ESC LUXEMBOURG 1984 (29ª)

1984.jpg

  • Dates – Grand Final: Saturday, 05 May 1984 – 21:00 CEST
  • Host – Venue & Location: Théâtre Municipal / Théâtre Municipal de la Ville de Luxembourg (Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg), Luxembourg City, 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
  • Presenter (s)Desirée Nosbusch
  • Musical Director: Pierre Cao
  • Director: René Steichen
  • Executive Producer: Ray Van Cant
  • Executive Supervisor: Frank Naef
  • Multicamera Director: René Steichen
  • Host broadcaster: Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT/RTL)
  • Opening Act: In an introductory video, Pierre Cao and the RTL orchestra performed instrumental versions of all the past Eurovision winners from Luxembourg and L’amour est bleu, one of Luxembourg’s most popular entries.
  • Interval Act: Prague Theatre of Illuminated Drawings
  • Participants – Number of entries: 19 [🇧🇪 Belgium (26ª), 🇩🇪 Germany (26ª), 🇳🇱 The Netherlands (26ª), 🇨🇭 Switzerland (26ª), 🇬🇧 United Kindom (24ª), 🇪🇸 Spain (21ª), 🇱🇺 Luxembourg (25ª), 🇫🇮 Finland (20ª), 🇳🇴 Norway (21ª), 🇵🇹 Portugal (17ª), 🇦🇹 Austria (22ª), 🇸🇪 Sweden (22ª), 🇩🇰 Denmark (17ª), 🇹🇷 Turkey (7ª),  Yugoslavia (19ª), 🇨🇾 Cyprus (4ª), 🇫🇷 France (25ª), 🇮🇹 Italy (24ª), 🇮🇪 Ireland (16ª)]
  • Debuting countries:
  • Return: 🇮🇪 Ireland (16ª)
  • Non-returning countries: 🇬🇷 Greece (6ª), 🇮🇱 Israel (7ª)
  • Vote – Voting system: Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs.
  • Nil Points:
  • Winning song: 1f3c6 “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley” – Herreys – 🇸🇪 Sweden (2ª)

Logo ESC 1984

AboutLuxembourg hosted the contest for the 4th last time after Corinne Hermès’ victory the year before.After having held the contest last in 1973, Luxembourg played the host for the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest. The total number of participants was 19, one country less than in the preceding year as Greece decided not to enter a song. The contest also clashed with Israel’s Remembrance Day, so the country wasn’t present in Luxembourg either. Ireland returned to the contest though, finishing second. The Irish song was written by former Eurovision winner, Johnny Logan, under his real name Sean Sherrard. The song “Terminal 3” was performed by Linda Martin, who later returned to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992. 

Sweden strikes gold. Sweden unexpectedly won the contest with the song “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley” performed by three brothers called Herrey’s. The Swedish brothers performed first on the night and won over the juries with their catchy tune, energetic dance routine and their golden boots. The song became a hit in many countries, but is still ridiculed today due to its nonsensical title.  The Italian entry “I Treni Di Tozeur” by Alice and Franco Battiato also became a smash hit in Europe despite the fact that it only came fifth on the night.

Facts and figures. The host country, Luxembourg, initially had problems finding a suitable venue. RTL decided to hold the contest in the tiny Théâtre Municipal and as a consequence, only VIPs, press and members of each country’s delegation were allowed in; The presenter of the show, Desirée Nosbusch, was only 19 years old when she presented the contest; Booing from the audience can be heard after the UK entry had been performed. There are different theories as to why this happened. One explanation is that it was revenge for the actions of some English football fans who had rioted in Luxembourg prior to the contest. Another possible reason was the use of off-stage backing singers which gave the impression that the performers on-stage were miming their vocals. 

