Eurovision Song Contest 1974

The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 6 April 1974 at the Brighton Dome in Brighton, 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 Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), which had won the 1973 contest for Luxembourg, declined hosting responsibilities as it had staged the competition in 1973. The BBC took over as host after Televisión Española (TVE), which had finished second for Spain in 1973, declined the offer when approached, with the EBU ultimately choosing the BBC over bids from the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and the BBC's commercial rival ITV. This was the fourth time that the BBC had staged the contest after another broadcaster declined – following the 1960, 1963 and 1972 contests – and the fifth time overall including 1968.

Broadcasters from eighteen countries were due to take part in the contest, with Greece making its first appearance. However, France ultimately did not participate as the contest coincided with the death of French president Georges Pompidou, and with a national day of mourning scheduled for the date of the contest the French broadcaster, Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF), deemed participating in the event to be inappropriate. The voting system used between 1971 and 1973 was scrapped, and was replaced by the system last used in 1970, with ten people in each country awarding one vote to their favourite song.

The winner was Sweden, with the song "Waterloo", composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, written by Stig Anderson and performed by ABBA. Italy and the Netherlands finishing second and third respectively, followed by a three-way tie for fourth place between Luxembourg, Monaco and the United Kingdom. It was Sweden's first contest win. After previous success within European markets with "Ring Ring", with which ABBA had attempted to represent Sweden in 1973, "Waterloo" gave the group their first global hit, and their Eurovision win was a launching point for ABBA to become one of the world's best-selling music artists. Olivia Newton-John, who represented the United Kingdom at this event, would also go on to achieve worldwide success in the years following the contest.