Eurovision Song Contest 1975

Eurovision Song Contest 1975
Date and venue
Final
  • 22 March 1975 (1975-03-22)
VenueStockholmsmässan
Stockholm, Sweden
Organisation
OrganiserEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU)
ScrutineerClifford Brown
Production
Host broadcasterSveriges Radio (SR)
DirectorBo Billtén
Executive producerRoland Eiworth
Musical directorMats Olsson
PresenterKarin Falck
Participants
Number of entries19
Debuting countries Turkey
Returning countries
Non-returning countries Greece
Participation map
  •      Competing countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1975
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their ten favourite songs
Winning song Netherlands
"Ding-a-dong"

The Eurovision Song Contest 1975 was the 20th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 22 March 1975 at the Stockholmsmässan in Stockholm, Sweden, and presented by Karin Falck. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR), who staged the event after winning the 1974 contest for Sweden with the song "Waterloo" by ABBA.

Broadcasters from nineteen countries were represented at the contest – a new record number of participants. Turkey made its first entry in the contest, and France and Malta returned after a one- and two-year absence, respectively. Greece, after participating for the first time in the previous year's event, opted not to participate in 1975, due to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974.

The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Ding-a-dong", composed by Dick Bakker, written by Will Luikinga and Eddy Ouwens, and performed by the group Teach-In. This was the Netherlands' fourth contest victory, matching the record number of contest wins previously set by France and Luxembourg. Having been the opening song of the contest, it was also the first time that a country had won from first position in the running order. The United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Luxembourg rounded out the top five, with the United Kingdom achieving a record-extending ninth second-place finish.

A new voting system was introduced at this contest; each country gave 12 points to its favourite, 10 points to its second favourite, and then 8 points to 1 point to other countries in descending order of preference. This numerical order of awarded points has since been used in every subsequent edition of the contest.