The Eurovision Song Contest 1984, the 29th event of its kind, was held on 5 May 1984 in Luxembourg. The presenter, Désirée Nosbusch, only 19 years old at the time, which was quite unusual for the show at the time, hosting in a lax manner also. She switched between a strong transatlantic English, French, German and Luxembourgish in the course of talking, often in the same sentence, being fluent in all four.
Ireland returned after a year's absence, while Greece and Israel withdrew.
At the close of the penultimate jury's votes, there was only a difference of six points between Sweden and Ireland, at 141 and 135 respectively. However, Yugoslavia was the only country who had not given any points to Ireland, and Portugal, the last jury, gave that western country only two points, crushing their chances.
Portugal's voting also cost Denmark, who had been holding at a strong third position, even leading the scoreboard for a short time, in that place, when Portugal's 12 lifted Spain from 94 to 106 points. Portugal at the same time had only given Denmark one point making Denmark's total 101 points. Despite this, this was latter country's best position in over 20 years.
Halfway through the voting, the scoreboard turned blue and remained so until the end of the voting. This was visible only to television viewers.
The United Kingdom's entry was the first ever to be booed off the stage at Eurovision, stories say that this was in retaliation to English football fans rioting in Luxembourg the previous autumn.
Results[]
Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Language | Translation | Place | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Sweden | Herreys | Diggiloo Diggiley | Swedish | -- | 1 | 145 |
02 | Luxembourg | Sophie Carle | 100% d'amour | French | 100% of love | 10 | 39 |
03 | France | Annick Thoumazeau | Autant d'amoureux que d'étoiles | As many lovers as stars | 8 | 61 | |
04 | Spain | Bravo | Lady, Lady | Spanish | -- | 3 | 106 |
05 | Norway | Dollie de Luxe | Lenge Leve Livet | Norwegian | Long Live Life | 17 | 29 |
06 | United Kingdom | Belle & The Devotions | Love Games | English | -- | 7 | 63 |
07 | Cyprus | Andy Paul | Anna Maria Lena | Greek | 15 | 31 | |
08 | Belgium | Jacques Zegers | Avanti La Vie | French | Go forward in life | 5 | 70 |
09 | Ireland | Linda Martin | Terminal 3 | English | -- | 2 | 137 |
10 | Denmark | Hot Eyes | Det' Lige Det | Danish | That's just it | 4 | 101 |
11 | The Netherlands | Maribelle | Ik hou van jou | Dutch | I love you | 13 | 34 |
12 | Yugoslavia | Vlado & Isolda | Ciao, Amore | Croatian | Goodbye, love | 18 | 26 |
13 | Austria | Anita | Einfach Weg | German | Just get away | 19 | 5 |
14 | Germany | Mary Roos | Aufrecht geh'n | Stand tall | 13 | 34 | |
15 | Türkiye | Beş Yıl Önce, On Yıl Sonra | Halay | Turkish | -- | 12 | 37 |
16 | Finland | Kirka | Hengaillaan | Finnish | Let's hang around | 9 | 46 |
17 | Switzerland | Rainy Day | Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein | German | What color is the sunshine? | 16 | 30 |
18 | Italy | Alice & Battiato | I treni di Tozeur | Italian | The trains of Tozeur | 5 | 70 |
19 | Portugal | Maria Guinot | Silêncio e tanta gente | Portuguese | Silence and so many people | 11 | 38 |
Trivia[]
- Désirée Nosbusch would become the Luxembourg spokesperson for the 2024 contest in Malmo, making her the first person from her country to appear on screen to deliver voting results (Luxembourg withdrew prior to the 1994 changeover from phone lines to satellite). Her selection coincided with the 40th anniversary of her hosting the 1984 edition.
- Roland de Groot, who designed the stage for this edition, also designed the stages for the 1970, 1976 and 1980 contests. In all cases, it involved set pieces that changed shape or pattern for every performance.