1963

A small scandal accompanied the 1963 contest which was staged in London. The event was produced from 2 different studios - 1 with Katie Boyle and the audience, and 1 with the performers and the orchestra. It wasn't officially stated that the performances were pre-recorded, but the speed with which the set was changed between songs led to the conclusion that they were. This however was not the only scandal, as the voting came under suspision that it had been fixed.

There was a misunderstanding between Oslo and Katie Boyle, although viewers could clearly make out that the Norwegian jury had awarded 5 points to The UK, 4 to Italy, 3 to Switzerland, 2 to Denmark and 1 to Germany. The scores were added to the totals, but Katie Boyle announced that she would go back at the end of the voting to confirm the scores given. The scores at the end of the voting read, Switzerland 42, and Denmark 40. Katie returned to Oslo for their scores again, and this time they were given as 5 for the UK, 4 for Denmark, 3 for Italy, 2 for Germany and only 1 for Switzerland, which meant that Denmark now had 42, and Switzerland 40.

Was this the first instance of geographical favouritism in Eurovision ?