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Eurovision Song Contest 1968

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The Eurovision Song Contest 1968 was the 13th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's first victory at the 1967 contest with the song "Puppet on a String" by Sandie Shaw. Despite having won for the first time the year before, it was actually the third time that the United Kingdom had hosted the competition, having previously done so in 1960 and 1963, both of which also took place in London. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the contest was held at Royal Albert Hall on 6 April 1968, and was hosted by Katie Boyle for the third time. It was notably also the first time that the contest was broadcast in colour.

Eurovision Song Contest 1968
Dates
Final6 April 1968
Host
VenueRoyal Albert Hall
London, United Kingdom
Presenter(s)Katie Boyle
Musical directorNorrie Paramor
Directed byStewart Morris
Executive supervisorClifford Brown
Executive producerTom Sloan
Host broadcasterBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/london-1968 Edit this at Wikidata
Participants
Number of entries17
Debuting countriesNone
Returning countriesNone
Non-returning countriesNone
  • A coloured map of the countries of EuropeBelgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968France in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Luxembourg in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968Denmark in the Eurovision Song ContestDenmark in the Eurovision Song Contest
         Competing countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1968
Vote
Voting systemTen-member juries distributed ten points among their favourite songs.
Winning song Spain
"La La La"
1967 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 1969

Seventeen countries participated in the contest, the same countries that had participated the previous year.

The winner was Spain with the song "La La La" by Massiel, and written/composed by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa. This was Spain's first victory - and their first ever top five placing - in the contest.

Location

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Royal Albert Hall, London - host venue of the 1968 contest.

The contest was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The Royal Albert Hall is known for hosting the world's leading artists from several performance genres, sports, award ceremonies, the annual summer Proms concerts and other events since its opening in 1871, and has become one of the United Kingdom's most treasured and distinctive buildings. At the time of the contest in 1968, the hall had a capacity of 7,000 seats.[1]

Participating countries

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Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1968 – Participation summaries by country

All countries that had participated in 1967 also participated in 1968.[2]

Originally Spanish broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE) entered Joan Manuel Serrat to sing "La La La", but his demand to sing in Catalan was an affront to the Francoist State dictatorship. Therefore, Massiel, who was on tour in Mexico, was brought in as a late replacement. In just two weeks, she had to rush back to Spain, learn the song, record it in several languages, travel to Paris to get a dress and go to London for rehearsals. She sang the song in the contest in Castilian Spanish with the new arrangement made to fit her. In her winning reprise, she performed part of her song in English, in addition to the original version, becoming the first winner to do so.[2][3] The Norwegian national selection, Melodi Grand Prix, ended with Kirsti Sparboe and Odd Børre winning with the song "Jeg har aldri vært så glad i noen som deg". However the composer, Kari Diesen withdrew the song due to receiving multiple accusations of plagiarism of the song "Summer Holiday" by Cliff Richard.[4][5] The runner-up song in the selection, "Stress" would perform in the contest instead, where Odd Børre was chosen to be the singer.

Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 1968[6][5][7][8]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) Conductor
  Austria ORF Karel Gott "Tausend Fenster" German
Robert Opratko
  Belgium RTB Claude Lombard "Quand tu reviendras" French
  • Roland Dero
  • Jo Van Wetter
 Henri Segers
  Finland YLE Kristina Hautala "Kun kello käy" Finnish
Ossi Runne
  France ORTF Isabelle Aubret "La Source" French
Alain Goraguer
  Germany HR[a] Wencke Myhre "Ein Hoch der Liebe" German
Horst Jankowski
  Ireland RTÉ Pat McGeegan "Chance of a Lifetime" English John Kennedy Noel Kelehan
  Italy RAI Sergio Endrigo "Marianne" Italian Sergio Endrigo Giancarlo Chiaramello
  Luxembourg CLT Chris Baldo and Sophie Garel "Nous vivrons d'amour" French
  • Jacques Demarny
  • Carlos Leresche
 André Borly
  Monaco TMC Line and Willy "À chacun sa chanson" French
  • Jean-Claude Olivier
  • Roland Valade
 Michel Colombier
  Netherlands NTS Ronnie Tober "Morgen" Dutch
Dolf van der Linden
  Norway NRK Odd Børre "Stress" Norwegian
Øivind Bergh
  Portugal RTP Carlos Mendes "Verão" Portuguese
  • José Alberto Diogo
  • Pedro Osório
 Joaquim Luís Gomes
  Spain TVE Massiel "La La La" Spanish
  • Ramón Arcusa
  • Manuel de la Calva
 Rafael Ibarbia
  Sweden SR Claes-Göran Hederström "Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mej" Swedish Peter Himmelstrand Mats Olsson
   Switzerland SRG SSR Gianni Mascolo "Guardando il sole" Italian
  • Sanzio Chiesa
  • Aldo D'Addario
 Mario Robbiani
  United Kingdom BBC Cliff Richard "Congratulations" English
Norrie Paramor
  Yugoslavia JRT Lući Kapurso and Hamo Hajdarhodžić "Jedan dan" (Један дан) Serbo-Croatian
Miljenko Prohaska

Returning artists

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Bold indicates a previous winner.

