In 1968 the Eurovision Song Contest was staged by the BBC in the world famous Royal Albert Hall in London. It was the first contest to be transmitted in colour, although at the time only a small minority were able to afford the high priced colour televisions. By the late 1960s, the Eurovision Song Contest had become the biggest live music event on European television and most countries were sending their most popular singers and most successful songwriters to the contest. The 1968 hosts were no exception, with one of the strongest teams that the United Kingdom has ever sent to Eurovision.              

Singer Cliff Richard had been one of the biggest British music stars for over a decade, and the U.K.'s entry "Congratulations" was written by Phil Coulter and Bill Martin, the duo that had brought the country its first Eurovision victory with "Puppet On A String" a year earlier. In the week of the contest "Congratulations" was about to knock The Beatles "Lady Madonna" off the number one position in the British chart and it was therefore no surprise that it started as the hottest favourite in the competition's history. If the bookmaker's were to be believed, then the only question was who would finish second?     

The 1968 Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most musically varied shows in the competition's history. As well as having the usual mix of uptempo pop songs, classic French chansons and big ballads, there was a folk song from Yugoslavia and a most peculiar piece of semi-demented nonsense from Norway, with the very appropriate title of "Stress"    

The United Kingdom was the twelfth of seventeen songs to be performed on the catwalk style stage, and Cliff Richard in a stylish blue suit with a ruffle collared shirt gave a typically professional note perfect performance of the song, accompanied by three backing singers who looked as if they'd dressed in their nighties. The cheers which the song received where considerably louder than for any other country in the competition. The Irish entry "Once In A Lifetime" sung by Pat McGeegan was number fourteen in the running order, and two of the last three songs were the Spanish and German entries, both typical 1960's pop songs, sung by girls trying to repeat the musical formula which had given Sandie Shaw victory in 1967.

When the voting started, Spain took an unsurprising early lead helped in no small part by their Portuguese neighbours. However by the half way point, "Congratulations" led, with the French entry "La Source" performed by 1962 Eurovision winner Isabelle Aubret providing the closest competition. By the time it came to the last two juries, "Congratulations" held the lead, with Spain and France still in contention. Then came one of the most shocking series of votes in Eurovision history. The German jury awarded two of its ten points to the U.K., but there were loud gasps of astonishment when it awarded six points to Spain. With only one jury to vote, Spain had taken a one point lead over the U.K. Yugoslavia would decide the winner and to the obvious disbelief of hostess Katie Boyle and probably everyone else in Europe, the Yugoslavs ignored both the U.K. and Spain and instead awarded six of its ten points to Ireland. This meant that it one of the biggest shocks in Eurovision history "Congratulations" had been beaten by Spain's "La La La". It later transpired that Cliff Richard had missed all the voting, as he had locked himself in a toilet to avoid the tension. 

For days afterwards, the controversial result received coverage in the media. It was quite obvious that Cliff Richard was disappointed and upset at not winning, but he would have the last laugh. "Congratulations" would turn out to be one of the biggest international hits in Eurovision history and completely overshadow the Spanish winner. Cliff recorded the song in Spanish, French and Italian and the chart success of the song spread beyond Europe. Ever since 1968 the song has been a staple at birthday and anniversary parties. "Congratulations" has sold over five million copies, and has been recorded by several other singers including other Eurovision performers like Iceland's Paul Oscar and Estonia's Dave Benton.               

