Eurovision Song Contest 1988
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The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was the 33rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 30 April 1988 at the RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion in Dublin, Ireland, and presented by Pat Kenny and Michelle Rocca. 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 "Hold Me Now" by Johnny Logan.
Broadcasters from twenty-two countries submitted entries, however, Template:Esccnty ultimately rescinded its entry after its selected song was determined to have been performed several years prior to the contest, breaking the contest rules. The winner was Template:Esccnty with the song "Template:Lang", composed by Atilla Şereftuğ, with lyrics by Nella Martinetti, and performed by Céline Dion. It was Switzerland's second contest win, and remains Template:As of the last winning song to be performed in French. The Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, and Template:Esccnty rounded out the top five positions, with the UK achieving its eleventh runner-up placing, while Template:Esccnty placed last for the sixth time, receiving nul points for the second time.
Location
The 1988 contest took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the Template:Escyr with the song "Hold Me Now", performed by Johnny Logan. It was the third time that Ireland had hosted the contest, following the Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr events also held in Dublin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The selected venue was the Simmonscourt Pavilion of the Royal Dublin Society, a multi-purpose venue situated in the Ballsbridge area of the city, which had previously hosted the 1981 contest.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> RDS Simmonscourt, following construction of the stage and other technical elements, was expected to accommodate approximately 1,500 audience members.Template:Sfn
Participants
Template:Further Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1988 participants Broadcasters from the same twenty-two countries that had participated the Template:Escyr submitted entries for the 1988 contest, with the draw to determine the running order of the entries held on 11 December 1987.Template:Sfn However, a number of weeks before the event, it was discovered that the song selected to represent Template:Esccnty, "Template:Lang", written by John Vickers and Aristos Moschovakis, and sung by Yiannis Dimitrou, had previously competed in the Template:Esccnty under the title "Template:Lang", and was therefore ineligible to compete at the contest.Template:Sfn<ref name="Cyprus1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC) subsequently announced on 12 March 1988 that it had nullified the selection of "Template:Lang" as its entry; as the rules of the national selection did not provide for a second-placed song to be declared, and as there was not enough time to stage a second selection process to determine a replacement entry, CyBC was ultimately unable to participate in the contest.Template:Sfn<ref name="Cyprus1" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Several artists who competed in the 1988 edition of the contest had participated in the previous editions for the same country. Tommy Körberg had represented Template:Esccnty;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the duo Hot Eyes, also known as Kirsten and Søren, had represented Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the group MFÖ had represented Template:Esccnty;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Dora had represented Template:Esccnty;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Yardena Arazi returned to compete as a solo artist, after representing Template:Esccnty as part of the group Chocolate Menta Mastik, and co-hosting the Template:Escyr.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Additionally, Template:Ill had previously performed as the backing group for Template:Esccnty, and among Yardena Arazi's backing vocalists were Yehuda Tamir and Template:Ill, members of the Israeli group Milk and Honey that had won the contest for Template:Esccnty.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Each participating delegation could nominate a separate musical director to lead the orchestra during its country's performance, with the host musical director also available to conduct for those countries that did not nominate their own conductor. All entries were accompanied by the orchestra, except for Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty, who were accompanied solely by backing track. In the case of the Italian entry, the backing track used featured the contest's first fade-out ending.Template:Sfn
Production
The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was produced by the Irish public broadcaster Template:Lang (RTÉ). Liam Miller served as executive producer, Declan Lowney served as director, Paula Farrell and Michael Grogan served as designers, and Noel Kelehan served as musical director, leading the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.<ref name="ESC1988">Template:Cite web</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn On behalf of the contest organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the event was overseen by Frank Naef as executive supervisor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Sfn The presenters of the contest were broadcaster Pat Kenny, and television announcer and Miss Ireland 1980 Michelle Rocca; the duo were announced by RTÉ in February 1988 following auditions held in the previous weeks.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was the first time since Template:Escyr that more than one person had presented the contest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Several technical innovations and improvements were introduced with the 1988 contest, spearheaded by Miller and Lowney, whose goal was to increase the contest's appeal among a younger audience.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The traditional physical scoreboard was replaced by a computer-generated version, displayed on two video walls provided by Philips and constructed on either side of the stage.<ref name="ESC1988" />Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> These video walls also displayed the performances and footage of the artists in the green room during the voting sequence, allowing the audience in the arena to see the televised footage within the venue for the first time.Template:Sfn Similar to the previous year's edition, the 1988 contest implemented a modern feel within both the stage design by Paula Farrell and Michael Grogan, and the graphic design by Maria Quigley.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> The stage, at over Template:Convert in length, was the largest ever built for the contest at that point, and took up almost a third of the Template:Convert space within the Simmonscourt Pavilion.Template:Sfn<ref name="ESC1988" />Template:Sfn The stage design, which created an illusion of depth, alongside tight camera shots of the audience and creative lighting use, resulted in an overall impression that the contest was being held in a vast and packed arena, rather than the modest space of the Simmonscourt Pavilion.<ref name="ESC1988" />Template:Sfn
