Bobbysocks

Music/Lyrics: Brendan Graham/Brendan Graham

Conductor: Noel Kelehan

The contest was opened by a below par Irish ballad. Maria’s performance was a bit on the sickly side.

Music/Lyrics: Petri Laaksonen/Veli-Pekka Lehto

Conductor: Ossi Runne

Finland is capable of sending a song which is capable of sounding good only to natives. Not this time!! Eläköön Elämä is one of their best entries, a powerful, almost rock song, which Sonja delivered very well.

Music/Lyrics: Lia Vishy/Lia Vishy

Conductor: Haris Andreadis

Lia (sister of Anna - Greece 1980 and Cyprus 1982), looked very vulnerable as she sung, sometimes with a wobble, this nice, soothing ballad.

Music/Lyrics: Soren Bundgard/Keld Heick

Conductor: Wolfgang Käfer

Kirsten and Soren, who had represented their country the year before, came back for more and this time, they had a secret weapon, or at least they thought they did; an ever so slightly annoying child. Not content with joining in with the song, the child (boy or girl, who knows? Who cares?!) got dressed into adult clothes while the others did their bits.

Music/Lyrics: Juan Carlos Calderón/ Juan Carlos Calderón

Conductor: Juan Carlos Calderón

Classic elegance was the order of the day for Paloma. La Fiesta Terminó shows how good Spanish songs can be when they really try. This is how big ballads should sound.

Music/Lyrics: Didier Pascalis/Didier Pascalis

Conductor: Michel Bernholc

The most memorable thing about this song is the fantastic string arrangement. It dominates the whole song, lifting it out of the realms of the ordinary into something that should have been placed in the top five.

Music/Lyrics: Mazhar, Fauat, Özkan/ Mazhar, Fauat, Özkan

Conductor: Garo Mafyan

MFO were three chaps who clearly enjoyed their three minutes on stage. They gave a cheery performance of a cheery song. You might not vote for it, but it will make you smile. 

Music/Lyrics: Pieter Verlinden/Bert Vivier

Conductor: Curt-Eric Holmquist

Linda can count herself unlucky to have finished last with this sincere ballad for which she gave a sincere, professional performance.

Music/Lyrics: Tozé Brizo/Adelaïde Ferreria, Luis Fernando

Conductor: José Calvário

If ever Portugal deserved a place in the top five, this was it. The powerful and emotional ballad seemed to take its toll on Adelaïde. She ended her performance of one knee with her head bowed and took time to stand up again. Eigtheenth? The juries must have been listening to a different song!

Music/Lyrics: Hanne Haller/Hanne Haller

Conductor: Rainer Pietsch

This song is more highly regarded than it deserves. The ‘peace for all’ theme was starting to become boringly predictable in the German entries, a description which can also be applied to Für Alle.

Music/Lyrics: Kobi Oshrat/Hamutal Ben Ze’ev

Conductor: Kobi Oshrat

Izhar won the contest in 1979 and went for the double with a song which is almost guaranteed to fill dance floors and sounds as good today as it did then. It’s full of bounce and zip.

Music/Lyrics: Dario Farina, Michael Hofmann/Christiano Minellono

Conductor: Fio Zanotti

Italy’s favourite husband and wife team came back for a second attempt nine years after their first, with a slightly cheesy cabaret number. That said, it’s given a lift by the quality of Al’s voice, and when you look as good as Romina, you can get away with anything.

Music/Lyrics: Rolf Lövland/Rolf Lövland

Conductor: Terje Fjaern

The country which had unfairly become famous for not scoring found itself at the top of the scoreboard for the first time. It’s a bouncy, catchy, clap-along which was given an appropriately lively performance by Elisabeth Andreasson and Hanne Krogh, both experienced song contest performers.

Music/Lyrics: Vikki Watson/James Kaleth

Conductor: John Coleman

Chosen from a high quality ‘A Song For Europe’ competition, it might have been expected for Love Is to do well. So it proved for the contemporary pop song.

Music/Lyrics: Anita Kerr/Trudi Muller-Bosshard

Conductor: Anita Kerr

Having sang solo two years earlier, Mariella was joined by the splendidly moustached Pino for this fairly unmemorable song.

Music/Lyrics: Lasse Holm/Ingela ‘Pling’ Forsman

Conductor: Curt-Eric Holmquist

Kikki wisely moved only a little, leaving her two dancers to perform the acrobatics. Her song spoke for itself, an up-tempo, foot tapping and wonderful slice of Schlager. The title also allowed Lill Lindfors to make a saucy joke about the English translation of the title.  

Music/Lyrics: Mick Jackson, Geoff Bastow/Michael Kunze

Conductor: Richard Österreicher

Singing the first of two successive songs in the 1985 contest about children, Gary appeared for the first time as a solo artist. His song is not quite an anthem, but moves along freely.

Music/Lyrics: Ralph Siegel/Bernd Meinunger, Jean-Michel Beriat

Conductor: Norbert Daum

An array of singers from almost as many countries as were in the contest joined forces for Luxembourg to sing what is almost a series of duets. It should have been messy, but it actually worked reasonably well.

Music/Lyrics: Takis Biniaris/Maro Bizani

Conductor: Haris Andreadis

The contest ended with a very gentle song. Takis' performance was rightly understated and respectful of his own composition.