| VENUE
The Point, Dublin |
 |
ENTRIES 23 |
| HOST
Mary Kennedy |
DEBUTS None |
Hurrah! Eurovision's
fourtieth
birthday and we were treated to a great collage of old clips at the start
of the contest. This was to be
repeated in a more random way in 2000, but this first one was ordered
chronologically and certainly stirred some memories, although RTE decided
to zip through 1981 to 1986 at a rate of knots and ignore 1983 (admittedly
when they did not take part) altogether. Mary Kennedy became the
last presenter to date to host a contest solo and did it with some
aplomb.
There has been so much
agonizing over the years about the language rule, and yet in 1995 Norway
were allowed to enter what was basically an instrumental. Over the years Norway has been down-voted more than
anyone, but "Nocturne" had a built-in advantage over the
"songs" in the contest and should perhaps have never been allowed to
enter. The inspiration behind it was Rolf Lovland, the man behind
Norway's first win with a very different song a decade earlier.
The United Kingdom overhauled
it's selection procedure this year and came up with some real,
semi-credible pop songs in a high profile presentation under the Top Of
The Pops banner. The winner was the rap song "Love City
Groove" by the group of the same name, and they did well enough to
inspire future rap attempts by Denmark in 1997 and Germany (sort-of) in
2000.
| Poland |
Sama |
Justyna |
18 |
| Ireland |
Dreamin' |
Eddie Friel |
14 |
| Germany |
Verliebt In Dich |
Stone & Stone |
23 |
| Bosnia |
Dvadeset Prvi Vijek |
Davor Popovic |
19 |
| Norway |
Nocturne |
Secret Garden |
1 |
| Russia |
Kolybelnaya Vulkanu |
Philipp Kirkorov |
17 |
| Iceland |
Núna |
Bo Halldórsson |
15 |
| Austria |
Die Welt Dreht Sich Verkehrt |
Stella Jones |
13 |
| Spain |
Vuelve Conmigo |
Anabel Conde |
2 |
| Turkey |
Sev |
Arzu Ece |
16 |
| Croatia |
Nostalgija |
Magazin & Lidija |
6 |
| France |
Il Me Donne Rendez-Vous |
Nathalie Santamaria |
4 |
| Hungary |
Új Név Egy Régy Ház Falán |
Csaba Szigeti |
22 |
| Belgium |
La Voix Est Libre |
Fréderic Etherlinck |
20 |
| United Kingdom |
Love City Groove |
Love City Groove |
10 |
| Portugal |
Baunilha E Chocolate |
Tó Cruz |
21 |
| Cyprus |
Sti Fotiá |
Alex Panayi |
9 |
| Sweden |
Se Pĺ Mig |
Jan Johansen |
3 |
| Denmark |
Fra Mols Til Skagen |
Aud Wilken |
5 |
| Slovenia |
Prisluhni Mi |
Darja vajger |
7 |
| Israel |
Amen |
Liora |
8 |
| Malta |
Keep Me In Mind |
Mike Spiteri |
10 |
| Greece |
Piá Prosséfhi |
Elina Konstantópoulou |
12 |
| WINNER:
Norway |
 |
NOCTURNE by
Secret Garden |
Voting
 
IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK:
Jacques Chirac is elected
President of France. |
