Eurovision Song Contest 1972
The Eurovision Song Contest 1972 was the 17th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Edinburgh, United Kingdom and was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), who agreed to stage the event after Monaco, who won in 1971, were unable to meet the demands of hosting the event and could not find a suitable venue. The contest was held at the Usher Hall on 25 March 1972 and was hosted by Scottish ballet dancer Moira Shearer.
| Eurovision Song Contest 1972 | |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Final | 25 March 1972 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Usher Hall Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
| Presenter(s) | Moira Shearer |
| Musical director | Malcolm Lockyer |
| Directed by | Terry Hughes |
| Executive supervisor | Clifford Brown |
| Executive producer | Bill Cotton |
| Host broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
| Website | eurovision |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 18 |
| Debuting countries | None |
| Returning countries | None |
| Non-returning countries | None |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Two-member juries (one aged 16 to 25 and the other 25 to 55) rated songs between one and five points. |
| Winning song | Luxembourg "Après toi" |
Eighteen countries took part in the contest, the same countries as the previous year.
The winner was Luxembourg with the song "Après toi", performed by Vicky Leandros, with lyrics by Yves Dessca, and music composed by Mario Panas (which was the writing pseudonym of Vicky's father Leo Leandros). "Après toi" became the winner with the lowest percentage of the total vote, winning with just 8.30% of the points available. Yves Dessca also wrote "Un banc, un arbre, une rue" that had won the previous edition, and became the second person to win the contest twice, the first person to win for two different countries and the first person to win two years in a row. Germany finished in third place for the third consecutive year, equalling their highest placement from the previous two editions.