Eurovision Song Contest 1986 | |
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Dates | |
Final | 3 May 1986 |
Host | |
Venue | Grieghallen Bergen, Norway |
Presenter(s) | Åse Kleveland |
Musical director | Egil Monn-Iversen |
Director | John Andreassen |
EBU scrutineer | Frank Naef |
Executive producer | Harald Tusberg |
Host broadcaster | Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) |
Website | eurovision |
Participants | |
Number of entries | 20 |
Debuting countries | Iceland |
Returning countries | |
Non-returning countries | |
| |
Vote | |
Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs |
Winning song | Belgium " J'aime la vie " |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Bergen, Norway, following the country's victory at the 1985 contest with the song "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks! Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), the contest was held at Grieghallen on 3 May 1986 and was hosted by previous Norwegian contestant Åse Kleveland.
Twenty countries took part in this year's contest with Greece and Italy deciding not to participate and Yugoslavia and Netherlands returning. Iceland also competed for the first time this year.
The winner was Belgium with the song " J'aime la vie " by Sandra Kim. Belgium was the last of the original 7 countries that had competed in the first contest to win. Aged 13, Kim was the youngest ever Eurovision winner. Current rules require Eurovision Song Contest participants to be at least 16, so unless the rule is changed, Kim's record will never be broken. The lyrics of her song implied that Kim was 15 years of age, but after the contest, it was revealed that she was actually 13. Switzerland, who finished second, appealed for her to be disqualified, but was not successful.[ citation needed ]
The 1986 contest was a first for Eurovision in that royalty were among the guests— Crown Prince Harald, Crown Princess Sonja, Princess Märtha Louise and Prince Haakon Magnus were all in attendance.
By 1985, Norway had received the unwanted distinction of being "the nul points country", receiving 0 points three times and coming in last six times. When they finally won the 1985 contest, it was a source of pride among the Norwegian population, and the national broadcaster, NRK, took full advantage of being able to showcase Norway and its achievements in front of over 500 million television viewers. By the autumn of 1985, NRK had decided to hold the next year's contest at the Grieghallen in Bergen, turning down other bids from capital Oslo, and main cities of Stavanger, Sandnes and Trondheim. Bergen is the northernmost city to have ever hosted the Eurovision Song Contest.
As this was the first time Norway hosted a Eurovision Song Contest, NRK commissioned a lavish budget for the event, turning Grieghallen into a Viking-esque "ice palace" for the live show, complete with white and pastel neon lights for the stage. In addition, NRK also had a special diamond-encrusted dress made for presenter Åse Kleveland for her opening number. The prized dress, which weighed upwards of 15 pounds (6.8 kg), is still available for viewing at NRK's costuming department at Marienlyst in Oslo.
Åse Kleveland, a well-known folk guitarist and singer, who was President of the Norwegian Association of Musicians and a former Eurovision entrant in 1966, sang the multilingual "Welcome to Music" as the opening act, incorporating English and French primarily, in addition to other European languages. BBC commentator Terry Wogan, at the close of Kleveland's number, dryly remarked, "Katie Boyle (a former Eurovision host for the UK) never sang, did she?"
During her opening remarks, Kleveland said of Norway's road in the contest, "For those of you who have followed Norway's course through the history of the Eurovision Song Contest, you will know that it has been quite thorny, in fact. So, imagine our joy when last year we finally won, and the pleasure we feel today, being able to welcome 700 million viewers to the top of Europe, to Norway, and to Bergen."
The intersong videos introducing each participant, traditionally named 'postcards' were for the only time, represented as actual picture postcards sent from the artists to your own nation. Each video began with clips of various scenic views of a part of Norway, which then 'flipped' to reveal a message of greeting, written in the language of the upcoming song, alongside details of the title, author and composer. The postage stamp on each card (a representation of a genuine Norwegian postage stamp) was linked to the theme of the video content. The postcard then 'flipped' back to the picture side, where the performing artist had been superimposed onto the image. After the video, Åse Kleveland gave details of the entry and introduced the conductors in a mix of English and French, reading from cards represented by the flag of the upcoming country.
The main interval act presented featured Norwegian musicians, a hitherto unknown young woman outside of Norway, Sissel Kyrkjebø and the musician Steinar Ofsdal, accompanied by Norwegian national broadcasting orchestra, Kringkastingsorkesteret (KORK). They opened with the traditional song of the city of Bergen, Udsikter fra Ulriken (also known as "Nystemte'n"), and presented a number of familiar tunes while showing the sights and sounds of Bergen area. Ofsdal played a range of traditional Norwegian folk instruments such as accordion, recorder and hardingfele. This was Kyrkjebø's first performance on an international event, which served as the starting point for a consolidated international career years later.
