🔴 1965 Eurovision Song Contest Full Show From Naples/Italy (English Commentary by David Jacobs)

Date: 20 March 1965 - Host Venue: Sala di Concerto della RAI, Naples, Italy
Presenter: Renata Mauro - Musical director: Gianni Ferrio
Directed by Romolo Siena - Executive supervisor: Miroslav Vilček
Host broadcaster: Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI)
Interval act: Mario Del Monaco

The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the 10th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Naples, Italy, following the country's victory at the 1964 contest with the song "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti. It was the first time the contest took place in Italy, also marking the first time the Italian Peninsula and Southern European country hosted the event. The contest was held at Sala di Concerto della RAI on Saturday 20 March 1965, and was hosted by Renata Mauro.

Eighteen countries participated in the contest - setting a new record for the highest number of entrants. Sweden returned after their absence from the previous edition, while Ireland made their debut.

The winner was Luxembourg with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", performed by France Gall, and written/composed by Serge Gainsbourg. This was Luxembourg's second victory in the contest, following their win in 1961. It was also the first winning song since the Netherlands' "Een beetje" in 1959 to not be a ballad.

For the fourth consecutive year, four countries all scored nul points; Belgium, Finland, Germany, and Spain - all of which finished with no points for the second time in the contest's history.

The contest took place in Naples, the capital of region Campania in southern Italy and the third-largest city in Italy, after Rome and Milan. This is Italy's first hosting of the Eurovision Song Contest. The host venue was the then new Sala di Concerto della RAI (RAI Production Centre of Naples), founded few years prior to the contest, in the late fifties and early sixties. It is located in Viale Marconi in the district of Fuorigrotta. The structure has three TV studios for a total of 1227 m2 and capacity of 370 persons, used for the filming of programs and fiction and an auditorium. The Neapolitan song archives are also housed in it.

Each country had 10 jury members who distributed three points among their one, two, or three favourite songs. The points were totalled and the first, second, and third placed songs were awarded 5, 3, and 1 votes in order. If only one song got every point within the jury it would get all 9 points. If only two songs were chosen, the songs would get 6 and 3 points in order.

18 countries took part, with the Eurovision Song Contest reaching its highest ever number. Sweden returned after a one-year absence, and Ireland debuted in the competition. Luxembourg won for the second time with the highly controversial Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son sung by teenager France Gall which later went on to be a massive hit in almost all European countries. Belgium, Finland, Germany, and Spain all scored null points for the second time. The competition was also broadcast via the Intervision network, to the Eastern European nations for the very first time.

Ingvar Wixell, the Swedish participant performed his song in English instead of the original Swedish title "Annorstädes vals". The native languages were used for all of the other participants. This led to a rule being introduced for the next 1966 edition, that meant all participants had to perform their songs using one of their national languages.

Results
Draw Country Artist Song Language Place Points
01 Netherlands Conny Vandenbos "'t Is genoeg" Dutch 11 5
02 United Kingdom Kathy Kirby "I Belong" English 2 26
03 Spain Conchita Bautista "¡Qué bueno, qué bueno!" Spanish 15 0
04 Ireland Butch Moore "Walking the Streets in the Rain" English 6 11
05 Germany Ulla Wiesner "Paradies, wo bist du?" German 15 0
06 Austria Udo Jürgens "Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüßen" German 4 16
07 Norway Kirsti Sparboe "Karusell" Norwegian 13 1
08 Belgium Lize Marke "Als het weer lente is" Dutch 15 0
09 Monaco Marjorie Noël "Va dire à l'amour" French 9 7
10 Sweden Ingvar Wixell "Absent Friend" English 10 6
11 France Guy Mardel "N'avoue jamais" French 3 22
12 Portugal Simone de Oliveira "Sol de inverno" Portuguese 13 1
13 Italy Bobby Solo "Se piangi, se ridi" Italian 5 15
14 Denmark Birgit Brüel "For din skyld" Danish 7 10
15 Luxembourg France Gall "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" French 1 32
16 Finland Viktor Klimenko "Aurinko laskee länteen" Finnish 15 0
17 Yugoslavia Vice Vukov "Čežnja" (Чежња) Serbo-Croatian 12 2
18 Switzerland Yovanna "Non, à jamais sans toi" French 8 8