The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Bergen, Norway, following the country's victory at the 1985 contest with the song "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks! Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK), the contest was held at Grieghallen on 3 May 1986 and was hosted by previous Norwegian contestant Åse Kleveland.
Twenty countries took part in this year's contest with Greece and Italy deciding not to participate and Yugoslavia and Netherlands returning. Iceland also competed for the first time this year.
The winner was Belgium with the song "J'aime la vie" by Sandra Kim. Belgium was the last of the original 7 countries that had competed in the first contest to win. Aged 13, Kim was the youngest ever Eurovision winner. Current rules require Eurovision Song Contest participants to be at least 16, so unless the rule is changed, Kim's record will never be broken. The lyrics of her song implied that Kim was 15 years of age, but after the contest, it was revealed that she was actually 13. Switzerland, who finished second, appealed for her to be disqualified, but was not successful.
The 1986 contest was a first for Eurovision in that royalty were among the guests—Crown Prince Harald, Crown Princess Sonja, Princess Märtha Louise and Prince Haakon Magnus were all in attendance.
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 | Belgium | RTBF | Sandra Kim | "J'aime la vie" | Jo Carlier | 176 |
| 02 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Daniela Simons | "Pas pour moi" | Atilla Şereftuğ | 140 |
| 03 | Luxembourg | CLT | Sherisse Laurence | "L'Amour de ma vie" | Rolf Soja | 117 |
| 04 | Ireland | RTÉ | Luv Bug | "You Can Count On Me" | Noel Kelehan | 96 |
| 05 | Sweden | SVT | Lasse Holm and Monica Törnell | "E' de' det här du kallar kärlek" | Anders Berglund | 78 |
| 06 | Denmark | DR | Lise Haavik | "Du er fuld af løgn" | Egil Monn-Iversen | 77 |
| 07 | United Kingdom | BBC | Ryder | "Runner in the Night" | No conductor | 72 |
| 08 | Germany | ARD/BR | Ingrid Peters | "Über die Brücke geh'n" | Hans Blum | 62 |
| 09 | Turkey | TRT | Klips ve Onlar | "Halley" | Melih Kibar | 53 |
| 10 | Spain | TVE | Cadillac | "Valentino" | Eduardo Leiva | 51 |
| 11 | Yugoslavia | JRT | Doris Dragović | "Željo moja" (Жељо моја) | Nikica Kalogjera | 49 |
| 12 | Norway | NRK | Ketil Stokkan | "Romeo" | Egil Monn-Iversen | 44 |
| 13 | Netherlands | NOS | Frizzle Sizzle | "Alles heeft ritme" | Harry van Hoof | 40 |
| 14 | Portugal | RTP | Dora | "Não sejas mau p'ra mim" | Colin Frechter | 28 |
| 15 | Finland | YLE | Kari | "Never the End" | Ossi Runne | 22 |
| 16 | Iceland | RÚV | ICY | "Gleðibankinn" | Gunnar Þórðarson | 19 |
| 17 | France | Antenne 2 | Cocktail Chic | "Européennes" | Jean-Claude Petit | 13 |
| 18 | Austria | ORF | Timna Brauer | "Die Zeit ist einsam" | Richard Oesterreicher | 12 |
| 19 | Israel | IBA | Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel | "Yavo Yom" (יבוא יום) | Yoram Zadok | 7 |
| 20 | Cyprus | CyBC | Elpida | "Tora zo" (Τώρα ζω) | Martyn Ford | 4 |
Broadcasts[]
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | FS1 | Ernst Grissemann | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | RTBF 1 | Patrick Duhamel | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | TV1 | Luc Appermont | |
| Cyprus | RIK | Themis Themistokleous | Unknown |
| Denmark | DR TV | Jørgen de Mylius | Unknown |
| Finland | TV1 | Kari Lumikero | Unknown |
| 2-verkko | Unknown | ||
| France | Antenne 2 | Patrice Laffont | Unknown |
| Germany | Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen | Ado Schlier | Unknown |
| Iceland | Sjónvarpið, Rás 1 | Þorgeir Ástvaldsson | Guðrún Skúladóttir |
| Ireland | RTÉ 1 | Brendan Balfe | Unknown |
| RTÉ Radio 1 | Larry Gogan | ||
| Israel | Israeli Television, Reshet Gimel | No commentator | Unknown |
| Luxembourg | RTL Télévision | Unknown | Unknown |
| RTL plus | Matthias Krings | ||
| Netherlands | Nederland 1 | Leo van der Goot | Unknown |
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet, NRK P1, NRK P2 | Knut Bjørnsen | Unknown |
| Portugal | RTP Canal 1 | Fialho Gouveia | Unknown |
| Spain | TVE 2 | Antonio Gómez Mateo | Unknown |
| Sweden | TV1 | Ulf Elfving | Agneta Bolme Börjefors |
| SR P3 | Jacob Dahlin | ||
| Switzerland (German) | TV DRS | Bernard Thurnheer | Unknown |
| Switzerland (French) | TSR | Serge Moisson | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI | Ezio Guidi | |
| Turkey | TRT Televizyon | Gülgün Baysal | Unknown |
| United Kingdom | BBC1 | Terry Wogan | Colin Berry |
| BBC Radio 2 | Ray Moore | ||
| Yugoslavia | TV Zagreb 1 | Ksenija Urličić | Unknown |
| TV Beograd 1, TV Titograd 1, TV Koper-Capodistria, TV Ljubljana 1, TV Novi Sad, TV Prishtina, TV Sarajevo 1, TV Skopje 1 | Unknown |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | SBS TV | Unknown |
| Czechoslovakia | ČST2 | Unknown |
| Estonian SSR | ETV | Unknown |
| Greenland | KNR | Unknown |
| Hungary | MTV1 | Unknown |
| Jordan | JTV2 | Unknown |
| Martinique | Second canal de RFO | Unknown |
| Poland | TP1 | Unknown |
| Soviet Union | Programme One | Unknown |
Broadcast notes[]
- Australia - The show was broadcast on SBS TV deferred on 4 May 1986 at 19:30 AEST.
- Czechoslovakia - The show was broadcast on ČST2 on a delayed basis and in a shortened format on 2 June 1986 at 17:15 CEST.
- Estonian SSR - The show was broadcast on ETV on a delayed basis and in a shortened format on 30 May 1986 at 22:15 MSD.
- Greenland - The show was broadcast on KNR on a delayed basis on 16 May 1986 at 21:10 GNST.
- Martinique - The show was broadcast on the Second canal de RFO on a delayed basis on 3 July 1986 at 20:00 AST.
- Poland - The show was broadcast on TP1 on a delayed basis on 24 May 1986 at 20:00 CEST.
- Turkey - TRT did not show the Cypriot entry as it was "not in accordance with the principles of Turkish television".
- Soviet Union - The show was broadcast on Programme One on a delayed basis and in a shortened format on 30 May 1986 at 22:15 MSD.
- Switzerland - TSR broadcast the show through a second audio programme on TSI.