o/r  country participant(s) song – translate – LANGUAGE    Points  rank
01 🇸🇪 Sweden SVT Herrey’s Diggi-loo diggi-ley Swedish 145 01
02 🇱🇺 Luxembourg CLT Sophie Carle 100% d’amour (100% of love) French 039 10
03 🇫🇷 France A2F Annick Thoumazeau Autant d’amoureux que d’étoiles (As many lovers as stars) French 061 08
04 🇪🇸 Spain TVE Bravo Lady, lady Spanish [a] 106 03
05 🇳🇴 Norway NRK Dollie de Luxe Lenge leve livet (Long live life) Norwegian 029 17
06 🇬🇧 United Kindom BBC Belle & The Devotions Love games English 063 07
07 🇨🇾 Cyprus CyBC Andy Paul Anna Mari-Elena (Άννα Μαρία Λένα) Greek 031 15
08 🇧🇪 Belgium RTBF Jacques Zegers Avanti la vie (Go forward in life) French [b] 070 05
09 🇮🇪 Ireland RTÉ Linda Martin Terminal 3 English 137 02
10 🇩🇰 Denmark DR Hot Eyes Det’ lige det (That’s just it) Danish 101 04
11 🇳🇱 The Netherlands NOS Maribelle Ik hou van jou (I love you) Dutch 034 13
12  Yugoslavia JRT Vlado & Izolda (Владо и Изолда) Ciao, amore (Ћао аморе; Goodbye, my love) Serbo-Croatian [b] 026 18
13 🇦🇹 Austria ÖRF Anita Einfach weg (Just get away) German 005 19
14 🇩🇪 Germany ARD Mary Roos Aufrecht geh’n (Walk tall) German 034 13
15 🇹🇷 Turkey TRT Beş Yıl Önce, On Yıl Sonra Halay Turkish 037 12
16 🇫🇮 Finland YLE Kirka Hengaillaan (Let’s hang around) Finnish 046 09
17 🇨🇭 Switzerland SSR SRG Rainy Day Welche farbe hat der sonnenschein? (What colour is the sunshine?) German 030 16
18 🇮🇹 Italy RAI Alice & Franco Battiato I treni di Tozeur (The trains of Tozeur) Italian [c] 070 05
19 🇵🇹 Portugal RTP Maria Guinot Silêncio e tanta gente (Silence and so many people) Portuguese 038 11

Partecipazione mancate

🇮🇱 Israel: “Balalaika” (בללייקה) (Hebrew) – Ilanit (אילנית). Israel withdrew from the contest due to Yom Hazikaron (Day of Remembrance for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism) being commemorated on the same date. At that time Ilanit was already one of Israel’s most popular singers and the song “Balalaika” became an instant hit, despite not taking part.

Participant map

A coloured map of the countries of Europe

Transmitirá a 2º semifinal noutro horário. Participating countries  Transmitirá a 1º semifinal em direto. Countries that participated in the past but not in 1984

ESC 1984 Scoreboard Ι Detailed voting results:

Scoreboard - Eurovision Song Contest 1984

The Eurovision Song Contest 1984, the 29th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country’s victory at the 1983 contest with the song “Si la vie est cadeau” by Corinne Hermes. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster RTL Télévision (RTL), the contest was held at the Théâtre Municipal on 5 May 1984 and was hosted by Luxembourgish actress Désirée Nosbusch, who was only 19 years of age making her the youngest presenter in Eurovision history.

Nineteen countries took part in the contest. Israel did not enter due to it conflicting with the country’s Yom HaZikaron holiday. Greece was also absent. On the other hand, Ireland, who had not participated the previous year, returned this year. Iceland was also going to participate for the first time but withdrew due to lack of financial support.

The winner was Sweden with the song “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley” performed by Herreys. This was the first winning song in Swedish, as ABBA had performed “Waterloo” in English when they won in 1974. Richard and Louis Herrey became the first teenage males to win Eurovision and as of 2021 remain the youngest ever male winners, being 19 years and 260 days and 18 years and 184 days of age respectively.

Grand Théâtre, Luxembourg City – host venue of the 1984 contest.

1.Location. Luxembourg City is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg. The city contains the historic Luxembourg Castle, established by the Franks in the Early Middle Ages, around which a settlement developed.

The Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, inaugurated in 1964 as the Théâtre Municipal de la Ville de Luxembourg, became the venue for the 1984 contest. It is the city’s major venue for drama, opera and ballet. It also hosted the 1973 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.

2.Format. Roland de Groot, who had also designed the set for the 1970, 1976 and 1980 contests, returned with a stage concept similar to that of 1976, using translucent panels of varying shapes suspended above the stage and operated on a pully system of ropes, with color changes for each panel to create unique backdrops for each entry. Unusually, the live orchestra was not seen on camera, being positioned slightly under the stage itself in a traditional orchestra pit, out of sight of the cameras.

