5th Grand Prix

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

**Quinto Grand Prix d'Europa** (fr. **Cinquième Grand Prix de l'Europe**) was the fifth edition of the annual Grand Prix contest. The contest was held in Teatro dell'Opera di Roma in Rome, Italy, following the victory of Angelique in the 4th Grand Prix. Thirteen countries participated in the contest, with Denmark and Morocco debuting, while Germany resigned.

It was the first and only contest in which the host used solely Italian language and refrained from using French, which caused angered in several delegations. Since then, every contest has to be held in two languages (giving an audience and all the participants a possibility to understand the situation) at least and all the phrases should be repeated in French.

The contest was won by Netherlands, represented by Ellen Bijvang with song "Woonplaats". It was first victory of a non-member of the Mediterranean Union.

## Location

Italian broadcaster, RAI, was met with a response from several cities willing to host the Grand Prix. They were later shortlisted to three: Naples, Rome and Venice. Each city had to provide a venue that would be able to sustain at least a thousand people. Initally, Naples' candidature attracted the most approval, as the venue of choice - Teatro di San Carlo - was one of the oldest in Europe and, as described, would perfectly portray Italian input in culture. However the size of the opera house proved to be too difficult for the technician team, ultimately giving Rome the right to host the contest. It could gather up to 1600 people, making it the biggest venue of the first decade.

## The show

The show was hosted by a pair of Italian TV presenters: Marco Bazzi, Annalisa di Paderi. Bazzi was 44 years old at the time, making him the oldest male host ever. For the first time, the presenters opted not to use French but Italian, as to reach more towards the home audience. This wasn't known up until the rehearsal, causing French, Luxembourgish and Monegasque delegations to file a formal complaint. Since then, every Grand Prix must be presented in two languages at least and one of them has to be French.

The graphic design featured a shooting star with three stripes colored the same as Italian flag, representing Italy as the *European star* the night of the show. It was the first colored logo in the history of the contest. Additionally, for the first time "Grand Prix of the Mediterranean Union" changed the name for "Grand Prix of Europe", emphasizing that the contest is aimed towards all European countries. Ironically, it was the first contest in which non-European country, Morocco, participated.

### Incidents

Two nights between the final, the Monegasque jury was caught trying to buy votes from the French delegations. While French broadcasters denied any accusations, there were several witnesses that incriminated Monegasque jury members. The broadcaster was forced to swap all of their juries and Monaco was banned from participating in the next contest. No action was taken towards the French delegation, despite voices that French jury was willing to accept the bribe.

## Participants

A record of thirteen countries appeared in the contest, despite one withdrawal. Denmark and Morocco debuted as both the northernmost and southernmost participants at the time, with Morocco being a member of the Mediterranean Union. Germany resigned, claiming that the contest is focused too much on the Francophone countries. They created their own version of the show, *Songfestival*, that attracted more of a local audience than an international one and was discontinued a year later.