Clifford Brown (scrutineer)
Encyclopedia
Clifford Brown MBE
(born in Inverness
on 22 July 1916 died in Kent
on December 16, 1993) was a British television editor
and director
who became the second E.B.U scrutineer for the Eurovision Song Contest
.
Brown was born in Inverness
in Scotland
in 1916 after joining the army he started working for Scottish Television
and ITV
.
In 1966 he was appointed to be scrutineer for the Eurovision Song Contest
. In 1969 when The Contest was held in Spain
there was a four-way tie between France, Spain, UK and the Netherlands. Before the show the presenter (Laura Valenzuela) had asked Brown what would happen if there was a tie, his reply was Madam, that never happened before, and that's never going to happen, as noted in The Eurovision Song Contest — The Official History by author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor
, Brown admitted in a BBC
documentary in 1992 that the result caused disgust among many people, not least the Scandinavian countries.
Brown stepped down as scrutineer in 1977 and was awarded the MBE
award in 1990. He died in December 1993 after sometime of illness.
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
(born in Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
on 22 July 1916 died in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
on December 16, 1993) was a British television editor
Editor
The term editor may refer to:As a person who does editing:* Editor in chief, having final responsibility for a publication's operations and policies* Copy editing, making formatting changes and other improvements to text...
and director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
who became the second E.B.U scrutineer for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
.
Brown was born in Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in 1916 after joining the army he started working for Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
and ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
.
In 1966 he was appointed to be scrutineer for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
. In 1969 when The Contest was held in Spain
Eurovision Song Contest 1969
The Eurovision Song Contest 1969 was the 14th in the series. It was the first time that the contest resulted in a tie for first place, with four countries each gaining 18 votes. Since there was at the time no rule to cover such an eventuality, all four countries were declared joint winners...
there was a four-way tie between France, Spain, UK and the Netherlands. Before the show the presenter (Laura Valenzuela) had asked Brown what would happen if there was a tie, his reply was Madam, that never happened before, and that's never going to happen, as noted in The Eurovision Song Contest — The Official History by author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor
John Kennedy O'Connor
John Kennedy O'Connor is an author, entertainment and political commentator, based in the United States. Born in North London, United Kingdom, he has written, reported and broadcast for numerous media organizations, as well as writing, creating and producing media events for a number of...
, Brown admitted in a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary in 1992 that the result caused disgust among many people, not least the Scandinavian countries.
Brown stepped down as scrutineer in 1977 and was awarded the MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
award in 1990. He died in December 1993 after sometime of illness.