Eurovision Song Contest 1986 –Participation summaries by country | |
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Iceland competed for the first time, as the national broadcaster RÚV had finally cemented their satellite television connections with the rest of Europe. [1]
Greece withdrew, as the contest coincided with Holy Saturday on the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar. [2] Their entry would have been "Wagon-lit" (Βάγκον λι), performed by Polina, who was backing vocalist of Elpida at the 1979 contest (Elpida represented Cyprus this year). Prior to their withdrawal, they were set to be 18th in the running order between Sweden and Denmark. [3] Italian broadcaster RAI, on the other hand, decided not to send any delegation to Bergen.
Country | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) | Conductor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austria | ORF | Timna Brauer | "Die Zeit ist einsam" | German |
| Richard Oesterreicher |
Belgium | RTBF | Sandra Kim | " J'aime la vie " | French |
| Jo Carlier |
Cyprus | CyBC | Elpida | "Tora zo" (Τώρα ζω) | Greek |
| Martyn Ford |
Denmark | DR | Lise Haavik | "Du er fuld af løgn" | Danish | John Hatting | Egil Monn-Iversen |
Finland | YLE | Kari | "Never the End" | Finnish | Kari Kuivalainen | Ossi Runne |
France | Antenne 2 | Cocktail Chic | "Européennes" | French |
| Jean-Claude Petit |
Germany | BR [a] | Ingrid Peters | "Über die Brücke geh'n" | German | Hans Blum | Hans Blum |
Iceland | RÚV | ICY | "Gleðibankinn" | Icelandic | Magnús Eiríksson | Gunnar Þórðarson |
Ireland | RTÉ | Luv Bug | "You Can Count On Me" | English | Kevin Sheerin | Noel Kelehan |
Israel | IBA | Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel | "Yavo Yom" (יבוא יום) | Hebrew |
| Yoram Zadok |
Luxembourg | CLT | Sherisse Laurence | "L'Amour de ma vie" | French |
| Rolf Soja |
Netherlands | NOS | Frizzle Sizzle | "Alles heeft ritme" | Dutch |
| Harry van Hoof |
Norway | NRK | Ketil Stokkan | "Romeo" | Norwegian | Ketil Stokkan | Egil Monn-Iversen |
Portugal | RTP | Dora | "Não sejas mau p'ra mim" | Portuguese |
| Colin Frechter |
Spain | TVE | Cadillac | "Valentino" | Spanish | José Maria Guzmán | Eduardo Leiva |
Sweden | SVT | Lasse Holm and Monica Törnell | "E' de' det här du kallar kärlek" | Swedish | Lasse Holm | Anders Berglund |
Switzerland | SRG SSR | Daniela Simons | "Pas pour moi" | French | Atilla Şereftuğ | |
Turkey | TRT | Klips ve Onlar | "Halley" | Turkish | Melih Kibar | |
United Kingdom | BBC | Ryder | "Runner in the Night" | English |
| No conductor |
Yugoslavia | JRT | Doris Dragović | "Željo moja" (Жељо моја) | Serbo-Croatian | Zrinko Tutić | Nikica Kalogjera |
Artist | Country | Previous year(s) |
---|---|---|
Elpida | Cyprus | 1979 (for Greece ) |
R/O | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Luxembourg | Sherisse Laurence | "L'Amour de ma vie" | 117 | 3 |
2 | Yugoslavia | Doris Dragović | "Željo moja" | 49 | 11 |
3 | France | Cocktail Chic | "Européennes" | 13 | 17 |
4 | Norway | Ketil Stokkan | "Romeo" | 44 | 12 |
5 | United Kingdom | Ryder | "Runner in the Night" | 72 | 7 |
6 | Iceland | ICY | "Gleðibankinn" | 19 | 16 |
7 | Netherlands | Frizzle Sizzle | "Alles heeft ritme" | 40 | 13 |
8 | Turkey | Klips ve Onlar | "Halley" | 53 | 9 |
9 | Spain | Cadillac | "Valentino" | 51 | 10 |
10 | Switzerland | Daniela Simons | "Pas pour moi" | 140 | 2 |
11 | Israel | Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel | "Yavo Yom" | 7 | 19 |
12 | Ireland | Luv Bug | "You Can Count On Me" | 96 | 4 |
13 | Belgium | Sandra Kim | " J'aime la vie " | 176 | 1 |
14 | Germany | Ingrid Peters | "Über die Brücke geh'n" | 62 | 8 |
15 | Cyprus | Elpida | "Tora zo" | 4 | 20 |
16 | Austria | Timna Brauer | "Die Zeit ist einsam" | 12 | 18 |
17 | Sweden | Lasse Holm and Monica Törnell | "E' de' det här du kallar kärlek" | 78 | 5 |
18 | Denmark | Lise Haavik | "Du er fuld af løgn" | 77 | 6 |
19 | Finland | Kari | "Never the End" | 22 | 15 |
20 | Portugal | Dora | "Não sejas mau p'ra mim" | 28 | 14 |
Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1986 contest are listed below.
