The Douze Points Scoring System Is Born

MAY 15 1975 · 12:00

EBU rule change · "N/A" · Europe · 1975 Language: N/A · Venue: Stockholmsmässan · Host: Stockholm, Sweden · Type: deep cut · Broadcast: color analog 1975. The EBU introduces a new scoring system: each country's jury awards its favorite ten songs 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-10-12 points. The top score — twelve points, douze points in French — becomes the Eurovision ritual. Every country's announcement of its 12-point vote produces a moment of live drama. The phrase 'Douze points' enters European broadcasting vocabulary as an unofficial continental catchphrase. Context Prior scoring methods had ranged from 1-10, from jury member individual votes, from aggregate points. The 1975 system codified French-language delivery — a neutral-language standard for a multilingual contest. The 12-point peak was specifically designed to create maximum broadcast drama in voting sequences. Legacy The douze points system remained the core scoring structure through the 2020s, with televoting added in 1997 and split jury/televote introduced in 2016. 'Douze points' became a phrase every European child could pronounce. The scoring ritual is one of Eurovision's most enduring institutional designs.