MFÖ

Basic information

Date:

4 May 1985

Venue:

Scandinavium, Gothenburg, Sweden

Broadcaster:

SVT

Presenter(s):

Lill Lindfors

About the contest:

The 1985 contest is widely regarded as not only one of the best of the eighties, but one of the best ever. Swedish broadcaster SVT gave viewers a good show with a very competent presenter, while the competing countries sent songs of an overall high quality.

Presenter Lill Lindfors provided one of the funniest and memorable moments in the contest. As she walked on to the set for the voting, her skirt appeared to catch on something, and she was left without it. How fortunate then that she was wearing a top that could fold down into a dress.

Norway surprised many by winning the contest for the first time. Attired in sparkly purple outfits, the two ladies of Bobbysocks, Elisabeth Andreasson and Hanne Krogh, bounced their way to a victory that was celebrated madly back home. Both Elisabeth and Hanne had been in the contest before. Many others also came back for more; Al Bano and Romina Power, Gary Lux, Kikki Danielsson (who had been part of Swedish act Chips in 1982), Hot Eyes, Mariella Farré, Izhar Cohen and Irene Sheer all tried again. Wind and MFO would be seen again before the decade was out.

The Netherlands withdrew from the contest as it clashed with their Remembrance commemorations. Greece returned to leave the number of participants at nineteen as it had been the year before.

The scoring system remained unchanged. Juries awarded points from 1-8, then 10 and finally 12.

About the songs:

Maria Christian	Ireland - Maria Christian - Wait Until the Weekend Comes (English) 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.
Sonja Lumme	Finland - Sonja Lumme - Eläköön Elämä (Finnish) 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.
Lia Vishy	Cyprus - Lia Vishy - To Katalava Arga (Greek) 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.
Hot Eyes	Denmark - Hot Eyes - Sku' Du Spør Fra No'n (Danish) 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.
Paloma San Basilio	Spain - Paloma San Basilio - La Fiesta Terminó (Spanish) 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.
Roger Bens	France - Roger Bens - Femme Dans Ses Rêves Aussi (French) 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.
MFÖ	Turkey - MFÖ - Di Dai Di Dai Dai (a'sik Oldum) (Turkish) 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.
Linda Lepomme	Belgium - Linda Lepomme - Laat Me Nu Gaan (Flemish) 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.
Adelaïde	Portugal - Adelaïde - Penso Em Ti, Eu Sei (Portuguese) 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!
Wind	Germany - Wind - Für Alle (German) 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.
Izhar Cohen 1985	Israel - Izhar Cohen - Olé Olé (Hebrew) 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.
Al Bano and Romina Power 1985	Italy - Al Bano and Romina Power - Magic, Oh Magic (Italian) 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.
Bobbysocks	Norway - Bobbysocks - La Det Swinge (Norwegian) 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.
Vikki	United Kingdom - Vikki - Love Is (English) 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.
Mariella Farré and Pino Gasparini	Switzerland - Mariella Farré and Pino Gasparini - Piano, Piano (German) 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.
Kikki Danielsson	Sweden - Kikki Danielsson - Bra Vibrationer (Swedish) 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.
Gary Lux	Austria - Gary Lux - Kinder Dieser Welt (German) 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.
Margo, Franck Olivier, Diane Solomon, Ireen Sheer, Malcolm Roberts and Chris Roberts	Luxembourg - Margo, Franck Olivier, Diane Solomon, Ireen Sheer, Malcolm Roberts and Chris Roberts - Children, Kinder, Enfants (French) 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.
Takis Biniaris	Greece - Takis Biniaris - Miazoume (Greek) 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.