The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 25 March 1972 at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK), presented by Moira Shearer and organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) staged the event after Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC), which had won the 1971 contest for Monaco, declined hosting responsibilities, citing the lack of a suitable venue, technical limitations, and related costs. The Spanish and German broadcasters, which had placed second and third in 1971 respectively, also declined the offer to host, so the BBC stepped in to stage the 1972 contest after no other offers were received. It was the first, and as of 2026[update] only, edition of the contest to take place in Scotland, as well as being the only time that a UK-hosted edition of the contest has been held outside England.
Broadcasters from a total of eighteen countries–the same line-up as had competed the previous year–participated. The winner was Luxembourg, represented by the song "Après toi", composed by Klaus Munro[de] and Leo Leandros under the pseudonym Mario Panas, written by Leandros and Yves Dessca[fr], and performed by Leandros's daughter Vicky. It was Luxembourg's third contest victory, following wins in 1961 and 1965. The United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria rounded out the top five, with the UK achieving its record-extending eighth runner-up position and Germany placing third for the third year in succession. Portugal achieved its best result to date, with a seventh-place finish, while Malta placed last for the second year in a row.
There were several firsts associated with the 1972 contest: technologically, it was the first to use a wall-size screen to introduce the performers and their songs as they came on stage, as well as during the performances and the voting sequence; Ireland's entry, "Ceol an Ghrá", was the first and so far only entry as of 2026[update] to be performed predominantly in the Irish language; Dessca's lyrics for "Aprés toi" made him not only the first person to be involved with the winning song in consecutive years (he had been the lyricist for Monaco's 1971 winner, "Un banc, un arbre, une rue"), but the first person to win with songs from different countries; and the 1972 contest was also the first to be broadcast in Asia.
Location
The Usher Hall, Edinburgh – host venue of the 1972 contest
The 1972 contest was held in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. It was the fourth time the UK had hosted the contest, following the 1960, 1963, and 1968 editions. It was the first UK contest staged outside of London, and the first, and as of 2026[update] only, contest held in Scotland, as well as the only contest held in the UK outside of England. The selected venue was the Usher Hall, a concert hall opened in 1914. Around 1,500 people were present in the audience during the contest.
Host selection
The 1971 contest was won by Monaco, represented by Télé Monte-Carlo (TMC), with the song "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" performed by Séverine, which according to Eurovision tradition made TMC the presumptive host of the 1972 contest. This was the first contest Monaco had won. Afterwards the Monégasque broadcaster announced its intention to stage the event in 1972, which would have been the first contest staged in the principality. As Monaco had no suitable television studio or contest venue large enough, TMC proposed hosting the contest at an outdoor location in June 1972. An indoor venue was also reportedly already under construction, which TMC hoped to expedite.
The EBU subsequently declared the event had to be held in either March or April, precluding TMC's outdoor option. By July 1971, TMC declared they would be unable to host at all due to the lack of a suitable venue, as well as the costs and technical limitations. At this stage no firm alternate offers had been received by the EBU from other member broadcasters, leading the organisation to "call loudly" for volunteers. It looked quite possible that the contest could be cancelled. The BBC ultimately put in an offer, with Edinburgh and Blackpool considered as potential host cities, and in September 1971 Bill Cotton, the BBC's head of light entertainment, announced that the contest would be staged in the UK by the BBC if no other offers were received. The following month, Edinburgh's Usher Hall was confirmed as the venue, with 25 March as the date of the event. In his announcement, Cotton expressed a desire for the first time to host a UK-held contest outside of London, the host city on all three occasions that the event had been held in the UK.
The voting sequence was conducted from the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle
The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was produced by the BBC. Cotton served as executive producer, Terry Hughes as producer and director, Brian Tregidden as designer, and Malcolm Lockyer as musical director, leading the 44-piece BBC Radio Orchestra. A separate musical director could be nominated by each participating delegation to lead the orchestra during its country's performance, with the host musical director also available to conduct for those countries which did not nominate their own conductor. On behalf of the EBU, the event was overseen by Clifford Brown as scrutineer. The contest was presented by the Scottish ballet dancer and actor Moira Shearer.
Each participating broadcaster submitted one song, no more than three minutes long, performed in the language, or one of the languages, of the country it represented. Up to six performers were allowed on stage during each country's performance. Following the confirmation of the eighteen participating countries, the draw to determine the running order (R/O) of the contest was held on 1 December 1971 in London, and announced by the BBC at the end of December 1971.
