Eurovision Song Contest 1995 | |
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Dates | |
Final | 13 May 1995 |
Host | |
Venue | Point Theatre, Dublin, Ireland |
Presenter(s) | Mary Kennedy |
Musical director | Noel Kelehan |
Directed by | John Comiskey |
Executive supervisor | Christian Clausen |
Executive producer | John McHugh |
Host broadcaster | Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) |
Website | eurovision |
Participants | |
Number of entries | 23 |
Debuting countries | None |
Returning countries | |
Non-returning countries | |
| |
Vote | |
Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs |
Winning song | |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was the 40th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 13 May 1995 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), and presented by Mary Kennedy, the contest was held in Ireland following the country's victory at the 1994 contest with the song "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. It was the third consecutive contest to be held in Ireland – the first and only time in the history of the event that a country has hosted three editions in a row – and the second consecutive edition to be held in the Point Theatre in Dublin.
Twenty-three countries participated in the contest; Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, and Switzerland were relegated as the lowest-scoring countries in the previous edition, getting replaced by Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Slovenia, and Turkey, returning after being relegated following the 1993 edition.
The winner was Norway with the song " Nocturne ", composed by Rolf Løvland, written by Petter Skavlan and performed by Secret Garden. Spain, Sweden, France, and Denmark rounded out the top five, with Spain achieving their best result since 1979. Croatia and Slovenia also achieved their best results so far, placing sixth and seventh respectively, while Germany finished in last place for the fourth time.
The 1995 contest took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1994 edition with the song "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", performed by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. It was the sixth time that Ireland had hosted the contest, having previously staged the event in 1971, 1981, 1988, 1993 and 1994, with all previous events held in Dublin except the 1993 contest which was held in Millstreet. [1] Ireland thus became the first, and as of 2024 [update] only country to have hosted three successive contests. [2] [3]
The selected venue was the Point Theatre, a concert and events venue located amongst the Dublin Docklands which had originally been built as a train depot to serve the nearby port. Opened as a music venue in 1988, it was closed for redevelopment and expansion in 2008 and is now known as the 3Arena. [4] Having previously hosted the 1994 contest, Dublin became the first city to host two consecutive Eurovision Song Contests, with the Point Theatre also serving as the host venue for the second year in a row. [2] [5]
Alternative venues in Galway and Limerick were considered by RTÉ, however Dublin was chosen to stage the contest again as it was judged to have been the more cost-effective location. [6] A proposal by the British broadcaster BBC to host the contest, either by themselves or as a joint production hosted in Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, were also rejected by RTÉ as the Irish broadcaster chose to produce the contest on its own. [5] [6] However, RTÉ did request a rule change to relieve them of the responsibility of producing the contest again should Ireland produce a fourth consecutive winner, which was accepted by the EBU. [5]
Eurovision Song Contest 1995 –Participation summaries by country | |
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Twenty-three countries were permitted to participate in the contest, which was to comprise the sixteen highest-scoring countries in the 1994 contest and returning countries that had been relegated and prevented from participating in the previous year's event. The total line-up was reduced from the twenty-five countries which participated in the 1994 contest to ensure that the event would not last longer than three hours. [2] [6] Of the seven countries which did not participate in 1994, Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Slovenia and Turkey returned to the contest, while Italy and Luxembourg declined the invitation, which resulted in Austria and Spain, which were originally relegated, being allowed back into the line-up. Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland, as the lowest-scoring countries from the previous year's event, were thus ultimately relegated and were required to miss this event. [2] [5] [6] Switzerland did not participate in the contest for the first time, leaving Germany as the sole country to have participated in every edition of the contest to that point. [5] [6]
