6th Grand Prix

Venue
 Presenter(s)
 Broadcaster
 Opening act
 Entries
 Debuting
 Withdrawing
 System
 Winner
 Artist
 Song title

**6° Grand Prix Europe** (fr. **Sixième Grand Prix de l'Europe**) was the sixth edition of the annual Grand Prix contest. The contest was held in Koninklijke Schouwburg (*Royal Thatre*) in The Hague, Netherlands, following the victory of Ellen Bijvang in the 5th Grand Prix. Fourteen countries participated in the contest, with Sweden, Tunisia and United Kingdom debuting. Portugal resigned, while Monaco was banned due to attempts to buy other delegations' votes in the previous contest.

This was the first contest held in non-member of the Mediterranean Union, as well as the first contest to be hosted in two languages: French and English. NOS broadcaster resigned from using Dutch, stating that English was a more understandable option.

The contest was won by the United Kingdom, represented by Ellaine Berkley with song "The Old Road Happening". It was the only time (excluding the inaugural contest) in which the debutante won.

## Location

Sixth Grand Prix took place in the Hague, a seat of the Dutch government. Over 600'000 people live in the city, making it the third most populous settlement in the country. An important European city, it was chosen by the broadcaster as the host.

Koninklijke Schouwburg (*Royal Theatre*) served as the venue for the contest. It was built in 1766 as a palace and later turned into the theatre. The hall featured a small stage, a main audience room and the three balconies, which were reserved for the orchestra, national jury members and artists themselves. There were 550 seats avalaible for audience.

## The show

The contest was hosted by Matthias vin Meijnke and Ellen Bijvang, who also won for the Netherlands in the previous Grand Prix. Bijvang opened the show with her winning song, *Woonplaats* (Hometown), followed by *Onthoud Mij* (Remember Me), a newer single that became a radio hit in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK. For the first time, the presenters used two languages: French, that was mandatory and English, that was used for the first time. It allowed the presenters to reach more international audience.

Graphic design included a logo with three tulips, a flower often associated with the Netherlands. They were colored in blue, white and red, respectively, mirroring the colours of the Dutch flag. English language was chosen to describe the event, resulting in creation of an (later) official name attributed to the show - Grand Prix Europe.

There were fourteen baskets filled with tulips on the stage. Each basket had flowers with colours corresponding to each participant's flag colours. After artists left the stage, they were given the basket, leaving ultimately the stage empty for the winner. Following the jury voting, artists were asked to throw the flowers on the stage, symbolizing the unity within the nations.

## Participants

Fourteen countries took part in the contest, beating previous Grand Prix by one. Three nations debuted, including Sweden, United Kingdom and Tunisia, with the latter one being the second African country to participate in the contest. Monaco was banned from the contest, following vote-buying attempt in the 5th Grand Prix. Portugal withdrew due to financial difficulties.

### Returning artists

Luiza Fenti represented Spain, after previously appearing in the 4th Grand Prix in a duet with Tulio Manciaga. Lídia Calbó represented Andorra once again after 5th Grand Prix, as well as Nadia Côté, who sang for France in a duet a year before.

  Nadia Côté | 5th Grand Prix |  France | 4th