Eurovision Song Contest 1985
| Eurovision Song Contest 1985 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Dates | |
| Final | 4 May 1985 |
| Host | |
| Venue |
Scandinavium Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Presenter(s) | Lill Lindfors |
| Conductor | Curt-Eric Holmquist |
| Director | Steen Priwin |
| Executive supervisor | Frank Naef |
| Host broadcaster | Sveriges Television (SVT) |
| Opening act | Lill Lindfors singing "My Joy is Building Bricks of Music" |
| Interval act | Guitars Unlimited with Swedish Evergreens |
| Participants | |
| Number of entries | 19 |
| Debuting countries | None |
| Returning countries |
 Greece Israel
|
| Withdrawing countries |
 Netherlands Yugoslavia
|
|
|
| Vote | |
| Voting system | Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs |
| Nul points | None |
| Winning song |
 Norway"La det swinge" |
The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 4 May 1985 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The presenter was entertainer Lill Lindfors, whose jokey dress rip after the interval act (seemingly revealing her knickers before unfolding another dress) was said to have not amused the wife of EBU scrutineer Frank Naef. Norwegian duo Bobbysocks! were the winners with the song "La det swinge".
Bobbysocks!' win for Norway was the country's first. Host Lill Lindfors congratulated the duo, Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreassen, following their victory by saying, "I must say I am honestly very happy that this happened because Norway has been last on so many times that you really deserve it!" Krogh replied, "You're happy? What do you think we are?!" After an energetic reprise, the two women embraced to a standing ovation from the audience.
During the voting, it was not immediately evident that Norway would win the Contest. Germany took a commanding lead in the first half, with Norway fifth place behind Germany, Sweden, Italy and the United Kingdom around the end of the first half of voting. Finally, with five juries left, Germany, Sweden and Norway were tightly wrapped around the pole positions with 87, 86, and 85 points respectively.
At that point, Sweden briefly took the lead away from Germany (who received no points from Switzerland). Sweden was the fourth-to-last jury, conceding their brief lead by awarding Germany eight points and Norway the maximum twelve. With only three countries left to vote, Norway kept the lead, in one of the shortest winning stretches during voting in the contest's history.
The Netherlands and Yugoslavia did not participate in this Contest, due to the national Remembrance of the Dead in the Netherlands, and the anniversary of the death of Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia. Despite this Yugoslavia did choose its song: "Pokora" ("Penance") (music by Ivo Pupačić and lyrics by Zvonimir Pupačić), a duet sung by Zorica Kondža and Josip Genda.
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