Artist Country Previous year(s)
Isabelle Aubret   France 1962

Format

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1968 was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast in colour.[1] The countries that broadcast it in colour were France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, although in the UK it was broadcast as an encore presentation in colour on BBC Two the next day. Many Eastern European countries as well as Tunisia broadcast the contest.

Prior to the contest, the bookmakers were sure of another British victory, as the English singer Cliff Richard, who was already dominating the music charts at that time, was hotly tipped as the favourite to win, but in the end he lost out to Spain's song by a margin of just one point.

Contest overview

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Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1968[10]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1   Portugal Carlos Mendes "Verão" 5 11
2   Netherlands Ronnie Tober "Morgen" 1 16
3   Belgium Claude Lombard "Quand tu reviendras" 8 7
4   Austria Karel Gott "Tausend Fenster" 2 13
5   Luxembourg Chris Baldo and Sophie Garel "Nous vivrons d'amour" 5 11
6    Switzerland Gianni Mascolo "Guardando il sole" 2 13
7   Monaco Line and Willy "À chacun sa chanson" 8 7
8   Sweden Claes-Göran Hederström "Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mej" 15 5
9   Finland Kristina Hautala "Kun kello käy" 1 16
10   France Isabelle Aubret "La Source" 20 3
11   Italy Sergio Endrigo "Marianne" 7 10
12   United Kingdom Cliff Richard "Congratulations" 28 2
13   Norway Odd Børre "Stress" 2 13
14   Ireland Pat McGeegan "Chance of a Lifetime" 18 4
15   Spain Massiel "La La La" 29 1
16   Germany Wencke Myhre "Ein Hoch der Liebe" 11 6
17   Yugoslavia Lući Kapurso and Hamo Hajdarhodžić "Jedan dan" 8 7

Spokespersons

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Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1968 contest are listed below.

Detailed voting results

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Due to a misunderstanding by the hostess, Katie Boyle, Switzerland were erroneously awarded 3 points by Yugoslavia, instead of 2. The scrutineer asked for the Yugoslav votes from TV Skopje to be announced a second time.

Detailed voting results[13][14]
Total score
Portugal
Netherlands
Belgium
Austria
Luxembourg
Switzerland
Monaco
Sweden
Finland
France
Italy
United Kingdom
Norway
Ireland
Spain
Germany
Yugoslavia
Contestants
 Portugal 5 2 3
Netherlands 1 1
Belgium 8 1 1 1 3 1 1
Austria 2 2
Luxembourg 5 1 1 1 1 1
Switzerland 2 2
Monaco 8 2 1 3 1 1
Sweden 15 1 1 1 2 6 4
Finland 1 1
France 20 3 6 2 3 3 1 2
Italy 7 1 2 2 2
United Kingdom 28 1 2 2 1 4 5 3 2 4 1 1 2
Norway 2 1 1
Ireland 18 1 1 1 4 1 4 6
Spain 29 4 2 1 4 3 4 3 1 1 6
Germany 11 1 1 2 5 2
Yugoslavia 8 1 1 1 1 3 1

Broadcasts

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Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants". Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.[15]

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below. In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Tunisia, and in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision.[5][1]

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
  Austria ORF FS1 [16]
  Belgium RTB RTB Paule Herreman [17]
Radio Une [18]
BRT BRT [19]
  Finland YLE TV-ohjelma 1 Aarno Walli [fi] [11][20]
Ruotsinkielinen ulaohjelma [20]
  France ORTF Deuxième Chaîne Pierre Tchernia [21]
France Inter [22]
  Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen [23]
  Ireland RTÉ RTÉ Brendan O'Reilly [24][25]
RTÉ Radio [24]
  Italy RAI Secondo Programma Renato Tagliani [it] [26]
  Luxembourg CLT Télé-Luxembourg [17]
  Netherlands NTS Nederland 1 Elles Berger [nl] [27]
  Norway NRK NRK Fjernsynet, NRK[b] Roald Øyen [28]
  Portugal RTP RTP [29]
  Spain TVE TVE 1, TVE Canarias[c] Federico Gallo [es] [30][31]
RNE Radio Peninsular de Barcelona [es] José María Íñigo [32][33]
  Sweden SR Sveriges TV Christina Hansegård [sv] [34][35]
   Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS Theodor Haller [de] [36]
TSR Georges Hardy [fr] [37]
TSI [38]
DRS 1[d] Albert Werner [39]
  United Kingdom BBC BBC1[e] No commentator [40]
BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2 Pete Murray [42][43]
  Yugoslavia JRT Televizija Beograd [44]
Televizija Ljubljana [45]
Televizija Zagreb [46]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
  Czechoslovakia ČST ČST Miroslav Horníček [47][48]
  East Germany DFF DFF[f] [49]
  Hungary MTV MTV [50]
  Malta MBA MTS, National Network [51][52]
  Poland TP Telewizja Polska [53]
  Puerto Rico WKAQ[g] [54]
  Romania TVR TVR [55]