The voting system introduced at the previous year's contest returned: each participating broadcaster appointed two individuals–one aged 16–25, the other 26–55, at least 10 years apart–who awarded each song 1–5 votes, except for the one from their own country. For this year's edition the jurors were kept in a separate location during the contest, in the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle, where they followed the contest on television. After each country's performance they were required to record their votes, so that they could not be altered later. During the voting sequence they were shown on screen, with the scores announced by the jurors themselves in blocks of three countries. The voting sequence was projected in black-and-white with an Eidophor projector onto an screen in the Usher Hall for the benefit of the audience. This screen was also used during the contest itself to introduce the artists with a colour photograph of themselves and song titles, as well as during the performances. This was the first time that a wall-size screen was used on stage in the contest.
Rehearsals in the venue began on 21 March. The competing delegations took part in rehearsals beginning on 22 March, with each country taking part in two technical rehearsal sessions across the following days. Technical checks and rehearsals were also conducted with Shearer, and jurors and the scoreboard ahead of the live transmission.
Contest overview
The Greek-born singer Vicky Leandros(pictured in 2018) became the third artist to win the contest for Luxembourg.
The contest was held on 25 March, beginning at 21:30 (BST) and lasting 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Following an introductory prerecorded video montage of various Edinburgh locations, Shearer was played onto the stage by a fanfare composed by Lockyer, fanfare he had written as the opening title music of the film Dr. Who and the Daleks, which he had scored. The interval entertainment between the competing songs and the voting segment was a four-minute segment with footage taken from the 1968 Edinburgh Military Tattoo, featuring the massed pipes and drums of eight Scottish regiments marching to "The Inverness Gathering". The prize for the winning artist and songwriters was presented by the previous year's winning artist, Séverine. Before the Monégasque entry a planned camera cut showed Séverine sitting in the audience, a shot that became somewhat infamous after she was seen glancing down at her watch in apparent boredom.
The winner was Luxembourg, represented by the song "Après toi", composed by Klaus Munro[de] and Leo Leandros under the pseudonym Mario Panas, with lyrics by Leandros and Yves Dessca[fr], performed by Greek singer Vicky Leandros, Leo's daughter. It was Luxembourg's third contest victory, following wins in 1961 and 1965. Dessca had also provided the lyrics to the previous year's winning song "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" for Monaco and thus became the first person to win back-to-back contests and to win for multiple countries. Vicky Leandros had previously represented Luxembourg in 1967, where she had performed mononymously and placed fourth with the song "L'amour est bleu". The United Kingdom finished in second place for a record-extending eighth time, while Germany placed third for the third straight year. Further down the scoreboard Portugal, in seventh, achieved its best-ever result up to that point, while Malta finished in last place as it had the previous year.
Two separate disturbances occurred on the evening of the event. Before the contest began, a local headmaster began shouting towards the stage at a BBC producer who was welcoming the audience, complaining that local schoolchildren were unable to attend the event and that they would have appreciated it more than the largely invited audience members. Later on, during the Irish and Spanish songs, another man was seen scattering a substance among the audience close to the Irish delegation as a protest against the commercialisation of the music industry, which led to small explosions and a brief partial evacuation of the venue by police and the military.
Jury voting was used to determine the votes awarded by all countries. The announcement of the results from each country's two jury members was conducted in the order in which their nation performed; the jurors were shown on camera when presenting their scores, with each juror using small boards in front of their desks with numbers 1 to 5 which they flipped up to reveal their votes for the country being awarded. The results of three countries at a time were totalled and presented as one score, with all eighteen countries receiving their scores before moving on to the next three countries to award their scores. The detailed breakdown of the votes awarded by each country is listed in the tables below, with voting countries listed in the order they presented their votes.
