EUROVISION HISTORY
Closest Eurovision finals
Eurovision has produced outright ties, one-point victories and scoreboards where the top three were separated by almost nothing.
What counts as a close Eurovision result?
Voting systems have changed repeatedly, so raw point margins are not directly comparable across every era. The examples below focus on historically notable finishes rather than pretending that points from different systems are equivalent.
1963
Denmark wins by two points after corrected votes
Denmark finished on 42 points, two ahead of Switzerland on 40. Norway's initially confused votes were later corrected live, changing the final outcome.
1968
Spain beats the United Kingdom by one point
Massiel won for Spain with 29 points, only one ahead of Cliff Richard's “Congratulations” for the United Kingdom on 28.
1969
Four countries tied for first
France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom all finished on 18 points. With no tie-break rule in place, all four entries were declared winners.
1988
Céline Dion wins by one point
Switzerland finished on 137 points, only one ahead of the United Kingdom on 136. The final jury changed the winner at the very end of the voting.
1991
Sweden and France tie on 146
Carola and Amina both ended on 146 points. The tie-break eventually went to Sweden because it had received more 10-point scores after the number of 12s was also tied.
2003
Two points separate first and second
Türkiye won with 167 points, Belgium finished second with 165 and Russia third with 164 — only three points covered the entire top three.
Why 1991 was different from 1969
In 1969 there was no procedure capable of separating the four joint leaders, so Eurovision officially had four winners. By 1991 a tie-break system existed, allowing Sweden and France to be separated after finishing on the same total.