Eurovision Song Contest 1987

Eurovision Song Contest 1987

Dates
Final	9 May 1987
Host
Venue	Palais du Centenaire Brussels, Belgium
Presenter(s)	Viktor Lazlo
Musical director	Jo Carlier
Directed by	Jacques Bourton
Executive supervisor	Frank Naef
Executive producer	Michel Gehu
Host broadcaster	Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française (RTBF)
Opening act	"Breathless" performed by Viktor Lazlo
Interval act
Website	eurovision.tv/event/brussels-1987
Participants
Number of entries	22
Debuting countries	None
Returning countries	Greece Italy
Non-returning countries	None
hide Participation map Participating countries Countries that participated in the past but not in 1987
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8–1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Nul points	Turkey
Winning song	Ireland "Hold Me Now"
1986 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 1988

The Eurovision Song Contest 1987 was the 32nd Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 9 May 1987 in Brussels, Belgium after Sandra Kim's win the previous year. The presenter was Viktor Lazlo. She agreed to present the Eurovision Song Contest, on the condition she was allowed to open with a song of her own, "Breathless". Johnny Logan was the winner for Ireland with his own composition "Hold Me Now". That made him the first (and as of 2021, only) performer to win the contest twice, as he had won also in 1980.

Location[]

Palais du Centenaire, Brussels – host venue of the 1987 contest.

Brussels is the capital city of Belgium. The Brussels Capital Region is part of both the French Community of Belgium^[1] and the Flemish Community,^[2] but separate from the regions of Flanders and Wallonia.^[3]^[4]

The contest took place at the Palais du Centenaire, a set of exhibition halls built from 1930 to celebrate the centenary of the independence of Belgium in Heysel Plateau (Heysal Park). The Centenary Palace (French: Palais du Centenaire, Dutch: Eeuwfeestpaleis) is one of the remaining buildings of the World's Fair of 1935. Currently it is still being used for trade fairs.

Format[]

Host broadcaster[]

Initially, the competition was to be jointly organised by the two Belgian public broadcasters: the French-speaking Radio Télévision Belge Francophone (RTBF) and the Dutch-speaking Belgische Radio- en Televisieomroep (BRT). The aim was to give Belgium the image of a united country. But quickly, disagreements appeared between the two broadcasters, especially on the place, the presenters and transmission of the contest. BRT eventually withdrew from the project and RTBF organised the contest alone as host broadcaster.^[5] The necessary budget was so important that a new law had to be adopted, allowing the use of advertising to finance the Belgian public channels. This was the first time that sponsors helped to produce the contest and appeared on screen.^[6] BRT was in charge of the selection of the Belgian entry for the contest, as in all other odd-numbered years.

Contest overview[]

The 1987 Eurovision was the biggest contest at that time, with 22 countries taking part. Only Malta, Monaco and Morocco failed to compete out of all the countries which had entered the contest in the past. Due to the number of countries, and the time it took for the contest to be held, the EBU set the limit of competing countries to 22. This became problematic over the next few years as new and returning nations indicated an interest in participating, but could not be accommodated.^[7]

Controversy erupted in Israel after their song was selected, "Shir Habatlanim" by the Lazy Bums. The comedic performance was criticised by the country's culture minister, who threatened to resign should the duo proceed to Brussels. They went on to perform for Israel, placing eighth; however the culture minister's threat was left unfulfilled.^[7]

Conductors[]

Norway - Terje Fjærn
Israel - Kobi Oshrat
Austria -
Iceland -
Belgium -
Sweden - Curt-Eric Holmquist
Italy - Gianfranco Lombardi
Portugal -
Spain -
Turkey - Garo Mafyan
Greece -
Netherlands - Rogier van Otterloo
Luxembourg -
United Kingdom - Ronnie Hazlehurst
France - Jean-Claude Petit
Germany -
Cyprus -
Finland - Ossi Runne
Denmark -
Ireland - Noel Kelehan
Yugoslavia -
Switzerland - no conductor

Results[]