Detailed voting results
Total score
Germany
France
Ireland
Spain
United Kingdom
Norway
Portugal
Switzerland
Malta
Finland
Austria
Italy
Yugoslavia
Sweden
Monaco
Belgium
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Contestants
Germany
107
8
6
9
5
6
6
5
4
5
5
7
5
8
8
7
7
6
France
81
5
5
2
9
7
2
3
5
4
2
3
5
2
6
7
8
6
Ireland
72
4
3
4
4
6
4
3
6
3
4
3
3
5
5
4
6
5
Spain
83
7
5
5
3
8
6
3
4
4
5
3
2
7
8
3
5
5
United Kingdom
114
8
9
6
2
10
4
8
2
7
7
7
9
6
9
4
8
8
Norway
73
4
3
6
5
4
5
2
5
7
3
2
5
4
4
4
6
4
Portugal
90
3
4
7
7
4
2
6
5
2
4
9
4
7
4
7
10
5
Switzerland
88
4
5
6
5
4
7
2
4
7
8
5
5
4
6
4
7
5
Malta
48
3
2
4
2
6
2
2
2
5
2
2
2
3
3
2
2
4
Finland
78
4
3
3
6
5
6
4
3
3
3
3
4
4
5
8
6
8
Austria
100
6
6
6
6
3
5
5
7
5
4
6
8
10
5
4
5
9
Italy
92
4
5
3
2
3
6
7
9
6
6
6
4
8
6
6
6
5
Yugoslavia
87
7
4
5
8
5
4
5
2
4
3
3
2
4
9
8
8
6
Sweden
75
5
3
5
3
3
5
4
2
4
5
4
3
7
5
7
5
5
Monaco
65
4
3
4
3
5
6
2
2
5
5
3
3
4
3
4
4
5
Belgium
55
2
3
4
2
5
2
3
3
5
4
2
3
2
2
4
6
3
Luxembourg
128
9
8
9
2
10
8
7
6
4
6
8
9
10
8
7
8
9
Netherlands
106
6
6
8
8
9
8
5
6
3
9
6
3
9
6
5
2
7
10 votes
The below table summarises where the potential maximum of 10 votes were awarded from one country to another. The winning country is shown in bold. Luxembourg received the maximum score of 10 votes from two of the voting countries, and Austria, Portugal and the United Kingdom received one set of 10 votes each.
Distribution of 10 votes awarded at the Eurovision Song Contest 1972
Broadcasters from competing countries were required to relay the contest via their networks; non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest. Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.
The 1972 contest was the first to be broadcast in Asia, with newspaper reports at the time stating that the contest had been bought for transmission by broadcasters in Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. A global audience of 400 million was expected, and in addition to the participating countries and the previously mentioned Asian nations the contest was also expected to be broadcast by EBU member broadcasters in Iceland, Israel, Morocco and Tunisia, by OIRT member broadcasters in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania via Intervision, and in Brazil, Chile and Zaire. Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
↑"Radio | sabato 25 marzo"[Radio | Saturday 25 March]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol.49, no.12. Turin, Italy. 19–25 March 1972. pp.74–75. Retrieved 6 June 2024– via Rai Teche.
↑"Télé-Programmes". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 24 March 1972. p.17. Retrieved 5 January 2023– via National Library of Luxembourg.
↑"Die Luxemburger Jury-Mitglieder"[The Luxembourg jury members]. Luxemburger Wort (in German). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 25 March 1972. p.28. Retrieved 5 January 2023– via National Library of Luxembourg.
↑"Radio – samedi 25 mars"[Radio – Saturday 25 March]. Radio TV – Je vois tout (in French). No.12. Lausanne, Switzerland. 23 March 1972. pp.62–63. Retrieved 5 January 2023– via Scriptorium.
↑"Canal 6 hoje a cores"[Channel 6 today in color]. Diario do Paraná[pt] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. 25 March 1972. p.3. Retrieved 12 June 2024– via National Library of Brazil. A transmissão a cores de hoje, pelo Canal 6, será direta de Edimburgo, na Escócia, gerada pela BBC d Londres. 18 países participam desta finalíssima do Festival da Eurovision.[...] Não perca hoje, ás 17h30m, esta iniciativa pioneira do Canal 6.[Today's color broadcast, on Channel 6, will be direct from Edinburgh, Scotland, generated by BBC London. 18 countries participate in this final of the Eurovision Festival.[...] Don't miss today, at 5:30 pm, this pioneering initiative by Channel 6.]
12"So 25/3"[Sat 25/3]. Týdeník Československé televize (in Czech). No.13. Prague, Czechoslovakia. 20 March 1972. p.9. Retrieved 13 March 2025– via Arcanum Newspapers.
12"TV – szerda IV.5"[TV – Wednesday 5 April]. Rádió- és Televízió-újság (in Hungarian). Vol.17, no.14. Budapest, Hungary. 3 April 1972. p.7. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023– via Nemzeti Archívum.
Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna: de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna[Melodifestivalen through the ages: the Swedish selections and international finals] (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden: Premium Publishing. ISBN91-89136-29-2.
Luxembourg
.jpg)
