VENUE Specktrum, Oslo		ENTRIES 23
HOSTS Ingvild Bryn Morten Harket		DEBUTS None

The forty-first contest saw some innovations in presentation by Norwegian TV in a production that no-one could deny was cutting-edge.  Trendy colourized camera effects were applied during the songs, a couple of enormous moving cranes hovered menacingly above the stage and we even had a virtual scoreboard that the presenters could walk through during the voting.  None of these ideas took root in later contests but it was still a lot of fun.  Each entry was introduced by an artist postcard AND a brief good luck message from a national politician.  The Eastern bloc newcomers tended to get a president;  The UK entry was heralded by Virginia Bottomley.

The host nation came up with an inspired choice of co-presenter in Morten Harket of eighties pop legends A-ha and he did a creditable job.  It was a welcome change from an Irish hosting but the style of songs excelling still stayed were much as you were, as the top three positions were filled by songs each having a Celtic whiff, needless to say led by Ireland's record-smashing seventh victory, a record that on current trends (with the Grand Prix being sprayed around like confetti) will take some decades to beat.       

This year we had, for the first time in ages, a Euro song that was not only an American  and worldwide hit, but also launched a career (well OK, not a long one). The UK's "Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit" by Gina G remains a bona-fide dancefloor anthem. Maybe with televoting, a better draw and a less ragged vocal performance, it might have been challenging ? We can only speculate.

This year every entry (apart from the hosts Norway) had to go through a pre-selection before the final. This was done by a jury system after all juries had heard audio versions of the songs. There were 29 entries and the following 7 songs were eliminated:

WINNER: Ireland

THE VOICE by Eimear Quinn

Voting

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