The presentation by Désirée Nosbusch, a Luxembourg native working and living in the USA, made her at 19 years-of-age the youngest ever host of the competition. She hosted the show in a lax manner, which was quite unusual for the show at the time. Her style was also unusual in that rather than making announcements in multiple languages, she instead switched between English, French, German and Luxembourgish mid-sentence, not finishing any of her announcements in a single language.

The postcards in between each song were of a similar concept to those first devised for the 1979 competition and featured mime artists virtually visiting each of the participant nations. The actors, known collectively as “The Tourists” were superimposed into animated representations of the tourist attractions of each country, with the combined use of animated and real props, all created using the Chroma-Key process.

1984 is also notable for the audible booing that could be heard from the audience, particularly at the end of the UK’s performance. It was said that the booing was due to English football hooligans having rioted in Luxembourg in November 1983 after failing to qualify for the 1984 UEFA European Football Championship.

3.Participating countries. Nineteen participating countries competed this year. Israel did not enter due to it conflicting with the country’s Yom HaZikaron holiday. Greece was also absent. Ireland, who had not participated the previous year, returned this year. Iceland was also going to participate for the first time but withdrew due to lack of financial support.

3.1.Conductors. Each performance had a conductor who directed the orchestra.

  • 🇸🇪 Sweden – Curt-Eric Holmquist
  • 🇱🇺 Luxembourg – Pascal Stivé
  • 🇫🇷 France – François Rauber
  • 🇪🇸 Spain – Eddy Guerin
  • 🇳🇴 Norway – Sigurd Jansen
  • 🇬🇧 United Kindom – John Coleman
  • 🇨🇾 Cyprus – Pierre Cao
  • 🇧🇪 Belgium – Jo Carlier
  • 🇮🇪 Ireland – Noel Kelehan
  • 🇩🇰 Denmark – Henrik Krogsgaard
  • 🇳🇱 The Netherlands – Rogier van Otterloo
  •  Yugoslavia – Mato Došen 
  • 🇦🇹 Austria – Richard Oesterreicher 
  • 🇩🇪 Germany – Pierre Cao
  • 🇹🇷 Turkey – Selçuk Basar
  • 🇫🇮 Finland – Ossi Runne
  • 🇨🇭 Switzerland – Mario Robbiani
  • 🇮🇹 Italy – Giusto Pio
  • 🇵🇹 Portugal – Pedro Osório 

3.2.Returning artists.

Artist Country Previous year(s)
Mary Roos 🇩🇪 Germany 1972
Kit Rolfe (part of Belle and the Devotions) 🇬🇧 United Kindom 1983 (backing singer)
Izolda Barudžija (part of Vlado & Isolda)  Yugoslavia 1982 (part of Aska), 1983 (part of Danijel’s back vocals)
Gary Lux (backing singer for Anita) 🇦🇹 Austria 1983 (as member of Westend)

3.3.Participants and results. 

3.4.All the national selections for Eurovision Song Contest 1984: 

• National Selections in 1984:

COUNTRY EVENT WINNER
🇦🇹 Austria (Austrian Selection 1984) Anita – “Einfach weg
🇧🇪 Belgium Eurosong 1984 Jacques Zegers – “Avanti la vie
🇨🇾 Cyprus (Cypriot Selection 1984) Andy Paul – “Anna Maria Lena” (Άννα Μαρία Λένα)
🇩🇰 Denmark Melodi Grand Prix 1984 Kirsten & Søren / Hot Eyes – “Det’ lige det
🇫🇮 Finland (Finnish Selection 1984) Kirka – “Hengaillaan
🇫🇷 France (French Selection 1984) Annick Thoumazeau – “Autant d’amoureux que d’étoiles
🇩🇪 Germany Ein Lied für Luxemburg Mary Roos – “Aufrecht geh’n
🇮🇪 Ireland (Irish Selection 1984) Linda Martin – “Terminal 3”
🇳🇱 The Netherlands Nationaal Songfestival 1984 Maribelle – “Ik hou van jou
🇳🇴 Norway Melodi Grand Prix 1984 Dollie De Luxe – “Lenge leve livet
🇵🇹 Portugal Festival da Canção 1984 Maria Guinot – “Silêncio e tanta gente
🇸🇪 Sweden Melodifestival 1984 Herreys – “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley”
🇨🇭 Switzerland Concours Eurovision 1984 Rainy Day – “Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein?
🇹🇷 Turkey Şarkı Yarışması 1984 Beş Yıl Önce, On Yıl Sonra – “Halay
🇬🇧 United Kindom A Song for Europe 1984 Belle and the Devotions – “Love Games”
 Yugoslavia Jugovizija 1984 Ida & Vlado / Vlado and Isolda – Ljubavna priča br. 1 / Ciao, amore

• Internal Selections in 1984: 

🇮🇹 Italy Alice & Battiato (Alice and Franco Battiato) – “I treni di Tozeur
🇱🇺 Luxembourg Sophie Carle – “100% d’amour
🇪🇸 Spain Bravo – “Lady, Lady”

3.5.Connections:

4.Voting. Each country had a jury that awarded one to eight, 10 and 12 points for their top ten songs.

