Eurovision Song Contest 1994
Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox song contest
The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was the 39th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland, and presented by Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Gerry Ryan. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Template:Lang (RTÉ), who staged the event after winning the Template:Escyr for Template:Esccnty with the song "In Your Eyes" by Niamh Kavanagh. It was the first time that any country had hosted two successive editions of the contest, following the previous year's contest held in Millstreet.
Broadcasters from twenty-five countries participated in the contest, which for the first time featured a relegation system to reduce the number of interested participants. Seven new countries participated in the event, with entries from Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty featuring for the first time. However, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty were unable to compete due to the new relegation rules as the lowest-scoring countries at the previous event, whereas Template:Esccnty decided against participating by choice.
For the third time in a row, Template:Esccnty won the contest with the song "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", written by Brendan Graham and performed by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan. Never before had a country won three times in a row in the history of the contest; at the same time, it was also a record sixth win, cementing Ireland as the country with the most wins in Eurovision history up till that point. Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, and Template:Esccnty rounded out the top five positions, with Poland achieving the most successful result for a début entry in the contest's history.
The 1994 contest also featured the first appearance of Riverdance. Originally a seven-minute performance of traditional Irish and modern music, choral singing and Irish dancing featured as part of the contest's interval act, it was subsequently developed into a full stage show which has since become a worldwide phenomenon and catapulted the careers of its lead dancers Jean Butler and Michael Flatley.
Location
The 1994 contest took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the Template:Escyr with the song "In Your Eyes", performed by Niamh Kavanagh. It was the fifth time that Ireland had hosted the contest, following the Template:Escyr, Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr events also held in Dublin, and the previous year's event held in Millstreet.<ref name="Ireland">Template:Cite web</ref> Ireland thus became the first country to host two successive contests.<ref name="18 years">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Sfn
The selected venue was the Point Theatre, a concert and events venue located among the Dublin Docklands and originally built as a train depot and warehouse to serve the nearby port. Opened as a music venue in 1988, it was closed for redevelopment and expansion in 2008 and is now known as the 3Arena.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the time of the contest, the arena could seat around 3,200 audience members.Template:Sfn
Participants
Template:Further Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1994 participants Twenty-five countries were permitted to participate in the contest. As the number of countries interested in participating in the contest grew, and following the use of a qualifying round in the previous year's event, a relegation system was introduced to the contest for the first time, which would prevent the lowest-scoring countries from the previous year's event from participating in the subsequent contest.Template:Sfn<ref name="Milestone">Template:Cite web</ref> In the summer of 1993 the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that the seven lowest-scoring countries in the 1993 event would be barred from entering the 1994 contest, to make way for seven countries which would participate for the first time.Template:Sfn As a result, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, and Template:Esccnty were unable to enter the contest, and in the contest's largest single expansion of new participating countries since the first edition in Template:Escyr, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, and Template:Esccnty made their début appearances.Template:Sfn<ref name="Milestone" /><ref name="ESC1994">Template:Cite web</ref> Estonia, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia had all previously participated in the 1993 qualifying round Template:Lang.Template:Sfn Belgium thus failed to participate in the contest for the first time, leaving Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty as the only countries to have competed in every edition of the contest so far.Template:Sfn Later in 1993 Template:Esccnty's broadcaster RAI subsequently announced that it would not participate in the event, likely due to a lack of interest in the event among the Italian public and concerns within the broadcaster at the costs of staging the contest in the event that Italy won;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> this led to Cyprus being readmitted as the relegated country with the best result at the 1993 contest.Template:Sfn
