Eurovision Song Contest 1986

The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Bergen, Norway, following the country's victory at the Template:Escyr with the song "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks! Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (NRK), the contest was held at {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} on 3 May 1986 and was hosted by previous Norwegian contestant Åse Kleveland.

Twenty countries took part in this year's contest with Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty deciding not to participate and Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty returning. Template:Esccnty also competed for the first time this year.

The winner was Template:Esccnty with the song "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" 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. Template:Esccnty, who finished second, appealed for her to be disqualified, but was not successful.Template: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.

Background

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File:Grieghallen concert hall.jpg

lang}}, Bergen – host venue of the 1986 contest.

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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 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. About 450 journalists have covered the event.<ref name="TMavisa" />

As this was the first time Norway hosted a Eurovision Song Contest, NRK commissioned a lavish budget for the event, turning {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 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 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Oslo.

Åse Kleveland, a well-known music and celebrity at the host country, also was President of the Norwegian Association of Musicians at the time and a former Eurovision entrant in Template:Esccnty, 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 two Norwegian musicians,one was the previously unknown outside Norway 16 year-old Sissel Kyrkjebø and the musician Steinar Ofsdal, accompanied by the NRK radio 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.

Participants

Template:Further Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1986 participants A record number of broadcasters submitted entries for the contest, and it was expected that twenty-two countries would participate in the event. This would have surpassed the previous record of twenty participating countries which competed in Template:Escyr, Template:Escyr, and Template:Escyr. The Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty both returned after a one-year absence, and Template:Esccnty made its first ever entry. Of the countries which had participated in the Template:Escyr only Template:Esccnty opted not to compete in this event. However, only twenty countries ultimately participated, as the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), which had already selected the song "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" performed by Polina to represent Template:Esccnty, made a late decision to not compete due to the event falling on Holy Saturday in the Eastern Orthodox calendar.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The contest featured one artist who had previously competed at Eurovision: Elpida representing Template:Esccnty had previously represented Template:Esccnty.Template:Sfn

Eurovision Song Contest 1986 participantsTemplate:Sfn<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)	Conductor
Template:Esc	ORF	Timna Brauer	lang}}"	German	Template:Hlist	Richard Oesterreicher
Template:Esc	RTBF	Sandra Kim	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	CyBC	Elpida	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Greek	Template:Hlist	Martyn Ford
Template:Esc	DR	Lise Haavik	lang}}"	Danish	Template:Ill	Egil Monn-Iversen
Template:Esc	YLE	Kari	"Never the End"	Finnish	Kari Kuivalainen	Ossi Runne
Template:Esc	lang}}	Cocktail Chic	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Jean-Claude Petit
Template:Esc	BRTemplate:Efn	Ingrid Peters	lang}}"	German	Hans Blum	Hans Blum
Template:Esc	RÚV	Template:Ill	lang}}"	Icelandic	Template:Ill	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	RTÉ	Luv Bug	"You Can Count On Me"	English	Kevin Sheerin	Noel Kelehan
Template:Esc	IBA	Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Hebrew	Template:Hlist	Yoram Tzadok
Template:Esc	CLT	Sherisse Laurence	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Rolf Soja
Template:Esc	NOS	Frizzle Sizzle	lang}}"	Dutch	Template:Hlist	Harry van Hoof
Template:Esc	NRK	Ketil Stokkan	"Romeo"	Norwegian	Ketil Stokkan	Egil Monn-Iversen
Template:Esc	RTP	Dora	lang}}"	Portuguese	Template:Hlist	Colin Frechter
Template:Esc	TVE	Cadillac	lang}}"	Spanish	José María Guzmán	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	SVT	Lasse Holm and Monica Törnell	lang}}"	Swedish	Lasse Holm	Anders Berglund
Template:Esc	SRG SSR	Daniela Simons	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Atilla Şereftuğ
Template:Esc	TRT	lang}}	"Halley"	Turkish	Template:Hlist	Melih Kibar
Template:Esc	BBC	Ryder	"Runner in the Night"	English	Template:Hlist	Template:N/A
Template:Esc	JRT	Doris Dragović	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Serbo-Croatian	Template:Ill	Template:Ill

Production and format

About 450 journalists have covered the event.<ref name="TMavisa" /> The trophy was made by Arne Valen at the Bergen Steinsenter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Contest overview

The contest took place at 21:00 CEST,<ref name="Norsk" /> and was hosted by Åse Kleveland, who had competed in Eurovision representing Template:Esccnty.