At the close of the penultimate jury’s votes, there was only a difference of six points between Sweden and Ireland, at 141 and 135 respectively. However, Yugoslavia was the only country who had not given any points to Ireland, and Portugal, the last jury, gave them only two points, crushing their chances. Portugal’s voting also cost Denmark, who had been holding at a strong third position, even leading the scoreboard for a short time, a potential victory, when Portugal’s 12 lifted Spain from 94 to 106 points. Portugal at the same time had only given Denmark one point making Denmark’s total 101 points. Despite this, this was the latter country’s best position in over 20 years.

Voting results
Total score
Suedia Luxemburg Franța Spania Norvegia Regatul Unit Cipru Belgia Irlanda Danemarca Țările de Jos Iugoslavia Austria Germania Turcia Finlanda Elveția Italia Portugalia
C
o
n
t
e
s
t
a
n
t
s
🇸🇪 Sweden 145 6 6 4 10 7 12 7 12 12 10 4 12 12 3 8 10 6 4
🇱🇺 Luxembourg 39 7 7 5 5 8 4 3
🇫🇷 France 61 2 2 6 3 10 12 8 4 7 7
🇪🇸 Spain 106 10 8 10 6 4 6 3 7 7 2 2 6 12 3 8 12
🇳🇴 Norway 29 8 7 1 3 2 6 2
🇬🇧 United Kindom 63 3 1 3 8 2 2 8 1 4 1 2 7 1 4 10 6
🇨🇾 Cyprus 31 4 1 4 10 12
🇧🇪 Belgium 70 12 12 2 3 8 3 4 5 10 1 10
🇮🇪 Ireland 137 12 5 3 10 4 8 10 12 3 7 10 10 10 7 12 12 2
🇩🇰 Denmark 101 5 3 8 6 12 12 5 8 10 3 6 4 5 2 5 1 5 1
🇳🇱 The Netherlands 34 2 7 8 1 6 5 5
 Yugoslavia 26 2 3 8 3 8 2
🇦🇹 Austria 5 1 4
🇩🇪 Germany 34 4 7 2 6 2 5 1 2 5
🇹🇷 Turkey 37 6 5 4 2 1 10 3 6
🇫🇮 Finland 46 7 5 1 5 4 6 3 5 1 6 3
🇨🇭 Switzerland 30 1 10 1 5 8 1 4
🇮🇹 Italy 70 10 12 1 7 6 7 12 7 8
🇵🇹 Portugal 38 4 5 6 7 8 8

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

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

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.

  • 🇸🇪 Sweden – Agneta Bolme Börjefors
  • 🇱🇺 Luxembourg – Jacques Harvey
  • 🇫🇷 France – Nicole André
  • 🇪🇸 Spain – Matilde Jarrín
  • 🇳🇴 Norway – Egil Teige
  • 🇬🇧 United Kindom – Colin Berry
  • 🇨🇾 Cyprus – Anna Partelidou
  • 🇧🇪 Belgium – Jacques Olivier
  • 🇮🇪 Ireland – John Skehan
  • 🇩🇰 Denmark – Bent Henius
  • 🇳🇱 The Netherlands – Flip van der Schalie
  •  Yugoslavia – Snežana Lipkovska-Hadžinaumova
  • 🇦🇹 Austria – Tilia Herold
  • 🇩🇪 Germany – Ruth Kappelsberger
  • 🇹🇷 Turkey – Fatih Orbay
  • 🇫🇮 Finland – Solveig Herlin
  • 🇨🇭 Switzerland – Michel Stocker
  • 🇮🇹 Italy – Mariolina Cannuli
  • 🇵🇹 Portugal – João Abel Fonseca

