Eurovision Song Contest 1978
| Eurovision Song Contest 1978 | |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | |
| Final |
|
| Venue | Palais des Congrès Paris, France |
| Organisation | |
| Organiser | European Broadcasting Union (EBU) |
| Scrutineer | Frank Naef |
| Production | |
| Host broadcaster | Télévision Française 1 (TF1) |
| Director | Bernard Lion |
| Musical director | François Rauber |
| Presenters | |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 20 |
| Returning countries | |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs |
| Winning song | Israel "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1978 was the 23rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 22 April 1978 at the Grand Amphitheatre of the Palais des Congrès in Paris, France, and presented by Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Télévision Française 1 (TF1), who staged the event after winning the 1977 contest for France with the song "L'Oiseau et l'Enfant" by Marie Myriam. This was the first time that more than one presenter had hosted the contest, and the first to have a male presenter since the inaugural 1956 contest.
Broadcasters from twenty countries participated, the highest number of competing countries in the history of the competition at the time. Denmark and Turkey both returned to the contest. Denmark had not participated since 1966, 12 years before.
The winner was Israel with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. This was Israel's first victory in the contest, and it was also the first winning song to be performed in one of the Semitic languages. It was also the only winning song to be conducted by a woman, Nurit Hirsh. Belgium, France, Monaco and Ireland rounded out the top five, with Belgium's runner-up finish being their best result in the competition at that point. Norway finished last for the fifth time, gaining the first nul points after the new voting system was implemented in 1975.