winner, 1988
Celine Dion
Celine Dion represented Switzerland at Eurovision 1988 in Dublin with “Ne partez pas sans moi”, and won.
- who
- French Canadian singer
- born
- 30 March 1968, Charlemagne, Canada
- contest
- 1988
- win
- 1988
- music
- pop, electronic dance music, rock, adult contemporary music, dance-pop
- voice
- soprano
- plays
- piano
- active
- since 1980
- record labels
- Columbia Records, 550 Music, Epic Records, CBS Records International, Legacy Recordings
- sang for
- Switzerland
Biography
Céline Dion is a Canadian singer from Charlemagne, Quebec, who became a teenage star at home with eight French-language albums in the 1980s. International recognition came in 1988, when Dion won the contest in Dublin for Switzerland with “Ne partez pas sans moi”, by a single point.
Twelve English-language albums followed, among them The Colour of My Love, Falling into You and Let’s Talk About Love. With more than 200 million records sold, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist and one of the best-selling artists there has been.
Written by ESC Predictions, 8 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, “Celine Dion”.
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At Eurovision
One song, and what became of it.
-
1988 Dublin
“Ne partez pas sans moi”
Winner Won the contest with 137 points, ahead of 20 other songs.
- Sung in
- French
- Written by
- Nella Martinetti, Atilla Şereftuğ
- Conductor
- Atilla Şereftuğ
- Running order
- 9th of 21
- Age on the night
- 20
Play: Céline Dion — “Ne partez pas sans moi”, the winning performance at Eurovision 1988 hear it YouTube the contest’s channel Spotify search Apple Music search
The story of Eurovision 1988: Céline Dion, by one point, on the last vote
Away from Eurovision
Awards
- Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals 1993
- Bambi Award 1996, 1999, 2012
- Victory for the French-speaking performing artist or group 1996
- Grammy Award for Album of the Year 1997
- American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist 1998, 1999
- Officer of the National Order of Quebec 1998
- American Music Award for Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist 1999, 2001, 2003
- Blockbuster Entertainment Awards 1999
As recorded on Wikidata, which is rarely the whole list.
In the drama file
The scene from our index of scandals, mishaps and lore that Celine Dion is part of.
- 1988 The last three juries Ties and photo finishes
In our contest stories
What we wrote about Celine Dion, year by year. Follow a link for the rest of that night.
- 1988 The last three juries
Yugoslavia's votes came up in ascending order. Six of them went to Switzerland, which put it one point in front — but with the big scores still to come, that looked like nowhere near enough, and the director cut to Céline Dion in the green room, looking beaten.
- 1988 What it meant
For Switzerland it was a second victory, 32 years after it won the very first contest. "Ne partez pas sans moi" is also the last song in French to have won.
- 1989 Heidi and the Matterhorn
Then Céline Dion walked on. She sang the song she had won with a year earlier, and followed it with something nobody had heard: her first single in English, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now".
Results as published by the European Broadcasting Union. Biographical details from Wikidata. The photo is from Wikimedia Commons and is credited beside it. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.