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 with J'aime La Vie. The presenter was Viktor Lazlo, who is most notable for her massive earrings. 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 with What's Another Year.
It was the largest 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 participating countries to 22. This became a great problem over the next few years as new and returning nations had an interest in participating, but could not enter.
Each country that year had a conductor, as was usual at the time, except for Switzerland. The host conductor was Jo Carlier, but conducted for Cyprus as the host entry was selected by Belgium's Flemish broadcaster, BRT.
Turkey had a nul point entry again, with Seyyal Taner & Locomotif, singing Şarkım Sevgi Üstüne. It was the second time in 4 years that a Turkish entry had failed to score.
Format
Soviet Union
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.
Returning Artists
| Artist(s) | Previous Year(s) |
|---|---|
| Gary Lux | 1983 (with Westend), 1985 |
| Wind | 1985 |
| Alexia | 1981 (with Island) |
| Johnny Logan | 1980 (winner) |
Participants
| Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Language | Translation | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Norway
| Kate Gulbrandsen | Mitt liv | Norwegian | My life | 9 | 65 |
| 02 |  Israel
| Datner and Kushnir | Shir Habatlanim | Hebrew | The lazy bums' song | 8 | 73 |
| 03 |  Austria
| Gary Lux | Nur noch Gefühl | German | Only feelings | 20 | 8 |
| 04 |  Iceland
| Halla Margrét | Hægt og hljótt | Icelandic | Slowly and quietly | 16 | 28 |
| 05 |  Belgium
| Liliane Saint-Pierre | Soldiers of Love | Dutch | -- | 11 | 56 |
| 06 |  Sweden
| Lotta Engberg | Boogaloo | Swedish | -- | 12 | 50 |
| 07 |  Italy
| Umberto Tozzi & Raf | Gente di Mare | Italian | People of the sea | 3 | 103 |
| 08 |  Portugal
| Nevada | Neste barco à vela | Portuguese | In this sailing boat | 18 | 15 |
| 09 |  Spain
| Patricia Kraus | No estás solo | Spanish | You're not alone | 19 | 10 |
| 10 |  Turkey
| Seyyal Taner & Locomotif | Şarkım Sevgi Üstüne | Turkish | My song is about love | 22 | 0 |
| 11 |  Greece
| Bang | Stop | Greek | -- | 10 | 64 |
| 12 |  The Netherlands
| Marcha | Rechtop in de wind | Dutch | Upright in the wind | 5 | 83 |
| 13 |  Luxembourg
| Plastic Bertrand | Amour, Amour | French | Love, Love | 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 | The words of love don't have a Sunday | 14 | 44 |
| 16 |  Germany
| Wind | Laß die Sonne in dein Herz | German | Let the sun into your heart | 2 | 141 |
| 17 |  Cyprus
| Alexia | Aspro Mavro | Greek | White black | 7 | 80 |
| 18 |  Finland
| Vicky Rosti & Boulevard | Sata salamaa | Finnish | A hundred lightnings | 15 | 32 |
| 19 |  Denmark
| Anne-Cathrine Herdorf & Bandjo | En lille melodi | Danish | A little melody | 5 | 83 |
| 20 |  Ireland
| Johnny Logan | Hold Me Now | English | -- | 1 | 172 |
| 21 |  Yugoslavia
| Novi Fosili | Ja sam za ples | Croatian | I wanna dance | 4 | 92 |
| 22 |  Switzerland
| Carol Rich | Moitié-Moitié | French | Half and half | 17 | 26 |
.png "01 Norway - Kate Gulbrandsen - Mitt liv (2).png (531 KB)")
Add a photo to this galleryTrivia
- The Israeli culture minister threatened to resign if "Shir Habatlanim" went to Eurovision. His promise was left unfulfilled.
- 1986 winner Sandra Kim was featured in many of the postcard videos.
- The postcard images featured art from many well-known Belgian cartoonists including Hergé (Tintin) and Peyo (The Smurfs).
- The 1987 contest was held on the day of the 30th anniversary of the formation of the European Community. The interval act reflected the importance of the occasion.
- Flemish broadcaster BRT (now VRT) offered to co-produce the event, but the Wallonian broadcaster RTBF decided to go it alone. BRT supplied the entry for the host nation.
- This contest was the last to use a manually-operated scoreboard.
- Wind became the first act to place second on two different occasions without winning.
- Both of Johnny Logan's wins had a German entry finish second behind him (Katja Ebstein in 1980, and Wind in 1987).