The contest featured two representatives who had previously performed in the contest. Turkey's Arzu Ece had previously represented her country at the 1989 contest as a member of the group Pan, and Cyprus's Alexandros Panayi had provided backing vocals for two previous Cypriot entries, for Fanny Polymeri and Yiannis Savvidakis in 1989 and Elena Patroklou in 1991. [7] [8] [9] Additionally, several artists who had previously participated in the event as main vocalists returned as backing vocalists at this year's event: Iceland's Stefán Hilmarsson and Eyjólfur Kristjánsson returned to the contest as backing singers for the Icelandic entrant Bo Halldórsson, with Stefán having previously represented Iceland in the 1988 event as a member of Beathoven and both Stefán and Eyjólfur having represented Iceland as a duo in 1991; [10] [11] Gary Lux, who had previously represented Austria three times, as a member of the group Westend in 1983 and as a solo artist in 1985 and 1987, supported Stella Jones at this year's event; [12] and José María Guzmán, who represented Spain at the 1986 contest as part of the group Cadillac, was among Anabel Conde's backing singers. [13] [14]
Country | Broadcaster | Artist | Song | Language | Songwriter(s) | Conductor |
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![]() | ORF | Stella Jones | "Die Welt dreht sich verkehrt" | German | Mischa Krausz | Michael Kienzl |
![]() | RTBF | Frédéric Etherlinck | "La voix est libre" | French | Pierre Theunis | Alec Mansion |
![]() | RTVBiH | Davor Popović | "Dvadeset prvi vijek" | Bosnian |
| Sinan Alimanović |
![]() | HRT | Magazin and Lidija | "Nostalgija" | Croatian | Stipica Kalogjera | |
![]() | CyBC | Alexandros Panayi | "Sti fotia" (Στη φωτιά) | Greek | Alexandros Panayi | George Theofanous |
![]() | DR | Aud Wilken | "Fra Mols til Skagen" | Danish |
| Frede Ewert |
![]() | France Télévision | Nathalie Santamaria | "Il me donne rendez-vous" | French |
| Michel Bernholc |
![]() | MDR [lower-alpha 1] | Stone and Stone | "Verliebt in Dich" | German | Cheyenne Stone | Hermann Weindorf |
![]() | ERT | Elina Konstantopoulou | "Pia prosefhi" (Ποιά προσευχή) | Greek |
| Haris Andreadis |
![]() | MTV | Csaba Szigeti | "Új név egy régi ház falán" | Hungarian |
| Miklós Malek |
![]() | RÚV | Bo Halldórsson | "Núna" | Icelandic |
| Frank McNamara |
![]() | RTÉ | Eddie Friel | "Dreamin'" | English |
| Noel Kelehan |
![]() | IBA | Liora | "Amen" (אמן) | Hebrew |
| Gadi Goldman |
![]() | PBS | Mike Spiteri | "Keep Me in Mind" | English |
| Ray Agius |
![]() | NRK | Secret Garden [lower-alpha 2] | " Nocturne " | Norwegian |
| Geir Langslet |
![]() | TVP | Justyna | "Sama" | Polish |
| Noel Kelehan |
![]() | RTP | Tó Cruz | "Baunilha e chocolate" | Portuguese | Thilo Krasmann | |
![]() | ORT | Philipp Kirkorov | "Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana" (Колыбельная для вулкана) | Russian |
| Mikhail Finberg |
![]() | RTVSLO | Darja Švajger | "Prisluhni mi" | Slovene |
| Jože Privšek |
![]() | TVE | Anabel Conde | "Vuelve conmigo" | Spanish | José María Purón | Eduardo Leiva |
![]() | SVT | Jan Johansen | " Se på mej " | Swedish |
| Anders Berglund |
![]() | TRT | Arzu Ece | "Sev!" | Turkish |
| Melih Kibar |
![]() | BBC | Love City Groove | "Love City Groove" | English |
| Mike Dixon |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1995 was produced by the Irish public broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ). John McHugh served as executive producer, John Comiskey served as director, Alan Farquharson served as designer, and Noel Kelehan served as musical director, leading the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. [2] [18] [19] A separate musical director could be nominated by each country to lead the orchestra during their performance, with the host musical director also available to conduct for those countries which did not nominate their own conductor. [7] RTÉ was reported to have spent IR£2.3 million on staging the contest, with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and the National Lottery among the contest's sponsors. Through the partnership with the National Lottery, around 1,000 places in the audience were filled by members of the public who had won tickets by playing scratchcards. [5] [6]
Each participating broadcaster submitted one song, which was required to be no longer than three minutes in duration and performed in the language, or one of the languages, of the country which it represented. [20] [21] A maximum of six performers were allowed on stage during each country's performance, and all participants were required to have reached the age of 16 in the year of the contest. [20] [22] Each entry could utilise all or part of the live orchestra and could use instrumental-only backing tracks, however any backing tracks used could only include the sound of instruments featured on stage being mimed by the performers. [22] [23]
Following the confirmation of the twenty-three competing countries, the draw to determine the running order was held on 9 December 1994. [6]
The results of the 1995 contest were determined through the same scoring system as had first been introduced in 1975: each country awarded twelve points to its favourite entry, followed by ten points to its second favourite, and then awarded points in decreasing value from eight to one for the remaining songs which featured in the country's top ten, with countries unable to vote for their own entry. [24] The points awarded by each country were determined by an assembled jury of sixteen individuals, which was required to be split evenly between members of the public and music professionals, between men and women, and by age. Each jury member voted in secret and awarded between one and ten votes to each participating song, excluding that from their own country and with no abstentions permitted. The votes of each member were collected following the country's performance and then tallied by the non-voting jury chairperson to determine the points to be awarded. In any cases where two or more songs in the top ten received the same number of votes, a show of hands by all jury members was used to determine the final placing. [25] [26]
