Eurovision Song Contest 1968
| Eurovision Song Contest 1968 | |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | |
| Final |
|
| Venue | Royal Albert Hall London, United Kingdom |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | European Broadcasting Union (EBU) |
| Scrutineer | Clifford Brown |
| Production | |
| Host broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| Director | Stewart Morris |
| Executive producer | Tom Sloan |
| Musical director | Norrie Paramor |
| Presenter | Katie Boyle |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 17 |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Ten-member juries in each country; each member gave one vote to their favourite song |
| Winning song | Spain "La La La" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 6 April 1968 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom, and presented by Katie Boyle. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who staged the event after winning the 1967 contest for the United Kingdom with the song "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw. Despite being the UK's first win at the contest, it was actually the third time that the BBC had hosted the competition, having previously done so in 1960 and 1963, both of which also took place in London and were presented by Katie Boyle. It was the first time the event was broadcast in colour.
Broadcasters from seventeen countries participated in the contest, the same countries that had participated the previous year.
The winner was Spain with the song "La La La" by Massiel, and written/composed by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa. This was Spain's first victory - and their first ever top five placing - in the contest. The United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Sweden rounded out the top five. Spain's win over the United Kingdom by a single point, marked the closest finish in the contest up to that point.