Rehearsals for the participating artists began on 25 April 1988. Two technical rehearsals were conducted for each participating delegation in the week approaching the contest, with countries rehearsing in the order in which they would perform. The first rehearsals, comprising a 15-minute stage call and 35-minute performance, were held on 25 and 26 April, followed by a press conference for each delegation and the accredited press. Each country's second rehearsals were held on 27 and 28 April, with a 10-minute stage call and 25 minutes for performances. On 28 April, the contest venue received a visit from the Taoiseach Charles Haughey. <ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> Three dress rehearsals were held with all artists, held in the afternoon and evening of 29 April and in the afternoon of 30 April; the second rehearsal was filmed with a live audience present as a production stand-by in case the live event was disrupted.Template:Sfn During the contest week, Template:Esccnty's Tommy Körberg had been suffering from a throat infection; although he was able to perform during the event-proper, the songwriter of the Swedish entry, Py Bäckman, performed the entry in his stead at the 29 April evening dress rehearsal.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Format
Each participating country submitted one song limited to three minutes or less 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> Up to six performers were allowed on stage during each entry, accompanied by the orchestra and/or a backing track; any backing tracks had to include all the instruments featured on stage being mimed by the performers and could not contain vocals of any kind.<ref name="HowItWorks" /><ref name="Rules">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The results of the 1988 contest were determined through the scoring system 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 eight songs 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, who were all required to be members of the public with no connection to the music industry, split evenly between men and women and across four age groups: 15–25, 26–35, 36–45, and 46–60. 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; these votes were placed at the end of each country's performance and collected and tallied by the non-voting jury chairperson, who determined the points distribution after all countries had performed. When 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:Sfn The jury composition and voting process were modified slightly compared to the 1987 contest, due to the increase in the number of participating countries in recent years, expanding from eleven members who awarded between one and five votes for each song.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
As established at the Template:Escyr, in the event that two or more countries finished in first place with the same number of points after all countries had awarded their points, the artists representing these countries would perform their entries again, and the juries in all countries not involved in the tie-break would determine the winner, with each country's jury selecting their favourite of the entries by a show of hands of all jurors. If after all countries had determined their favourites and there was still a tie for first place, the countries involved in this tie would be declared joint winners.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Contest overview
The contest took place on 30 April 1988 at 20:00 (IST) with a duration of 2 hours and 50 minutes.<ref name="ESC1988" />Template:Sfn Had Cyprus participated as planned, the country had been drawn to perform in position number two.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
The contest was opened by a video montage highlighting ancient Celtic structures, items and mythology pertaining to prehistoric Ireland, transitioning to footage of modern-day Ireland and Dublin. This was followed by a performance of the previous year's winning entry, "Hold Me Now", by Johnny Logan.<ref name="contestAV">Template:Cite AV media</ref> The interval act was the Irish rock group Hothouse Flowers, with a music video of their song "Don't Go"; the group's lead singer Liam Ó Maonlaí also appeared on stage before the music video played to explain the meaning behind the songTemplate:Sndfirst in Irish, then in EnglishTemplate:Sndwhile playing piano.Template:Sfn<ref name="contestAV" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The music video, featuring the Hothouse Flowers performing the song in eleven European countries, received funding from the European Economic Community as part of the organisation's goal of advancing European integration.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> The trophy awarded to the winners was presented at the end of the broadcast by Johnny Logan.Template:Sfn
The winner was Template:Esccnty represented by the song "Template:Lang", composed by Atilla Şereftuğ, written by Nella Martinetti and performed by Céline Dion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was Switzerland's second Eurovision win, following its victory at the Template:Escyr in 1956.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It also remains, Template:As of, the last time that a song in the French language has won.<ref name="next">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Template:Esccnty finished in second place for the eleventh time, while Template:Esccnty finished in last place for the sixth time, and achieved its second nul points result.Template:Sfn<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spokespersons
Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson, connected to the contest venue via telephone lines and responsible for announcing, in English or French, the votes for its respective country.<ref name="HowItWorks" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Known spokespersons at the 1988 contest are listed below.
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndSolveig HerlinTemplate:Sfn
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndGuðrún Skúladóttir<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndJohn SkehanTemplate:Efn
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndAndreas Diesen<ref>Template:Cite news Template:Subscription or libraries</ref>
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndMaud UpplingTemplate:Sfn
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndColin BerryTemplate:Sfn
- Template:FlaguTemplate:SndMiša Molk<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Detailed voting results
Jury voting was used to determine the points awarded by all countries.Template:Sfn The results were announced in the order of performance, with the spokespersons announcing their country's points in English or French in ascending order.<ref name="contestAV"/>Template:Sfn The detailed breakdown of the points awarded by each country is listed in the tables below.
