Eurovision Song Contest 1975

The winner was the Netherlands with the song "Ding-a-dong", composed by Dick Bakker, written by Will Luikinga [nl] and Eddy Ouwens, and performed by the group Teach-In.

The United Kingdom, Italy, France and Luxembourg rounded out the top five positions, with the UK achieving a record-extending ninth second-place finish.

[2][3] The Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR) had initially been reluctant to stage the event, mainly due to the high costs that came with it which would have been placed on the organisation.

There had also been considerable pressure and disquiet from left-wing groups in the country that initially opposed the amount of money being spent by the public broadcaster on a commercial event, which subsequently developed into a wider protest against the general commercialisation of music in Sweden;[2][4] this led to street protests and a counter-festival, Alternativfestivalen [sv] ('the Alternative Festival'), being held during the week of Eurovision 1975.

[6][7][9] Ellen Nikolaysen competed in the contest for Norway for a second time, having previously participated in 1973 as a member of the Bendik Singers.

[12] Additionally, John Farrar, a member of the Shadows representing the United Kingdom, had previously supported Cliff Richard at the 1973 contest as a backing vocalist.

[9] A second round of rehearsals, this time in full costume, was held for all acts on 21 March, with each country given 20 minutes on stage.

The threat to the contest did not ultimately materialise, however one month after the event the RAF targeted the West German embassy in Stockholm.

Each jury member awarded all songs a score between one and five immediately after they had been performed, with no abstentions allowed and without voting for the country they represented.

[2][28] Following the confirmation of the 19 participating countries, a draw was held in Geneva on 24 January 1975 to determine the running order (R/O) of the contest.

[31][33] The medallions awarded to the winning songwriters were presented by the Secretary-General of the European Broadcasting Union Henrik Hahr [sv].

[31][33] The winner was the Netherlands represented by the song "Ding-a-dong", composed by Bakker, written by Will Luikinga [nl] and Eddy Ouwens, and performed by Teach-In.

[2][27] The UK came second for a record-extending ninth time, and Malta, which had come last in its two previous contest appearances, achieved their best result to date with a twelfth-place finish.

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.

[20] In addition to the participating nations, the contest was also reportedly aired, live or deferred, by broadcasters in Eastern European countries via Intervision, and in Australia, Denmark, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Japan, Jordan, Morocco and South Korea.

A coloured map of the countries of Europe Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Greece in the Eurovision Song Contest Malta in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975 Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975
Sankt Eriks-Mässan , Stockholm – host venue of the 1975 contest
Ellen Nikolaysen represented Norway for a second time