United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1969

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United Kingdom in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1969

Eurovision Song Contest 1969
Participating broadcaster| British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Country|  United Kingdom
Selection process| Artist: Internal selection
Song: A Song for Europe 1969
Announcement date| 1 March 1969
Competing entry
Song| "Boom Bang-a-Bang"
Artist| Lulu
Songwriters|

* Alan Moorhouse
* Peter Warne

Placement
Final result| 1st, 18 points
Participation chronology
| ◄1968 • | 1969 | • 1970►

|
|

The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 with the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang", composed by Alan Moorhouse, with lyrics by Peter Warne, and performed by Scottish singer Lulu. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a televised national final, after having previously selected the performer internally. The song won the competition in a joint win with the songs from France, the Netherlands, and Spain.

## Before Eurovision

[edit]

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### A Song for Europe 1969

[edit]

After performing all six songs weekly on her eponymous TV series Lulu, the final was held on 22 February 1969 and presented by Michael Aspel. Of the six finalists, "I Can't Go On Living Without You", was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, before both found songwriting fame. John recorded the track as a demo which later became available on CD. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice also submitted a song called "Try It and See" but this failed to reach the final. They later reworked the track and it became "King Herod's Song" in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. Viewers cast votes on postcards via mail to choose the winner. The winning song, announced on 1 March 1969, with 56,476 votes, was "Boom Bang-a-Bang".

A Song for Europe 1969 – 22 February 1969  Draw  | Song  | Votes  | Place

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|
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1  | "Are You Ready For Love?"  | 5,560  | 5
2  | "March!"  | 38,418  | 2
3  | "Come September"  | 11,362  | 3
4  | "I Can't Go On Living Without You"  | 5,087  | 6
5  | "Boom Bang-a-Bang"  | 56,476  | 1
6  | "Bet Yer"  | 8,306  | 4

### Chart success

[edit]

"Boom Bang-a-Bang" was released on single, with the runner-up in the national final "March!" on the B-Side and reached No. 2 in the UK singles chart, remaining Lulu's most successful solo single of her career in Britain. She also reportedly recorded the winner in French, Italian, German and Spanish. A third song from the competition "Come September", co-written by Mark London, the husband of Lulu's manager Marion Massey, was released later in 1969 as an album track on the LP Lulu's Album. Eventually, all six recordings of the songs by Lulu were made available on various CD compilations. Former Eurovision winner Grethe Ingmann and German contestant Heidi Brühl (who had both taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963) recorded a Danish and German version of the winning song respectively.

Other Eurovision artists recorded versions of the songs from the UK final. Swedish singer (and future Eurovision winner) Agnetha Fältskog recorded a version of "Are You Ready For Love?" under the title "Ge dej till tåls". Finland's Katri Helena recorded "Come September" as "Taas kun tuulee", while another Finnish version was recorded by Jarkko & Laura under the title "Kahden ollaan". Jarkko & Laura were competitors against Lulu in the 1969 Eurovision final. Gloria Hunniford also recorded "Are You Ready For Love?" in the UK. In Britain, Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw and Polly Brown all recorded versions of "I Can't Go On Living Without You".

## At Eurovision

[edit]

The United Kingdom went on to finish in a four-way win in Madrid with the songs from host country Spain, plus the Netherlands and France, the first time ever a tie-break situation had occurred. However, there was no rule at the time to cover such an eventuality, so all four countries were declared joint winners.

France's win was their fourth. France became the first country to win the contest four times. The Netherlands' win was their third. Spain and the United Kingdom each won for the second time. And it was the first time that any country (Spain, in this case) had a winning ESC entry two years in a row.

David Gell provided the television commentary for BBC 1 at the Eurovision final on 29 March, Michael Aspel was acting as the standby commentator. Pete Murray provided the commentary for BBC Radio 1 listeners and John Russell provided the commentary for British Forces Radio. The contest was watched by 8 million viewers.[1]

### Voting

[edit]

Points awarded to the United Kingdom[2] | Score  | Country

|

5 points  |  Sweden
4 points  |  Luxembourg
3 points  |  Italy
2 points  |  Yugoslavia
1 point  |

*  Finland
*  Germany
*  Netherlands
*  Portugal

Points awarded by the United Kingdom[2] | Score  | Country

|

4 points  |  France
3 points  |  Belgium
2 points  |   Switzerland
1 point  |  Ireland

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Davis, Clifford (8 April 1969). "Lulu's Eurovision Song Contest is tops on TV". Daily Mirror. London, United Kingdom. p. 5. Retrieved 19 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
2. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Madrid 1969". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.