The 1988 contest has become notable for its tense voting sequence right until the final jury announced its points. With three countries left to vote, the United Kingdom had a fifteen-point lead over Switzerland, however, this gap was closed to only five points going into the final jury. When the Yugoslav jury awarded Switzerland 6 points, it appeared that victory was within reach for the UK as the camera cut to a crestfallen Céline Dion in the green room. However, the British entry received no points from Yugoslavia, leading Switzerland to win the contest by one point.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn It remains one of the closest margins of victory in the contest's history, and the closest result since Template:Escyr, when there was a four-way tie for first place. It also marked the second time that the UK had come in second place with only one point separating it from the winner, following the Template:Escyr.Template:Sfn
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan="22" Template:Vert header | Iceland | 20 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |||||||||||||||
| Sweden | 52 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Finland | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 136 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 3 | |||||
| Turkey | 37 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| Spain | 58 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Netherlands | 70 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Israel | 85 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 1 | ||||||
| Switzerland | 137 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 6 | ||||
| Ireland | 79 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | |||||||
| Germany | 48 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 8 | ||||||||||||
| Austria | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Denmark | 92 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 6 | ||||||||
| Greece | 10 | 3 | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 88 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | |||||||
| Belgium | 5 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Luxembourg | 90 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 3 | |||||||
| Italy | 52 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 | ||||||||||||
| France | 64 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 12 | |||||||
| Portugal | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Yugoslavia | 87 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | ||||||||
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. Denmark, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia received the maximum score of 12 points from three of the voting countries, the Netherlands received two sets of 12 points, and France, Ireland, Norway and Sweden each received one maximum score.<ref name="results" /><ref name="scoreboard" />
Broadcasts
Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters could also relay the contest as "passive participants".<ref name="Rules" /> Broadcasters were able to provide commentary, enabling coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their viewers,<ref name="Rules" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with 33 booths constructed in the contest venue to accommodate commentators on-site in Dublin covering the event.<ref name="preview">Template:Cite AV media</ref> Over 40 television and radio broadcasters were expected to relay the event, with an estimated audience of 600 million viewers.<ref name="preview" /><ref name="Lausanne">Template:Cite news</ref> The contest was also reportedly broadcast in the countries of Eastern Europe via Intervision, and in Australia and South Korea.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.
Legacy
Template:Multiple image The 1988 contest is considered to be the launchpad for Switzerland's winning artist Céline Dion and Luxembourg's Lara Fabian, contributing to their global notability and success.<ref name="ESC1988" />
Although Dion's winning song "Template:Lang" was not a major commercial success in singles charts across Europe, winning the contest provided a sizeable boost to her global platform, and reportedly allowed her manager and future husband René Angélil to successfully negotiate a four-fold budget increase for her first English-language album, Unison.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This album sold over four million copies upon its release in 1990 and has since been certified gold in France and the UK,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> platinum in the United States,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and seven-times platinum in Canada.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Dion performed the album's lead single, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now", as an opening act at the Template:Escyr.<ref name="next" /> It became her first global hit, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in addition to hitting the top 20 in Norway, Ireland and France.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Dion has since become one of the world's best-selling music artists, with more than 200 million total global album sales.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Belgian-born Fabian moved to Quebec in the years following the contest, where she embarked on a career in French-speaking North America, gaining success with her self-titled debut album in 1991 and breaking through further with follow-up album Carpe diem in 1994.<ref name="Fabian">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> English-language success would soon follow, with the release of the album Lara Fabian and her first English-language single "I Will Love Again", which charted within the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the magazine's Dance Club Songs chart, in 2000.<ref name="Fabian" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> With over 20 million album sales worldwide, Fabian is considered the best-selling Belgian-born female artist of all time and among the best-selling Belgian-born artists in general.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
"Template:Lang" was subsequently nominated in 2005 to compete in Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, a special broadcast organised as a part of the contest's anniversary celebrations to determine the contest's most popular entry of its first 50 year run. One of 14 entries chosen to compete, the song ultimately finished in tenth place.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the UK, entertainer Bruce Forsyth, whose daughter Julie wrote "Go", nominated Yugoslavia on the TV show Room 101, where celebrities nominate things to be banished from the world. Forsyth said that Yugoslavia needed to give the UK one point in order to win the contest, but they gave them nothing, leading to Dion's victory. Dion later appeared on The National Lottery Live when Forsyth was hosting, during which Forsyth made reference to Dion beating his daughter, but blamed Yugoslavia for the loss. Yugoslavia was not banished.<ref>Template:Cite episode</ref>
Notes and references
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
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