Eurovision Song Contest 1987



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. Johnny Logan was the winner for Ireland with the song "Hold Me Now". That made him the first performer to win the contest twice, as he had won also in 1980.

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.

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.

Conductors
Host conductor in bold


 * 🇳🇴 Norway - Terje Fjærn
 * 🇮🇱 Israel - Kobi Oshrat
 * 🇦🇹 Austria - Richard Österreicher
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland - Hjálmar H. Ragnarsson
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium - Freddy Sunder
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden - Curt-Eric Holmquist
 * 🇮🇹 Italy - Gianfranco Lombardi
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal - Jaime Oliveira
 * 🇪🇸 Spain - Eduardo Leyva
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey - Garo Mafyan
 * 🇬🇷 Greece - Yiorgos Niarchos


 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands - Rogier van Otterloo
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg - Alec Mansion
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom - Ronnie Hazlehurst
 * 🇫🇷 France - Jean-Claude Petit
 * 🇩🇪 Germany - Laszlo Bencker
 * 🇨🇾 Cyprus - Jo Carlier
 * 🇫🇮 Finland - Ossi Runne
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark - Henrik Krogsgaard
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland - Noel Kelehan
 * Yugoslavia - Nikica Kalogjera
 * 🇨🇭 Switzerland - no conductor

Results
Notes
 * 1.Contains some phrases in English.

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

Television

 * 🇳🇴 Norway - John Andreassen and Tor Paulsen (NRK)
 * 🇮🇱 Israel - No commentator
 * 🇦🇹 Austria - Ernst Grissemann (FS1)
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland - Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir (Sjónvarpið)
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium - Luc Appermont (BRT TV1), Claude Delacroix (RTBF La Une)
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden - Fredrik Belfrage (SVT, TV1)
 * 🇮🇹 Italy – Rosanna Vaudetti (Raidue)
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal - Maria Margarida Gaspar (RTP1)
 * 🇪🇸 Spain - Beatriz Pécker (TVE2)
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey - Gülgün Baysal (TV1)
 * 🇬🇷 Greece - Dafni Bokota (ERT)
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands - Willem van Beusekom (Nederland 1)
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg - Valérie Sarn (RTL Télévision), TBC (RTL plus)
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom - Terry Wogan (BBC 1)
 * 🇫🇷 France - Patrick Simpson-Jones (Antenne 2)
 * 🇩🇪 Germany - Lotti Ohnesorge and Christoph Deumling (Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen)
 * 🇨🇾 Cyprus - Fryni Papadopoulou (RIK)
 * 🇫🇮 Finland - Erkki Toivanen (YLE TV1)
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark - Jørgen de Mylius (DR TV)
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland - Marty Whelan (RTÉ 1)
 * Yugoslavia - Ksenija Urličić (TVZ 1 and TVB1), Miša Molk (TVL1)
 * 🇨🇭 Switzerland - Bernard Thurnheer (DRS), Serge Moisson (SSR), Ezio Guidi (TSI)
 * 🇵🇱 Poland (non-participating country)- Bogusław Brelik (TP1)

Radio

 * 🇳🇴 Norway - Roald Øyen (NRK P2)
 * 🇮🇱 Israel - Yigal Ravid (Reshet Gimel)
 * 🇦🇹 Austria - Hans Leitinger (Hitradio Ö3)
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland - N/A
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium - Rita Jaenen (BRT Radio 2), Patrick Duhamel and Stéphane Dupont (RTBF La Première)
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden - Jacob Dahlin (SR P3)
 * 🇮🇹 Italy - Antonio De Robertis (Rai Radio 2)
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal - N/A
 * 🇪🇸 Spain - N/A
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey - N/A
 * 🇬🇷 Greece - N/A
 * 🇳🇱 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 Radio Suomi)
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark - Poul Birch Eriksen (DR P3)
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland - Larry Gogan (RTÉ Radio 1)
 * Yugoslavia - Marjeta Keršič Svetel (Val 202 Radio-Televizija Ljubljana)
 * 🇨🇭 Switzerland - TBC

Spokespersons

 * 🇳🇴 Norway - Sverre Christophersen
 * 🇮🇱 Israel - Yitzhak Shim'oni
 * 🇦🇹 Austria - Tilia Herold
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland - Guðrún Skúladóttir
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium - Anne Ploegaerts
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden - Jan Ellerås
 * 🇮🇹 Italy – Mariolina Cannuli
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal - Ana Zanatti
 * 🇪🇸 Spain - TBD
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey - Canan Kumbasar
 * 🇬🇷 Greece - Kelly Sakakou
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands - Ralph Inbar
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg - Frédérique Ries
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom - Colin Berry
 * 🇫🇷 France - Lionel Cassan
 * 🇩🇪 Germany - Kerstin Schweighöfer
 * 🇨🇾 Cyprus - Anna Partelidou
 * 🇫🇮 Finland - Solveig Herlin
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark - Bent Henius
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland - Brendan Balfe
 * Yugoslavia - Miloje Orlović
 * 🇨🇭 Switzerland - Michel Stocker

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
 * 🇪🇸 Spain – José Fernández (waiter), María Rosa Sánchez (telephone operator), José Miguel García (underground driver), Francisco Ortega "Ayo" (businessman), María Laínz (yachtswoman), Feliciano Castañares (taxi driver and poet), Pilar Zanca (businesswoman), Raúl Díaz (student), Concepción Meller (housewife), Fran de Gonari (fashion designer), Miguel Durán (president of ONCE)

Possible Soviet Union participation
In 2009 Eduard Fomin, a former employee of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, revealed that in 1987 George 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 President of the Soviet Union 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 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. 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.