I love how you give commentary on the votes as they were coming in for each contest. This perspective is so refreshing.

I've finally found someone talking about the earlier editions of Eurovision! Thank you for providing an easier way to learn about all of this, I plan to watch the rest of your videos!

I think this is the first time in the ten years I've been a Eurovision fan that i've seen anyone go this deep into the old contests. The most I really knew were the songs and the fact that 56 and 64 are missing videos. Nothing about the voting changes, personal stories and the direct historical context of what was going on around the contest at the time. How have I never learned about Intervision! What are Canada and Cuba doing there? and Boney M... WHAT?!

Just wanted to say I love your great archivist work, as a huge Eurovision fan, your videos are like a cake to eat. Please keep feeding us!

Wow, you deserve more subs. These videos are so well made!

Btw Jacqueline Boyer is daughter of guy who represented Monaco in 1959.

I think the dead ball era actually goes from 99-2002. 96 and 87 is a pretty good year and 98 isn't bad.

Just a note the three minute rule would actually be evoked after 1957 when the Italians sent a beautiful but very long song with a title that translates as the chords of my guitar. Now Eurovision modelled itself as an international version of Festivale di Sanermo in Italy which started in 1953 but even the last night of that mfer goes on so long that it makes even modern Eurovision look like a New York minute in comparison and they realised very quickly that's one element they wanted xnay and part of the reason were lots of long ass ballads in Italian. So they introduced the role paradolied at the end of Golden Boy - that's three minutes, bye bye - to counteract that. I suppose you could see it as early influence of rock n'Roll three minute songs.

7:24 That first song is very special. A literal survivor of the Holocaust singing for Germany in an older cabaret chanson style, about a people in limbo between an unpleasant past and an imagined better future. It’s a real historic artefact.

agree about the late nineties being eurovision's "dead ball era" lol

you forgot to mention that, for the 1965 song "poupée de cire, poupée de son," the orchestra deliberately "booed" by mixing up and making the opening to the song longer. They did this because they felt the sog was too fast to play and Serge had an outburst against them. it wasn't just during the rehearsals. Yet that orchestra choice is also what made the song be more appealing. it made everyone stand to attention. In addition She did not end it with Claude François, Claude ended it with her because she didn't take the first plane or train back to Paris after her performance to be with him. However they had an on again off again relationship that continued intil new years day 1967. A few month's later François wrote "Comme d'Habitude" which became "My Way" in 1969.

You also forgot to mention a few very successful artists, who had their songs translated in several languages. This was the period where the singers became big stars. Nana Mouskouri even got her own TV show on the BBC, France Télévision, German television, RAI, Greek television and Spanish television, just a few months after he contest participation. She is also the first politician that refused her retirement pension from the EU as she said "I'm rich enough from my music, no need to take what is for the people". and a lot of the American singers in this period were also very well known in the USA.

💯 on your endorsement of the first Danish winner - arguably one of the finest songs Denmark ever submitted and for me that's about how much I love it rather saying Denmark are bad.

Welcome to the fan club. Pull up a chair and a strong drink- you will need it! 3:02

63 - I think this is why the juries vote on performances the night before so they can't vote according to how well or not  their rivals or those of their friends and neighbours are doing so there can't be any funny business or suspicion of it.

65 - wonder if some of the selection of venue as I think the lyricist of No Hon L'eta was from Naples as he also wrote Tu Fa L'Americano in which a lyric says you're not an American you're just a lad stuck in Naples indicating a connection to the place.

Great job , but i still want to point out that what is said at 1:42:35 is not quite accurate, it's François that broke up with her saying "you won but you lost me" , explaining why she performed the winning reprise in a more teary way, she eventually came back with him but they eventually broke up for good 2 years later. Though of course this is all based on public testimonies etc so only those 2 truly know what happened (after all not everything has to be publicy revealed), as the entire story between those 2 feels a bit strange anyways , with jealousy alledgedly in play on François's side (he somehow didn't like that she had success and independance, and she broke up 2 years later in a rather indifferent way that also bothered François (which is arguably the "you go girl" side of the story that you mentioned, but that "you go girl" moment happened 2 years after the contest and not on the night)

But besides that little detail you summed up the situation quite well (and glad that the story of the lollipops is mentioned because it is relevant to the toxic environnement around Gall at the time), great job still :), enjoy your like (that series deserves more views, and i always like when someone is mostly accurate about the Eurovision history (though Eurovision (the network) was created as a technological thing more than for the song contest per se (contrary to the common belief that it was to "unite people post-WW2", which is an indirect positive impact but not the actual reason Eurovision was created, it was simply one of the natural side effects of the network being created , which actual goal was and of course still is cooperation between broadcasters (technology, news sharing etc etc), with the song contest itself having been created to promote songs and test live TV on an international scale in this context, though of course the main reason that people spread that innacurary about the "was created to unite people after WW2" thing ais that some hosts and scripts themselves pretend that (with Eurovision 2016 being the biggest example of spreading that innacuracy), which also explains why a lot of journalists just tend to repeat that innacuracy in their news report about the contest as well (which is usually a good way to know if someone knows what they're talking about or not ;) ) ... but at least you mentioned the broadcasting side of it so it's fine :) )

Btw there is something that was created post WW2 to unite nations , but that's the UN (United Nations), not Eurovision :)

FINALLY an American explaining all of Eurovision in high detail?! Is Jesus coming back soon 😂

Dansevise 😍

5:20 along with 1958, not sure if you clarified it later so I wrote it just in case.
Edit: okay you mentioned it😊

64 - I think what happened is that when the Danish quit in 66 and before they came back in 78, this they taped over the contest footage. This happened a lot in the 60s. The BBC taped over quite few Doctor Who episodes at the same time and footage of Jimi Hendrix on Lulu's show got found on footage about trains. It died out in the 70s. In the 80s when home video took off TV companies could monetise their footage by selling them as home videos and later DVDs to fans.

Denmark I think it was part of a negative attitude to the contest because of their 'culture' minster at the time whose attitude the contest sucked arse was part of penny pinching and no doubt enabled by the Danish getting a crap result in 66 and being the only Nordics did.

So the footage was recorded at the time, the EBU has confirmed this in research. But DR pulled out of the ESC a few years later. Their new head of entertainment didn't like the ESC and withdrew DR. It is believed the footage was junked or wiped. As DR did not participate in the contest there would be not reason to keep it. Video tape was expensive and it was standard policy in many broadcasters to do the same. 1:25:27 the bbc lost their colour film of 1968. These things happen. See Doctor who for video tapes lost in time!