1973

[Star Attraction]

The Eurovision Song Contest came from the Nouveau Théâtre, Luxembourg city, Luxembourg on Saturday 7 April.

• 17 countries took part.
• The voting system introduced in 1971 was used for the final time: each country had two jurors, both of whom had to give 1-5 points to every song.
• This meant it was impossible for any country to end on nul points; assuming no country could vote for itself, the least one individual country could award to another was 2 points, and the least any country could end up with that year was 32 points (16 x 2).
• A new rule was introduced allowing each country to choose what language it wanted to sing in.
• Luxembourg won with "Tu Te Reconnaîtras" sung by Anne-Marie David, scoring 129 points.
• The UK's entry "Power To All Our Friends" sung by Cliff Richard, finished 3rd with 123 points.
• Israel entered for the first time, the first non-European country to participate. Its entry "Ey-sham" sung by Ilanit finished 4th with 97 points.
• Belgium finished last with 58 points: "Baby, Baby" sung by Nicole and Hugo.

UK number one singles included:

• Slade - "Come On Feel The Noise"
• Dawn - Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree"
• Peters and Lee - "Welcome Home"
• Wizzard Angel - "Fingers"
• David Cassidy - "Daydreamer"
• Slade - "Merry Christmas Everybody"

The UK became a member of the EEC (as it was then called) on 1 January 1973.

Any more memories of 1973, please air them here.

[PC66]

Re: 1973

The UK became a member of the EEC (as it was then called) on 1 January 1973.

One of the worst political actions the U.K. ever took, thanks to traitor Edward Heath and his cronies.

[Retrogames]

Re: 1973

There must have been more than just Eurovision and joining the EEC in 73, surely!

[Kaptain_Von]

Re: 1973

Okay, a few more events of note that happened in 1973:

The Yom Kippur War - Syrian and Egyptian forces attacked Israel.

Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips got married (to each other).

Skylab was launched, stayed in space for six years then fell out of the sky in 1979.

The James Bond film 'Live and Let Die' was released.

Britain joined the EEC (and people have been arguing over it ever since ).

OPEC announced massive price increases that then triggered an oil crisis.

[PC66]

Re: 1973

Use of motorcycle helmets became compulsory for the first time in the U.K.

[Star Attraction]

Re: 1973

There must have been more than just Eurovision and joining the EEC in 73, surely!

I did mention a few UK number one singles that came out in 1973. The thing is I only found that out through the internet. I'm too young to actually remember 1973, I was just 1 year and 3 months old at the start of 1973 and 2 years and 3 months old at the end of it.

[PC66]

Re: 1973

There must have been more than just Eurovision and joining the EEC in 73, surely!

1973 was the year that the Republic of Ireland joined the EEC as well.

[Cooldeepblue]

Re: 1973

I remember this slogan quite well, possibly the beginnings of "green" campaigns. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_A_Tree_In_'73

[spuggybridge]

Re: 1973

Sunderland beating the mighty Leeds 1-0 in the cup final, the clown (to quote Brian Clough) Jan Tomaszewski stopping England reaching the 74 World Cup Finals and the year that Sam Tyler, Life on Mars wakes up in.

[zip55]

Re: 1973

I worked the Summer Holidays behind the bar at Ingoldmells Hotel, Butlins, Skeggy.

[darren]

Re: 1973

ajax winning the european cup which was for the 3rd straight year.

[Roxxy]

Re: 1973

1973 means two things for me- the Summerland leisure centre disaster and the Yom Kippur War. We were on the Isle of Mann when the Summerland fire happened, and would have gone there had it not burnt down a couple of days earlier. There but for fortune....I was terrified of indoor leisure facilities for years afterwards- 51 dead, and horribly too. Never mentioned in history or nostalgia books, a forgotten holocaust, but it should be.
The Yom Kippur War was one of the most dangerous episodes of the Cold War- Nixon declared a nuclear alert, the Soviet Union was threatening to intervene in the Middle East, and it was a nasty episode in world history. I was only four and a half at the time, but children are very sensitive to fear in adults, and I remember a climate of fear amongst the grown-ups- people were tense, scared, glued to their TVs or radios, talking about frightening things. It was made all the worse for me by the fact that my Mum went into hospital at the same time with a suspected breast lump (in the end it was just a harmless condition), but without her I felt there was nobody there to protect me or reassure me. I still feel it's legacy today in various ways, it's accounted for some of the problems I've had in adult life- Thank God the Cold War is over now....