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language^[8]^[9]	Place^[10]	Points
01	Norway	Kate Gulbrandsen	"Mitt liv"	Norwegian	9	65
02	Israel	& Kushnir	"Shir Habatlanim" (שיר הבטלנים)	Hebrew	8	73
03	Austria	Gary Lux	"Nur noch Gefühl"	German	20	8
04	Iceland	Halla Margrét	"Hægt og hljótt"	Icelandic	16	28
05	Belgium	Liliane Saint-Pierre	"Soldiers of Love"	Dutch^[a]	11	56
06	Sweden	Lotta Engberg	"Boogaloo"	Swedish	12	50
07	Italy	Umberto Tozzi & Raf	"Gente di mare"	Italian	3	103
08	Portugal	Nevada	"Neste barco à vela"	Portuguese	18	15
09	Spain	Patricia Kraus	"No estás solo"	Spanish	19	10
10	Turkey	Seyyal Taner & Lokomotif	"Şarkım Sevgi Üstüne"	Turkish	22	0
11	Greece	Bang	"Stop" (Στοπ)	Greek	10	64
12	Netherlands	Marcha	"Rechtop in de wind"	Dutch	5	83
13	Luxembourg	Plastic Bertrand	"Amour, amour"	French	21	4
14	United Kingdom	Rikki	"Only the Light"	English	13	47
15	France	Christine Minier	"Les mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche"	French	14	44
16	Germany	Wind	"Lass die Sonne in dein Herz"	German	2	141
17	Cyprus		"Aspro-mavro" (Άσπρο-μαύρο)	Greek	7	80
18	Finland	Vicky Rosti & Boulevard	"Sata salamaa"	Finnish	15	32
19	Denmark	Anne-Cathrine Herdorf &	"En lille melodi"	Danish	5	83
20	Ireland	Johnny Logan	"Hold Me Now"	English	1	172
21	Yugoslavia	Novi fosili	"Ja sam za ples" (Ја сам за плес)	Serbo-Croatian^[a]	4	92
22	Switzerland	Carol Rich	"Moitié, moitié"	French	17	26

Scoreboard[]

Voting results^[11]
		Total score	Norway	Israel	Austria	Iceland	Belgium	Sweden	Italy	Portugal	Spain	Turkey	Greece	Netherlands	Luxembourg	United Kingdom	France	Germany	Cyprus	Finland	Denmark	Ireland	Yugoslavia	Switzerland
Contestants	Norway	65			4		7	10	7		3			4			4	7	3	5	3	2		6
	Israel	73	2		1	5	6	4		10				3		4	10	8		7		5		8
	Austria	8							1				7
	Iceland	28	4				4				4		6					10
	Belgium	56	5	2	3				6		7	4			5	8		4	5	3			4
	Sweden	50		12		8	1		3	7		2					3		7		7
	Italy	103		3	6	3	5	1		12	12	8			4	1		12	1	4		12	12	7
	Portugal	15									8		5					2
	Spain	10											10
	Turkey	0
	Greece	64				1	2	6	8					5	7	5	7		12		6		5
	Netherlands	83		5	2				10		5	7	3		8	3	12			2	2	6	8	10
	Luxembourg	4								2						2
	United Kingdom	47		10	5		3	5		3		3			1				2	1	4	3	2	5
	France	44	1			4			5				4	1	12			5				10		2
	Germany	141	3	8	10	12	10	7	4	5	1	6		10	6	10	6		6	10	12	7	7	1
	Cyprus	80	6			6		2					12	2		6	5	3		6	10	8	10	4
	Finland	32	10					3		4	2		1	8	2			1					1
	Denmark	83	7	6	7	7		8	2	1		1	8	6		7	8			8		4		3
	Ireland	172	8	4	12		12	12	12	8	10	10		12	10	12	1	6	8	12	5		6	12
	Yugoslavia	92	12	7	8	10	8			6	6	12	2				2		10		8	1
	Switzerland	26		1		2						5		7	3				4		1		3

12 points[]

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
8	Ireland	Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
5	Italy	Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Yugoslavia
2	Germany	Denmark, Iceland
2	Yugoslavia	Norway, Turkey
1	Cyprus	Greece
	France	Luxembourg
	Greece	Cyprus
	Netherlands	France
	Sweden	Israel

Returning artists[]

Artist	Country	Previous year(s)
Gary Lux	Austria	1983 (member of Westend), 1984 (as backing singer for Anita), 1985
	Cyprus	1981 (member of Island)
Wind	Germany	1985
Johnny Logan	Ireland	1980

Commentators[]

Television[]

Participating countries[]

Norway – John Andreassen and Tor Paulsen (NRK)^[12]
Israel – No commentator
Austria – Ernst Grissemann (FS1)^[13]
Iceland – Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir (Sjónvarpið)^[14]
Belgium – Dutch: Luc Appermont (BRT TV1),^[15] French: Claude Delacroix (RTBF La Une)^[16]
Sweden – Fredrik Belfrage (SVT, TV1)^[17]
Italy – Rosanna Vaudetti (Raidue)^[18]
Portugal – Maria Margarida Gaspar (RTP1)^[19]
Spain – Beatriz Pécker (TVE2)^[20]
Turkey – Gülgün Baysal (TV1) ^[21]
Greece – Dafni Bokota (ERT)^[22]
Netherlands – Willem van Beusekom (Nederland 1)^[23]
Luxembourg – Valérie Sarn (RTL Télévision),^[16] TBC (RTL plus)
United Kingdom – Terry Wogan (BBC 1)^[24]
France – Patrick Simpson-Jones (Antenne 2)^[16]
Germany – Lotti Ohnesorge and Christoph Deumling (Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen)^[25]
Cyprus – Fryni Papadopoulou (RIK)^[26]
Finland – Erkki Toivanen (YLE TV1)^[27]
Denmark – Jørgen de Mylius (DR TV)^[28]
Ireland – Marty Whelan (RTÉ 1)^[29]
Yugoslavia – Ksenija Urličić (TVZ 1 and TVB1),^[30] Miša Molk (TVL1)
Switzerland – German: Bernard Thurnheer (DRS), French: Serge Moisson (SSR), Italian: Wilma Gilardi (TSI)

Non-participating countries[]

Australia - N/A (SBS)
Poland – Bogusław Brelik (TP1)
Hungary – István Vágó (MTV1)

Radio[]

Some participating countries did not provide radio broadcasts for the event; the ones who did are listed below.

