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The Eurovision Song Contest 1996  was the 41st edition held at the Spektrum in Oslo, Norway on 18 May 1996 thanks to Secret Garden's win in Dublin the previous year. It was co-presented by New York-based news correspondent Ingvild Bryn and the frontman of the popular band A-ha, Morten Harket.

A pre-qualifier was held among 29 nations who wished to compete where juries listened to audio recordings of all the songs (Norway, as the host nation, was exempt), and 22 advanced. Germany, who was the last of the founding seven nations with an unbroken streak of participation, was eliminated.

This contest also marked the first and only use of "virtual reality" during the voting sequence. It was also the last contest to make use of 100% jury voting with the introduction of televoting the following year.

Ireland won for a record-breaking seventh time with the song The Voice performed by Eimear Quinn and written by Brendan Graham, who had also written the 1994 winner. Finishing second for Norway was Elisabeth Andreassen, who became the fourth person to finish first one year and second another year (she had won previously in 1985 as part of Bobbysocks).

Gina G's eighth-place finisher for the United Kingdom would go on to become a worldwide hit, earning her a Grammy nomination in the United States.

Participants[]

Norway already qualified to the grand final, being the host. Eliminated entries are displayed in pink.

Pre-Qualifier Round[]

Draw Country Artist Song Language Translation Place[1] Points
01 Flag of Austria Austria George Nussbaumer Weil's dr guat got Vorarlbergish Because you feel good 6 80
02 Flag of Belgium Belgium Lisa Del Bo Liefde is een Kaartspel Dutch Love is a cardgame 12 45
03 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Amila Glamočak Za našu ljubav Bosnian For our love 21 29
04 Flag of Croatia Croatia Maja Blagdan Sveta ljubav Croatian Divine love 19 30
05 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus Constantinos Christoforou Mono Yia Mas Greek Only for us 15 42
06 Flag of Denmark Denmark Dorthe Andersen & Martin Loft Kun med dig Danish Only with you 25 22
07 Flag of Estonia Estonia Maarja-Liis Ilus & Ivo Linna Kaelakee hääl Estonian Sound of necklace 5 106
08 Flag of Finland Finland Jasmine Valentin Niin kaunis on taivas Finnish So beautiful is the sky 22 26
09 Flag of France France Dan Ar Braz & L'Héritage des Celtes Diwanit Bugale Breton May you blossom, children 11 55
10 Flag of Macedonia North Macedonia Kaliopi Samo ti Macedonian Only you 26 14
11 Flag of Germany Germany Leon Planet of Blue German, English -- 24 24
12 Flag of Greece Greece Mariana Efstratiou Emeis Forame to Himona Anixiatika Greek We wear spring clothes in winter time 12 45
13 Flag of Hungary Hungary Gjon Delhusa Fortuna Hungarian Fortune 22 26
14 Flag of Iceland Iceland Anna Mjöll Sjúbídú Icelandic Shooby-doo 10 59
15 Flag of Ireland Ireland Eimear Quinn The Voice English -- 2 198
16 Flag of Israel Israel Galit Bell Shalom Olam Hebrew Hello world 28 12
17 Flag of Malta Malta Miriam Christine In A Woman's Heart English -- 4 138
18 Flag of The Netherlands The Netherlands Maxine & Franklin Brown De eerste keer Dutch The first time 9 63
19 Flag of Poland Poland Kasia Kowalska Chcę znać swój grzech... Polish I want to know my sin 15 42
20 Flag of Portugal Portugal Lúcia Moniz O meu coração não tem cor Portuguese My heart has no color 18 32
21 Flag of Romania Romania Monica Anghel & Sincron Rugă pentru pacea lumii Romanian Prayer for world peace 29 11
22 Flag of Russia Russia Andrey Kosinskiy Ya eto ya Russian I am what I am 26 14
23 IconSlovakia Slovakia Marcel Palonder Kým nás máš Slovak As long as you have us 17 36
24 Flag of Slovenia Slovenia Regina Dan najlepših sanj Slovene The day of the most beautiful dream 19 30
25 Flag of Spain Spain Antonio Carbonell ¡Ay, qué deseo! Spanish Oh, what desire! 14 43
26 Flag of Sweden Sweden One More Time Den vilda Swedish The wild one 1 227
27 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland Kathy Leander Mon cœur l'aime French My heart loves him 8 67
28 Flag of Turkey Türkiye Şebnem Paker Beşinci Mevsim Turkish The fifth season 7 69
29 Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Gina G Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit English -- 3 153

