• Dates – Grand Final: Saturday, 04 May 1985 – 21:00 CEST
• Host – Venue & Location: Scandinavium, Gothenburg, 🇸🇪 Sweden
• Presenter (s): Lill Lindfors
• Musical Director: Curt-Eric Holmquist
• Director: Steen Priwin
• Executive Producer: Steen Priwin
• Executive Supervisor: Frank Naef
• Multicamera Director: —
• Host broadcaster: Sveriges Television (SVT)
• Opening Act: “My Joy is Building Bricks of Music” performed by Lill Lindfors
• Interval Act: Guitars Unlimited with Swedish Evergreens
• Participants – Number of entries: 19 [🇧🇪 Belgium (27ª), 🇩🇪 Germany (27ª), 🇨🇭 Switzerland (27ª), 🇬🇧 United Kindom (25ª), 🇪🇸 Spain (22ª), 🇱🇺 Luxembourg (26ª), 🇫🇮 Finland (21ª), 🇳🇴 Norway (22ª), 🇵🇹 Portugal (18ª), 🇦🇹 Austria (23ª), 🇸🇪 Sweden (23ª), 🇩🇰 Denmark (18ª), 🇹🇷 Turkey (8ª), 🇨🇾 Cyprus (5ª), 🇫🇷 France (26ª), 🇮🇹 Italy (25ª), 🇮🇪 Ireland (17ª), 🇬🇷 Greece (8ª), 🇮🇱 Israel (9ª)]
• Debuting countries: —
• Return: 🇬🇷 Greece (7ª), 🇮🇱 Israel (8ª)
• Non-returning countries: 🇳🇱 The Netherlands (26ª),  Yugoslavia (19ª)
• Vote – Voting system: Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs.
• Nil Points: —
• Winning song: “La det swinge” – Bobbysocks! – 🇳🇴 Norway (1ª)

About. Swedish national broadcaster SVT decided to stage the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest in Gothenburg’s Scandinavium, the biggest venue to have hosted the show to date. The city of Gothenburg was chosen by the Swedish broadcaster to be host city to the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest. This year, the Netherlands chose to withdraw from the contest because it collided with the country’s national Remembrance Day. Yugoslavia also decided to stay home because of a national holiday. Israel and Greece returned to the contest so the number of participants was 19 again, just as in the previous year. The set in Gothenburg’s Scandinavium was very modern and bigger than any venue before. Parts of the set would later be re-used for the Swedish national final, Melodifestivalen, in 1987.

Victory for Norway. Norway surprised everyone with their victory this year. The entry “La Det Swinge” by the duo Bobbysocks, won after a close race with the German entry, “Für Alle” by the group Wind. Bobbysocks consisted of the singers Elisabeth Andreasson and Hanne Krogh. Elisabeth had already taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1982 for Sweden where she was one half of the group Chips. Hanne Krogh had represented Norway already in 1971, but only came 17th with her song “Lycken Er”.

Facts and figures. The contest was hosted by former participant Lill Lindfors who shocked the audience when her skirt appeared to be ripped off before the voting started. The routine was well-rehearsed, and remains one of the most-remembered highlights in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest; Lys Assia, the first ever winner of the Eurovision Song Contest was in the audience in Gothenburg. 

