The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th in the series, held on 6 April 1974. Luxembourg, who had won the previous year with Anne Marie David, declined to host again due to financial concerns, and also it was the funeral of Georges Pompidou, so the BBC agreed to stage the event, which took place at The Dome in Brighton.
Katie Boyle acted as presenter once again, marking her record fourth appearance as a Eurovision host. This time, she had to remove her underwear two minutes before the show after having problems with her dress, hence holding her prompt cards uncomfortably low.
Greece made its debut in this edition, but France withdrew as a mark of respect following the death of their president, Georges Pompidou (the funeral was held on the day of the contest). Their chosen singer, Dani, was in attendance. Though they did not participate, Turkey, Austria, France, Malta, Denmark and Iceland all broadcast the contest with their own commentators.
Several interesting occurrences came up in this edition: for example, Italy did not broadcast the contest due to a referendum on divorce being held at the time and with the Italian entry's title called Sì ("Yes"), RAI felt it would affect the outcome of the vote, thus it wasn't played on TV or radio for over a month.
The Dutch Entry, I See A Star has several discreet drug references, including lyrics mentioning "Inhaling Love"; people have speculated this could have referenced the Dutch plans to legalize medical marijuana.
The Portuguese entry was actually the first signal for the start of the Carnation Revolution that would overthrow the government. As noted in The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History, it was "the only Eurovision entry to have actually started a revolution".
Sweden earned its first win when ABBA stormed to victory with the song Waterloo, which was their launching point to international superstardom.
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