"Merci, Chérie" was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966

Eurovision Song Contest 1966

The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition and was held on 5 March 1966 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. The rule stating that a country could only sing in any of its national languages was originally created in this year. This was possibly created due to the 1965 Swedish entry, "Absent...

. Performed for Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 by Udo Jürgens

Udo Jürgens

Udo Jürgens is an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spans over fifty years...

 with lyrics in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 -- despite the French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 words of the title -- it is Austria's only winning song in the contest to date.

It is an earnest ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 in which the singer, as he leaves her, thanks his lover for good times and positive memories.

The song was performed ninth on the night, following Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

's Madalena Iglésias with "Ele e ela

Ele E Ela

"Ele e ela" was the Portuguese entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, performed in Portuguese by Madalena Iglésias.The song is in the chanson style, popular in the early years of the Contest...

" and preceding Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

's Lill Lindfors

Lill Lindfors

Lillemor "Lill" Lindfors is a Finland-Swedish/Swedish singer. Born in Helsinki, Finland she has been performing in Scandinavia with minor and major success since the 1960s. She debuted as a revue actress in Uddevalla in 1960 and the following year as a recording artist...

 and Svante Thuresson

Svante Thuresson

Svante Thuresson is a Swedish jazz music musician and singer. He started his career as a drummer, before joining the band Gals and Pals in 1963...

 with "Nygammal vals

Nygammal vals

"Nygammal vals" was the Swedish entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. It was sung in Swedish by Lill Lindfors and Svante Thuresson, composed by Bengt Arne Wallin and written by Björn Lindroth...

". The final points tally for "Mercie, Chérie" was 31, securing it first place at the head of an 18-entry field.

The song was succeeded as contest winner in 1967

Eurovision Song Contest 1967

The Eurovision Song Contest 1967 was the twelfth Eurovision Song Contest. The presenter became confused whilst the voting was taking place, and declared the United Kingdom's entry to be the winner before the last country, Ireland, had announced its votes...

 by Sandie Shaw

Sandie Shaw

Sandie Shaw is an English pop singer, who was one of the most successful British female singers of the 1960s. In 1967 she was the first UK act to win the Eurovision Song Contest...

 singing "Puppet on a String

Puppet on a String

"Puppet on a String" is the name of the Eurovision Song Contest-winning song in 1967 by British singer Sandie Shaw. It was her thirteenth UK single release....

" for the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, and as Austrian entry

Austria in the Eurovision Song Contest

Austria has appeared frequently at the Eurovision Song Contest. The country has won once, in 1966, with the song "Merci Chérie".In recent years, Austria's entries have tended towards the humorous, in contrast with the dance-pop achieving success. 2003 saw comedian and personality Alf Poier perform...

 in that year by "Warum es hunderttausend Sterne gibt

Warum Es Hunderttausend Sterne Gibt

Warum es hunderttausend Sterne gibt, sometimes spelled in number Warum es 100.000 Sterne gibt as it appeared in the title screen when broadcast, was the Austrian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1967, performed in German by Peter Horton.The song was performed third on the night, following...

", performed by Peter Horten.

The song was covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by the English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 singer Vince Hill

Vince Hill

Vince Hill is an English traditional pop music singer, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:...

, who reached #36 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 with it in June 1966.

Al Sundström has written the Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

 lyrics. The Swedish title is "Merci Cherie". Gunnar Wiklund with Nisse Hansén's orchestra recorded it in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 in 1965. The song was released on the EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 Sjunger Eurovisionsschlager 1966 (His Master's Voice 7-EGS 726). In 1967, Bent Fabric

Bent Fabric

Bent Fabricius-Bjerre , better known internationally as Bent Fabric, is a Danish pianist and composer.-Biography:...

released an instrumental version of the song on his album Operation Lovebirds.