大象传媒

Coverage of the thirteenth annual Eurovision Song Contest broadcast from Royal Albert Hall in London, United Kingdom.

The winning entry, Spanish song "La La La", was performed by singer Massiel after the country's original choice of artist, Joan Manuel Serrat, upset dictator Francisco Franco by asking to sing in Catalan which was seen as an insult. In fact it was not until Andorra made their debut in the contest in 2004 that Catalan was performed in the contest.

A documentary by Spainiard Montse Fernandez Villa in 2008 made allegations about the 1968 contest, based on the testimony of a Spanish journalist, including the fact that it was rigged by Franco who apparently sent cash and agreed contracts with several European television officials in exchange for votes. According to this documentary the deserved winner was Cliff Richard's entry for the United Kingdom which missed out on the top spot by one point.

The allegations understandably upset performer Massiel who claimed other more ardent supporters of Franco's regieme would have been chosen to benefit if the contest had been rigged, and the journalist who appeared in the documentary personally apologised to Massiel saying he had simply been echoing a widespread rumour.

The 1968 contest in London was the first time the song contest was broadcast in colour by several countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.

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