o/r	country	participant(s)	song – translate – LANGUAGE	Points	rank
01	🇮🇪 Ireland RTÉ	Maria Christian	Wait Until The Weekend Comes English	061	06
02	🇫🇮 Finland YLE	Sonja Lumme	Eläköön elämä (Long live life) Finnish	058	09
03	🇨🇾 Cyprus CyBC	Lia Vissi (Λία Βίσση)	To katalava arga (Το κατάλαβα αργά, I realised it too late) Greek	015	16
04	🇩🇰 Denmark DR	Hot Eyes	Sku’ du spørg’ fra no’en? (What business is it of yours?) Danish	041	11
05	🇪🇸 Spain TVE	Paloma San Basilio	La fiesta terminó (The party’s over) Spanish	036	14
06	🇫🇷 France A2F	Roger Bens	Femme dans ses rêves aussi (Woman in her dreams too) French	056	10
07	🇹🇷 Turkey TRT	MFÖ	Didai didai dai [Diday Diday Day, Aşık oldum (I fell in love)] Turkish	036	14
08	🇧🇪 Belgium BRT	Linda Lepomme	Laat me nu gaan (Let me go now) Dutch	007	19
09	🇵🇹 Portugal RTP	Adelaide	Penso em ti, eu sei (Thinking of you, I know) Portuguese	009	18
10	🇩🇪 Germany ARD	Wind	Für alle (For everyone) German	105	02
11	🇮🇱 Israel IBA	Izhar Cohen (יזהר כהן‎)	Olé, olé (עולה, עולה; Going up and up) Hebrew	093	05
12	🇮🇹 Italy RAI	Al Bano & Romina Power	Magic, oh magic Italian	078	07
13	🇳🇴 Norway NRK	Bobbysocks!	La det swinge (Let it swing) Norwegian	123	01
14	🇬🇧 United Kindom BBC	Vikki	Love is… English	100	04
15	🇨🇭 Switzerland SSR SRG	Mariella Farré & Pino Gasparini	Piano, piano (Slowly, slowly) German	039	12
16	🇸🇪 Sweden SVT	Kikki Danielsson	Bra vibrationer (Good vibrations) Swedish	103	03
17	🇦🇹 Austria ÖRF	Gary Lux	Kinder dieser welt (Children of this world) German	060	08
18	🇱🇺 Luxembourg  CLT	Margo, Franck Olivier, Diane Solomon, Ireen Sheer, Chris Roberts & Malcolm Roberts	Children, kinder, enfants (Children) French	037	13
19	🇬🇷 Greece ERT	Takis Biniaris (Τάκης Μπινιάρης)	Miazoume (Μοιάζουμε, We are alike) Greek	015	16

Missed participation

• 🇧🇪 Belgium: “Ik was een kind / Vannacht” () – Mireille Capelle.  Flemish broadcaster BRT was responsible for selection of the 1985 Belgian entrant and, unusually for BRT at the time, opted for internal selection rather than a public final. The selection process was fraught with problems before the last-minute announcement of singer and song was made. VRT selected singer Mireille Capelle as their entrant, to perform a tango-flavoured song with music by Frédéric Devreese. The song was chosen in an unfinished state, without lyrics. Capelle and Devreese subsequently submitted a set of lyrics by one of Flanders’ best-known and respected authors Hugo Claus (Vannacht). VRT were not impressed however, and proposed a different set of lyrics by Bert Vivier (Ik was een kind). Capelle and Devreese refused to have anything to do with the Vivier lyrics, and gave VRT an ultimatum that they would disassociate themselves from the selection unless their lyrics of choice were approved. When VRT refused to back down, Capelle and Devreese were as good as their word and withdrew their participation. This left VRT facing a race against time to find an alternative song and performer: several singers and songs were put forward and found unsuitable before VRT finally settled on singer/actress Lepomme with a completely new song “Laat me nu gaan”. The song was presented publicly at the last minute, very close to the EBU-UER deadline for song submission, on 1 April 1985 (the date was noted with some irony by observers aware of the to-ing and fro-ing which had gone on).

• Yugoslavia: “Pokora” (Penance) () – Zorica Kondža (Зорица Конџа) & Josip Genda. This was selected to go to Gothenburg, Sweden but Yugoslav TV did not participate in this Contest due to 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.

Participant map

Participating countries Countries that participated in the past but not in 1985

ESC 1985 Scoreboard Ι Detailed voting results:

The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Gothenburg, Sweden, following the country’s victory at the 1984 contest with the song “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley” by Herreys. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), the contest was held at the Scandinavium on 4 May 1985 and was hosted by previous Swedish contestant Lill Lindfors.

Nineteen countries took part in the contest, with the Netherlands and Yugoslavia deciding not to participate.

The winner was Norway with the song “La det swinge” by Bobbysocks!. This was Norway’s first victory in the contest, after a long period of low scores, including 3 “nul points”.

1.Location. Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Construction of the arena began in 1969 after decades of setbacks, and was inaugurated on 18 May 1971. Scandinavium is the home arena for Frölunda HC of Swedish Hockey League, and venue for the annual Göteborg Horse Show.

2.Format. 1985 was the year when no less than thirteen previous Eurovision artists made a comeback. This also applied to the winners, Bobbysocks! who had attended once before as soloists: Hanne Krogh performed for Norway in 1971, while Elisabeth Andreasson for Sweden (where she is originally from) in 1982 in a duet, Chips, with Kikki Danielsson. Kikki herself also returned this year for host country Sweden, and was thus competing against Elisabeth Andreasson and Bobbysocks!.