Four performers who had competed in previous editions of contests featured among the participating artists at this year's event: Marie Bergman, representing Template:Esccnty with Roger Pontare, had been a member of the group Family Four that had represented the country in the Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr; Cyprus's Evridiki made a second appearance in the contest, following her entry at the Template:Escyr; Sigga returned to the contest for Template:Esccnty for a third time, having previously competed as part of Stjórnin in Template:Escyr and Heart 2 Heart in 1992; and Elisabeth Andreasson, competing in this event with Jan Werner Danielsen for Template:Esccnty, also participated for the third time, having been a member of the group Chips, which represented Sweden in Template:Escyr, and Bobbysocks!, which had represented Norway and were the winners of the Template:Escyr.Template:Sfn A number of artists which had previously competed in the contest also returned as backing performers: Rhonda Heath, who was a member of the group Silver Convention that had represented Germany in the Template:Escyr, performed as a backing singer for the German entry Mekado;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Template:Ill, who represented Iceland at the Template:Escyr alongside Template:Ill, returned as a backing singer for Sigga.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, having supported Template:Esccnty's William Mangion as backing performers in the previous year's event, Moira Stafrace and Christopher Scicluna returned to the Eurovision stage as the country's entrants at this year's contest.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Production and format
The Eurovision Song Contest 1994 was produced by the Irish public broadcaster Template:Lang (RTÉ). Moya Doherty served as executive producer, Patrick Cowap served as director, Paula Farrell served as designer, and Noel Kelehan served as musical director, leading the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.<ref name="ESC1994" />Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn A separate musical director could be nominated by each participating delegation to lead the orchestra during its country's performance, with the host musical director also available to conduct for those countries which did not nominate their own conductor.Template:Sfn On behalf of the contest organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the event was overseen by Christian Clausen as scrutineer.<ref name="ESC1994" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Sfn
Each participating broadcaster submitted one song, which was required to be no longer than three minutes in duration and performed in the language, or one of the languages, of the country which it represented.<ref name="HowItWorks">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A maximum of six performers were allowed on stage during each country's performance, and all participants were required to have reached the age of 16 in the year of the contest.<ref name="HowItWorks" /><ref name="Rules">Template:Cite web</ref> Each entry could utilise all or part of the live orchestra and could use instrumental-only backing tracks; however, any backing tracks used could only include the sound of instruments featured on stage being mimed by the performers.<ref name="Rules" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Following the confirmation of the twenty-five competing countries, the draw to determine the running order was held on 16 November 1993 at the Point Theatre and was conducted by Niamh Kavanagh and Fionnuala Sweeney.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
The results of the 1994 contest were determined through the same scoring system as had first been introduced in Template:Escyr: each country awarded twelve points to its favourite entry, followed by ten points to its second favourite, and then awarded points in decreasing value from eight to one for the remaining songs which featured in the country's top ten, with countries unable to vote for their own entry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The points awarded by each country were determined by an assembled jury of sixteen individuals, which was required to be split evenly between members of the public and music professionals, between men and women, and by age. Each jury member voted in secret and awarded between one and ten votes to each participating song, excluding that from their own country and with no abstentions permitted. The votes of each member were collected following the country's performance and then tallied by the non-voting jury chairperson to determine the points to be awarded. In any cases where two or more songs in the top ten received the same number of votes, a show of hands by all jury members was used to determine the final placing.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
With the Point Theatre situated on the banks of the River Liffey, rivers were an integral part of the overall creative vision for the show and were a key theme of the opening and interval acts as well as the stage design.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Paula Farrell's design, which was four times the size of the stage constructed for the Millstreet contest, provided a scene of a futuristic Dublin at night, featuring representations of skyscrapers which incorporated video screens and lighting effects and underfloor lighting representing the Liffey and Dublin Bay. On either side of the stage podium-lined platforms were used by the presenters in-between songs and during the voting segment.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
Rehearsals at the contest venue began on 25 April 1994. Each participating delegation took part in two technical rehearsals in the week approaching the contest, with countries rehearsing in the order in which they would perform. In each country's first rehearsal, held on 25 and 26 April, the delegations were provided with a 15-minute stage-call to prepare the stage and to brief the orchestra, followed by a 25-minute rehearsal. This was then followed by an opportunity to review footage of the rehearsal on video screens and to conduct a 20-minute press conference. The second rehearsals on 27 and 28 April consisted of a 10-minute stage-call and a 20-minute rehearsal. Three dress rehearsals were held with all artists, two in the afternoon and evening of 29 April and one final rehearsal in the afternoon of 30 April, with an audience present at the evening rehearsal on 29 April. The competing delegations were additionally invited to a welcome reception during the week of the event, held on the evening of 25 April in the Dining Hall of Trinity College Dublin.Template:Sfn
