Eurovision: 1970 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Netherlands

The 1970 competition was held in the Rai Congrescentrum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. As there had been a four-way tie for first position in 1969, and the winner of the previous year hosts the next competition, the European Broadcasting Union basically had to draw straws to see who would host this event.

Answer: Ireland

Ireland won with their entry "All Kinds of Everything", sung by Dana. The song launched Dana's career, which spanned decades; she is noted for her acting in pantomimes, and for several years she was a member of the Irish Parlaiment.

Answer: Mary Hopkin

It was sung by Mary Hopkin, a Welsh folk singer best known for her hit song, "Those Were the Days". Her career started on the television show "Opportunity Knocks" - the 60s super model Twiggy saw her and contacted Beatle Paul McCartney, who signed her to the new Apple label.

Answer: longer introduction plus "postcards" introducing each act

With only twelve nations competing, there was a significant amount of time to be filled that twelve songs just couldn't stretch out to cover. The producers compensated by creating a longer introduction segment and by showing a "postcard" for each act, showing scenes from the entrants' countries. This format continues even into the late 2000s.

Answer: five

Five of the entries were sung in French. They were

Belgium - "Viens l'oublier" ("Come to Forget Him")
France - "Marie-Blanche"
Luxembourg - "Je suis tombé du ciel" ("I Fell from Heaven")
Monaco - "Marlene"
Switzerland - "Retour" ("Return")

Answer: four

Four countries were upset over the prior year's method of choosing a winner. Finland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden voted with their feet... they did not take part in the 1970 competition.

Answer: tie votes

A new rule was created to avoid having to draw straws in a tie vote. Should two songs receive the same number of points, each would be sung again and the juries would choose the winner by a show of hands (the tying countries' juries would not participate at this time). If this didn't resolve the tie, then the countries would share first place.

Answer: Willy Dobbe

Willy Dobbe is actually English but was a presenter at TROS in the Netherlands.

According to wikipedia, " To her, the VPRO series is back so late (Waldolala) and the smiling shaving brush of Wim T. Schippers een plantsoentje, waar veel buitenscenes zich afspeelden, het Willy Dobbeplantsoen genoemd. Schippers a plantsoentje, where many scenes are played out, the Willy Dobbe Plantsoen said."

Anyone who can come up with a sensible translation of this is doing far better than I...

Answer: Don Lurio Dancers

Don Lurio was a dancer and choreographer born in New York, either in 1927 or 1933. His sexuality created problems in the USA so he moved to France and later Italy where he also appeared in films and on television.

The other names are all characters from the ITV television series, 'Van der Valk"

Answer: six

There were six - out of twelve contestants!

Switzerland, France and Spain tied for fourth position, and Italy, Belgium and Monaco tied for eighth.