Norway – Roald Øyen (NRK P2)
Israel – Yigal Ravid (Reshet Gimel)
Austria – Hans Leitinger (Hitradio Ö3)
Belgium – Dutch: Rita Jaenen (BRT Radio 2), French: Patrick Duhamel and Stéphane Dupont (RTBF La Première)
Sweden – Jacob Dahlin (SR P3)^[17]
Italy – Antonio De Robertis (Rai Radio 2)
Greece – Dimitris Konstantaras (Proto Programma)
Netherlands – Rudi Carrell (Radio 2)
Luxembourg – André Torrent (RTL Radio)
United Kingdom – Ray Moore (BBC Radio 2)
France – Julien Lepers (France Inter)
Germany – Peter Urban (Deutschlandfunk/NDR Radio 2)
Cyprus – Pavlos Pavlou (CyBC Radio 2)
Finland – TBC (YLE 2-verkko)
Denmark – Poul Birch Eriksen (DR P3)
Ireland – Larry Gogan (RTÉ Radio 1)
Yugoslavia – Marjeta Keršič Svetel (Val 202 Radio-Televizija Ljubljana)

Spokespersons[]

Norway - Sverre Christophersen^[31]
Israel - Yitzhak Shim'oni^[32]
Austria - Tilia Herold
Iceland - Guðrún Skúladóttir^[33]
Belgium - An Ploegaerts^[34]
Sweden - Jan Ellerås^[17]
Italy – Mariolina Cannuli
Portugal - Ana Zanatti^[19]
Spain - Matilde Jarrín
Turkey - Canan Kumbasar
Greece - Irini Gavala
Netherlands - Ralph Inbar
Luxembourg - Frédérique Ries
United Kingdom - Colin Berry
France - Lionel Cassan^[35]
Germany - Gabi Schnelle
Cyprus - Anna Partelidou^[26]
Finland - Solveig Herlin^[36]
Denmark - [dk]
Ireland - Brendan Balfe
Yugoslavia - Ljiljana Tipsarević^[30]
Switzerland - Michel Stocker^[37]

National jury members[]

Iceland - Ása María Ásgeirsdóttir, Einar Már Ríkharðsson, Guðmunda Ingimundardóttir, Hildur Karen Aðalsteinsdóttir, Jóhannes Guðlaugsson, Nanna Lind Svavarsdóttir, Oddrún Kristjánsdóttir, Óskar Ingimar Örlygsson, Steingrímur Guðjónsson, Þorsteinn Pétursson, Þóra Sigurjónsdóttir^[33]
Spain – José Fernández (waiter), (telephone operator), José Miguel García (underground driver), (businessman), (yachtswoman), (taxi driver and poet), (businesswoman), Raúl Díaz (student), (housewife), (fashion designer), Miguel Durán (president of ONCE)^[38]
Greece - Giorgos Ikonomou
Netherlands - Ruud van den Bosch, Rixt Hilverda, Chantal Keijzer, Mylène Höhle, Fred Jonker, Simone Albers, John van Suijlekom, Ton Snijders, Arend van de Werf, René Pauli, Ditta de Vroed^[39]
Ireland - Peter Henshaw
Yugoslavia - Fedor Janušić, Valentina Miovska, Ljubiša Terzić, Vera Županić, Ljiljana Ljolja, Mirjana Vukčević, Karolina Savić, Branislav Kitanović, Dušan Cincar, Dimitrije Savić, Slobodanka Veselinović^[30]

Possible Soviet Union participation[]

In 2009, Eduard Fomin, a former employee of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, revealed that in 1987, Georgiy Veselov, the Minister of Education for the Soviet Union, brought forward the idea of a participation of the Soviet Union at the Eurovision Song Contest due to the number of political reforms made by the Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev during the late 1980s. The idea was mainly a political one, with the thought that a win in the contest for the Soviet Union would have an impact on the relationships between the Soviet Union and the capitalist countries of the west. Valery Leontyev was suggested as a name for the Soviet Union's first participation; however, Veselov's ideas were not shared by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, or by Gorbachev himself, believing it to be too radical a step to take, and so no Soviet participation was ever made.^[40] Furthermore, its broadcaster, Soviet Central Television, was not a member of the European Broadcasting Union (a prerequisite for participation), so the country would not have been able to participate in the first place. Ten former republics of the Soviet Union would later compete in the contest on their own in the 1990s and 2000s: Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, with five of the countries going on to win the contest.