Eurovision 1970: The Aftermath of 4 Winners
The 1970 Eurovision Song Contest was the crystal anniversary of the annual event, that took place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, following that country’s quarter victory at the 1969 edition in Madrid. It was the second time The Netherlands had hosted the contest. It was hosted in Amsterdam following a ballot between France and The Netherlands after the joint 1969 victory (Spain and the United Kingdom did not participate in the ballot due to having hosted the 2 years prior). It took place on 21 March 1970 at the RAI Theatre, a venue boasting a capacity of 1,750. Imagine having a host venue with such a small capacity these days! This edition saw only 12 participating countries, with Portugal, Austria, and the three Nordic countries boycotting the event, accusing the contest of marginalizing smaller countries and that it had lost its entertainment value (we all know how false that turned out to be!). There were also stories of the boycott arising in protest of there being 4 winners the year before (which seems to be the most reasonable option).
As only 12 countries participated in 1970 (in contrast to 16 the year before), the current format of the contest was born. The show included an opening video presentation filmed in Amsterdam to introduce the host country, with each participating country’s entry being prefaced with a video postcard featuring the artists. The stage consisted of a simple design of curved horizonal bars and silver baubles that we able to be moved into different positions based on the performer. Unlike the infamous “rainbow of death” we experienced in Turin, Amsterdam didn’t “drop the baubles”, and the set performed as advertised.
To avoid the 4-way tie incident of 1969, the “tie rule” was introduced in 1970. Under this rule, if two or more countries were tied for first place, the songs would be performed a second time, with the national juries (excluding those of the tied countries) voting again for the winner. A tie would only be entertained should the second jury vote also be a tie. Thankfully, this didn’t occur at the Amsterdam contest. Drawing conclusions to the most recent 2022 contest, in 1970, the United Kingdom also finished in 2nd place (1972 being the seventh time, 2022 being the sixteenth). The United Kingdom continues to hold the record for the most 2nd place finishes in the contest. In 1970, the current record holder for the most wins at the Eurovision Song Contest – Ireland – won for the first time, with Dana’s All Kinds of Everything taking the top spot.
Overall, the 1970 contest was an uneventful “normal” year for the event, that sprung off the Irish dynasty of 7 Eurovision wins that continues to this day.