1987

VENUE Palais des Centenaires, Brussels		ENTRIES 22
HOST Viktor Laszlo		DEBUTS None

1987 saw a record twenty two countries turning up in Brussels, no new countries but some occasional absentees returned to the fold. The UK hit an all-time low (or so we thought!) when Rikki Peebles self-penned song "Only The Light" crawled home in thirteenth place despite gaining marks from thirteen of the twenty-two juries. This may or may not have prompted the BBC to abandon the jury system for Song For Europe the next year.

1978 hit-maker Plastic Bertrand ("Ca Plane Pour Moi"), from Belgium became the latest member of Luxemburg's foreign legion. However, anything vaguely punky has never gone down well at Eurovision: Finland 82 and 92, Belgium 83, and even the fantastic-plastic B couldn't change the pattern. The Swedish entry had to be renamed "Boogaloo" due to it's original title including a reference to Coca-Cola.

Johnny Logan, of course, became the first (and so far only) artist to win the contest twice, a mere seven years after his first victory. He would go on to win Eurovision once more as a writer in 1992. Yugoslavia began their gradual build-up to victory with a solid mid-European pop effort that attained fourth place. One place ahead was Italian Umberto Tozzi, who was just a few years away from the whole wide world discovering his songs, thanks to Laura Branigan ("Gloria", "Ti Amo" and more).

Norway	Mitt Liv	Kate	9
Israel	Shir Habatlabim	Lazy Bums	8
Austria	Nur Noch Gefühl	Gary Lux	20
Iceland	Hægt Og Hljótt	Halla Margarét	16
Belgium	Soldiers Of Love	Lilianne Saint-Pierre	11
Sweden	Boogaloo	Lotta Engberg	12
Italy	Gente Di Mare	Umberto Tozzi & Raf	3
Portugal	Neste Barco À Vela	Nevada	18
Spain	No Estás Solo	Patricia Kraus	19
Turkey	Sarkim Sevgi Ustune	Seyyal Taner & Locomotif	22
Greece	Stop	Bang	10
Netherlands	Rechtop In De Wind	Marcha	5
Luxembourg	Amour Amour	Plastic Bertrand	21
United Kingdom	It's Only The Light	Rikki	13
France	Les Mots D'Amour N'ont Pas De Dimanche	Christine Minier	14
Germany	Laß Die Sonne In Dein Herz	Wind	2
Cyprus	Aspro Mavro	Alexia	7
Finland	Sata Salamaa	Vicky Rosti	15
Denmark	En Lille Melodi	Bandjo with Anne Cathrine Jacob	5
Ireland	Hold Me Now	Johnny Logan	1
Yugoslavia	Ja Sam Za Ples	Novi Fosili	4
Switzerland	Moitié Moitié	Carol Rich	7

WINNER:

Ireland

HOLD ME NOW

Johnny Logan

Voting

IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK:

Gary Hart drops out of the US presidential race after allegations of an affair with Donna Rice.