In 1973 the Eurovision Song Contest returned to Luxembourg and was staged in the Nouveau Théâtre on April 7th. Advances in technology meant that this was the first contest which saw the performers being covered by moving cameras. Cliff Richard returned to sing for the United Kingdom, and once again he started as favourite, this time with the cheery sing-along song "Power To All Our Friends". Despite the fact that the three previous contests had been won by ballads, the 1973 competition was filled with mid-tempo and up-tempo pop songs. Indeed when Spain's Mocedades group came on stage at number seven in the running order, it came after six much faster songs. "Eres Tu" (You Are), the haunting and emotional folk flavoured Spanish entry was certainly very different than what had come before it, and it immediately stood out from the pack. Only two other entries in the remaining ten songs also looked to be in contention for victory, the home entry from Luxembourg "Tu Te Reconnaîtras" performed by French singer Anne-Marie David was 11th in the running order, and used the same chanson formula which had won in the previous two years. Cliff Richard's rather awkward dance movements on the U.K. entry may have proved a little distracting from an otherwise perfect performance, but he once again justified the favourite's tag.     

Unfortunately from an Irish perspective, 1973 was a bit of a disaster. in the days building up to the contest reports started to come back from Luxembourg that the Irish performer Maxi, was unhappy with the arrangement of her song "Do I Dream". Indeed the situation got so bad that at one stage she threatened not to sing and it looked like Ireland was going to have to withdraw from the contest. On the day before the contest, RTÉ decided to send out a back-up singer, Tina, to perform in Maxi's place. Dublin newspaper headlines reflected the row that was taking place. However after much discussion, Maxi agreed to sing, but her performance was very uncomfortable and the tempo of the song did no favours to her or to Ireland's chances of a good result.     

1973 was the third and final year of Eurovision's most bizarre voting process. Each country sent two jurors to the contest and they sat in special voting booths, awarding  points out of five to each song. After the interval, three countries (or six jurors) voted for each country in turn.  After the first six countries (Finland, Belgium and Portugal) voted, the U.K. had a one point lead over Luxembourg and Spain. However the third set of countries to vote included Spain, so they fell behind, and Luxembourg took the lead for the first time.

However the fourth set of countries to vote, included Luxembourg, and after they had voted, the U.K. had re-gained, a narrow lead of just three points ahead of Spain and Luxembourg. Given that the U.K. had yet to vote and the minimum that it could give to any country was two points (one from each of their two jurors), the early advantage was once again appearing to swing away from Cliff Richard, just as it had done five years previously. When the Netherlands, Ireland and the U.K. came to vote, they favoured Luxembourg, and with the two remaining countries left to vote Luxembourg had 111 points, with Spain on 108 and the U.K. trailing on 106. Given that one of the last two countries to vote was France, it appeared that Luxembourg had the contest won, and sure enough, with France awarding ten out of ten and Israel eight, "Tu Te Reconnaîtras" ("You'll Recognize Yourself") won the 18th Eurovision Son Contest. "Eres Tu" finished four points behind for Spain, with the U.K. two points further back. Newcomers Israel achieved a fine debut result finished 4th and Ireland came 10th.

"Tu Te Reconnaîtras" was a worthy winner, and gave Luxembourg a place in the record books by becoming the first country to gain two outright victories in successive years. The song went on to be a sizeable hit in Europe and the English version ("Beautiful Dream") reached the UK and Irish charts. Despite finishing second "Eres Tu" was also a hit in several European countries. The song was recorded in French, German, Italian, and even in Basque for the local audience.  However it was the English version "Touch The Wind", with lyrics by Mike Hawker, that saw it achieve major success in the American market where it reached the Top 10 in 1974. In 2000 "Eres Tu" turned up on the soundtrack of the Nicolas Cage film, "The Family Man". The song has always been considered a Eurovision classic and regularly does well on fan polls.

The story of Mocedades goes back to the late 1960s in the city of Bilbao in the Basque region of Northern Spain. In 1967 a local group of fans of folk and spiritual music decided to form a group that was first known as "Voces y Guitarras" (Voices and Guitars). They spent a year performing in the local area, before recording a demo on cassette and sending it by way of a friend to a record company in Madrid. The tape reached the hands of one of Spain's most successful musicians, songwriters and producers, Juan Carlos Calderón, who took an immediate interest in the group and became their producer. The group changed their name to Mocedades (Youth) and began a long and successful recording and performing career that would spread beyond their native land.

Mocedades started with eight members and went through several changes in personnel over the course of the group's history. The first two albums were recorded by the original eight members: three Uranga sisters and a brother (Amaya, Estíbaliz, Izaskum, and Roberto), the Blanco brothers (Rafaél and Sergio), José Ipiña, and Francisco Panera. At the end of 1970, José Ipiña and Francisco Panera left the group and Javier Garay joined. In 1972 Estíbaliz Uranga, Sergio Blanco, and Rafaél Blanco left, while José Ipiña returned and Carlos Zubiaga joined. It was with this configuration of the "historic six" of Amaya, Carlos, Izaskum, Javier, José, and Roberto that Mocedades, appeared at Eurovision in 1973 and recorded its biggest hits. Interestingly Sergio Blanco and Estíbaliz Uranga having left Mocedades before Eurovision, actually ended up the competition two years later, when they performed "Tu Volverás" in Stockholm, finishing 10th. 

