Eurovision 1986: Bergen

Norway had been the contest’s running joke: last six times, three of them on zero. Then it won, and it was not going to host quietly.

Norwegian television turned down Oslo and three other cities and took the 1986 contest to Bergen, the most northerly place it has ever been held. The Grieghallen was dressed as a Viking ice palace, in white and pastel neon. The royal family came.

The presenter and the dress

Åse Kleveland had sung for Norway in 1966 and by now led the country’s musicians’ association. She opened the show by singing, in several languages, in a dress encrusted with diamonds that had been made for the occasion. It is still kept in the broadcaster’s costume department in Oslo.

The BBC’s commentator, Terry Wogan, was not sure about the singing. “Katie Boyle never sang, did she?” he said when she finished.

Kleveland’s welcome made a joke of her country’s history. Norway’s path through the contest, she told the audience, had been a thorny one — so imagine the joy of finally winning.

Real postcards

For the only time, the postcards were postcards. Each film opened on a Norwegian view, then flipped over to show a greeting written in the language of the next song, complete with a Norwegian stamp chosen to match the picture. Then it flipped back, with the singers now standing in the landscape.

A sixteen-year-old in the interval

The interval act toured the sights and sounds of Bergen with two Norwegian musicians. One was the folk instrumentalist Steinar Ofsdal. The other was a singer of 16 whom nobody outside Norway had heard of, Sissel Kyrkjebø. It was her first international appearance, and the start of an international career.

Twenty-two become twenty

A record 22 countries were expected. Iceland entered for the first time, and the Netherlands and Yugoslavia came back.

Italy decided against it. And Greece, which had already chosen its singer and song, withdrew late: the contest fell on Holy Saturday in the Orthodox calendar.

Iceland’s debut finished sixteenth.

A record score

Belgium’s Sandra Kim sang “J’aime la vie” and took the lead when the second of the twenty juries reported. She never lost it. Every jury gave her something; all but one gave her at least five points; five gave her the full twelve.

She finished on 176 points, the highest total anyone had ever scored, and it stood as the record for seven years. Switzerland’s Daniela Simons was 36 behind in second, and Luxembourg third.

It meant something more in Belgium. Seven countries had taken part in the first contest in 1956. Six had won it since. Belgium was the last.

The hosts, for once, got no help from the juries. None gave Norway’s song more than six points.

Thirteen

The words of Kim’s song suggested that she was 15. After the contest it came out that she was 13.

Switzerland, the runner-up, appealed to have her disqualified. The appeal failed and the result stood.

She remains the youngest winner there has been, and probably always will. The rules now say performers must be at least 16.