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Abbr	Country	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	117	3
2	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	49	11
3	Template:Esc	Cocktail Chic	lang}}"	13	17
4	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Romeo"	44	12
5	Template:Esc	Ryder	"Runner in the Night"	72	7
6	Template:Esc	ICY	lang}}"	19	16
7	Template:Esc	Frizzle Sizzle	lang}}"	40	13
8	Template:Esc	lang}}	"Halley"	53	9
9	Template:Esc	Cadillac	lang}}"	51	10
10	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	140	2
11	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname and Sarai Tzuriel	lang}}"	7	19
12	Template:Esc	Luv Bug	"You Can Count On Me"	96	4
13	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	176	1
14	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	62	8
15	Template:Esc	Elpida	lang}}"	4	20
16	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	12	18
17	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname and Monica Törnell	lang}}"	78	5
18	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	77	6
19	Template:Esc	Kari	"Never the End"	22	15
20	Template:Esc	Dora	lang}}"	28	14

Spokespersons

Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1986 contest are listed below.

• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndSolveig HerlinTemplate:Sfn
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndGuðrún Skúladóttir<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndAgneta Bolme BörjeforsTemplate:Sfn
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndColin BerryTemplate:Sfn

Detailed voting results

The winning song, Belgium's "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}", 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.

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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rowspan="20" Template:Vert header	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

12 points

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

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
5	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
3	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
2	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc
1	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc

Broadcasts

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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, and South Korea, with an estimated maximum audience of 600 million viewers and listeners.<ref name="Norsk" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 44 television and radio stations have reportedly broadcast the contest.<ref name="TMavisa">Template:Cite news</ref> Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Template:Refh
Template:Flagu	ORF	FS1	Ernst Grissemann	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTBF	RTBF1, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Ill	<ref name="Limburgs" />
	BRT	TV1	Luc Appermont
		BRT 2	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	CyBC	RIK	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	DR	DR TV	Jørgen de Mylius	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	YLE	TV1	Template:Ill	<ref name="HS">Template:Cite news</ref>
		lang}}	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}		Patrice Laffont	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	RFO	lang}}Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Martinique">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	ARD	lang}}	Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RÚV	lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTÉ	RTÉ 1	Brendan Balfe	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		RTÉ Radio 1	Larry Gogan	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	IBA	Israeli Television, Template:Ill	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	CLT	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref name="Revue">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		RTL plus	Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	NOS	lang}}	Template:Ill	<ref name="Limburgs">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	NRK	lang}}, NRK P1, NRK P2	Knut Bjørnsen	<ref name="Norsk">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTP	RTP1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVE	TVE 2	Antonio Gómez Mateo	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	SVT	TV1	Ulf Elfving	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	Template:Ill	SR P3	Jacob Dahlin	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	SRG SSR	TV DRS	Template:Ill	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		TSRTemplate:Efn	Template:Ill	<ref name="Je vois tout">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		TSI	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TRT	lang}}	Gülgün Baysal	<ref name="Milliyet">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	BBC	BBC1	Terry Wogan	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		BBC Radio 2Template:Efn	Ray Moore	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	JRT	lang}}, Template:Ill, TV Sarajevo 1, TV Titograd 1, TV Zagreb 1	Ksenija Urličić	<ref name="Serbia">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		TV Koper-Capodistria	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		TV Ljubljana 1	Template:N/A
		Val 202	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		Template:Ill	Template:N/A	<ref name="Serbia"/>
		TV Skopje 1	Template:N/A

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Template:Refh
Template:Flagu	SBS	SBS TVTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Canberra">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	ČST	ČST2Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="ČST">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	ETVTemplate:Efn		Template:N/A	<ref name="Eesti">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	KNR	KNRTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Greenland">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	MTV	MTV1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	Template:Ill		Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	JRTV	JTV2	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TP	TP1Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Poland">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	KBS	1TVTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Korea">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	CT USSR	Programme OneTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="USSR">Template:Cite news</ref>

Notes and references

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book
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External links

• Template:Official website