The contest was held at the BBC Television Centre on Saturday 23 March 1963 and was hosted by Katie Boyle for a second time.

The contest this year was won by Denmark with the song "Dansevise", performed by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann.

The production mode was unusual in comparison with other Eurovision Song Contests: In contrast to most previous and following editions which were filmed in concert halls or theatres, the staging of 1963 was done in television studios.

Unusually, a boom microphone (normally used for drama and comedy shows) was employed – the viewer could not see this, so it appeared as if the artists were miming to their vocals.

When Boyle went back to Norway again the votes had been altered, thus changing the outcome of the contest and giving the victory to Denmark at Switzerland's expense.

[1] Switzerland's broadcaster SRG SSR reportedly intended to appeal and following numerous complaints, checked the transmissions of the votes made.

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.