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The Eurovision Song Contest 1987 was the 32nd edition of the event and held at the Palais de Centenaire in Brussels, Belgium following Sandra Kim's victory in Bergen the following year.

It was held on 9 May 1987, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the formation of the European Economic Community. Brussels is the seat of the European government. French-born Belgian singer Viktor Lazlo was the presenter.

The event was also aired in Australia, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and the Soviet Union.

22 countries participated in the contest. No countries withdrew, while Greece and Italy returned after 1-edition breaks.

Ireland got its third victory and second of the 1980s with the song Hold Me Now by Johnny Logan. Having won in 1980 with What's Another Year, Logan wrote himself into the history books as the first artist to win the contest twice.

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 those countries going on to win the contest.

Postcards[]

The pre-song postcards presented short films of Belgian life, culture and society. Each ended with the artist superimposed into a cartoon drawn by a well-known Belgian cartoonist sending greetings back to their home countries in their native languages.

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 Flag of Norway Norway Kate Gulbrandsen Mitt liv Norwegian My life 9 65
02 Flag of Israel Israel Datner and Kushnir Shir Habatlanim Hebrew The lazy bums' song 8 73
03 Flag of Austria Austria Gary Lux Nur noch Gefühl German Only feelings 20 8
04 Flag of Iceland Iceland Halla Margrét Hægt og hljótt Icelandic Slowly and quietly 16 28
05 Flag of Belgium Belgium Liliane Saint-Pierre Soldiers of Love Dutch -- 11 56
06 Flag of Sweden Sweden Lotta Engberg Boogaloo Swedish 12 50
07 Flag of Italy Italy Umberto Tozzi & Raf Gente di Mare Italian People of the sea 3 103
08 Flag of Portugal Portugal Nevada Neste barco à vela Portuguese In this sailing boat 18 15
09 Flag of Spain Spain Patricia Kraus No estás solo Spanish You're not alone 19 10
10 Flag of Turkey Türkiye Seyyal Taner & Locomotif Şarkım Sevgi Üstüne Turkish My song is about love 22 0
11 Flag of Greece Greece Bang Stop Greek -- 10 64
12 Flag of The Netherlands The Netherlands Marcha Rechtop in de wind Dutch Upright in the wind 5 83
13 Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg Plastic Bertrand Amour, Amour French Love, Love 21 4
14 Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Rikki Only the Light English -- 13 47
15 Flag of France 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 Flag of Germany Germany Wind Laß die Sonne in dein Herz German Let the sun into your heart 2 141
17 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus Alexia Aspro Mavro Greek White black 7 80
18 Flag of Finland Finland Vicky Rosti & Boulevard Sata salamaa Finnish A hundred lightnings 15 32
19 Flag of Denmark Denmark Anne-Cathrine Herdorf & Bandjo En lille melodi Danish A little melody 5 83
20 Flag of Ireland Ireland Johnny Logan Hold Me Now English -- 1 172
21 Flag of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia Novi Fosili Ja sam za ples Croatian I wanna dance 4 92
22 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland Carol Rich Moitié-Moitié French Half and half 17 26

Trivia[]

  • 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.
  • Some of the cartoonists providing images for the artist postcards included Hergé (Tintin) and Peyo (The Smurfs).
  • Young ballet students from the Brussels Dance Conservatory presented the flowers to Johnny Logan and his three backing singers during the victory ceremony.
  • 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).
  • Hooverphonic filmed their backup tape for the 2021 contest at the Palais du Centenaire.
Eurovision Song Contest
Editions
195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Countries
AlbaniaAndorraArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandIsraelItalyLatviaLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaMoldovaMonacoMontenegroMoroccoThe NetherlandsNorth MacedoniaNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSerbiaSerbia and MontenegroSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUnited KingdomUkraineYugoslavia
Winning Songs
RefrainNet Als ToenDors, mon amourEen beetjeTom PillibiNous les amoureuxUn premier amourDanseviseNon ho l'etàPoupée de Cire, Poupée de SonMerci, ChériePuppet on a StringLa, La, LaBoom Bang-a-BangVivo CantandoUn jour, un enfantDe TroubadourAll Kinds of EverythingUn banc, un arbre, une rueAprès ToiTu Te ReconnaîtrasWaterlooDing-a-DongSave Your Kisses For MeL'Oiseau et l'enfantA-Ba-Ni-BiHallelujahWhat's Another YearMaking Your Mind UpEin bißchen FriedenSi la vie est cadeauDiggiloo DiggileyLa Det SwingeJ'aime La VieHold Me NowNe Partez Pas Sans MoiRock MeInsieme: 1992Fångad av en stormvindWhy Me?In Your EyesRock 'n' Roll KidsNocturneThe VoiceLove Shine a LightDivaTake Me To Your HeavenFly on the Wings of LoveEverybodyI WannaEveryway That I CanWild DancesMy Number OneHard Rock HallelujahMolitvaBelieveFairytaleSatelliteRunning ScaredEuphoriaOnly TeardropsRise Like a PhoenixHeroes1944Amar pelos doisToyArcadeZitti e buoniStefaniaTattoo
Specials
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision's Greatest HitsEurope Shine a Light
Aspects of Eurovision
CommentatorEuroClubEurovision VillageExecutive SupervisorFlag ParadeGrand PrixGreen RoomHead of DelegationInterval ActNational FinalNational JuryOfficial RulesOpening CeremonyPre-PartiesPre-Song PostcardsReference GroupRest of the World VoteRunning Order DrawSemi-FinalsScoreboardSpokespersonTelevotingVoting Systems
Miscellaneous
Big FiveCurse of 43Curse of Number TwoCurse of GreenDouze Points!ESCRadio AwardsESC Top 250Eurovision AgainEurovision National BroadcastersEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire SagaFounding SevenLGBT visibilityLynda WoodruffMarcel Bezençon AwardsNul PointsOGAERecordsStand-insThe Reorder BoardTie SituationTop Scoring SongsVoting DiasporaWinner's CurseWithdrawn SongsYou're a Vision Award

Video[]

-ThrowbackThursday_to_30_years_ago-_The_1987_Eurovision_Song_Contest_in_Brussels

-ThrowbackThursday to 30 years ago- The 1987 Eurovision Song Contest in Brussels

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