The show was held on 24 February 1973 and presented by Cilla Black as part of her BBC1 series Cilla. Cliff Richard performed all of the six finalists in the final, where the performances were then immediately repeated. He had previously performed one of the songs weekly in the run up to the final. Richard had been permitted to choose two songs for the shortlist of 12 entries, from which a panel including his manager and producer selected the final six. Viewers cast votes by postcards through the mail to choose the winning song and "Power to All Our Friends" was the winner with 125,505 votes, very nearly four times the score of the runner-up "Come Back Billie-Jo" which polled 34,209.
Both of the Top 2 songs were released as the A & B-Sides of a single, which reached No.4 in the UK singles chart, Cliff's first top 5 hit since "Congratulations" in 1968 and his last until 1979. For the first and only time in the history of the contest, all the entries from the UK final reached the UK singles chart. Following the release of the top two songs, the remaining four were issued as an extended play Eurovision Special single, which reached No.29 in the charts later in the year. The lead track, "Help It Along" was later released as the title track of Cliff's 1974 live album of Christian gospel music. All six songs were eventually made available on CD compilations. Richard recorded German, Spanish and French versions of the winning song. Eurovision Song Contest 1971 winner Séverine reached No.46 in the French singles chart with her French-language version of the song, "Il faut chanter la vie".
At Eurovisionedit
"Power to All Our Friends" placed 3rd in the Eurovision Song Contest.[2] The 1973 contest became the most watched Eurovision Song Contest in the UK, with 23.54 million watching Cliff Richard perform in Luxembourg, almost 1 million more viewers than the record set in 1972. For the second year running, the contest was the No.1 rated TV show for the entire year in the UK.[3]
This was also the first Eurovision Song Contest where Terry Wogan provided the BBC television commentary, having previously provided the BBC radio commentary for the 1971 Contest. Pete Murray returned for the fourth time to provide the radio commentary for BBC Radio 1 and 2 listeners.
Each country nominated two jury members, one below the age of 25 and the other above, who voted for their respective country by giving between one and five points to each song, except that representing their own country. All jury members were colocated in a television studio in Luxembourg. The jury members from the United Kingdom were Catherine Woodfield and Pat Williams.[4]
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 99–112. ISBN978-1-84583-093-9.
^"Final of Luxembourg 1973". Eurovision Song Contest. from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
^"Classic TV - Old UK TV Show Ratings - 70s| FiftiesWeb".
^Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. pp. 60, 124. ISBN978-1-84583-093-9.
^ ab"Results of the Final of Luxembourg 1973". European Broadcasting Union. from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
January 18, 2024
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 Eurovision Song Contest 1973Country United KingdomNational selectionSelection processArtist Internal selectionSong A Song for Europe 1973Selection date s 24 February 1973Selected entrantCliff RichardSelected song Power to All Our Friends Selected songwriter s Guy FletcherDoug FlettFinals performanceFinal result3rd 123 pointsUnited Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 1973 1974 Contents 1 Before Eurovision 1 1 A Song for Europe 1973 1 2 Chart success 2 At Eurovision 2 1 Voting 3 ReferencesBefore Eurovision editA Song for Europe 1973 edit The show was held on 24 February 1973 and presented by Cilla Black as part of her BBC1 series Cilla Cliff Richard performed all of the six finalists in the final where the performances were then immediately repeated He had previously performed one of the songs weekly in the run up to the final Richard had been permitted to choose two songs for the shortlist of 12 entries from which a panel including his manager and producer selected the final six Viewers cast votes by postcards through the mail to choose the winning song and Power to All Our Friends was the winner with 125 505 votes very nearly four times the score of the runner up Come Back Billie Jo which polled 34 209 A Song for Europe 1973 24 February 1973 1 Draw Song Songwriter s Votes Place1 Come Back Billie Jo Mitch Murray Tony Macaulay 34 209 22 Ashes to Ashes Tony Cole 17 116 63 Tomorrow Rising Mike Hawker Brian Bennett 21 868 44 The Days of Love Dougie Wright Alan Hawkshaw 18 304 55 Power to All Our Friends Guy Fletcher Doug Flett 125 505 16 Help It Along Christopher Neil 25 369 3Chart success edit Both of the Top 2 songs were released as the A amp B Sides of a single which reached No 4 in the UK singles chart Cliff s first top 5 hit since Congratulations in 1968 and his last until 1979 For the first and only time in the history of the contest all the entries from the UK final reached the UK singles chart Following the release of the top two songs the remaining four were issued as an extended play Eurovision Special single which reached No 29 in the charts later in the year The lead track Help It Along was later released as the title track of Cliff s 1974 live album of Christian gospel music All six songs were eventually made available on CD compilations Richard recorded German Spanish and French versions of the winning song Eurovision Song Contest 1971 winner Severine reached No 46 in the French singles chart with her French language version of the song Il faut chanter la vie At Eurovision edit Power to All Our Friends placed 3rd in the Eurovision Song Contest 2 The 1973 contest became the most watched Eurovision Song Contest in the UK with 23 54 million watching Cliff Richard perform in Luxembourg almost 1 million more viewers than the record set in 1972 For the second year running the contest was the No 1 rated TV show for the entire year in the UK 3 This was also the first Eurovision Song Contest where Terry Wogan provided the BBC television commentary having previously provided the BBC radio commentary for the 1971 Contest Pete Murray returned for the fourth time to provide the radio commentary for BBC Radio 1 and 2 listeners Each country nominated two jury members one below the age of 25 and the other above who voted for their respective country by giving between one and five points to each song except that representing their own country All jury members were colocated in a television studio in Luxembourg The jury members from the United Kingdom were Catherine Woodfield and Pat Williams 4 Voting edit Points awarded to the United Kingdom 5 Score Country10 points nbsp Luxembourg nbsp Netherlands9 points nbsp Finland nbsp Ireland nbsp Israel nbsp Sweden8 points nbsp France nbsp Monaco nbsp Switzerland nbsp Yugoslavia7 points nbsp Germany nbsp Norway6 points nbsp Belgium nbsp Portugal5 points nbsp Italy4 points nbsp Spain3 points2 points Points awarded by the United Kingdom 5 Score Country10 points nbsp Luxembourg9 points nbsp Finland nbsp Monaco8 points7 points nbsp Sweden nbsp Switzerland6 points5 points nbsp Belgium nbsp France nbsp Germany nbsp Ireland nbsp Israel nbsp Italy nbsp Portugal4 points nbsp Spain nbsp Yugoslavia3 points nbsp Netherlands nbsp Norway2 pointsReferences edit Roxburgh Gordon 2014 Songs for Europe The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest Volume Two The 1970s Prestatyn Telos Publishing pp 99 112 ISBN 978 1 84583 093 9 Final of Luxembourg 1973 Eurovision Song Contest Archived from the original on 9 April 2021 Retrieved 9 April 2021 Classic TV Old UK TV Show Ratings 70s FiftiesWeb Roxburgh Gordon 2014 Songs for Europe The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest Volume Two The 1970s Prestatyn United Kingdom Telos Publishing pp 60 124 ISBN 978 1 84583 093 9 a b Results of the Final of Luxembourg 1973 European Broadcasting Union Archived from the original on 9 April 2021 Retrieved 9 April 2021 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1973 amp oldid 1193789346, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