Rehearsals in the contest venue for the competing acts began on 8 May 1995. Each country had two technical rehearsals in the week approaching the contest, with countries rehearsing in the order in which they would perform. The first rehearsals took place on 8 and 9 May, with each country allowed 40 minutes total on stage, with an opportunity to review recordings with producers and to consult on suggested changes afterwards, followed by a 20 minute press conference. Each country's second rehearsals took place on 10 and 11 May, with 30 minutes total on stage. Three dress rehearsals were held with all artists, two held in the afternoon and evening of 12 May and one final rehearsal in the afternoon of 13 May. An audience was present for the second dress rehearsal in the evening of 12 May, with this rehearsal also recorded for use as a production stand-by in case of problems during the live contest. [6] The competing delegations were additionally invited to a welcome reception during the week in the build-up to the event, organised by Irish Ferries and hosted at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham on the evening of 8 May. [6] [27]
The contest took place on 13 May 1995 at 20:00 (IST) and lasted 2 hours and 51 minutes. [2] [7] The show was presented by the Irish journalist and television presenter Mary Kennedy. [2] Kennedy had previously served as the stand-by presenter at the 1981 contest, understudying for Doireann Ní Bhriain. [6]
To celebrate the contest's fortieth anniversary, the show opened with a four-minute sequence, directed by Pat Cowap, containing clips and performances from previous contests; Cowap had previously served as director of the 1994 contest. [6] The contest's interval act, entitled "Lumen", was an original piece composed by Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and which combined Gregorian chant and sean-nós singing with contemporary music. Among the performers of "Lumen" were Súilleabháin on piano, Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie, Irish singers Brian Kennedy and Nóirín Ní Riain, members of the Irish folk band Clannad, the Benedictine monks of Glenstal Abbey, and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra conducted by Proinnsías Ó Duinn. [28] [29] [30] Kennedy would go on to perform at Eurovision again as a contestant, representing Ireland in the 2006 contest. [31] [32] The trophy awarded to the winners was designed by Kevin O'Dwyer, and was presented by the previous year's winning artists Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. [33] [34]
The winner was Norway represented by the song " Nocturne ", composed by Rolf Løvland, written by Petter Skavlan and performed by Secret Garden. [35] This was Norway's second contest win, following the victory by Bobbysocks! ten years previously at the 1985 contest with " La det swinge ", which was also written by Rolf Løvland; [36] [37] Løvland thus became one of four individuals to have won the contest more than once as an artist or songwriter up to that point in time, alongside Willy van Hemert, Yves Dessca and Johnny Logan. [38] The group Secret Garden consisted principally of Norwegian composer and pianist Løvland and Irish violinist Fionnuala Sherry and was formed after the pair had met at the 1994 contest, where Sherry was a member of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Løvland was in attendance as composer of that year's Norwegian entry. [39] For their performance during the contest they were joined by instrumentalists Hans Fredrik Jacobsen and Åsa Jinder and singer Gunnhild Tvinnereim . [40] "Nocturne" was a largely instrumental piece featuring only 24 words in total, with brief vocals only at the start and end of the song performed by Tvinnereim. [2] [5] [7] The traditional winner's reprise performance featured English lyrics, also written by Skavlan, comprising 30 words in total. [41]
Spain achieved its best result since 1979 by finishing as the contest's runner-up, Croatia and Slovenia gained their highest placements to date by finishing in sixth and seventh place respectively, while conversely Germany finished in last place for the fourth time. [25] [42] [43] [44] [45] The 1995 contest was the last edition of the contest where the top three songs were all performed in a language other than English until the 2021 event. [46]
R/O | Country | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
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1 | ![]() | Justyna | "Sama" | 15 | 18 |
2 | ![]() | Eddie Friel | "Dreamin'" | 44 | 14 |
3 | ![]() | Stone and Stone | "Verliebt in Dich" | 1 | 23 |
4 | ![]() | Davor Popović | "Dvadeset prvi vijek" | 14 | 19 |
5 | ![]() | Secret Garden [lower-alpha 2] | " Nocturne " | 148 | 1 |
6 | ![]() | Philipp Kirkorov | "Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana" | 17 | 17 |
7 | ![]() | Bo Halldórsson | "Núna" | 31 | 15 |
8 | ![]() | Stella Jones | "Die Welt dreht sich verkehrt" | 67 | 13 |
9 | ![]() | Anabel Conde | "Vuelve conmigo" | 119 | 2 |
