Eurovision Song Contest 1979
| Eurovision Song Contest 1979 | |
|---|---|
| Dates | |
| Final | 31 March 1979 |
| Host | |
| Venue | International Convention Center Jerusalem, Israel |
| Presenter(s) | |
| Executive producer | Alex Gilady |
| Director | Yossi Zemach |
| Musical director | Izhak Graziani |
| EBU scrutineer | Frank Naef |
| Host broadcaster | Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) |
| Website | eurovision |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 19 |
| Debuting countries | None |
| Returning countries | None |
| Non-returning countries | Turkey |
Participation map
| |
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs |
| Winning song | Israel "Hallelujah" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the 1978 contest with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held at the Menachem Ussishkin auditorium of the International Convention Centre on 31 March 1979, and was hosted by Israeli television presenter Daniel Pe'er and singer Yardena Arazi. This was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was held outside Europe.
Nineteen countries participated in the contest, with Turkey deciding not to participate after Arab countries had pressured it into not participating in a contest held in Israel. Yugoslavia, which had missed the 1977 and 1978 contests, also did not take part in or broadcast the contest this year for political reasons, despite an earlier public poll in which almost 100,000 people supported a Yugoslav return to the contest.
For the second year in a row, Israel won with the song "Hallelujah", performed by the Israeli group Milk and Honey featuring Gali Atari.