Eurovision Song Contest 1976
| Eurovision Song Contest 1976 | |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Final | 3 April 1976 |
| Host | |
| Venue | Nederlands Congresgebouw The Hague, Netherlands |
| Presenter(s) | Corry Brokken |
| Executive producer | Fred Oster |
| Director | Theo Ordeman |
| Musical director | Jan Stulen |
| EBU scrutineer | Clifford Brown |
| Host broadcaster | Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) |
| Website | eurovision |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 18 |
| Debuting countries | None |
| Returning countries | |
| Non-returning countries | |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs |
| Winning song | United Kingdom "Save Your Kisses for Me" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 was the 21st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the 1975 contest with the song "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), the contest was held at the Nederlands Congrescentrum on 3 April 1976 and was hosted by Corry Brokken, who had won the contest for the Netherlands in 1957.
Eighteen countries took part in the contest with Sweden, Malta, and Turkey opting not to return to the contest after participating the previous year. Malta would not return to the contest again until 1991. On the other hand, Austria and Greece returned to the competition, having been absent since 1972 and 1974 respectively.
The United Kingdom won the contest this year with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man. The song went on to become the biggest selling winning single in the history of the contest and won with 80.39% of the possible maximum score and an average of 9.65 of 12; a record under the voting system introduced in 1975.