| In the 1970s a fire at the
Danmarks Radio studios apparently destroyed the only visual copy the
1964 contest. As a consequence, this Eurovision, like that of 1956,
exists only in audio form. If the soundtrack is anything to go by, it
looks like the loss fell to the right year as it must be said that
1964's contest was a bit on the boring side. This might perhaps be best
summed up by the choice of Matt Monro as the UK entry, yet perversely
his was one of the more up-beat and entertaining songs of the night.
Most, though, were genteel ballads, all much of a muchness, some almost
identical, and very few of any real merit. Bucking this trend were the
Netherlands and Germany. Holland gave us an energetic piece of early
'60s fun, with luxurious string stabs and a sexy swaying verse. It only
scored two points. Meanwhile Germany delivered a frantic dance number,
performed by the fantastically named Nora Nova, and incorporating a
racy burlesque finalé. Europe hated it: nul points. Portugal's debut in the contest established the tone of their subsequent entries: a passionate male vocalist and a minor key. Again, nul points. Spain, on the other hand, ditched their passionate men for a passionate woman for their usual rousing, powerful torch-song. The devil has the best tunes and all that. Spain managed to secure a point from winners Italy for their efforts. Italy's song, moody and undeniably beautiful, with some fetching bass-kicks and a martial chorus, was so overwhelmingly affecting on the night that the ensuing audience applause demanded a second curtain-call for singer Gigliola Cinquetti. The BBC even gave an unscheduled repeat of the number the following afternoon. For each year's songs we apply our points in the 12-10-8 style of the modern contest, irrespective of how the voting functioned at the time. In brackets is the position the song came on the night:
Europe had France in joint-fourth, Austria in sixth, Denmark ninth, Belgium joint-tenth, and Yugoslavia and Switzerland joint-last. |
 Our host, Lotte Wæver.  Our winner, Nora Nova.  The Dutch entry: Anneke Grönloh.  Europe's winner, Gigliola Cinquetti.
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