[LMBTO] The Queen of Eurovision Hosting has left us - RIP Katie Boyle...

One and the same wonderful woman, we lost a Eurovision icon yesterday (20th March 2018).  She was 91 and had packed a lot into those nine decades:

I am very sad to announce the death of Katie Boyle (Lady Saunders) who I was proud to represent in the latter days of her working career, and counted as a friend. The Italian born actress, TV personality, agony aunt, games show panellist and dog lover, died peacefully at home. pic.twitter.com/WhgaEkZrtM

— June Ford-Crush (@junefordcrush) March 20, 2018

Going backwards in time, add to that being the face of Camay Soap, at times pitting the product against others across the channel in a 'Eurovision Soap Contest':

Looks a bit bizarre now but it wouldn't have done in the 1960s and 1970s, when Katie Boyle was THE host to have on your show - at least that was what the EBU thought in 1960, 1963, 1968 and 1974...

1960
I know that the image isn't the sharpest but it does hint at why Katie was in demand for the fledgling media of television - a 33 year old beauty who spoke English like the Queen and who had a majestic calm in front of the camera.  As The Netherlands had declined to host Eurovision for consecutive years, the United Kingdom grasped at the opportunity to hold the Contest and there really was only one person that could be counted on to hold everything together.


Eurovision was still in its 'posh frocks and DJ' phase all round and Katie was dressed as though she was going to the Ambassador's Party - nice corsage too.  What this first ESC she hosted showed was that she made sure that everything flowed perfectly, that everyone was introduced correctly, that English and French were perfectly spoken and that it all ran to time:




1963
It seemed as though Katie got to host so many times because other nations couldn't foot the bill!  This time the UK came to France's rescue due to money difficulties and Miss Boyle got the gig yet again - this time having to cope with something new...


Can you imagine that now?  One host having to cope with all of that?  Most years the host nations can barely handle the situation when they have two, three or four presenters!  I suppose it was simpler times but even so, Katie had to deal with that (successfully), the fact that this was the first Eurovision where a boom microphone was used and we had a new look, and also the Norway/Monaco voting saga:



Cool, self-assured and absolutely professional - by the end of this Contest, the EBU must have been praying for a UK win (or another nation not having the cash to host the show) so that they could get Katie up front yet again.  Only five years to wait...


1968
A year of firsts - the first time that the UK got to host the Contest after winning the previous year and Katie had the honour of being the first person to come out onto the Eurovision stage in colour (on television).  Ironically, when using a medium where everything didn't need to be dark in look, Katie wore a well-cut but fairly plain outfit (at least for her as a host).  As is the theme of all her presentations, everything felt as though you were in safe hands, that nothing would go wrong or at least if it did then it would be sorted because Katie was there:



A little bit of confusion with the final jury but the conversation in French was handled perfectly - unfortunately for all concerned in the Royal Albert Hall, what is perhaps the most recognisable and most sung Eurovision song ever didn't win and she seemed to experience the pain of not having a back to back UK victory to celebrate.  Another nation had to pull out for Katie to have her final and perhaps most famous hosting experience...


1974
Now 48 and styled with THAT tight dress with the feather effect (the tightness leading to the 'commando' look that we are now all fully aware of and do not need to dwell on), Katie got the chance to host show number 4 due to Luxembourg not wanting to host two years in a row.  We all know about Brighton being the 1974 city as it was the focus of this year's Eurovision: You Decide - compared to the last two shows, this one seemed a breeze, although she had the burden of having to become an honorary Womble:



For someone who once said that they were 'famous for being famous', Katie Boyle was more, so much more than that.  Her early life ensured that she was glamourous, cosmopolitan, had all the social graces needed to become a presenter in the early 1960s on BBC and that she had the all important English/French combination to tick all those Eurovision boxes.  Her 'English Rose' beauty didn't hurt her chances of hosting the world's biggest music contest either (although perha[s not quite as big as her estimate of 500 million in 1974) - The National Portrait Gallery has an early picture of her, primarily accredited to her in her birth name, that is superbly composed and took my breath away:
Six years after this picture was taken, Katie, as we knew and grew to love her, started her journey to become the only person to host Eurovision four times - to this day, only two others have returned to host a second time (Petra Mede and Jacqueline Joubert) so the chances of even matching Ms Boyle's achievement now is pretty slim.  In an age where there was less spectacle, minimal props and less demand for anything other than singing, Katie still had to deliver and did so with poise and unflappable determination...

Katie had an amazingly full life in and out of the public eye - losing her in the year when Eurovision returned to the Brighton Dome after 44 years is especially poignant and I would hope that there will be a tribute of some description in Lisbon to this Eurovision legend.  Aptly enough, there are four female hosts that could perhaps provide some sort of homage to each of Katie's four hosting stints as suggested by 'Nul Points' on Twitter:

Would be a lovely touch if the four Portuguese ladies presenting #Eurovision 2018 each rocked up in a Katie Boyle replica frock from one of her four contests. Having said that they'd no doubt be fighting over '74.🤔 pic.twitter.com/o927Ne38as

— Nul Points (@nulpointsnet) March 20, 2018

Whatever RTP might plan, hopefully there will be a nod in the general direction of the hostess who led the way for those who followed, especially women, to take on one of the biggest gigs of a tv presenter's career.  Perhaps this video by eurovision.tv might be as far as it goes:



Katie Boyle was the best at what she did and Eurovision fans will never forget her contribution to the show.   Another Contest legend passes away and my thoughts are with her family and friends...