Notes

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  1. ^ On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD[9]
  2. ^ Deferred broadcast on NRK at 22:30 (CET)[28]
  3. ^ Deferred broadcast on TVE Canarias the following day at 22:35 (WET)[30]
  4. ^ Delayed broadcast on 8 April at 22:30 (CET)[39]
  5. ^ Re-broadcast in colour on BBC2 on the following day at 16:30 (BST)[40][41]
  6. ^ Delayed broadcast on 20 April 1968 at 20:30 (CET)[49]
  7. ^ Delayed broadcast on 30 April 1968 at 20:30 (AST)[54]

References

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  1. ^ a b c René-Roger (9 April 1968). "La chanson espagnole triomphe devant 200 millions de spectateurs" [Spanish song triumphs in front of 200 million spectators]. La Croix (in French). p. 3. ISSN 0242-6056. OCLC 1367977519.
  2. ^ a b "Eurovision Song Contest 1968". EBU. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Winners of the 1960s - What happened to them?". EBU. 23 July 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  4. ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy (2010). The Eurovision Song Contest: The Official History (2nd ed.). London: Carlton Books. p. 212. ISBN 978-1-84732-521-1.
  5. ^ a b c d Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 454–470. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  6. ^ "Participants of London 1968". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  7. ^ "1968 – 13th edition". diggiloo.net. Archived from the original on 8 August 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Detailed overview: conductors in 1968". And the conductor is... Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Alle deutschen ESC-Acts und ihre Titel" [All German ESC acts and their songs]. www.eurovision.de (in German). ARD. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Final of London 1968". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Jatkoajalla Euroviisut" [Eurovision in overtime]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. 6 April 1968. p. 37. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  12. ^ Thorsson, Leif; Verhage, Martin (2006). Melodifestivalen genom tiderna : de svenska uttagningarna och internationella finalerna [Melodifestivalen through the ages: the Swedish selections and international final] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Premium Publishing. pp. 74–75. ISBN 91-89136-29-2.
  13. ^ "Results of the Final of London 1968". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 8 April 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1968 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  15. ^ "The Rules of the Contest". European Broadcasting Union. 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Fernsehen und Radio – Samstag 6. April" [Television and radio – Saturday 6 April]. Burgenländische Freiheit [de] (in German). Wiener Neustadt, Austria. 4 April 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 23 June 2024 – via Austrian National Library.
  17. ^ a b "Radio-Télévision". Luxemburger Wort (in German and French). Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. 5 April 1968. p. 23. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via National Library of Luxembourg.
  18. ^ "Was der Rundfunk bringt – Samstag, 6. April" [What the radio brings – Saturday, 6 April]. Grenz-Echo and St. Vither Zeitung [de] (in German). Eupen, Belgium. 4 April 1968. p. 8. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  19. ^ "6 – 12 apr. Televisiekijkers voor U..." [6 – 12 Apr Television viewers for you...]. De Gazet van Aalst (in Dutch). Aalst, Belgium. 6 April 1968. p. 8. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  20. ^ a b "Radio ja televisio" [Radio and television]. Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. 6 April 1968. p. 37. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Téléprevision – Samedi 6 avril" [TV forecast – Saturday 6 April]. L'Est éclair [fr] (in French). Saint-André-les-Vergers, France. 6–7 April 1968. p. 2. Retrieved 16 September 2024 – via Aube en Champagne.
  22. ^ "Programmes radio – samedi 6 avril" [Radio programmes – Saturday 6 April]. Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). No. 14. Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 4 April 1968. pp. 53–54. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
  23. ^ "Der Fernseh-Spiegel – Samstag/Sonnabend, 6. April" [The television mirror – Saturday, 6 April]. Staufener Wochenblatt (in German). Staufen im Breisgau, West Germany. 29–30 March 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 8 September 2024 – via University Library Freiburg.
  24. ^ a b "Television and Radio". The Irish Times. Dublin, Ireland. 6 April 1968. p. 18. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  25. ^ Gray, Ken (11 April 1968). "Pop and bedazzlement". The Irish Times. Dublin, Ireland. p. 12. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  26. ^ "Sabato | TV | 6 aprile" [Saturday | TV | 6 April]. Radiocorriere TV (in Italian). Vol. 45, no. 14. 31 March – 6 April 1968. pp. 98–99. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  27. ^ "Radio en tv programma" [Radio and tv programs]. Trouw (in Dutch). Meppel, Netherlands. 6 April 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via Delpher.
