Eurovision Song Contest 1961
The Eurovision Song Contest 1961 was the 6th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Once again, the contest was held in the French seaside city of Cannes, having also hosted the . Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF), the contest was held again at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès on 18 March 1961 and was the first to take place on a Saturday evening, a tradition that has continued ever since (with the exception of 1962). The show was again hosted by Jacqueline Joubert, who had  also hosted in 1959. Sixteen countries participated in the contest - three more than in the previous edition; , and all competed for the first time this year. The winner was with the song "Nous les amoureux", performed by Jean-Claude Pascal, written by Maurice Vidalin, and composed by Jacques Datin, with the finishing in second place for the third consecutive year. Location. The event took place in Cannes, France, with the venue being the original building of Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, after France got the right to host this edition of the Eurovision Song Contest for winning its previous  with the song "Tom Pillibi" performed by Jacqueline Boyer. Cannes, a city located on the French Riviera, is a busy tourist destination and known worldwide for hosting the annual Cannes Film Festival, with the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès also hosting the Film Festival. The original building was built in 1949 and was located on the boulevard of Promenade de la Croisette, on the present site of the JW Marriott Cannes. It also hosted the edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Format. The stage used for the 1961 contest was notably larger than in previous years and was magnificently  decorated with flowers. It is noticeable that during the voting, Luxembourg gave the UK eight points, and Norway also gave Denmark eight points. It was the largest number of points given to a country by a single jury since 1958, when Denmark provided France with nine points. Such a high number of points obtained by a country would not be achieved until 1970, when Ireland would receive nine points from Belgium. Participating countries. Interest in the competition began to grow across Europe as three new countries participated for the first time: Finland, Spain, and Yugoslavia. Conductors. Each performance had a  conductor who directed the orchestra. Léo Chauliac, the conductor of the winning entry, was the first conductor whose sole Eurovision participation was for a winning entry. Scoreboard. Each country had 10 jury members who each awarded 1 point to their favourite song. Spokespersons. Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1961 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country. Broadcasts. Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language. Incidents. BBC broadcast cut . As the contest overran its allocated time, and the show was being broadcast live, the winning song's reprise was not shown in the United Kingdom.