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The 1991 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Rome, Italy and saw France and Sweden tie for first place at the end of the voting. 

The 1991 Eurovision Song Contest was supposed to be held in the seaside resort San Remo which is known for its annual festival of Italian music, but host broadcaster RAI moved it to Rome at a very late stage due to ongoing instability in the Balkan region. For the second time since the very first Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, the Netherlands decided to withdraw from the contest due to the country's Remembrance Day. Malta took the open spot which meant that the country was back for the first time since 1975.

The contest was presented by Toto Cutugno, who won for Italy the previous year. Toto was joined on stage by Italy's other winner, Gigliola Cinquetti, who won the contest in 1964. For the majority of the show the presenters spoke solely in Italian.

France v Sweden 

At the end of the voting procedure both Sweden and France had 146 points each. The tie-break rule that was introduced in 1989 was therefore put into effect. France and Sweden both had the same amount of 12 points so the amount to 10 points was included. Sweden received more sets of 10 points and so was declared the winner. Carola had already participated in 1983 with the song Främling which finished third. She had already tried to enter the 1990 contest in Zagreb but lost out in the Swedish national heats. In 2006 she participated once again and finished in 5th place with Invincible.

Facts and figures 

  • Each singer was asked to perform a well-known Italian song as part of their postcard clips. The images chosen for each postcard were said to have reflected the personalities of the performers
  • The backing singer for the UK entry included Kit Rolfe who had performed as part of Belle and the Devotions in 1984, and Hazell Dean who had a number of hits in the 1980s. Dean participated in the UK national selection in 1976 and 1984. The UK representative in 1991, Samantha Janus, went on to have a successful acting career following her Eurovision appearance.
  • The 1991 contest is best remembered as being a chaotic affair and the EBU's Executive Supervisor, Frank Naef, was regularly called upon by the hosts for clarification, especially during the voting.