Topic: Eurovision Song Contest 1988, Dublin, Ireland

[ijm123]

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 1988, DUBLIN, IRELAND

The 1988 contest was the 3rd to be held in Dublin and produced one of the most successful winning artists ever, although it was not her winning that catapulted her to stardom.  There were a host of returning stars in this contest.  Yardena Arazi became the first person to be a contestant (as part of Chocolate Menta Mastik in 1976), then a host (in 1979) and then a contestant again.  She only agreed to take part after visiting a clairvoyant who told her that the song drawn 9th would win the contest.  Israel had been drawn 9th so Yardena was convinced she would win.  However Cyprus (who'd been drawn 2nd) withdrew when it became evident that their entry was a reworking of a song from their 1984 national final.  The clairvoyant was proved correct as with Cyprus' withdrawal Switzerland were moved up to 9th in the draw.  Also returning for another go were Hot Eyes, with a heavily pregnant Kirsten, for Denmark.  Their 3rd and final attempt finished 3rd.  Tommy Körberg returned after 19 years. MFÖ returned 3 years after their 1st appearance. Dora returned for Portugal and faired worse than she had done 2 years previously in Bergen. Iceland finished 16th for the 3rd consecutive year. Austria finished with 0 points for their first time in 26 years. The voting was close throughout, but it was clear it was a 2 horse race very early on. With only the votes of the Yugoslav jury to come the United Kingdom was 5 points ahead of Switzerland. When Yugoslavia gave 6 to Switzerland it put them 1 point ahead. They then proceeded to give 7 to the Netherlands, 8 to Germany & 10 to Norway. It was down to the final vote - if Yugoslavia gave the UK 12 it would be a British victory, if they didn't the Swiss would win. When the 12 points went to France the Swiss began to celebrate.

Results

1.(9) 137 points - Switzerland - Ne partez pas sans moi - Celine Dion
2.(4) 136 points - United Kingdom - Go - Scott Fitzgerald
3.(13) 92 points - Denmark - Ka du se hva' jeg sa' - Hot Eyes
4.(17) 90 points - Luxembourg - Croire - Lara Fabian
5.(15) 88 points - Norway - For vår jord - Karoline Krüger
6.(21) 87 points - Yugoslavia - Mangup - Srebrna Krila
7.(8 ) 85 points - Israel - Ben Adam - Yardena Arazi
8.(10) 79 points - Ireland - Take Him Home - Jump The Gun
9.(7) 70 points - Netherlands - Shangri-La - Gerard Joling
10.(19) 64 points - France - Chanteur de charme - Gerard Lenorman
11.(6) 58 points - Spain - La chica que yo quiero (Made In Spain) - La Decada Prodigioso
12.(2) 52 points - Sweden - Stad i ljus - Tommy Körberg
(18 ) 52 points - Italy - Ti scrivo - Luca Barbarossa
14.(11) 48 points - Germany - Lied für einen Freund - Maxi & Chris Garden
15.(5) 37 points - Turkey - Sufi - MFÖ
16.(1) 20 points - Iceland - Sokrates - Beathoven
17.(14) 10 points - Greece - Clown - Afrodite Fryda
18.(16) 5 points - Belgium - Laissez briller le soleil - Reynaert
(20) 5 points - Portugal - Voltarei - Dora
20.(3) 3 points - Finland - Nauravat silmät muistetaan - Boulevard
21.(12) 0 points - Austria - Lisa, Mona Lisa - Wilfried

[ijm123]

[Remy]

Strong year. I like Switzerland and The Netherlands, but this is my number one favorite this edition:

Eurovision 1988 - Srebrna Krila - Mangup

Yugoslavia! Great song and a good performance!

[Martial]

it's a nice year.. but imo a year without a masterpiece.. three songs are all equal to me and i like them as much in their own style

but of course remy HAD to choose the only HUGE HORROR of the year, my big fat last, a disgusting crap! why cant we ever agree? why do you always like the typical be happy tune song?

[Remy]

My number one is most of the times your number last 

I wish we could agree a lot more, but it seems that on some points we have very different thougths. 

But I aslo like the Dutch entry very much!

Eurovision 1988 - Gerard Joling - Shangri-la

Even today Gerard Joling is still making music. He is also the presenter of some tv-programs.