The winning song, Belgium's "J'aime la vie", received points from every jury (Belgium received five sets of 12 points; every country awarded Belgium at least five points except for Germany, which gave them just one point). Belgium was the leader in the voting from the results of the second jury out of twenty, in the longest winning stretch during voting since 1974. Switzerland was behind Belgium in nearly every part of the voting, but Belgium had a commanding lead from the very beginning. Traditionally some juries give high points to the host country's entrant, but this did not happen this year; no jury gave Norway's song "Romeo" more than six points out of a possible 12.
Belgium scored an absolute record at the time, with Sandra Kim earning a never seen before number of 176 points (that record remained seven years until the 1993 contest, with Ireland scoring 187 points), an average of 9.26 points per voting nation. Kim received 77.2% of the maximum possible score, which, as of 2023, still ranks 8th among all Eurovision winners.
Total score | Luxembourg | Yugoslavia | France | Norway | United Kingdom | Iceland | Netherlands | Turkey | Spain | Switzerland | Israel | Ireland | Belgium | Germany | Cyprus | Austria | Sweden | Denmark | Finland | Portugal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Contestants | Luxembourg | 117 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |||
Yugoslavia | 49 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
France | 13 | 3 | 7 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Norway | 44 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | ||||||||||||
United Kingdom | 72 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 2 | |||||||
Iceland | 19 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
Netherlands | 40 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||||||||||||
Turkey | 53 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||||||
Spain | 51 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
Switzerland | 140 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 10 | |||
Israel | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
Ireland | 96 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 8 | |||||||
Belgium | 176 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 12 | ||
Germany | 62 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 4 | |||||||||||
Cyprus | 4 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
Austria | 12 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Sweden | 78 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | ||||||||
Denmark | 77 | 5 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||
Finland | 22 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||
Portugal | 28 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:
N. | Contestant | Nation(s) giving 12 points |
---|---|---|
5 | Belgium | Finland , France , Ireland , Portugal , Turkey |
Switzerland | Belgium , Israel , Luxembourg , Netherlands , Sweden | |
3 | Ireland | Austria , Denmark , Spain |
2 | Luxembourg | Germany , Norway |
Sweden | Iceland , Switzerland | |
1 | Germany | United Kingdom |
Turkey | Yugoslavia | |
Yugoslavia | Cyprus |
Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants". Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers. [11]
The contest was reportedly broadcast in Greece and Jordan, in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision, and in Australia, Gibraltar, Jordan and South Korea, with an estimated maximum audience of 600 million viewers and listeners. [12] [13] [14] [15] Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
Country | Broadcaster | Channel(s) | Commentator(s) | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | SBS | SBS TV [d] | [51] | |
Czechoslovakia | ČST | ČST2 [e] | [52] | |
Estonian SSR | ETV [f] | [53] | ||
Greenland | KNR | KNR [g] | [54] | |
Hungary | MTV | MTV1 | [55] | |
Italy | Telepordenone | [56] | ||
Jordan | JRTV | JTV2 | [57] | |
Poland | TP | TP1 [h] | [58] | |
South Korea | KBS | 1TV [i] | [59] | |
Soviet Union | CT USSR | Programme One [f] | [60] |
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1971 was the 16th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1970 contest with the song "All Kinds of Everything" by Dana. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the Gaiety Theatre on 3 April 1971, and was hosted by Irish television presenter Bernadette Ní Ghallchóir.
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the 1978 contest with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the contest was held at the International Convention Centre on 31 March 1979, and was hosted by Israeli television presenter Daniel Pe'er and singer Yardena Arazi. This was the first time that the Eurovision Song Contest was held outside Europe.
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1973 was the 18th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the 1972 contest with the song "Après toi" by Vicky Leandros. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT), the contest was held at the Grand Théâtre on 7 April 1973 and was hosted by German television presenter Helga Guitton.
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1977 was the 22nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in London, United Kingdom, following the country's victory at the 1976 contest with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me" by Brotherhood of Man. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the contest was held at the Wembley Conference Centre on 7 May 1977, marking the first time the event took place in the month of May since the first contest in 1956. The contest was directed by Stewart Morris and hosted by English journalist Angela Rippon.
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