During the final dress rehearsal on 30 April, the Polish entrant Edyta Górniak performed the second half of her song "To nie ja!" in English. As this rehearsal was also heard by the juries this constituted a break of the contest rules. Although discussions were held on whether to sanction or disqualify the country, Poland was ultimately allowed to compete.<ref name="ESC1994" />Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Contest overview
The contest took place on 30 April 1994 at 20:00 (IST) and lasted 3 hours and 3 minutes. The show was presented by the Irish journalist and television presenter Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and the Irish radio and television presenter Gerry Ryan.<ref name="ESC1994" />Template:Sfn Ní Mhurchú and Ryan had been considered as hosts for the 1993 event before the eventual choice of Fionnuala Sweeney.Template:Sfn
The contest was opened with a segment by the Galway-based arts and theatre company Macnas, featuring a mixture of pre-recorded and live footage of a replica Viking longship on the river Liffey, and dancers, flag-bearers and performers in caricature masks of notable Irish personalities in various locations in central Dublin and in the Point Theatre.Template:Sfn<ref name="contestAV">Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> The interval act, "Riverdance", was a seven-minute composition by the Irish composer Bill Whelan, and took inspiration from "Timedance", the interval act from the Template:Escyr also held in Dublin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "Riverdance" featured a mix of traditional Irish and modern music by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, choral singing from the Celtic ensemble Anúna, and Irish dancing led by the Irish-American dancers Jean Butler and Michael Flatley.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The trophy awarded to the winners, entitled "Wavelength", was designed by the Irish sculptor Grace Weir of the Temple Bar Gallery, and was presented by the previous year's winning artist Niamh Kavanagh.<ref name="contestAV" /><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>Template:Sfn
The winner was Template:Esccnty represented by the song "Rock 'n' Roll Kids", written by Brendan Graham and performed by Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This marked Ireland's sixth contest winTemplate:Snda new contest recordTemplate:Sndand also gave the country its third win in a rowTemplate:Sndthe first time a country had won three successive contests.<ref name="Ireland" /><ref name="Milestone" />Template:Sfn "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" became the highest scoring winner in Eurovision history to date with 226 points, and was the first song to receive over 200 points. It was also the first time that a song had won without using the orchestra. Harrington and McGettigan additionally became the oldest winning performers and the first winning male duo.<ref name="Milestone" />Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn First-time participating countries Poland, Hungary and Russia all finished in the top ten, placing second, fourth and ninth respectively, while conversely the four other débuting countries all placed within the bottom seven entries, with Lithuania scoring nul points with its first ever entry.<ref name="1994 results" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Poland achieved the most successful début performance of any country in the contest's history at the time, and its second-place finish in this event remains Template:As of the country's best ever Eurovision placing.<ref name="18 years" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spokespersons
Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing, in English or French, the votes for its respective country.<ref name="HowItWorks" /> For the first time, the spokespersons were connected to the venue via satellite rather than through telephone lines, allowing them to appear in vision during the broadcast.<ref name="18 years" /><ref name="ESC1994" />Template:Sfn Spokespersons at the 1994 contest are listed below.<ref name="contestAV" />
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:IllTemplate:Sfn
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndSolveig HerlinTemplate:Sfn
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndEileen Dunne<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndAnna Partelidou<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndSigríður Arnardóttir
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndColin BerryTemplate:Sfn
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndHelga Vlahović<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndIsabel Bahia
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndSandra Studer
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndUrve Tiidus<ref name="Sõnumid">Template:Cite news</ref>
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndJohn Demanuele<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndCarmen Nebel
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndJuraj Čurný
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndGitana Lapinskaitė<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndDiana Grković-Foretić
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndFotini Giannoulatou
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndMaría Ángeles Balañac
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndIrina Klenskaya
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndJan Chojnacki
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndLaurent Romejko<ref name="Est" />
Detailed voting results
Jury voting was used to determine the points awarded by all countries.Template:Sfn The announcement of the results from each country was conducted in the order in which they performed, with the spokespersons announcing their country's points in English or French in ascending order.Template:Sfn<ref name="contestAV" /> The detailed breakdown of the points awarded by each country is listed in the tables below.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan="25" Template:Vert header | Sweden | 48 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| Finland | 11 | 1 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ireland | 226 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 8 | |||
