#esc 1971

In 1973, Malta withdrew from the Eurovision Song Contest after placing last the previous two years.

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In 1971, the rule stating that contestants could only perform as an individual or a duo was abolished. Starting that year, groups of up to six people were allowed to perform.

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In 1971, the voting rules were altered: there had to be two jury members, one being younger than 25, and they would award 1-5 points to each song.

This created problems as juries could just refuse to give high scores. It also resulted in an uneven distribution of points. For example, Luxembourg gave out a total of 43 points while France gave 107.

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