The mystery of the disappearing Contest. The 1964 Contest is one of two where there is no video footage, despite it being broadcast on TV. Rumours abound as to what happened. One myth that does the rounds is that the tape was destroyed in a fire at the studios of the host broadcaster in the 1970s however the host broadcaster has denied this in recent interviews and has said that the broadcast was never recorded in the first place due to them not having any tape machines at the studio. The fact that not one of the other broadcasters from the countries that participated in the Contest, recorded the entire show is also intriguing. All that remains today is a video recording of the winning song reprieve and a few clips of the opening ceremony and a clip of some of the host presenter’s, welcoming remarks. An audio recording of the Contest does exist.
The 1964 Contest was held in Denmark following their win the previous year in London. The venue was the famous Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen. For an event that prides itself on being non-political, politics did play a part in the 1964 Contest with demands from some participating countries that Spain and Portugal be excluded due to their right-wing dictatorship. These demands were rejected and both Spain and Portugal did participate. Also, in what was the very first of a few stage invasions that we have seen at Eurovision over the years, a protester ran onto the stage just before Belgium performed holding a banner saying, “Boycott Franco & Salazar”. He was quickly removed, and the Contest continued without any further issues.
16 countries participated in the 1964 Contest and the winner was Italy with Gigliola Cinquetti singing “Non ho leta”. At the age of 16, Gigliola was the youngest person to win Eurovision, a record she held until 1986. The winning song won by a wide margin and received three times as many points as the runner up, the United Kingdom. Gigliola returned to the Eurovision stage in 2022 and sang her winning song during the interval act of the Grand Final in Turin.
Portugal made its debut at the 1964 Contest and scored the dreaded nul points making it the first country to get nul points on their debut. They were not alone however as both Germany, Switzerland and Yugoslavia also scored nul points. Sweden did not participate as their singer decided to boycott the Contest due to Spain and Portugal participating. The Netherlands became the first country to send a singer with a non-European background. Anneke Gronloh was of Indonesian descent and finished in 10th place.
So, what happened to the footage? Was it destroyed in a fire or did the Danish broadcaster not having a tape machine despite knowing that they were organising one of the biggest television events of the day. Someone out there must know the answer to the mystery. Has anyone asked the Olsen Brothers?