* v
* t
* e

United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest

National selection (former; contestants)

Participation|

* 1957
* 1959
* 1960
* 1961
* 1962
* 1963
* 1964
* 1965
* 1966
* 1967
* 1968
* 1969
* 1970
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* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* ~~2020~~
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Artists|

* Andy Abraham
* Olly Alexander
* The Allisons
* Michael Ball
* Bardo
* Belle and the Devotions
* Black Lace
* Blue
* Patricia Bredin
* Brotherhood of Man
* Bucks Fizz
* Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson
* Ronnie Carroll
* Co-Co
* Josh Dubovie
* Electro Velvet
* Emma
* Jade Ewen
* Scott Fitzgerald
* James Fox
* Nicki French
* Jessica Garlick
* Gina G
* Mary Hopkin
* Engelbert Humperdinck
* Imaani
* Samantha Janus
* Javine
* Jemini
* Joe and Jake
* Bryan Johnson
* Lucie Jones
* Katrina and the Waves
* Kathy Kirby
* Lindsay
* Live Report
* Love City Groove
* Lulu
* Kenneth McKellar
* Molly
* Matt Monro
* Mike Moran
* Mae Muller
* The New Seekers
* James Newman
* Olivia Newton-John
* Lynsey de Paul
* Precious
* Prima Donna
* Remember Monday
* Michael Rice
* Cliff Richard
* Rikki
* Clodagh Rodgers
* Frances Ruffelle
* Ryder
* Sam Ryder
* Daz Sampson
* Scooch
* The Shadows
* Sandie Shaw
* Sonia
* SuRie
* Sweet Dreams
* Bonnie Tyler
* Vikki

Songs|

* "All"
* "Are You Sure?"
* "The Bad Old Days"
* "Beg, Steal or Borrow"
* "Believe in Me"
* "Better the Devil You Know"
* "Bigger than Us"
* "Boom Bang-a-Bang"
* "Children of the Universe"
* "Come Back"
* "Congratulations"
* "Cry Baby"
* "Dizzy"
* "Don't Play That Song Again"
* "Embers"
* "Even If"
* "Flying the Flag (For You)"
* "Give a Little Love Back to the World"
* "Go"
* "Hold On to Our Love"
* "I Belong"
* "I Can"
* "I Love the Little Things"
* "I Wrote a Song"
* "I'm Never Giving Up"
* "It's My Time"
* "Jack in the Box"
* "Knock, Knock Who's There?"
* "Let Me Be the One"
* "Long Live Love"
* "Looking High, High, High"
* "Love City Groove"
* "Love Enough for Two"
* "Love Games"
* "Love Is..."
* "Love Shine a Light"
* "Love Will Set You Free"
* "Making Your Mind Up"
* "A Man Without Love"
* "Mary Ann"
* "A Message to Your Heart"
* ~~"My Last Breath"~~
* "Never Give Up on You"
* "No Dream Impossible"
* "One Step Further"
* "One Step Out of Time"
* "Only the Light"
* "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit"
* "Power to All Our Friends"
* "Puppet on a String"
* "Ring-A-Ding Girl"
* "Rock Bottom"
* "Runner in the Night"
* "Save Your Kisses for Me"
* "Say It Again"
* "Say Wonderful Things"
* "Sing, Little Birdie"
* "Space Man"
* "Still in Love with You"
* "Storm"
* "Teenage Life"
* "That Sounds Good to Me"
* "Touch My Fire"
* "We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)"
* "What the Hell Just Happened?"
* "Where Are You?"
* "Why Do I Always Get It Wrong"
* "You're Not Alone"

* Note: Entries scored out signify where the United Kingdom did not compete. Italics indicate an entry in a future contest.
* See also: UK Eurovision discography

* v
* t
* e

Eurovision Song Contest 1969

Countries|

* Belgium
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Ireland
* Italy
* Luxembourg
* Monaco
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Portugal
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* United Kingdom
* Yugoslavia

Artists|

* Frida Boccara
* Muriel Day
* Paola del Medico
* Ivan and 4M
* Jarkko and Laura
* Jean Jacques
* Tommy Körberg
* Lenny Kuhr
* Lulu
* Siw Malmkvist
* Louis Neefs
* Simone de Oliveira
* Romuald
* Salomé
* Kirsti Sparboe
* Iva Zanicchi

Songs|

* "Bonjour, Bonjour"
* "Boom Bang-a-Bang"
* "Catherine"
* "Desfolhada portuguesa"
* "Due grosse lacrime bianche"
* "Jennifer Jennings"
* "Un jour, un enfant"
* "Judy, min vän"
* "Kuin silloin ennen"
* "Maman, maman"
* "Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli"
* "Pozdrav svijetu"
* "Primaballerina"
* "De troubadour"
* "Vivo cantando"
* "The Wages of Love"

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