Cliff Richard — Power to All Our Friends

MAY 15 1973 · 12:05

Cliff Richard · "Power to All Our Friends" · United Kingdom · 1973 Placement: 3rd · Language: English · Composers: Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett · Venue: Nouveau Théâtre · Host: Luxembourg City, Luxembourg · Type: upset · Broadcast: color crt Cliff Richard returns to Eurovision in 1973 with the knowledge that 'Congratulations' had lost to Spain by a single point five years earlier, and he performs like a man who would like very much to finish what he started. 'Power to All Our Friends' is a Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett composition, a brisk, slightly soul-inflected pop anthem, and Cliff performs it at the Nouveau Théâtre in Luxembourg with a looseness his 1968 performance lacked — hips moving, knees slightly bent, the television smile turned up. Third place, one hundred and twenty-three points. Anne-Marie David wins for Luxembourg with 'Tu te reconnaîtras.' Cliff goes home with his second Eurovision near-miss in five years, and another international hit — the single reaches number four in the UK and number one in several other countries. Context 1973 was a Luxembourg hosting year. Cliff Richard's selection for a second Eurovision attempt reflected the UK's continuing faith in him as a televisual heavyweight; Fletcher and Flett were a successful British pop-writing team of the era. Legacy 'Power to All Our Friends' became, like 'Congratulations' before it, a bigger commercial success than most winning Eurovision songs of its year. The double third-and-second placement of Cliff Richard across two Eurovisions now stands as one of the defining examples of the British Eurovision story. Mythology The return of the almost-winner. Cliff as the artist who proved twice that losing Eurovision can be the best thing commercially to happen to a song.