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Congratulations (Cliff Richard song)

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This article is about the Cliff Richard song. For other songs with the same title, see Congratulations (disambiguation).

"Congratulations"
Single by Cliff Richard
B-side"High 'n' Dry" (Cook-Greenaway)
Released15 March 1968
Recorded3 February 1968
StudioEMI Studios, London
Genre
Length2:33
LabelColumbia DB8376[1]
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Norrie Paramor[1]
Cliff Richard singles chronology
"All My Love (Solo Tu)"
(1967) 		"Congratulations"
(1968) 		"I'll Love You Forever Today"
(1968)
Eurovision Song Contest 1968 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Bill Martin, Phil Coulter
Conductor
Finals performance
Final result
2nd
Final points
28
Entry chronology
◄ "Puppet on a String" (1967)
"Boom Bang-a-Bang" (1969) ►

"Congratulations" is a song recorded by British singer Cliff Richard written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. It represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, held in London placing second behind the Spanish entry, "La, la, la".

The song went on to reach number 1 in many countries including Spain. He released the song in English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian.

Background

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Conception

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Phil Coulter originally wrote the song as "I Think I Love You", but was unsure of the lyrics and got together with Bill Martin –the same team that wrote "Puppet on a String"–, who changed it to "Congratulations".[2][1]

Eurovision

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On 5 March 1968, "Congratulations " performed by Cliff Richard –who had already been internally selected– competed in the national final organized by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to select the song he would perform in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song won the competition so it became the British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, to be held in London.[3] In addition to the English language version, he released the song in French, German, Spanish, and Italian.[4]

The song was immediately popular in the UK and became a number one single. On the day of the contest, it was the favourite to win, so much so that the British press were posing the question: "What will come second to 'Congratulations'?".[5]

On 6 April 1968, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London hosted by the BBC, and broadcast live throughout the continent.[6] Cliff Richard performed "Congratulations" twelfth on the night following Italy's "Marianne" by Sergio Endrigo and preceding Norway's "Stress" by Odd Børre. The song was arranged, conducted and produced by Norrie Paramor who was also musical director for the event.[7]

During the voting, "Congratulations" was leading for much of the way until the penultimate vote when Germany gave Spain six points, putting them one point ahead of the United Kingdom. It finished second just behind Spain's entry "La, la, la" by Massiel by just one point.[8]

Aftermath

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"Congratulations" went on to become a huge hit throughout Europe. In July 1968, the song was included on the six-track Columbia EP Congratulations: Cliff Sings 6 Songs for Europe.[9]

The song is still popular and was chosen to lead the show which celebrated 50 years of Eurovision and which was named after it: Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest. Richard also performed the song as part of the commemorations for the 50th anniversary of VE Day in 1995, despite it having been written long after the end of World War II.

George Harrison's song "It's Johnny's Birthday" from his 1970 album All Things Must Pass is based on this song. The writers Martin and Coulter filed a claim in December 1970 against Harrison for royalties, and subsequent pressings of the album credit their contribution.[10]

Chart performance

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Chart (1968) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[11] 4
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] 2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[13] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[14] 1
Canada RPM Top Singles[15] 32
Denmark[16] 1
Finland (IFPI Finland)[17] 3
France (SNEP)[18] 20
Germany (GfK)[19] 3
Ireland (IRMA)[20] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 1
New Zealand 2
Norway (VG-lista)[22] 1
Spain (Promusicae)[23] 1
South Africa (Springbok Radio / Radio Orion)[24] 4
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 2
UK Singles (OCC)[26] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[27] 99

Sales

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Sales for Congratulations
Region Sales
Germany 150,000[28]
Worldwide 1,000,000[29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 116. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  2. ^ Nul Points...?!, BBC Television, 1992
  3. ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2012). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume One: The 1950s and 1960s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 444–453. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
  4. ^ "United Kingdom - 1968". The Diggiloo Thrush.
  5. ^ "Did Franco steal the 1968 Eurovision from Cliff Richard and Phil Coulter?". 3 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Eurovision Song Contest 1968". Eurovision Song Contest. 6 April 1968. BBC / EBU.
  7. ^ andtheconductoris.eu. "And the conductor is..." Andtheconductoris.eu. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  8. ^ The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. O'Connor, John Kennedy. Carlton Books 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
  9. ^ "Cliff Richard - Congratulations: Cliff Sings 6 Songs For Europe - Columbia - UK". 45cat. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  10. ^ Joe (24 November 2015). "It's Johnny's Birthday". The Beatles Bible.
  11. ^ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book 1940–1969. Turramurra, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book Pty. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  12. ^ "Cliff Richard – Congratulations" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  13. ^ "Cliff Richard – Congratulations" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  14. ^ "Cliff Richard – Congratulations" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  15. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1 June 1966. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  16. ^ See the Top 20/30 tab: "Denmark Singles Chart (Top 20/30) – Congratulations". danskehitlister.dk. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  17. ^ Lassila, Juha (1990). Mitä Suomi soittaa?: Hittilistat 1954-87 (in Finnish). Jyväskylän yliopisto. ISBN 95-168-0321-0.
  18. ^ Select Cliff RICHARD from the drop-down selection box and click OK: "French Singles - Artists R". infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Cliff Richard – Congratulations" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  20. ^ "Ireland singles charts". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Cliff Richard – Congratulations" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  22. ^ "Cliff Richard – Congratulations". VG-lista.
  23. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 1979). Sólo éxitos: Año a año, 1959–2002. Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 978-84-8048-639-2.
  24. ^ "South Africa Charts 1965-1989 - Springbok Radio / Radio Orion". Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  25. ^ "Cliff Richard – Congratulations". Swiss Singles Chart.
  26. ^ "Cliff Richard: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  27. ^ "Cliff Richard Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  28. ^ "Cash Box - Germany" (PDF). Cashbox. 11 May 1968. p. 62. Retrieved 6 September 2023 – via World Radio History.
  29. ^ "Cliff Richard may have won '68 Eurovision after all". France24. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
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