Having begun to establish themselves in the Spanish music market Mocedades were chosen by Spanish television to represent the country at Eurovision in 1973, and their song "Eres Tu" was written by their producer Juan Carlos Calderón. After Eurovision it became a big international hit and made their name in the North and Latin American markets. In the following years more hits followed, "Tómame o Déjame" was a huge seller in Spain and most of Latin America as were other songs like "La Otra España", "El Vendedor", "¿Quién Te Cantará?" and "Me Siento Seguro". However it is "Eres Tu" that remains their most remembered song.

In 1984 Amaya left the group to pursue a solo career and the band have gone through several line-up changes since then. However the band continued to tour and to record albums which were successful in the Spanish speaking market. In 1997 they released an album of Spanish versions of the best loved songs from the Disney collection. That album saw them re-united with Juan Carlos Calderón for the first time in seventeen years. It is believed that the group, in some configuration, will be on stage in Copenhagen for the "Congratulations" show. 

Juan Carlos Calderón was born in the Spanish city Santander in 1936. Having studied music and established his name as a fine musician he formed a successful jazz quartet in 1960. In 1963 he moved to Madrid and formed a "big band" and soon that band's reputation grew as they supported  international stars like Carmen Mac Rae, Donald Byrd, Stephan Grapelli and Donna Hightower on visits to Spain. Soon Calderón and his band signed to CBS records and released the first of a series of highly acclaimed albums. In 1968 his album of his own compositions "Carlos Calderón presents Juan Carlos Calderón" wins several awards. That year also sees him working with singer Joan Manuel Serrat (the original singer of "La La La" the 1968 Eurovision winner, but who was removed, having insisted on singing the song in Catalan).

Calderón wrote a series of hits for Serrat, including "El Titiritero", "Poema de Amor" and "Mis Gaviotas". Calderón also worked with a number of other popular Spanish stars including Luis Eduardo, Ana Belén, Cecilia, Mari Trini, Camilo Sesto, Nino Bravo and 1968 Eurovision winner Massiel. It was however his work with Serrat that gained most success, both at home and in Italy and Latin America. Latin flavoured songs like "Vencidos", "Pueblo Blanco" and "Vagabundear" were just as successful as the more melodic ballads like "Barquito De Papel", "Aquellas Pequeñas Cosas" and "Lucía",.

In 1972 Calderón moved to musical theatre and composed the "América Negra" project which explored the history of black Americans. This ambitious but critically acclaimed work, saw him working with the Basque folk group Mocedades. In 1973, they re-united on their Eurovision entry "Eres Tu" which Calderón also conducted at Eurovision. The song went on to be an international hit and "Eres Tu" was just one of a number of hits which Calderón would compose for Mocedades. In 1975 Calderón returned to Eurovision when his song "Tu Volverás" finished tenth. The same year another of his songs "Amor A Medianoche" sung by Cecilia wins the OTI song contest (a latin version of Eurovision which involved Spain, Portugal and their former American colonies). Calderón later wrote further OTI entries for the popular group Trigo Limpio.

During this time Calderón also continued to record and gig with his band and released albums which gained attention from jazz fans throughout the World and won several international awards. In 1978 Calderón recorded the successful "Solea" in which he fused flamenco and jazz, collaborating with the brilliant flamenco singer Enrique Morente. In 1981 Calderón moved to Los Angeles where he spread his time between his first love as a jazz interpreter and also continued to work as a composer and producer. Working in Los Angles allowed him to work with many international stars like Luis Miguel, Simone, Martika and Sheena Easton.

Juan Carlos Calderón made two further attempts to win the Eurovision Song Contest for Spain, writing "La Fiesta Termino" which finished 14th in 1985 and "Nacida Para Amar" which came 6th in 1989. He has also composed the soundtrack music for several Spanish language films and television series and has gained many gold and platinum discs for the international sales of his albums.

BEFORE THE SHOW I SAID : There's no doubt that "Eres Tu" is a fine song although it is a little surprising that it made the list of the 14 greatest Eurovision songs of all time, given that it didn't win and it was never as big a hit as "Volare" or "Congratulations". Given that Spain's most successful Eurovision songs came in the 1966 to 1975 decade, it is highly likely that this is one of the four songs chosen by the panel of "experts" rather than the public, as the Spanish votes would have been split. To be honest, I don't think that this song has the slightest chance of winning in Copenhagen, as older fans will have more familiar songs to choose from, and younger viewers will not be familiar with "Eres Tu". Regretably for that reason, I think that this may be the song that finishes last in the voting in October. However it will be great to see Mocedades on the Eurovision stage again, irrespective of the result.

AFTER THE SHOW I SAY : As both I and the bookmakers thought, this was never really a serious contender for victory in Copenhagen. It was however surprising to see Dutch voters consider "Eres Tu" to be the best Eurovision song of all time. Again for such an old song and a non-winner to finish in 11th place is no disgrace and it was wonderful to see the surviving member of Mocedades taking the trouble to go to Copenhagen.