| Country: | : | Ireland |
| City | : | Dublin |
| Date | : | Saturday 3 April 1971 |
| Location | : |  Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, Ireland |
| Host | : | Bernadette Ni Ghallchóir |
| Broadcaster | : | RTÉ  |
| Executive Producer | : | — |
| Executive Supervisor | : | Clifford Brown |
| Multicamera Director | : | — |
| Winner | : |  Séverine from Monaco |
| Interval Act | : | Shannon Castle Entertainers |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the 16th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following Dana’s win at the 1970 contest in Amsterdam, Netherlands with the song „All Kinds of Everything“. The contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre on Saturday 3 April 1971, and was hosted by Irish television presenter Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir.
Eighteen countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the 1965 and 1966 editions. Austria returned after their two-year absence, while Finland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden all returned after having boycotted the competition the previous year. On the other hand, Malta competed for the first time.
The winner was Monaco with the song „Un banc, un arbre, une rue“, performed by Séverine, written by Yves Dessca, and composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre. This was Monaco’s first and only victory in the contest. The song was performed by a French singer, living in France, sung in French, conducted by a French native and written by a French team. Séverine later claimed she never visited Monaco before or after her victory – a claim easily disproved by the preview video submitted by Télé-Monte-Carlo featuring the singer on location in the Principality. This was also the only time in the contest’s history, where the second and third-placed entrants were also awarded.
Location
The contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, the capital and most populous city of Ireland.[2][3] This was the first time that the contest was held in Ireland. The Gaiety Theatre was selected as the venue for the 1971 contest as it was celebrating 100 years since its establishment in 1871.
Format
For the first time, each participating broadcaster was required to televise all the songs in „previews“ prior to the live final. Belgium’s preview video featured Nicole & Hugo performing the song „Goeiemorgen, morgen“, but Nicole was struck with a sudden illness days before the contest final, with Jacques Raymond & Lily Castel stepping in at short notice to perform the entry in their place. Reports suggested that Castel had not even had enough time to buy a suitable dress for the show.
The BBC were worried about the possible audience reaction to the UK song due to the hostilities raging in Northern Ireland. They specifically selected a singer from Northern Ireland, Clodagh Rodgers, who was popular in both the UK and the Republic of Ireland, to ease any ill-feeling from the Dublin audience. However, Rodgers still received death threats from the IRA for representing the UK.
Groups of up to six people were allowed to perform for the first time, with the rule in previous contests of performing either solo or as a duet abolished.
This was only RTÉ’s second outside broadcast in colour. The contest was broadcast in Iceland, the United States and Hong Kong several days later.
In between each song, a film depicting the tourist highlights of each nation using stock footage provided by the participant tourism bureaus was seen, accompanied by a piece of organ music chosen to compliment the country.
Voting system
A new voting system was introduced in this year’s contest: each country sent two jury members, one aged over 25 and the other under 25 (with at least ten years‘ difference between their ages), with both awarding each country (except their own) a score of between one and five points.
While this meant that no country could score fewer than 34 points (and in the event all eighteen scored at least 52), it had one major problem: some jury members tended to award only one or two points. Whether this was done to increase their respective countries‘ chances of winning is not known for sure, but this shortcoming was nonetheless plain. However, the system remained in place for the 1972 and 1973 contests.
Participating countries
Malta made their début in this year’s contest, while Austria, Finland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden all returned after a brief absence. This brought the total number of countries to eighteen.
Conductors
Each performance had a conductor who directed the orchestra. This marked the first contest to feature someone other than the musical director conducting the host country’s entry; Noel Kelehan conducted Ireland’s entry instead of musical director Colman Pearce (who would subsequently conduct the Irish entries between 1972 and 1975). This would consequently be the first contest in which the musical director did not conduct any of the competing entries, followed by 1972, 1974-1976, 1978-1979, 1990, and 1997.