10 | ![]() | Arzu Ece | "Sev!" | 21 | 16 |
11 | ![]() | Magazin and Lidija | "Nostalgija" | 91 | 6 |
12 | ![]() | Nathalie Santamaria | "Il me donne rendez-vous" | 94 | 4 |
13 | ![]() | Csaba Szigeti | "Új név egy régi ház falán" | 3 | 22 |
14 | ![]() | Frédéric Etherlinck | "La voix est libre" | 8 | 20 |
15 | ![]() | Love City Groove | "Love City Groove" | 76 | 10 |
16 | ![]() | Tó Cruz | "Baunilha e chocolate" | 5 | 21 |
17 | ![]() | Alexandros Panayi | "Sti fotia" | 79 | 9 |
18 | ![]() | Jan Johansen | " Se på mej " | 100 | 3 |
19 | ![]() | Aud Wilken | "Fra Mols til Skagen" | 92 | 5 |
20 | ![]() | Darja Švajger | "Prisluhni mi" | 84 | 7 |
21 | ![]() | Liora | "Amen" | 81 | 8 |
22 | ![]() | Mike Spiteri | "Keep Me in Mind" | 76 | 10 |
23 | ![]() | Elina Konstantopoulou | "Pia prosefhi" | 68 | 12 |
Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing, in English or French, the votes for their respective country. [20] As had been the case in the 1994 contest, the spokespersons were connected via satellite and appeared in vision during the broadcast. [48] Spokespersons at the 1995 contest are listed below. [49]
Jury voting was used to determine the points awarded by all countries. [25] The announcement of the results from each country was conducted in the order in which they performed, with the spokespersons announcing their country's points in English or French in ascending order. [49] The detailed breakdown of the points awarded by each country is listed in the tables below.
Total score | Poland | Ireland | Germany | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Norway | Russia | Iceland | Austria | Spain | Turkey | Croatia | France | Hungary | Belgium | United Kingdom | Portugal | Cyprus | Sweden | Denmark | Slovenia | Israel | Malta | Greece | ||
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Contestants | Poland | 15 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Ireland | 44 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||||||
Germany | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 14 | 3 | 8 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Norway | 148 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 12 | |||||
Russia | 17 | 10 | 6 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Iceland | 31 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||
Austria | 67 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 7 | |||||||||||
Spain | 119 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 6 | ||||||||
Turkey | 21 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
Croatia | 91 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 5 | ||||||||||||
France | 94 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 2 | |||||||
Hungary | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Belgium | 8 | 1 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
United Kingdom | 76 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 5 | ||||||||||||
Portugal | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Cyprus | 79 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 8 | ||||||||
Sweden | 100 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||
Denmark | 92 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 6 | ||||||||||
Slovenia | 84 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 10 | ||||||||
Israel | 81 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 5 | ||||||||||||
Malta | 76 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||
Greece | 68 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
The below table summarises how the maximum 12 points were awarded from one country to another. The winning country is shown in bold. Norway received the maximum score of 12 points from six of the voting countries, with Croatia and Sweden each receiving three sets of 12 points, Denmark, Malta, Spain and the United Kingdom receiving two sets each, and Cyprus, Greece and Israel each receiving one maximum score. [52] [53]
N. | Contestant | Nation(s) giving 12 points |
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6 | ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
3 | ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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2 | ![]() | ![]() ![]() |
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1 | ![]() | ![]() |
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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. [22] 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. |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | SBS | SBS TV [lower-alpha 5] | [87] | |
![]() | ETV | [88] | ||
STV | STV4 | |||
![]() | YLE | TV1 | Erkki Pohjanheimo and Olli Ahvenlahti | [89] |
Radio Suomi | Iris Mattila and Ossi Runne | |||
![]() | NOS | Nederland 3 | Paul de Leeuw | [59] |
Telecuraçao [lower-alpha 6] | [90] | |||
![]() | TVR | TVR 1 | [91] | |
![]() | SRG SSR | Schweiz 4 | Heinz Margot | [54] |
Suisse 4 | Jean-Marc Richard | [66] |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1967 was the 12th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the 1966 contest with the song "Merci, Chérie" by Udo Jürgens. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF), the contest was held at the Großer Festsaal der Wiener Hofburg on 8 April 1967, becoming the first contest held in the month of April, and was hosted by Austrian actress Erica Vaal.
