United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969
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| Eurovision Song Contest 1969 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  United Kingdom | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | Artist: Internal selection Song: A Song for Europe 1969 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 22 February 1969 | |||
| Selected entrant | Lulu | |||
| Selected song | "Boom Bang-a-Bang" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
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| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 1st (tie), 18 points | |||
| United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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The United Kingdom held a televised national pre-selection broadcast on BBC1 to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 with Scottish singer Lulu chosen to represent the UK.
Before Eurovision
A Song for Europe 1969
After performing all six songs weekly on her eponymous TV series Lulu, the final was held on 22 February 1969 and presented by Michael Aspel. Of the six finalists, "I Can't Go On Living Without You", was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, before both found songwriting fame. John recorded the track as a demo which later became available on CD. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice also submitted a song called "Try It and See" but this failed to reach the final. They later reworked the track and it became "King Herod's Song" in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Viewers cast votes on postcards via mail to choose the winner. The winning song, announced on 1 March 1969, with 56,476 votes, was "Boom Bang-a-Bang".
| Draw | Song | Votes | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Are You Ready For Love?" | 5,560 | 5 |
| 2 | "March!" | 38,418 | 2 |
| 3 | "Come September" | 11,362 | 3 |
| 4 | "I Can't Go On Living Without You" | 5,087 | 6 |
| 5 | "Boom Bang-a-Bang" | 56,476 | 1 |
| 6 | "Bet Yer" | 8,306 | 4 |
Chart success
"
At Eurovision
The United Kingdom went on to finish in a four-way win in Madrid with the songs from host country Spain, plus the Netherlands and France.
Although technically a joint win in terms of points between four countries; four countries (the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands and France) won the contest, the first time ever a tie-break situation had occurred. However, there was no rule at the time to cover such an eventuality, so all four countries were declared joint winners.
France's win was their fourth. France became the first country to win the contest four times. The Netherlands' win was their third. Spain and the United Kingdom each won for the second time. And it was the first time that any country (Spain, in this case) had a winning ESC entry two years in a row.
Voting
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References
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Madrid 1969". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.