that “[she] was instinctively repelled by its sexist drivel and cuckoo-clock tune”. At 20, Shaw was sure of the direction she wanted her career to go in, and Eurovision’s family audience was a sharp change. Despite her evident joy in winning, the clamour for photographs at the end of the show are perhaps a reflection that Sandie Shaw was much bigger than Eurovision.

‘Puppet On A String’ went on to sell many records across Europe, helped by Sandie translating the song into other languages. It didn’t crack America though, the main litmus test for pop coming out of London. For her, she felt it was a disaster, and she (by her own choice) would be waitressing in London by 1973. For Eurovision, it’s empire was on the rise, the Contest was relevant to popular culture for the first time.

Just as translations helped Sandie, ORF helped Europe and (I think) Russians, by providing a vast number of translations during the programme. It was a Contest that didn’t look like it would produce a landslide, but Shaw’s style was aided by the only rule change I have spotted – 50% of the jury had to be under 30?). The voting was a little chaotic, not helped by students apparently operating the board. It seems that they made most of their mistakes once the UK had mathematically won, so perhaps they weren’t as inept as their scoreboard operating made them look!

*DESIGN AND THE BOARD*
I felt this was a fun board to deal with, and I wanted my production to reflect some of the decisions made by the ORF team. As you know the cameras have been having issues with how to film the board, and the readability had come up in a steering meeting (as mentioned by @riva1958allan in his comment under 1965). ORF decided on something wider, two columned for the first time and black and white. You know, there’s no point me cramming a tiny review in when you might as well check out @mrjdsworld’s blog: https://euroscoreboards.wordpress.com/2021/07/03/vienna-1967/ The pictures are great! I went for 5 circles, mainly because I wanted 2 to do something, and then I felt I needed some decoration. The main build challenges were the left and right alignment switch when a country crossed to another column. I’m aware this wouldn’t really pass modern readability standards, just like that wide shot of the actual board! I know most of you watch on mobile, so I’ll aim to bump up the text on the next one!
*TRANSFER NEWS* (source: Wiki)
OUT: DEN. For the first time the Contest opens with fewer competitors than before.

*INTERVAL ACT*
The Vienna Boys’ Choir, which has a history going back to 1498.

*CREDITS*
Original video from @SvenskTV
Portugal: @Eurovision Portugal
Flags: countryflags.com

00:00 Intro
05:16 Song super-cut
24:27 Interval
26:48 Voting intro
27:51 The reorder board 67
49:48 Recap, data & reprise

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