Cliff Richard is the stage name of Harry Webb born on 14th October 1940 in Lucknow, India. He began his music career as a rock 'n' roll performer in 1957. His fascination for Elvis Presley encouraged him to join a skiffle group and several months later he formed a three piece band called the Drifters. They played at various clubs in Hertfordshire before heading for the famous 2I's coffee bar in London's Soho and becoming a foursome. In 1958, they secured their big break in a Saturday morning talent show in Shepherd's Bush and they got to make their first demo recording. A copy reached the hands of EMI Records producer Norrie Paramor who was impressed enough to give the group an audition. Initially, he intended to record the newly christened Cliff Richard as a solo artist backed by an orchestra, but Cliff insisted upon retaining his own backing group. The group released their first single "Schoolboy Crush", but it was the b-side "Move It" that started to get attention, eventually reaching number two in the British charts, and Cliff rapidly replaced Marty Wilde as Britain's premier rock 'n' roll star. During this time the line-up his backing band was to change with Hank Marvin and Bruce Welch establishing themselves in the re-named The Shadows, to avoid confusion with the American Drifters.

In the summer of 1959, Cliff Richard and The Shadows scored their first UK number one, with "Living Doll" and this started a run of massively successful hits. Over the next four years, Cliff was constantly in the charts, and again hit number one with "Travellin' Light" (1959), "Please Don't Tease", "I Love You" (both in 1960), "The Young Ones", "The Next Time"/ "Bachelor Boy" (in 1962) and "Summer Holiday" (1963). During this time The Shadows also had a string of instrumental hit singles. Cliff and The Shadows also starred in a series of successful musical films, the most memorable being "Summer Holiday and "The Young Ones". By 1965, Cliff and The Shadows started to record separately as well as together and both continued to score hit after hit with Cliff topping the chart with "The Minute You're Gone" in 1965.

During the mid 1960's Cliff began to be eclipsed by harder edged bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks, but his fans stayed loyal and Cliff became a more family oriented performer, recording more ballads and increasingly appearing in television variety shows. It was therefore no surprise when he was chosen to sing the United Kingdom entry in the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, with the public choosing the song "Congratulations", ahead of five other songs performed by Cliff. The song was a massive worldwide hit but after the disappointment of not winning Eurovision, the hits kept coming but they were not as big as before. By coincidence the next time Cliff would reach the Top 5 in the UK charts would be in 1973, when he returned to the Eurovision stage, performing "Power To All Our Friends". The song reached number 4 in the chart and finished 3rd at Eurovision.

Since then Cliff Richard has continued to have hits and has had number ones in every decade, with "We Don't Talk Anymore" (in 1979), a recording of "Living Doll" with the Young Ones comedy team (in 1986) and the Christmas number ones "Mistletoe And Wine" (1988), Saviour's Day (1990) and "The Millennium Prayer" (in 1999). The latter two of these had a religious theme, and Cliff's avowed Christian beliefs have played a major role in his life for decades. A musical based on the singer's life played in London's West End in 2004. Cliff was knighted, becoming Sir Cliff Richard in 1995, and in 2002 he was voted the 56th greatest Briton of all time. Today he retains a large fan base, many of whom have been with him for almost fifty years, but due to previous commitments he will not be in Copenhagen for the "Congratulations Eurovision show.  

"Congratulations" was written by Scotsman Bill Martin and Irishman Phil Coulter. Wylie MacPherson was born  in Glasgow, but changed his name to Bill Martin before having his first song recorded in 1964. Having moved to London, his first songwriting partner was Tommy Scott and together they worked on songs for Irish groups The Bachelors and The Dubliners as well as British singer Twinkle. In 1965 Martin met Derryman Phil Coulter and one of the most successful songwriting partnerships of the 1960's was formed. Phil Coulter was born in (London) Derry, Northern Ireland in 1942 and began his career while studying music at Belfast's Queens University, writing the Capitol Showband's 1963 hit "Foolin' Time", before moving to London. Before teaming up with Bill Martin his other notable hits of the era included Twinkle's 1964 smash "Terry" and Them's oft-covered garage-rock classic "I Can Only Give You Everything".

Once Martin and Coulter started working together, the hits came in earnest and in 1967 the duo wrote "Puppet On A String" which brought the United Kingdom its first victory in the Eurovision Song Contest. A year later the duo tried to repeat their success with "Congratulations" but came up just one point short. The total sales for these two Eurovision songs exceed ten million copies worldwide. The duo also arranged and published the 1970 Irish Eurovision Song Contest winner "All Kinds Of Everything" on their successful Martin-Coulter Music publishing company. 

