The Eurovision Song Contest 1983 was the 28th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Munich, West Germany, following the country's victory at the 1982 contest with the song "Ein bißchen Frieden" by Nicole. Although this was Germany's first victory, 1983 was the second time Germany had hosted the contest, having previously done so in 1957. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) on behalf of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD), the contest was held at the Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle on 23 April 1983 and was hosted by German dancer Marlene Charell.
Twenty countries took part this year, with France, Greece and Italy all returning this year, while Ireland decided not to participate.
The winner was Luxembourg with the song "Si la vie est cadeau" by Corinne Hermes, which equalled the record of 5 victories set by France in 1977. This record would in turn be beaten by Ireland in 1994. It was also the second year in a row where the winning entry was performed last on the night and the second year in a row in which Israel won 2nd place. For the third year in a row, at least one country ended up with nul points, and in this case, it happened to be two countries, Spain and Turkey, neither of whom were able to get off the mark.
The 1983 contest was the first to be televised in Australia, via Channel 0/28 (now the Special Broadcasting Service) in Sydney and Melbourne. The contest went on to become popular in Australia, leading to the country's eventual debut at the 60th anniversary contest in 2015.
Results[]
Country in gold is the winning entry and the country in silver is the host country.
| Rank | Country | EBU member station | Artist | Song | Conductor | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Luxembourg | CLT | Corinne Hermès | "Si la vie est cadeau" | Michel Bernholc | 142 |
| 02 | Israel | IBA | Ofra Haza | "Hi" (חי) | Silvio Nanssi Brandes | 136 |
| 03 | Sweden | SVT | Carola Häggkvist | "Främling" | Anders Ekdahl | 126 |
| 04 | Yugoslavia | JRT | Daniel | "Džuli" (Џули) | Radovan Papović | 125 |
| 05 | Germany | ARD/BR | Hoffmann and Hoffmann | "Rücksicht" | Dieter Reith | 94 |
| 06 | United Kingdom | BBC | Sweet Dreams | "I'm Never Giving Up" | John Coleman | 79 |
| 07 | Netherlands | NOS | Bernadette | "Sing Me a Song" | Piet Souer | 66 |
| 08 | France | Antenne 2 | Guy Bonnet | "Vivre" | François Rauber | 56 |
| 09 | Norway | NRK | Jahn Teigen | "Do Re Mi" | Sigurd Jansen | 53 |
| Austria | ORF | Westend | "Hurricane" | Richard Oesterreicher | 53 | |
| 11 | Italy | RAI | Riccardo Fogli | "Per Lucia" | Maurizio Fabrizio | 41 |
| Finland | YLE | Ami Aspelund | "Fantasiaa" | Ossi Runne | 41 | |
| 13 | Portugal | RTP | Armando Gama | "Esta balada que te dou" | Mike Sergeant | 33 |
| 14 | Greece | ERT | Christie | "Mou les" (Μου λες) | Mimis Plessas | 32 |
| 15 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Mariella Farré | "Io così non ci sto" | Robert Weber | 28 |
| 16 | Cyprus | CyBC | Stavros and Constantina | "I agapi akoma zi" (Η αγάπη ακόμα ζει) | Mihalis Rozakis | 26 |
| 17 | Denmark | DR | Gry Johansen | "Kloden drejer" | Allan Botschinsky | 16 |
| 18 | Belgium | BRT | Pas de Deux | "Rendez-vous" | Freddy Sunder | 13 |
| 19 | Turkey | TRT | Çetin Alp and the Short Wave | "Opera" | Buğra Uğur | 0 |
| Spain | TVE | Remedios Amaya | "Quién maneja mi barca" | José Miguel Évoras | 0 |
Broadcasts[]
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | FS2 | Ernst Grissemann | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | TV1 | Luc Appermont | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | Télé 2 | Jacques Mercier | |
| Cyprus | RIK | Fryni Papadopoulou | Unknown |
| Denmark | DR TV | Jørgen de Mylius | Bent Evold |
| Finland | TV1 | Erkki Pohjanheimo | Unknown |
| Rinnakkaisohjelma | Markus Similä | ||
| France | Antenne 2 | Léon Zitrone | Unknown |
| Germany | Deutsches Fernsehen, Bayern 1, Frankfurt 1, NDR 2, RIAS 1 | Ado Schlier | Unknown |
| Greece | ERT, B Programma | Unknown | Unknown |
| Israel | Israeli Television, Reshet Bet | No commentator | Unknown |
| Italy | Rete Uno | Paolo Frajese | Unknown |
| Luxembourg | RTL Télévision | Unknown | Unknown |
| Netherlands | Nederland 1 | Willem Duys | Unknown |
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet | Ivar Dyrhaug | Unknown |
| NRK | Erik Heyerdahl | ||
| Portugal | RTP1 | Eládio Clímaco | Unknown |
| Antena 1 | Unknown | ||
| Spain | TVE 1 | José-Miguel Ullán | Rosa Campano |
| Sweden | TV1 | Ulf Elfving | Agneta Bolme Börjefors |
| SR P3 | Kent Finell | ||
| Switzerland (German) | TV DRS | Theodor Haller | Unknown |
| Switzerland (French) | TSR | Georges Hardy | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI | Giovanni Bertini | |
| Turkey | TRT Televizyon | Unknown | Unknown |
| United Kingdom | BBC1 | Terry Wogan | Colin Berry |
| BFBS Radio | Richard Nankivell | ||
| Yugoslavia | TV Beograd 1, TV Novi Sad, TV Zagreb 1 | Oliver Mlakar | Unknown |
| TV Ljubljana 1 | Unknown |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Channel 0/28 | Terry Wogan |
| Czechoslovakia | ČST2 | Unknown |
| Faroe Islands | SVF | Jørgen de Mylius |
| Greenland | KNR | Jørgen de Mylius |
| Iceland | Sjónvarpið | Unknown |
| Ireland | RTÉ 1 | Terry Wogan |
| RTÉ Radio 1 | Brendan Balfe | |
| Poland | TP1 | Unknown |
| Romania | Programul 1 | Unknown |
| South Africa | Radio 5 | Unknown |
Broadcast notes[]
- Australia - The show was broadcast on Channel 0/28 deferred on 24 April 1983 at 19:30 AEST.
- Czechoslovakia - The show was broadcast on ČST2 on a delayed basis on 20 May 1983 at 22:00 CEST.
- Faroe Islands - The show was broadcast on SVF on a delayed basis on 1 May 1983 at 20:00 WET.
- Greenland - The show was broadcast on KNR on a delayed basis on 30 April 1983 at 20:20 GNST.
- Italy - The show was broadcast on Rete Uno deferred at 22:00 CEST.
- Martinique - The show was broadcast on RFO-Martinique on a delayed basis on 8 June 1983 at 20:02 AST.
- Norway - The show was broadcast on NRK deferred at 22:50 CEST.
- Poland - The show was broadcast on TP1 on a delayed basis on 21 May 1983 at 20:15 CEST.
- Romania - The show was broadcast on Programul 1 on a delayed basis and in a shortened format on 30 April 1983 at 22:20 EET.
- Switzerland - TSR and TSI broadcast the show through a second audio programme on TV DRS.