Austria – Robert Opratko 
Malta – Anthony Chircop
Monaco – Jean-Claude Petit
Switzerland – Hardy Schneiders
Germany – Dieter Zimmermann 
Spain – Waldo de los Ríos
France – Franck Pourcel
Luxembourg – Jean Claudric 
United Kingdom – Johnny Arthey
Belgium – Francis Bay
Italy – Enrico Polito 
Sweden – Claes Rosendahl
Ireland – Noel Kelehan
Netherlands – Dolf van der Linden
Portugal – Jorge Costa Pinto 
Yugoslavia – Miljenko Prohaska
Finland – Ossi Runne
Norway – Arne Bendiksen
Returning artists
| Artist | Country | Previous year(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Jacques Raymond | Belgium | 1963 |
| Katja Ebstein | Germany | 1970 |
The Participants
This is the only time in the contest’s history where the second and third placing entrants were also awarded.
| # | Representing country | Performer(s) | Song title, writer(s) and composer(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Austria ORF | Marianne Mendt | Musik | 066 | 16 |
| 02 | Malta MTPBS | Joe Grech | Marija L-maltija | 052 | 18 |
| 03 | Monaco TMC | Séverine | Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue | 128 | 01 |
| 04 | Switzerland SSR SRG | Peter, Sue and Marc | Les Illusions De Nos Vingt Ans | 078 | 12 |
| 05 | Germany ARD | Katja Ebstein | Diese Welt | 100 | 03 |
| 06 | Spain TVE | Karina | En Un Mundo Nuevo | 116 | 02 |
| 07 | France ORTF | Serge Lama | Un Jardin Sur La Terre | 082 | 10 |
| 08 | Luxembourg CLT | Monique Melsen | Pomme, Pomme, Pomme | 070 | 13 |
| 09 | United Kingdom BBC | Clodagh Rodgers | Jack In The Box | 098 | 04 |
| 10 | Belgium BRT | Lily Castel and Jacques Raymond | Goeie Morgen, Morgen | 068 | 14 |
| 11 | Italy RAI | Massimo Ranieri | L’amore è Un Attimo | 091 | 05 |
| 12 | Sweden SR | Family Four | Vita Vidder | 085 | 06 |
| 13 | Ireland RTÉ | Angela Farrell | One Day Love | 079 | 11 |
| 14 | The Netherlands NOS | Saskia and Serge | De Tijd | 085 | 06 |
| 15 | Portugal RTP | Tonicha | Menina Do Alto Da Serra | 083 | 09 |
| 16 | Yugoslavia JRT | Krunoslav Slabinac | Tvoj Djecak Je Tuzan | 068 | 14 |
| 17 | Finland YLE | Markku Aro and Koivisto Sisters | Tie Uuteen Päivään | 084 | 08 |
| 18 | Norway NRK | Hanne Krogh | Lykken Er… | 065 | 17 |
Scoreboard
| Participant | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 66 | 16 | |
| Malta | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 52 | 18 | |
| Monaco | 4 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 128 | 1 | |
| Switzerland | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 78 | 12 | |
| Germany | 6 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 100 | 3 | |
| Spain | 4 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 116 | 2 | |
| France | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 82 | 10 | |
| Luxembourg | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 70 | 13 | |
| United Kingdom | 4 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 98 | 4 | |
| Belgium | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 68 | 14 | |
| Italy | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 91 | 5 | |
| Sweden | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 85 | 6 | |
| Ireland | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 79 | 11 | |
| The Netherlands | 6 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 85 | 6 | |
| Portugal | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 83 | 9 | |
| Yugoslavia | 6 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 68 | 14 | |
| Finland | 4 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 84 | 8 | |
| Norway | 3 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 65 | 17 |
About the winner
The small principality of Monaco on the other hand won for the first time with the song Un Banc, Un Abre, Une Rue by French-born Séverine, who then went on to have a successful career especially in Germany.
Groups allowed for the first time
For the first time in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, Ireland hosted the event at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. Compared to 1970, the number of participants rose again to 18 as Finland, Norway, Sweden and Portugal all re-entered after a year of absence. Malta had its debut, so altogether 18 countries were present and the contest was broadcast in 29 countries.
The rule of performing either as single or duet was abolished: now groups of up to six persons were allowed to perform at Eurovision Song Contests.
In this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, a new voting system was created: two jury members – one of them had to be younger than 25 – had to award between 1 and 5 points to each song. This created some problems because some juries gave fewer points than others. For example, Luxembourg awarded 43 points altogether compared to France’s 107! This system meant that jury members could vote tactically, awarding few points and hoping to gain many.
Facts & figures
- The first appearance of Malta was unsuccessful: their participant Joe Grech ended up in last place;
- Norwegian singer Hanne Krogh would return to the contest as half of the Eurovision Song Contest winner duo Bobbysocks in 1985. But in 1971, she came only 17th.