In 1969 Martin and Coulter gave Cilla Black one of her biggest hits with "Surround Yourself With Sorrow" and a year later the duo wrote "Back Home" for the England World Cup Squad, which topped the charts and started the trend of football teams recording music (something for which they will never be forgiven, by many music fans). They also wrote the Scottish World Cup Song "Easy Easy" in 1974. In the early 1970's the duo penned hits for groups like The Bay City Rollers (including "Shang-A-Lang" and the American number one "Saturday Night"), Kenny ("Fancy Pants" and others) and Slik ("Forever And Ever"). That song gave Slik's lead singer Midge Ure his first hit UK number one hit. The duo also wrote "My Boy" which was recorded by actor Richard Harris and was later the final hit for Elvis Presley before he died. The duo stopped writing together towards the end of the 1970's and Martin bought out Coulter's share of the company in 1982.

Since then Bill Martin produced a musical "Jukebox" in 1983. The musical ran in the West End for six months and also received the acclaim of being chosen for The Royal Variey Show that year. Martin served and was later Vice President of  the British Academy Of Songwriters in the 19 90s. This is the organization that has traditionally chosen the songs for the U.K. Eurovision selection.

Since splitting with Martin, Phil Coulter has continued to be one of the most famous names in Irish music. In 1975 he co-wrote the Luxembourg Eurovision entry "Toi" with Frenchman Pierre Cours. That song was performed by Irish singer Geraldine Brannigan. Coulter and Brannigan began a long-term relationship, eventually marrying in 1998. "Toi" finished 5th, but it wasn't to be Coulter's last involvement in the contest.

Phil Coulter has written some of the best loved Irish hits of the last thirty years including "Scorn Not His Simplicity" and "The Town I Loved So Well", both originally recorded by Dubliner Luke Kelly. Irish folk group The Furey Bothers had hits with his compositions "Steal Away" and "The Old Man". Coulter also had massive success in the 1980's as a recording artist with his "Tranquility" albums which featured traditional Irish songs arranged by Coulter and featuring his mellow piano playing. At one stage he had the two biggest selling albums of all time in Ireland with "Sea Of Tranquility" and "Classic Tranquility".

In recent years Phil Coulter has been a regular face on Irish television, thanks to his "Coulter And Company" series. When RTE chose to use a televised talent search to choose its Eurovision performer in 2003 and 2004, Coulter was one of the judges on the hugely popular "You're A Star" series. Coulter produced the number one Irish album by George Murphy who was discovered through that show. While Coulter traveled to both Riga and Istanbul to help the Irish entrants, he did not return for the ill-fated third series of "You're A Star". 

BEFORE THE SHOW I SAID : "Congratulations" " is undoubtedly one of the greatest songs performed at Eurovision. It has a timeless quality and a spirit of celebration that make it a true classic. It's one of those songs that everybody knows and can sing along to, which is more than can be said for many of the songs competing to be Eurovision's greatest ever song.  There isn't a shadow of a doubt that the judges got it wrong by denying it victory in 1968, and if for no other reason it would be righting an obvious wrong if "Congratulations" triumphed in Copenhagen. There are however a couple of thing going against it. Firstly Cliff Richard won't be in Copenhagen to help its cause, and secondly, the BBC will not be showing the show. "Congratulations" is one of the few songs that I think could challenge "Waterloo" for victory, but I have a feeling it may come up short once again. 

AFTER THE SHOW I SAY : In common with a lot of people, I was a little disappointed at the result for the song "Congratulations" in the show of the same name.  This song wasn't helped by being the first to be shown, and the concentration of the on stage dancers, but given how relatively poorly this song tends to do in fan polls, it was probably never a serious contender for victory and for a song that nearly forty years old and which didn't win, a Top 10 result is no disgrace.