The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 happened a long, long time ago, but we watched it anyway and re-scored all 16 songs.
That’s just part of what we do here on The Euro Yard: We watch old Eurovision songs, we rate them, and we talk about them. The goal is to be a wealth of knowledge to both ourselves and you at home, not only telling you what the songs were each year, but how they actually were. Needless to say, we do not always agree with the juries of this era.
Eurovision Song Contest 1961: Basics
This contest was held in Cannes, France, the second time Eurovision went there in a span of three years. In 1960, France won for a second time with Jacqueline Boyer’s song “Tom Pillibi,” giving France the hosting rights. Their previous hosting adventure was in 1959, at the same venue: the original edition of the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was held on 18 March, the first time it was ever held on a Saturday. Most grand finals in the future would be.
Eurovision topped out at a new high with 16 countries participating. In addition to all three countries from 1960 returning, three new nations joined for the first time: Finland, Spain, and Yugoslavia.
Ranking the Eurovision Song Contest 1961
NOTE: The 1961 rankings video is being re-done and will be uploaded soon.
We will take you through our evaluations of all 16 songs and re-rank them. Luxembourg was the original winner, but did we agree with it? You’ll just have to watch and find out. Can’t give away all our secrets.
As For The Scoreboard
Every year, we give our top song 12 points, then 10, and eight through one to round out the top ten. At the end of each contest, we add it to our all-time scoreboard. The updated scoreboard through the Eurovision Song Contest 1961 is at the end.
Next Up
We will share our rankings for the contest in 1962, which was held in Luxembourg for the first time.