| Cyprus | 51 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Iceland | 49 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 63 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Croatia | 27 | 10 | 12 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Portugal | 73 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Switzerland | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estonia | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Romania | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Malta | 97 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Netherlands | 4 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Germany | 128 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 7 | ||||||
| Slovakia | 15 | 12 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lithuania | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 76 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 8 | |||||||||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 39 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Greece | 44 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Austria | 19 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spain | 17 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hungary | 122 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 7 | ||||||||
| Russia | 70 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 1 | |||||||||
| Poland | 166 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 12 | |||||
| France | 74 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 6 | |||||||||||||
12 points
The below table summarises how the maximum 12 points were awarded from one country to another. The winning country is shown in bold. Ireland received the maximum score of 12 points from eight of the voting countries, with Poland receiving five sets of 12 points, Hungary receiving four sets, Germany two sets, and Croatia, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia each receiving one maximum score.<ref name="results" /><ref name="scoreboard" />
| N. | Contestant | Nation(s) giving 12 points |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Template:Esc | Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc |
| 5 | Template:Esc | Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc |
| 4 | Template:Esc | Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc |
| 2 | Template:Esc | Template:Esc, Template:Esc |
| 1 | Template:Esc | Template:Esc |
| Template:Esc | Template:Esc | |
| Template:Esc | Template:Esc | |
| Template:Esc | Template:Esc | |
| Template:Esc | Template:Esc | |
| Template:Esc | Template:Esc |
Broadcasts
Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants".<ref name="Rules" /> Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers. These commentators were typically sent to the venue to report on the event, and were able to provide commentary from small booths constructed at the back of the venue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
Legacy
Although the winning song had modest success, peaking in the Irish Singles Chart at number two and also entering the Dutch and Flemish charts following the contest,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it was largely overshadowed by the contest's interval act. The music to "Riverdance" was subsequently released as a single shortly after the contest and shot straight to number 1 on the Irish charts where it remained for 18 weeks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="RDFacts">Template:Cite news</ref> Template:As of "Riverdance" remains the second best selling single in Ireland ever, behind Elton John's "Something About the Way You Look Tonight"/"Candle in the Wind 1997".<ref name="RDFacts" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> An invite was subsequently given to feature the original seven-minute performance at the Royal Variety Performance in November 1994 at the Dominion Theatre in London, in the presence of then-Prince Charles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the same time, preparations were underway to develop the seven-minute performance into a stage show, led by Moya Doherty, who had been the executive producer of Eurovision 1994, and her husband John McColgan.<ref name="Belfast">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Opening in February 1995 at the Point Theatre and featuring original lead dancers Michael Flatley and Jean Butler, the full-length show ran for an initial run of five weeks, with tickets selling out within three days of going on sale, followed by another sold-out run at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, and in March 1996 came its first performance in the United States, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.<ref name="RDFacts" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is estimated that Riverdance has been seen live by over 27.5 million people at performances worldwide, and that over ten million home video copies of Riverdance have been sold.<ref name="Belfast" />
The relegation system introduced to the contest in this edition continued to be used in various forms for the next ten years and allowed even more new countries to join the event, with Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty competing for the first time in Template:Escyr, Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, as the contest continued to develop, and as even more countries began to express an interest in competing, the relegation system proved unable to meet the needs required to allow for an equitable solution for all countries. Ultimately this led to the introduction of a semi-final to the contest format in Template:Escyr, allowing all interested countries to participate once again, which was eventually expanded to two semi-finals from Template:Escyr.<ref name="Milestone" /><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links
Template:Eurovision Song Contest 1994 Template:Eurovision Song Contest