Eurovision Song Contest 1973
The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the 18th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the 1972 contest with the song "Après toi" by Vicky Leandros. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), the contest was held at the Grand Théâtre on 7 April 1973 and was hosted by German television presenter Helga Guitton.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1973 | |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Final | 7 April 1973 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Grand Théâtre Luxembourg City, Luxembourg |
| Presenter(s) | Helga Guitton |
| Musical director | Pierre Cao |
| Directed by | René Steichen |
| Executive supervisor | Clifford Brown |
| Executive producer | Paul Ulveling |
| Host broadcaster | Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT) |
| Website | eurovision |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 17 |
| Debuting countries | Israel |
| Returning countries | None |
| Non-returning countries | |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Two-member juries (one aged 16 to 25 and the other 25 to 55) rated songs between one and five points. |
| Winning song | Luxembourg "Tu te reconnaîtras" |
Seventeen countries took part in the contest this year, with Austria and Malta deciding not to participate, and Israel competing for the first time.
In a back-to-back victory, Luxembourg won the contest again with the song "Tu te reconnaîtras" by Anne-Marie David. The voting was a very close one, with Spain with "Eres tú" by Mocedades finishing only 4 points behind and the United Kingdom with "Power to All Our Friends" by Cliff Richard (who had come second in 1968 just behind Spain) another 2 points further back. The winning song scored the highest score ever achieved in Eurovision under any voting format until 1975, recording 129 points out of a possible 160, which represented almost 81% of the possible maximum. This was partly due to a scoring system which guaranteed all countries at least two points from each country.