  28. ^ a b "TV radio". Oppland Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian). Gjøvik, Norway. 6 April 1968. pp. 26–27. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via National Library of Norway.
  29. ^ "Boletim do dia" [Bulletin of the day]. Diário de Lisboa (in Portuguese). Lisbon, Portugal. 6 April 1968. p. 30. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via Casa Comum.
  30. ^ a b "Programa para hoy" [Today's programme]. El Eco de Canarias [es] (in Spanish). Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain. 7 April 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 10 July 2024 – via University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
  31. ^ "Televisión" (PDF). Odiel [es] (in Spanish). Huelva, Spain. 6 April 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 21 August 2024 – via Provincial Deputation of Huelva.
  32. ^ "Radio y television" [Radio and television]. Diario de Barcelona (in Spanish). 6 April 1968. p. 22. Retrieved 21 August 2024 – via Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona [ca].
  33. ^ "Spanish Eurovision commentator José María Iñigo passed away". European Broadcasting Union. 5 May 2018. Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  34. ^ "TV ⬇ i dag" [TV ⬇ today]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden. 6 April 1968. p. 25.
  35. ^ "Punkt för punkt" [Point by point]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Stockholm, Sweden. 6 April 1968. p. 25.
  36. ^ "Fernsehen" [Television]. Die Tat (in German). Zürich, Switzerland. 6 April 1968. p. 23. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via E-newspaperarchives.ch.
  37. ^ "TV – samedi 6 avril" [TV – Saturday 6 April]. Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). No. 14. Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 4 April 1968. pp. 78–79. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
  38. ^ "Settimana dal 6 al 12 4. 1968" [Week from 6 to 12 4. 1968]. Eco di Locarno (in Italian). Locarno, Switzerland. 6 April 1968. p. 13. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via Sistema bibliotecario ticinese [it].
  39. ^ a b "Programmes radio – lundi 8 avril" [Radio programmes – Saturday 6 April]. Radio TV - Je vois tout (in French). No. 14. Lausanne, Switzerland: Héliographia SA. 4 April 1968. pp. 56–57. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via Scriptorium Digital Library.
  40. ^ a b "Eurovision Song Contest – BBC1". Radio Times. 6 April 1968. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via BBC Genome Project.
  41. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest – BBC2". Radio Times. 6 April 1968. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via BBC Genome Project.
  42. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest – BBC Radio 2". Radio Times. 6 April 1968. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via BBC Genome Project.
  43. ^ "Schedule – BBC Radio 1 – 6 April 1968". Radio Times. 6 April 1968. Retrieved 10 January 2023 – via BBC Genome Project.
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  45. ^ "RTV Ljubljana – Televizija" [RTV Ljubljana – Television]. Delo (in Slovenian). Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia. 6 April 1968. p. 8. Retrieved 27 October 2024 – via Digital Library of Slovenia.
  46. ^ "Televizija – Subota 6. travnja" [Television – 6 April]. Slobodna Dalmacija (in Serbo-Croatian). Split, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia. 6 April 1968. p. 8. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  47. ^ "Sobota 6.4.1968" [Saturday 6.4.1968]. Týdeník Československé televize. 1968 (in Czech). No. 14. Praha: ORBIS. 1 April 1968. p. 8. (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries)
  48. ^ "Program 68". Česká televize. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  49. ^ a b "Funk und Fernsehen heute". Neues Deutschland (in German). East Berlin, East Germany. 20 April 1968. Retrieved 19 July 2024 – via Berlin State Library.
  50. ^ "TV – szombat IV.6" [TV – Saturday IV.6]. Rádió- és Televízió-újság (in Hungarian). 1 April 1968. p. 13. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 3 January 2023 – via MTVA Archívum.
  51. ^ "Your Listening and Viewing". Times of Malta. Birkirkara, Malta. 6 April 1968. p. 6.
  52. ^ Barry, Fred (6 April 1968). "Eurovision Song Contest – Tonight's 17-Nation Event". Times of Malta. Birkirkara, Malta. p. 13.
  53. ^ "Telewizja" [Television]. Dziennik Polski (in Polish). Kraków, Poland. 6 April 1968. p. 6. Retrieved 18 March 2024 – via Digital Library of Małopolska [pl].
  54. ^ a b "¡Lo que 200 millones de personas escucharon y admiraron en toda Europa!" [What 200 million people heard and admired across Europe!]. El Mundo (in Spanish). San Juan, Puerto Rico. 30 April 1968. p. 25. Retrieved 17 March 2024 – via Global Press Archive.
  55. ^ "TV – sîmbătă 6 aprilie" [TV – Saturday 6 April]. Radio TV (in Romanian). p. 15.
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