[Martial]

yes netherlands are my winner in 88

[Remy]

I think that Gerard Joling was better in the national final, especially at the end.

NSF 1988 - Gerard Joling - Shangri-la

[Martial]

I agree he is technically better and I prefer his background singers there than on the esc stage. But the Dublin hosting was much more impressing and gave a certain depth to his song than on this one!

[Remy]

I know what you mean. The stage in Dublin was great.

Did you know that Gerard Joling wanted to return to the contest in 2008? The NOS (Dutch Broadcasting Foundation) asked him in september 2007 if he wanted to participate in Belgrade and Joling liked the idea of returning 20 years after his first participation, but unfortunately he was too busy with other concerts in may 2008 so the NOS decided to choose for Hind.

[Martial]

Hind was surprisingly good.. i liked it enough to think it should have made it to the final.. but De Toppers 

[Remy]

Hind was good, but it was not very special.
She wrote the song years ago after her former boyfriend dumped her.

By the way, it surprised me that Céline Dion won with only 1 point ahead of the UK. She was so much better than Scott Fitzgerald.

[ijm123]

By the way, it surprised me that Céline Dion won with only 1 point ahead of the UK. She was so much better than Scott Fitzgerald.

Pretty much EVERYONE was better than Scott Fitzgerald's dirge IMO

[Martial]

lol he was bad but the song was ok.. true that Belgium, NL and Turkey were all underrated, by far my top 3 of the year!

[Dartacan]

My comments of this great year, the first I saw on internet

01. Iceland

Somehow I like this one, it's strange, freak, but also catchy and funny in a good way, easy to remember and well performed. 9 /10

02. Sweden

Sorry but this one bores me to hell. I know he was ill at the contest, but still the song doesn't do for me, I prefer his "Judy min van". 3/10

03. Finland

This isn't a bad song, just mediocre. Only 3 votes was a bit harsh though. 5/10

04. United Kingdom

A nice ballad, with a good singer, but not that special for a 2nd place. 7/10

05. Turkey

Just okish entry, diday diday day was much better, this is a bit too turkish, and the chorus too repetitive. 6/10

06. Spain

One of the most famous spanish entries from the 80's here, the lyrics are atrocious, but the music itself it's catchy. They could've performed better at stage though. 7/10

07. Netherlands

Never liked it. He has a really good voice, and I've heard other songs by him which are great, but this one is just strange. 4/10

08. Israel

Gypsy music at its best point. Catchy and well performed, different from the usual kind of music from esc. What an ending. 8,5/10

09. Switzerland

The winning one. Celine looked horrendous on that dress, but her perfomance was really great, converting a just good song into a winner. 9/10

10. Ireland

Probably one of the most modern songs from the year. Interesting sound, but can get a bit boring till the end. 8/10

11. Germany

Too sugarish for me. 4,5/10

12. Austria

I have no words to describe this. 0/10

13. Denmark

All 3 Hot Eyes's entries were good, funny stage proporsal and catchy song. 9/10

14. Greece

This song was destroyed by the hahahaha thingy, oitherwise this was a good greek song. 6/10

15. Norway

I've never been a big fan of it. Well performed but boring. 5/10

16. Belgium

The biggest underration of the year. Modern, different and well performed. 9,5/10

17. Luxembourg

Delicious song and performer. Simplicity at it's best. 10/10

18. Italy

Italo-pop, but somehow difficult to remember. 5/10

19. France

Nice ballad, but nothing really outstanding. 6,5/10

20. Portugal

This song should have done much better, but please kill that backing singer who is so out of tune all the time. 9/10

21. Yugoslavia

My fauvorite from this year, the best of the yugoslavian entries of the late 80s. The videoclip was the best of the edition. 10/10

So my final ranking:

12   Yugoslavia
10   Luxembourg
8   Belgium
7   Portugal
6   Iceland
5   Switzerland
4   Denmark
3   Israel
2   Ireland
1   Spain

11   UK
12   France
13   Greece
14   Turkey
15   Italy
16   Finland
17   Norway
18   Germany
19   Netherlands
20   Sweden
21   Austria

[Martial]

the yugoslavian song is such a big crap i so cant believe it

[Remy]

Good review Dartacan!
I disagree on some points, but we have the same favorite!