First Eurovision Song Contest produced in color, even though it was broadcast live in color only in five countries out of the 17 that were participating. These countries were France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. The United Kingdom, producers and hosts of the show, broadcast it live in black and white through BBC One, as that channel was still full black and white at the time, after just switching format from the old 405 line system to 625 line system in preparation for the switch to color the following year. BBC Two, however had their full schedule in color and the Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast deferred in color on that channel one day after the original broadcast.
Several British pranksters during rehearsals pretended to be an Albanian entry for the contest. Even though Albania was a communist country at the time, the joke was based on the premise of the Soviet-Albanian split several years earlier, potentially allowing for Albania to participate in the contest in a similar style to Yugoslavia. Albania would not formally debut in the contest until 2004.
Massiel was a last minute choice from Spanish Television after the originally intended performer, Joan Manuel Serrat, withdrew when he refused to sing the song "La La La" if it wasn't in Catalan language, something the Franco regime was against. Massiel was at the time on a tour in Mexico. She had to cancel the rest of that tour, quickly return to Spain, learn the song "La La La" (which she hadn't even heard beforehand), record it in several languages, perform in a couple of European countries, buy her iconic pink short dress in a hurry while in Paris and finally rehearse to get ready to perform at Eurovision, all in a matter of literally two weeks.