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Today, Malmö was confirmed as the host city for Eurovision 2024, matching the host city after last time Loreen won. Since it’s at the southern tip of Sweden, it’s a convenient location for people in nearby countries like Denmark and Germany.
Introduction
Aside from the victory of Sweden’s ABBA, one of the most famous bands in the history of the world, what else is notable about Eurovision 1974? Quite a few things.
Because Luxembourg declined to host twice in a row, it took place in the city where I was born: Brighton, England. I have not been there since I was a baby. The contest happened to be in the year my father was born. If those coincidences weren’t crazy enough, I was born in a year where Sweden won with an upbeat pop song in swing rhythm and major key too (1999).
This contest is one of only two that France skipped, because their president Georges Pompidou had recently died. This also meant Anne-Marie David, the previous winner, couldn’t give ABBA their prize; the BBC director Charles Curran did so instead. France did have a song ready, and I’ll review it as a bonus. This is far from the only year where a country selected a song but then withdrew. I view those withdrawn songs similarly to the canceled 2020 contest—they’re the “what could have been” of Eurovision history.
Greece made its debut in this contest this year. The country has a reputation for embracing its ethnic music in Eurovision, but not quite as much in recent years. They’ve won the contest only once, in 2005, and their best results after that were three third places.
The voting system returned to each jury distributing ten points between each country, but only for one year. 1975 would bring us a system closer to what we know today. I watched the contest with commentary in German, from the non-participating Austria. Because there was no Austrian jury, the commentator offered for viewers to pick their own favorite via phone. (Also, postcards are back!)
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