The presenter was entertainer Lill Lindfors (herself a former participant in 1966), who had a wardrobe malfunction (though technically this is a misnomer, as the stunt was deliberate) as she proceeded to the stage for the voting procedure. As she walked on stage, the skirt of her dress came away, leaving her in just her underwear and the top half of her dress. After a few seconds of pretending to be shocked, Lindfors unfastened the flaps of her dress across her shoulders, to reveal a full-length white gown, to much raucous audience applause. Lill then took her seat to start calling in the votes, and nonchalantly said, “I just wanted to wake you up a little.”

Lys Assia, the winner of the first ever Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, was the guest of honour of this edition. She was introduced by Lill Lindfors. The camera zoomed close to Lys, who rose to greet the audience, while the orchestra played the song “Refrain”, her winning song.

The video postcards broadcast in between each song to introduce the competing nations were the first in the contest history to feature only the song writers and composers, none of the performing artists (unless they had composed their own song). All the song writers were filmed in various locations in and around Gothenburg during the week of rehearsals. Once the video concluded, hostess Lill Lindfors introduced the song, the artist and the conductor from a seat on the stage, reading from cards represented by the flag of each nation.

Host Lill Lindfors congratulated the duo, Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreasson, 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 reprise the last verse of the winning entry was sung in English.

3.Participating countries. 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 still held their annual preselection contest, which was won by “Pokora” (“Penance”) (music by Ivo Pupačić and lyrics by Zvonimir Pupačić), a duet sung by Zorica Kondža and Josip Genda. However, Yugoslavia had already withdrawn before the song won, and therefore it was never set to compete in Eurovision.

3.1.Conductors.Each performance had a conductor who directed the orchestra. 1985 was the only year to feature a conductor for multiple entries that wasn’t the host conductor: Greek conductor Haris Andreadis led the orchestra for both the Cypriot and Greek entries.

• 🇮🇪 Ireland – Noel Kelehan
• 🇫🇮 Finland – Ossi Runne
• 🇨🇾 Cyprus – Haris Andreadis
• 🇩🇰 Denmark – Wolfgang Käfer
• 🇪🇸 Spain – Juan Carlos Calderón
• 🇫🇷 France – Michel Bernholc
• 🇹🇷 Turkey – Garo Mafyan
• 🇧🇪 Belgium – Curt-Eric Holmquist
• 🇵🇹 Portugal – José Calvário
• 🇩🇪 Germany – Rainer Pietsch 
• 🇮🇱 Israel – Kobi Oshrat
• 🇮🇹 Italy – Fiorenzo Zanotti
• 🇳🇴 Norway – Terje Fjærn
• 🇬🇧 United Kindom – John Coleman
• 🇨🇭 Switzerland – Anita Kerr
• 🇸🇪 Sweden – Curt-Eric Holmquist
• 🇦🇹 Austria – Richard Oesterreicher 
• 🇱🇺 Luxembourg – Norbert Daum
• 🇬🇷 Greece – Haris Andreadis

3.2.Returning artists. Bold indicates a previous winner.

Artist	Country	Previous year(s)
Gary Lux	🇦🇹 Austria	1983 (member of Westend), 1984 (backing vocal of Anita)
Rhonda Heath (backing singer)		1977 (member of Silver Convention for 🇩🇪 Germany)
Lia Vissi	🇨🇾 Cyprus	1979 (backing vocal of Elpida), 1980 (backing vocal of Anna Vissi and The Epikouri), both times for 🇬🇷 Greece
Hot Eyes	🇩🇰 Denmark	1984
Izhar Cohen	🇮🇱 Israel	1978 (along with the Alphabeta)
Al Bano & Romina Power	🇮🇹 Italy	1976
Ireen Sheer	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	1974, 1978 (for 🇩🇪 Germany)
Hanne Krogh (part of Bobbysocks!)	🇳🇴 Norway	1971
Elisabeth Andreasson (part of Bobbysocks!)		1982 (for 🇸🇪 Sweden, as part of Chips)
Kikki Danielsson	🇸🇪 Sweden	1982 (as part of Chips)
Pino Gasparini	🇨🇭 Switzerland	1977 (part of Pepe Lienhard Band)
Mariella Farré		1983

3.3.Participants and results. 

