Eurovision Song Contest 1979 (2025 Restored Edition)

The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, following Israel's victory at the 1978 contest with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held at the Menachem Ussishkin auditorium of the International Convention Centre on 31 March 1979, and was hosted by Israeli television presenter Daniel Pe'er and singer Yardena Arazi. This was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was held outside Europe. Nineteen countries participated in the contest, with Turkey deciding not to participate after Arab countries had pressured it into not participating in a contest held in Israel. This restoration uses a first generation tape copy from IBA with no commentary or generational loss, but digitized from a well-kept first generation tape copy that has since been kept in my archives. The audio has, per the usual, been demixed and remixed to bring the original mono track to new life in stereo, with increased clarity and vocal presence, also amending some previous mixing issues present in the original broadcast.