1961 Eurovision Song Contest
| Eurovision Song Contest 1961 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Dates | |
| Final | 18 March 1961 |
| Host | |
| Venue |
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès Cannes, France |
| Presenter(s) | Jacqueline Joubert |
| Conductor | Franck Pourcel |
| Directed by | Marcel Cravenne |
| Host broadcaster | Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) |
| Interval act | Tessa Beaumont and Max Bozzoni |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 16 |
| Debuting countries | |
| Returning countries | None |
| Withdrawing countries | None |
|
|
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Ten-member juries distributed 10 points among their favourite songs. |
| Nul points | None |
| Winning song |
 Luxembourg"Nous les amoureux" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the sixth Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 18 March 1961 and was the first to take place on a Saturday night, a tradition that has continued into modern times. It was hosted in the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès located in Cannes, France, where it had been staged two years previously. Luxembourg won for its first time with the song "Nous les amoureux" performed in French by Jean-Claude Pascal. As the contest overran its allocated time, and the show was being broadcast live, the winning song's reprise was not shown in the UK.
The event took place in Cannes, France, with the venue being the original building of Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, after France got the right to host this edition of the Eurovision Song Contest for winning its previous 1960 edition with the song "Tom Pillibi" performed by Jacqueline Boyer. Cannes, a city located on the French Riviera, is a busy tourist destination and known worldwide for hosting the annual Cannes Film Festival, with the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès also hosting the Film Festival. The original building was built in 1949 and was located on the boulevard of Promenade de la Croisette, on the present site of the JW Marriott Cannes. It also hosted the 1959 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Jacqueline Joubert presented the show, having already done so two years earlier in 1959. The stage used for the 1961 Contest was notably larger than in previous years and was decorated with flowers. It is noticeable that during the voting, Luxembourg gave the UK 8 points, and Norway also gave Denmark 8 points. It was the largest amount of points given to a country by a single jury since 1958, when Denmark provided France with 9 points. Such a high number of points obtained by a country wouldn't be achieved until 1970, when Ireland would receive 9 points from Belgium.
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