Eurovision 1985: Gothenburg

After the theatre in Luxembourg that had no room for an audience, Sweden went the other way. The 1985 contest was held in the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, an ice hockey arena. Its capacity was cut from 14,000 to 8,000 to fit the stage in, and it was still the biggest hall and the biggest crowd the contest had known.

It was the thirtieth contest. Lys Assia, who had won the first, was in the audience.

Two absences on the same day

The date was 4 May, and it kept two countries away.

In the Netherlands it is the day of the Remembrance of the Dead. In Yugoslavia it was the anniversary of the death of President Tito. Neither broadcaster would take part in a song contest that night.

For the Netherlands it was a first. It had been in every contest since the beginning.

Greece and Israel returned, so the total stayed at nineteen.

A presenter who sang

Lill Lindfors was a singer, and had finished second for Sweden in 1966. She opened the show with a song of her own — the first time a presenter had performed during the contest.

The skirt

She is remembered for something else.

When Lindfors walked back on after the interval, the skirt of her outfit caught on the set and tore away, leaving her standing in what was left. It looked like a disaster. Then she unclipped the top half of the costume, which unfolded into a full dress, walked to the microphone and said: “I just wanted you to wake up a little.”

Familiar faces

Izhar Cohen, Israel’s winner of 1978, was back and finished fifth. Italy sent Al Bano and Romina Power again, nine years after their first try.

The two women who made up Norway’s duo, Bobbysocks, both had form. Hanne Krogh had sung for Norway in 1971. Elisabeth Andreasson had sung for Sweden in 1982, as half of a duo — and her partner from that night, Kikki Danielsson, was in Gothenburg as Sweden’s entry.

Norway

No country had a worse record. Norway had finished last six times, three of them without a single point, and had been in the top five only twice.

It won. “La det swinge”, written by Rolf Løvland, finished on 123 points, eighteen ahead of Germany. Sweden and Danielsson were third and the United Kingdom fourth.

On stage afterwards, Lindfors could not resist bringing up the six last places.

It was an odd sort of victory when you looked at the figures. Eight juries gave Norway their twelve. The other ten that could vote for it gave it 27 points between them. And 123 is the lowest total any winner has had since the twelve-point system began.

Bobbysocks sang part of the reprise in English, as “Let It Swing”.