The contest made its way to France once again after Jacqueline Boyer had won the contest the year prior. This was the 6th edition of Eurovision, and the second time the contest was held in Cannes, France. The venue for the show was the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, and it was Jacqueline Joubert who hosted the show. The conductor for the show was Franck Pourcel who was also the conductor for the 1959 contest.
Eurovision 1961 was held on the 18th of March, but for the first time, the competition actually took place on a Saturday night. A total of 16 countries participated, with three nations making their debut – Finland, Spain and Yugoslavia.
The voting procedure remained the same in 1961, with each national jury featuring 10 members who would all give one point to their favourite song.
Here is the full list of participants:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- Yugoslavia
There were two returning artists in 1961, the first being the Belgian representative Bob Benny who previously participated in the 1959 contest. Nora Brockstedt also returned to the contest for Norway, after participating the year prior.
Here are the competitors:
- Conchita Bautista – Estando Contigo (Spain) đŸ‡ªđŸ‡¸
- Colette DerĂ©al – Allons, allons les enfants (Monaco) đŸ‡²đŸ‡¨
- Jimmy Makulis – Sehnsucht (Austria) đŸ‡¦đŸ‡¹
- Laila Kinnunen – Valoa ikkunassa (Finland) đŸ‡«đŸ‡®
- Ljiljana Petrović – Neke Davne Zvezde (Yugoslavia)
- Greetje Kauffeld – Wat een dag (The Netherlands) đŸ‡³đŸ‡±
- Lill-Babs – April, april (Sweden) đŸ‡¸đŸ‡ª
- Lale Andersen – Einmal sehen wir uns wieder (Germany) đŸ‡©đŸ‡ª
- Jean-Paul Mauric – Printemps, avril carillonne (France) đŸ‡«đŸ‡·
- Franca di Rienzo – Nous Aurons Demain (Switzerland)Â đŸ‡¨đŸ‡
- Bob Benny – September, gouden roos (Belgium) đŸ‡§đŸ‡ª
- Nora Brockstedt – Sommer I Palma (Norway) đŸ‡³đŸ‡´
- Dario Campeotto – Angelique (Denmark) đŸ‡©đŸ‡°
- Jean-Claude Pascal – Nous les Amoureux (Luxembourg) đŸ‡±đŸ‡º
- The Allisons – Are You Sure (United Kingdom) đŸ‡¬đŸ‡§
- Betty Curtis – Al di lĂ Â (Italy) đŸ‡®đŸ‡¹
Winning the contest was Luxembourg with Jean-Claude Pascal and his song, Nous les amoureux. He finished with a total of 31 points, which was considerably higher than second placed United Kindgom, who finished with 24 points. Coming in third place was Switzerland with 16 points. Belgium and Austria tied for last place, both with just 1 point.