Final[]

Draw Country Artist Song Language Translation Place Points
01 Flag of Turkey Türkiye Şebnem Paker Beşinci Mevsim Turkish The fifth season 12 57
02 Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Gina G Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit English -- 8 77
03 Flag of Spain Spain Antonio Carbonell ¡Ay, qué deseo! Spanish Oh, what desire! 20 17
04 Flag of Portugal Portugal Lúcia Moniz O meu coração não tem cor Portuguese My heart has no color 6 92
05 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus Constantinos Christoforou Mono Yia Mas Greek Only for us 9 72
06 Flag of Malta Malta Miriam Christine In A Woman's Heart English -- 10 68
07 Flag of Croatia Croatia Maja Blagdan Sveta ljubav Croatian Divine love 4 98
08 Flag of Austria Austria George Nussbaumer Weil's dr guat got Vorarlbergish Because you feel good 11 68
09 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland Kathy Leander Mon cœur l'aime French My heart loves him 17 22
10 Flag of Greece Greece Mariana Efstratiou Emeis Forame to Himona Anixiatika Greek We wear spring clothes in winter time 14 36
11 Flag of Estonia Estonia Maarja-Liis Ilus & Ivo Linna Kaelakee hääl Estonian Sound of necklace 5 94
12 Flag of Norway Norway Elisabeth Andreassen I Evighet Norwegian For eternity 2 114
13 Flag of France France Dan Ar Braz & L'Héritage des Celtes Diwanit Bugale Breton May you blossom, children 19 18
14 Flag of Slovenia Slovenia Regina Dan najlepših sanj Slovene The day of the most beautiful dream 21 16
15 Flag of The Netherlands The Netherlands Maxine & Franklin Brown De eerste keer Dutch The first time 7 78
16 Flag of Belgium Belgium Lisa del Bo Liefde is een Kaartspel Love is a cardgame 16 22
17 Flag of Ireland Ireland Eimear Quinn The Voice English -- 1 162
18 Flag of Finland Finland Jasmine Valentin Niin kaunis on taivas Finnish So beautiful is the sky 23 9
19 Flag of Iceland Iceland Anna Mjöll Sjúbídú Icelandic Shooby-doo 13 51
20 Flag of Poland Poland Kasia Kowalska Chcę znać swój grzech... Polish I want to know my sin 15 31
21 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Amila Glamočak Za našu ljubav Bosnian For our love 22 13
22 IconSlovakia Slovakia Marcel Palonder Kým nás máš Slovak As long as you have us 18 19
23 Flag of Sweden Sweden One More Time Den vilda Swedish The wild one 3 100


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

Trivia[]

  • This is the second straight year where Sweden placed third with 100 points.
  • Despite coming three places lower than their best-ever placing, Turkey's Beşinci Mevsim scored the most points for the country before 1997, with 59.
  • This is the last year where all the contestants used the orchestra to some extent: starting in 1997, which made instruments on stage optional, a number of the countries would use playback.
  • With France's song using the Breton language, Switzerland's entry was the only French-language song that year.
  • Anabel Conde, Nucha, Yiannis Dimitras, and Justyna were all jury members for their respective countries.
    • The national juries also featured future representatives Paul Oscar and Pinar.
  • The 1996 contest logo was stylized as "Euro Song '96". It was the name of the fictitious Eurovision-style competition in the classic Father Ted episode "A Song for Europe".
  • Christine Marchal-Ortiz became the first woman to hold the title of Executive Supervisor.
  • Co-presenter Morten Harket participated in the second series of the UK version of The Masked Singer in 2021 and was unmasked as the Viking, finishing in 7th place. He managed to stump the panel despite singing his own song "Take On Me" as one of his performances.
  • Bulgaria was listed amongst the participating countries for the 1996 contest, but they ended up not sending a song to the pre-qualification round.
  • This was the only time Slovakia made it through a qualifying round.

References[]

Videos[]

Eurovision_Song_Contest_1996

Eurovision Song Contest 1996

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