3.4.All the national selections for Eurovision Song Contest 1985: 

• National Selections in 1985:

COUNTRY	EVENT	WINNER
🇩🇰 Denmark	Melodi Grand Prix 1985	Kirsten & Søren – “Sku’ du spørg’ fra no’en?“
🇫🇮 Finland	(Finnish Selection 1985)	Sonja Lumme – “Eläköön elämä“
🇫🇷 France	(French Selection 1985)	Roger Bens – “Femme dans ses rêves aussi“
🇩🇪 Germany	Ein Lied für Göteborg	Wind – “Für alle“
🇮🇪 Ireland	(Irish Selection 1985)	Maria Christian – “Wait Until the Weekend Comes”
🇮🇱 Israel	Kdam Eurovision 1985	Izhar Cohen – “Olé, Olé” (עולה, עולה)
🇳🇴 Norway	Melodi Grand Prix 1985	Bobbysocks! – “La det swinge“
🇵🇹 Portugal	Festival da Canção 1985	Adelaide Ferreira – “Penso em ti, eu sei“
🇸🇪 Sweden	Melodifestival 1985	Kikki Danielsson – “Bra vibrationer“
🇨🇭 Switzerland	Concours Eurovision 1985	Mariella Farré & Pino Gasparini – “Piano, piano“
🇹🇷 Turkey	Şarkı Yarışması 1985	MFÖ – “Di Dai Di Dai Dai (Aşık oldum)”
🇬🇧 United Kindom	A Song for Europe 1985	Vikki – “Love Is…”

• Internal Selections in 1985: 

3.5.Connections:

4.Voting. Each country had a jury who awarded 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 point(s) for their top ten songs.  During the voting, 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.

Voting results

		Total score
C o n t e s t a n t s	🇮🇪 Ireland	91		1	7	3	4	3	5	8	8	4	8	12	3	3	5	7	10
	🇫🇮 Finland	58	6		6		6		3				1	7		7	2	10			10
	🇨🇾 Cyprus	15	1											3			3				8
	🇩🇰 Denmark	41			3			10		3	1	6		2	6			5	5
	🇪🇸 Spain	36	2	8	1				12		2					4				1	6
	🇫🇷 France	56		5	4				1		3		3	10		2	4	6	3	3	12
	🇹🇷 Turkey	36	7	2			3			1		2			1	8	12
	🇧🇪 Belgium	7							7
	🇵🇹 Portugal	9							2												7
	🇩🇪 Germany	105	4	10	12	10	10	8		10	7		7		8	1		8		10
	🇮🇱 Israel	93	8		5	4	8	12			5	7		5	10	5	7	2	7	6	2
	🇮🇹 Italy	78		6	10	1	12	5	8	2	12		4						6	12
	🇳🇴 Norway	123	12	4		12	1	2		12		12	12	6		12	6	12	12	7	1
	🇬🇧 United Kindom	100	5	7		5	5	6	10	6	6	5	2	8	7		10	4	2	8	4
	🇨🇭 Switzerland	39		3	2	6			6	5	4	1			5			1	1	2	3
	🇸🇪 Sweden	103	10	12		8	2	7	4	7		8	6	4	12	6	8		4	5
	🇦🇹 Austria	60	3			7		1		4		10	10		2	10	1	3		4	5
	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	37				2		4			10	3	5	1	4				8
	🇬🇷 Greece	15			8		7

4.1.12 points. Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
8	🇳🇴 Norway	🇦🇹 Austria, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇮🇪 Ireland, 🇮🇱 Israel, 🇸🇪 Sweden, 🇬🇧 United Kindom
3	🇮🇹 Italy	🇱🇺 Luxembourg , 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇪🇸 Spain
2	🇸🇪 Sweden	🇫🇮 Finland, 🇳🇴 Norway
1	🇫🇷 France	🇬🇷 Greece
	🇩🇪 Germany	🇨🇾 Cyprus
	🇮🇪 Ireland	🇮🇹 Italy
	🇮🇱 Israel	🇫🇷 France
	🇪🇸 Spain	🇹🇷 Turkey
	🇹🇷 Turkey	🇨🇭 Switzerland

4.2.Spokespersons. Each country announced their votes in the order of performance. The following is a list of spokespersons who announced the votes for their respective country.

