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Before the ball got rolling in Europe, France and Switzerland
competed in a Winter series of Interneige played on the ski slopes of
winter resorts. Taking their lead from Intervilles, they were staged as
live events happening simultaneously in the resorts of the two competing
teams. Some competitors would travel to the rival’s town to compete in games,
whilst others would remain at home to face their travelling opposition there.
Crowds in the two locations could watch the events from the other town on a
series of television monitors erected at the scene of each event. The
programmes were mixed and broadcast live on the Eurovision Network of the
European Broadcasting Union. These series were only to last for four years but
would return again in 1976.
Following this, four countries from Europe - Belgium, West
Germany, France and Italy - launched Jeux Sans Frontières together in
the summer. As was with the Winter series of Interneige, the events
took place at two locations each week. Each heat was deliberated over by a
neutral Swiss jury who spoke to their respective language-based studios in
Switzerland, but they had no influence on the scoring unless there was any
doubt of the result and then they would deliberate the outcome. They were also
responsible for drawing lots to determine which teams answered the question
round first, and if a heat ended in a draw then the jury decided which team
had proved themselves better in the heat and got the casting vote.
The highest positioned team with the greatest difference in
score to their respective opponents from each country progressed to one of two
Semi-Finals, the winners of which would meet in the International Final.
To ensure fairness, a draw for the Semi-Finals had taken place
before the series begun, and the two Semi-Finals would be France v. Italy and
Belgium v. West Germany.
Eagle-eyed viewers would notice that there were very few female
competitors in this first two series of the programme (except for the odd
‘intellectual’ participating in the Game of Questions round). This was mainly
due to the fact that all the games this period generally needed pure strength and
dexterity, something that changed as the series developed in subsequent years.
In Belgium, the BRT did not transmit the programme until 1969 -
it was only shown in the Wallonian, French-speaking area of the country, by
the RTB channel.
At the end of the year, both the Belgians and the French
enjoyed the spoils when the International Final ended in a draw. Jeux Sans
Frontières Golden Trophies were presented to each team participating in
front of their home crowd at Ciney and Saint-Amand-les-Eaux.. |