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.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), and presented by Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Gerry Ryan, the contest was held in Ireland following the country's victory at the 1993 contest with the song "In Your Eyes" by Niamh Kavanagh. It was the first time that any country had hosted two successive editions of the contest, following the previous year's contest held in Millstreet.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1993 was the 38th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 15 May 1993 at the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), and presented by Fionnuala Sweeney, the contest was held in Ireland following the country's victory at the 1992 contest with the song "Why Me?" performed by Linda Martin.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1992 was the 37th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1992 at the Malmö Isstadion in Malmö, Sweden. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), and presented by Lydia Capolicchio and Harald Treutiger, the contest was held in Sweden following the country's victory at the 1991 contest with the song "Fångad av en stormvind" by Carola.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1990 was the 35th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 5 May 1990 in the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevizija Zagreb on behalf of Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija (JRT), and presented by Oliver Mlakar and Helga Vlahović, the contest was held in Yugoslavia following the country's victory at the 1989 contest with the song "Rock Me" by the group Riva. It was the first contest to be held in the Balkans and the first to be held in a socialist state.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1989 was the 34th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 6 May 1989 in the Palais de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Télévision suisse romande (TSR) on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, and presented by Jacques Deschenaux and Lolita Morena, the contest was held in Switzerland following the country's victory at the 1988 contest with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi" by Céline Dion.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 4 May 1985 in the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), and presented by Lill Lindfors, the contest was held in Sweden following the country's victory at the 1984 contest with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" by Herreys..
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1980 contest with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 4 April 1981, and was hosted by Irish television journalist Doireann Ní Bhriain.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1975 was the 20th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 22 March 1975 in the Sankt Eriks-Mässan in Stockholm, Sweden. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Radio (SR), and presented by Karin Falck, the contest was held in Sweden following the country's victory at the 1974 contest with the song "Waterloo" by ABBA.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 18 May 1996 at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) and presented by Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket, the contest was held in Norway following the country's victory at the 1995 contest with the song "Nocturne" by Secret Garden.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and presented by Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson, the contest was held in the United Kingdom following the country's victory at the 1997 contest with the song "Love Shine a Light" by Katrina and the Waves.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was the 42nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 3 May 1997 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) and presented by Carrie Crowley and Ronan Keating, the contest was held in Ireland following the country's victory at the 1996 contest with the song "The Voice" by Eimear Quinn. The 1997 contest was the seventh – and to date last – edition to be staged in Ireland, as well as the fourth to be produced by RTÉ in five years. The Point Theatre served as the host venue for the third time, following the 1994 and 1995 contests, becoming the only venue to have been the site of three Eurovision Song Contests.
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"Nocturne" is a song recorded by Irish-Norwegian duo Secret Garden –Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland– with music composed by Løvland and lyrics written by Petter Skavlan. It represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 held in Dublin, resulting in the country's second win at the contest.
Kvalifikacija za Millstreet was a televised song contest held as a qualifying round for the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTVSLO), the contest was held on 3 April 1993 in Studio 1 of Televizija Slovenija in Ljubljana, Slovenia and presented by the Slovenian television presenter Tajda Lekše.
Eimear Quinn represented Ireland in the 1996 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "The Voice".
Russia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995 in Dublin, Ireland. The Russian broadcaster Russian Public Television (ORT) internally selected Philipp Kirkorov with the song "Kolybelnaya dlya vulkana", written by Ilya Bershadskiy and Ilya Resnik, to represent the nation. Prior to Kirkorov's selection, ORT organised a public selection process to select the Russian entrant. While the event did take place, the jury could not decide on the winner of selection and ultimately opted to choose the artist internally.
Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Sunlight" written by Nicky Byrne, Wayne Hector and Ronan Hardiman. The song was performed by Nicky Byrne, who was internally selected in January 2016 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. "Sunlight" was presented as the Irish entry during the announcement of Byrne's internal selection on 13 January 2016.
For the first time since the 1970s participants were free to choose which language they performed in.
The orchestra also saw their days numbered as, from 1997, full backing tracks were allowed without restriction, meaning that the songs could be accompanied by pre-recorded music instead of the live orchestra.
Olivier is no stranger to the Eurovision family, too, having presented the French votes in 1992 and 1993, as well as providing broadcast commentary from 1995 through 1997.