5.Broadcasts. National broadcasters were able to send a commentary team to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	–
🇦🇹 Austria	FS1	Ernst Grissemann	–
	Hitradio Ö3	Walter Richard Langer
🇧🇪 Belgium	BRT TV1	Dutch: Luc Appermont	–
	RTBF1	French: Jacques Mercier	–
	BRT Radio 2	Dutch: Paul De Meulder
	RTBF La Première	French: Jacques Olivier
🇨🇾 Cyprus	RIK	Themis Themistokleous	–
	RIK Deftero	Neophytos Taliotis
🇩🇰 Denmark	DR TV	Jørgen de Mylius	–
	DR P3	Poul Birch Eriksen
🇫🇮 Finland	YLE TV1	Heikki Harma and Kari Lumikero	–
	YLE Rinnakkaisohjelma	TBC
🇫🇷 France	Antenne 2	Patrice Laffont	–
	France Inter	Julien Lepers
🇩🇪 Germany	Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen	Ado Schlier	–
	Deutschlandfunk/hr3	Roger Horné
🇬🇷 Greece	ERT	Mako Georgiadou	–
	Proto Programma	Dimitris Konstantaras
🇮🇪 Ireland	RTÉ 1	Linda Martin
	RTÉ Radio 1	Larry Gogan
🇮🇱 Israel	Israeli Television	No commentator
	Reshet Gimel	Daniel Pe’er
🇮🇹 Italy	Rai Due	Rosanna Vaudetti
	Rai Radio 1	Franco Fabbri
🇱🇺 Luxembourg	RTL Télévision	Valérie Sarn	–
	RTL plus	Oliver Spiecker
	RTL	André Torrent
🇳🇴 Norway	NRK	Veslemøy Kjendsli	–
	NRK P1	Jahn Teigen and Erik Heyerdahl
🇵🇹 Portugal	RTP1	Eládio Clímaco	–
🇪🇸 Spain	TVE 2	Antonio Gómez Mateo	–
🇸🇪 Sweden	TV1	Fredrik Belfrage	–
	SR P3	Jan Ellerås and Rune Hallberg	–
🇨🇭 Switzerland	TV DRS	German: Bernard Thurnheer
	TSR	French: Serge Moisson
	TSI	Italian: Ezio Guidi
🇹🇷 Turkey	TRT	Başak Doğru
	TRT Radyo 3	Bülent Osma
🇬🇧 United Kindom	BBC1	Terry Wogan	–
	British Forces Radio	Richard Nankivell	–

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	–
🇦🇺 Australia	SBS TV	Unknown
🇮🇸 Iceland	Sjónvarpið	Hinrik Bjarnason
🇳🇱 the netherlands	Olympus TV[a]	Gerrit den Braber	–
🇵🇱 Poland	TP1	Bogusław Brelik
Yugoslavia	TVS 1	Snežana Lipkovska-Hadžinaumova (delayed broadcast)

6.Notes.

Although the Eurovision Song Contest was not broadcast on Dutch television live due to the Remembrance of the Dead, it was broadcast the next morning via satellite project Olympus.

← Eurovision Song Contest 1984 • Eurovision Song Contest 1985 • Eurovision Song Contest 1986 →
Countries (in order of appearance)
Final	Ireland ⦁ Finland ⦁ Cyprus ⦁ Denmark ⦁ Spain ⦁ France ⦁ Turkey ⦁ Belgium ⦁ Portugal ⦁ Germany • Israel ⦁ Italy ⦁ Norway (winner) ⦁ United Kingdom • Switzerland • Sweden ⦁ Austria ⦁ Luxembourg • Greece
Artists (in order of appearance)
Final	Maria Christian ⦁ Sonja Lumme ⦁ Lia Vissi ⦁ Hot Eyes ⦁ Paloma San Basilio ⦁ Roger Bens ⦁ MFÖ ⦁ Linda Lepomme ⦁ Adelaide ⦁ Wind ⦁ Izhar Cohen • Al Bano and Romina Power ⦁ Bobbysocks! (winner) ⦁ Vikki ⦁ Mariella Farré and Pino Gasparini • Kikki Danielsson ⦁ Gary Lux ⦁ Margo, Franck Olivier, Diane Solomon, Ireen Sheer, Malcolm Roberts and Chris Roberts ⦁ Takis Biniaris
Songs (in order of appearance)
Final	“Wait Until the Weekend Comes” ⦁ “Eläköön elämä” ⦁ “To katalava arga” (Το κατάλαβα αργά) ⦁ “Sku’ du spørg’ fra no’en?” ⦁ “La fiesta terminó” ⦁ “Femme dans ses rêves aussi” ⦁ “Didai didai dai” ⦁ “Laat me nu gaan” ⦁ “Penso em ti, eu sei” ⦁ “Für alle” ⦁ “Olé, Olé” (עולה, עולה) • “Magic Oh Magic” ⦁ “La det swinge” (winner) ⦁ “Love Is…” ⦁ “Piano, piano” • “Bra vibrationer” • “Kinder dieser Welt” • “Children, Kinder, Enfants” • “Miazoume” (Μοιάζουμε)
Non-participating entries: Belgium: Mireille Capelle – “Ik was een kind / Vannacht” •  Yugoslavia: Zorica Kondža (Зорица Конџа) & Josip Genda – “Pokora” (Penance)