The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 4 May 1985 in the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), and presented by Lill Lindfors, the contest was held in Sweden following the country's victory at the 1984 contest with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" by Herreys.
Nineteen countries participated in the contest; Greece and Israel returned after a one-year absence, while the Netherlands and Yugoslavia, which had participated in the previous year's event, declined to enter due to separate memorial events in those countries coinciding with the date of the contest.
The winner was Norway with the song "La det swinge", composed and written by Rolf Løvland and performed by the group Bobbysocks!. This was Norway's first contest victory, and only the third top five placing for a country which had placed last on six previous occasions, including three times receiving nul points. With a total of 123 points, "La det swinge" remains the lowest scoring winner under the voting system used between 1975 and 2015. Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Israel rounded out the top five positions.
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 | Norway | NRK | Bobbysocks! | "La det swinge" | Terje Fjærn | 123 |
| 02 | Germany | ARD/BR | Wind | "Für alle" | Rainer Pietsch | 105 |
| 03 | Sweden | SVT | Kikki Danielsson | "Bra vibrationer" | Curt-Eric Holmquist | 103 |
| 04 | United Kingdom | BBC | Vikki | "Love Is" | John Coleman | 100 |
| 05 | Israel | IBA | Izhar Cohen | "Olé, Olé" (עולה, עולה) | Kobi Oshrat | 93 |
| 06 | Ireland | RTÉ | Maria Christian | "Wait Until the Weekend Comes" | Noel Kelehan | 91 |
| 07 | Italy | RAI | Al Bano and Romina Power | "Magic, Oh Magic" | Fiorenzo Zanotti | 78 |
| 08 | Austria | ORF | Gary Lux | "Kinder dieser Welt" | Richard Oesterreicher | 60 |
| 09 | Finland | YLE | Sonja Lumme | "Eläköön elämä" | Ossi Runne | 58 |
| 10 | France | A2 | Roger Bens | "Femme dans ses rêves aussi" | Michel Bernholc | 56 |
| 11 | Denmark | DR | Hot Eyes | "Sku' du spørg' fra no'en" | Wolfgang Käfer | 41 |
| 12 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Mariella Farré and Pino Gasparini | "Piano, piano" | Anita Kerr | 39 |
| 13 | Luxembourg | CLT | Margo, Franck Olivier, Chris Roberts, Malcolm Roberts, Ireen Sheer and Diane Solomon | "Children, Kinder, Enfants" | Norbert Daum | 37 |
| 14 | Spain | TVE | Paloma San Basilio | "La fiesta terminó" | Juan Carlos Calderón | 36 |
| 14 | Turkey | TRT | MFÖ | "Didai didai dai" | Garo Mafyan | 36 |
| 16 | Cyprus | CyBC | Lia Vissi | "To katalava arga" (Το κατάλαβα αργά) | Haris Andreadis | 15 |
| 16 | Greece | ERT | Takis Biniaris | "Miazoume" (Μοιάζουμε) | Haris Andreadis | 15 |
| 18 | Portugal | RTP | Adelaide | "Penso em ti, eu sei" | José Calvário | 9 |
| 19 | Belgium | BRT | Linda Lepomme | "Laat me nu gaan" | Curt-Eric Holmquist | 7 |
Broadcasts[]
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | FS1 | Ernst Grissemann | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | TV1 | Luc Appermont | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | RTBF1 | Jacques Mercier | |
| Cyprus | RIK, A Programma | Themis Themistokleous | Unknown |
| Denmark | DR TV | Jørgen de Mylius | Unknown |
| Finland | TV1, Rinnakkaisohjelma | Kari Lumikero | Unknown |
| France | Antenne 2 | Patrice Laffont | Unknown |
| Germany | Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen | Ado Schlier | Unknown |
| Greece | ERT | Mako Georgiadou | Unknown |
| Ireland | RTÉ 1 | Linda Martin | Unknown |
| RTÉ Radio 1 | Larry Gogan | ||
| Israel | Israeli Television, Reshet Gimel | No commentator | Unknown |
| Italy | Rai Due | Rosanna Vaudetti | Unknown |
| RaiStereoUno | Unknown | ||
| Luxembourg | RTL Télévision | Valérie Sarn | Unknown |
| RTL plus | Oliver Spiecker | ||
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet | Veslemøy Kjendsli | Unknown |
| NRK P1 | Jahn Teigen, Erik Heyerdahl | ||
| Portugal | RTP1 | Eládio Clímaco | Unknown |
| Spain | TVE 2 | Antonio Gómez Mateo | Unknown |
| Sweden | TV1 | Fredrik Belfrage | Agneta Bolme Börjefor |
| SR P3 | Jan Ellerås, Rune Hallberg | ||
| Switzerland (German) | SF DRS | Bernard Thurnheer | Unknown |
| Switzerland (French) | TSR | Serge Moisson | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI | Ezio Guidi | |
| Turkey | TRT Televizyon | Unknown | Unknown |
| United Kingdom | BBC1 | Terry Wogan | Colin Berry |
| BFBS Radio | Richard Nankivell |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | SBS TV | Unknown |
| Czechoslovakia | ČST2 | Unknown |
| Faroe Islands | SVF | Jørgen de Mylius |
| Greenland | KNR | Jørgen de Mylius |
| Iceland | Sjónvarpið | Hinrik Bjarnason |
| Malaysia | TV3 | Unknown |
| Martinique | Second canal de RFO | Unknown |
| Netherlands | Olympus | Gerrit den Braber |
| Poland | TP1 | Unknown |
| Romania | Programul 1 | Unknown |
Broadcast notes[]
- Australia - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis on the next day at 19:30 AEST.
- Faroe Islands - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis on 11 May 1985 at 21:30 WET.
- Greenland - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis on 18 May 1985 at 21:45 GNST.
- Italy - The show was broadcast on a deferred basis on 22:30 CEST.
- Malaysia - The show was broadcast on 1 June 1985 at 20:30 MST as TV3's first anniversary of their 'pilot' operation.
- Martinique - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis on 5 June 1985 at 20:26 AST.
- Netherlands - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis on 6 May at 10:00 CEST.
- Norway - The show was broadcast on a deferred basis on NRK P1 at 22:55 CEST.
- Poland - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis on 25 May 1985 at 20:00 CEST.
- Romania - The show was broadcast on a delayed basis in a shortened format on 25 May 1985 at 19:50 EET.