The 10th Eurovision Song Contest, held in Naples, is most notable for the first victory by a pop song, the modern, effervescent, self-referential, controversial “Poupée de cire, poupée de son,” written by the provocative Serge Gainsbourg and sung by 17-year-old France Gall, a French yé-yé singer representing Luxembourg.
The first non-ballad winner since 1959 sold 16,000 copies in France the day after the contest, and half a million a few months later, reaching #1 in France, Norway, and Canada and peaking high on the charts across Western Europe and as far away as Japan. It has been recorded in 20 languages and covered innumerable times, including by Arcade Fire.
Over the years since, however, Gall came to disassociate herself from it, due to her discomfort with the (albeit clever) lyrics and Gainsbourg’s exploitation of her.
Back to 1965: Ireland’s debut brought the number of entries to 18, the highest yet at the time. The contest — reportedly also broadcast in the Eastern Bloc, including the USSR — was hosted by singer-actress Renata Mauro, who spoke in Italian, French, and English. Conductors were introduced and took their bows before the singers’ names were announced.
There was a very large RAI orchestra occupying the stage, in contrast to the single microphone that almost every contestant sang at, save Austria’s Udo Jürgens, who played the piano. (This was his second Eurovision appearance, and of course he would win the following year.) Only Italy’s Bobby Solo had any backup singers, and there was no staging or choreography to speak of (except perhaps Spain’s flamenco movements), nor unique features on the stage other than the contest’s logo.
The camerawork favored tight closeups for the most part. Shots of the audience in the auditorium revealed the usual (for the time) older crowd, formally dressed and applauding politely between songs. All of this combined to produce a generally static visual presentation, with little movement visible and a mostly unchanging background.
Most of the women, including Mauro, wore the sleeveless style of the era, with short hair characteristic of the early ’60s, though a few had long sleeves, some with sparkles. Most of the men were dressed formally, in black tie, although Solo wore a suit, and the Finn Viktor Klimenko’s jacket sparkled somewhat (he also resembled Abraham Lincoln, boasting the only facial hair of the evening).
Just over half the songs were ballads; others were peppy. But most were throwbacks, even for the time. Only Sweden’s Ingvar Wixell sang not in a national language (English, which led to the language rule starting in 1966); his was also the only operatic entry, other than Mario del Monaco’s two old-style arias during the interval. Some highlights for me were: Netherlands (snappy); Portugal (emotive, nice voice and song); Denmark (art song); Finland (brassy, moody); and Yugoslavia (smooth, romantic).
The scoreboard was terribly designed and hard to read, with black lines moving rightward as the scores were added, like runners or racehorses. Belgium, Germany, Spain, and Finland (sadly) all logged nul points (each for the second time). The audience never reacted until the very deserving winner was announced, whereupon a bright and happy France Gall came back to accept the trophy, along with Gainsbourg. She then reprised her fresh and breathtaking song, which stood out like a supernova among the other entries and has withstood the test of time, ranking among the very best in Eurovision history.
By the way, as the British announcer remarked even back then, the UK came in second, “once again.”