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. According to host Sophie Carle, thirty countries broadcast the 1984 contest.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s)
🇦🇹 Austria FS2 Ernst Grissemann 
🇧🇪 Belgium RTBF1 French: Jacques Mercier
BRT TV1 Dutch: Luc Appermont
🇨🇾 Cyprus RIK Pavlos Pavlou
🇩🇰 Denmark DR TV Jørgen de Mylius
🇫🇮 Finland YLE TV1 Heikki Seppälä 
YLE Rinnakkaisohjelma Jaakko Salonoja 
🇫🇷 France Antenne 2 Léon Zitrone
🇩🇪 Germany Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen Ado Schlier 
Deutschlandfunk Roger Horné 
🇮🇪 Ireland RTÉ 1 Gay Byrne
RTÉ Radio 1 Larry Gogan
🇮🇹 Italy Rai Due Antonio De Robertis
Rai Radio 1
🇱🇺 Luxembourg RTL Télévision Valérie Sarn and Jacques Navadic
RTL plus Helmut Thoma [de] and Karlchen 
🇳🇱 The Netherlands Nederland 1 Ivo Niehe
🇳🇴 Norway NRK Roald Øyen
🇵🇹 Portugal RTP1 Fialho Gouveia
🇪🇸 Spain TVE 2 José-Miguel Ullán
🇸🇪 Sweden TV1 Fredrik Belfrage
🇨🇭 Switzerland TV DRS German: Bernard Thurnheer
TSR French: Serge Moisson 
TSI Italian: Ezio Guidi 
🇹🇷 Turkey TRT Başak Doğru
🇬🇧 United Kindom BBC1 Terry Wogan
British Forces Radio Richard Nankivell
 Yugoslavia TVB 2 Serbo-Croatian: Mladen Popović
TVZ 1 Serbo-Croatian: Oliver Mlakar
TVL 1 Slovene: Tomaž Terček 
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s)
Network 0–28 Unknown
Sjónvarpið Unknown
🇮🇱 Israel Israeli Television No commentator (delayed broadcast)

6.Notes.

  • [a] Contains some words in English
  • [b] a b Contains some words in Italian
  • [c] Contains some words in German

7.Trivial / Fun facts.

  • The Italian entry I Treni Di Tozeur became a smash hit in Europe despite the fact that it only came fifth.
  • The Irish song was written by former and future Eurovision winner, Johnny Logan, under his real name Sean Sherrard.
  • Terminal 3 was performed by Linda Martin, who won in 1992 with another Johnny Logan song, Why Me?

← Eurovision Song Contest 1983 • Eurovision Song Contest 1984 • Eurovision Song Contest 1985 →

Countries (in order of appearance)

Final Sweden (winner) ⦁ Luxembourg ⦁ France ⦁ Spain ⦁ Norway ⦁ United Kingdom ⦁ Cyprus ⦁ Belgium ⦁ Ireland ⦁ Denmark • The Netherlands ⦁ Yugoslavia ⦁ Austria ⦁ Germany • Turkey • Finland ⦁ Switzerland ⦁ Italy • Portugal 

Artists (in order of appearance)

Final Herreys (winner) ⦁ Sophie CarleAnnick ThoumazeauBravoDollie de LuxeBelle and the Devotions ⦁ Andy Paul ⦁ Jacques Zegers ⦁ Linda Martin ⦁ Hot Eyes ⦁ Maribelle • Vlado and Isolda ⦁ Anita ⦁ Mary Roos ⦁ Beş Yıl Önce, On Yıl Sonra • Kirka ⦁ Rainy Day ⦁ Alice and Franco Battiato ⦁ Maria Guinot  

Songs (in order of appearance)

Final “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley” (winner) ⦁ “100% d’amour” ⦁ “Autant d’amoureux que d’étoiles” ⦁ “Lady, Lady” ⦁ “Lenge leve livet” ⦁ “Love Games” ⦁ “Anna Maria Lena” (Άννα Μαρία Λένα) ⦁ “Avanti la vie” ⦁ “Terminal 3” ⦁ “Det’ lige det” ⦁ “Ik hou van jou” • “Ciao, amore” ⦁ “Einfach weg” ⦁ “Aufrecht geh’n” ⦁ “Halay” • “Hengaillaan” • “Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein?” • “I treni di Tozeur” • “Silêncio e tanta gente
Non-participating entries: Israel: Ilanit (אילנית) – “Balalaika” (בללייקה)