The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was the 33rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following Johnny Logan's win at the 1987 contest with the song "Hold Me Now". Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 30 April 1988 and was hosted by Irish broadcaster Pat Kenny and the Miss Ireland 1980 Michelle Rocca, marking the first time since the 1979 contest that two presenters had hosted the contest.
Twenty-one countries took part, after an initial plan of twenty-two, as Cyprus' song was disqualified for breaching the contest's rules by being published a few years earlier, in an attempt to represent the country at a prior edition of the contest. The Cypriot song had been drawn to be performed 2nd in the running order.
The winner was Switzerland with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi", performed by Canadian singer Céline Dion and composed by Atilla Şereftuğ with lyrics in French by Nella Martinetti. Switzerland beat the United Kingdom by just one point in the last vote to win the title. The victory helped launch Dion's international career, subsequently leading her to become one of the best-selling artists of all time.
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 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Céline Dion | "Ne partez pas sans moi" | Atilla Şereftuğ | 137 |
| 02 | United Kingdom | BBC | Scott Fitzgerald | "Go" | Ronnie Hazlehurst | 136 |
| 03 | Denmark | DR | Hot Eyes | "Ka' du se hva' jeg sa'" | Henrik Krogsgaard | 92 |
| 04 | Luxembourg | CLT | Lara Fabian | "Croire" | Régis Dupré | 90 |
| 05 | Norway | NRK | Karoline Krüger | "For vår jord" | Arild Stav | 88 |
| 06 | Yugoslavia | JRT | Srebrna krila (credited on screen as Silver Wings) |
"Mangup" (Мангуп) | Nikica Kalogjera | 87 |
| 07 | Israel | IBA | Yardena Arazi | "Ben Adam" (בן אדם) | Eldad Shrem | 85 |
| 08 | Ireland | RTÉ | Jump the Gun | "Take Him Home" | Noel Kelehan | 79 |
| 09 | Netherlands | NOS | Gerard Joling | "Shangri-La" | Harry van Hoof | 70 |
| 10 | France | Antenne 2 | Gérard Lenorman | "Chanteur de charme" | Guy Mattéoni | 64 |
| 11 | Spain | TVE | La Década | "La chica que yo quiero (Made in Spain)" | Javier de Juan | 58 |
| 12 | Sweden | SVT | Tommy Körberg | "Stad i ljus" | Anders Berglund | 52 |
| Italy | RAI | Luca Barbarossa | "Ti scrivo" | No conductor | 52 | |
| 14 | Germany | ARD/BR | Maxi and Chris Garden | "Lied für einen Freund" | Michael Thatcher | 48 |
| 15 | Turkey | TRT | MFÖ | "Sufi (Hey Ya Hey)" | Turhan Yükseler | 37 |
| 16 | Iceland | RÚV | Beathoven | "Sókrates" | No conductor | 20 |
| 17 | Greece | ERT | Afroditi Fryda | "Clown" (Κλόουν) | Haris Andreadis | 10 |
| 18 | Belgium | RTBF | Reynaert | "Laissez briller le soleil" | Dany Willem | 5 |
| Portugal | RTP | Dora | "Voltarei" | José Calvário | 5 | |
| 20 | Finland | YLE | Boulevard | "Nauravat silmät muistetaan" | Ossi Runne | 3 |
| 21 | Austria | ORF | Wilfried | "Lisa Mona Lisa" | Harald Neuwirth | 0 |
Broadcasts[]
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | FS1 | Ernst Grissemann | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | RTBF 1 | Pierre Collard-Bovy | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | TV1 | Luc Appermont | |
| Denmark | DR TV, DR P2 | Jørgen de Mylius | Unknown |
| Finland | TV1, 2-verkko | Erkki Pohjanheimo | Unknown |
| France | Antenne 2 | Lionel Cassan | Unknown |
| Germany | Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen | Nicole, Claus-Erich Boetzkes | Unknown |
| Greece | ET1 | Unknown | Unknown |
| Iceland | Sjónvarpið, Rás 1 | Hermann Gunnarsson | Guðrún Skúladóttir |
| Ireland | RTÉ 1 | Mike Murphy | John Skehan |
| FM3 Classical Radio | Larry Gogan | ||
| Israel | Israeli Television, Reshet Gimel | No commentator | Unknown |
| Italy | Rai Tre | Rosanna Vaudetti | Unknown |
| Luxembourg | RTL Télévision, RTL plus | Unknown | Unknown |
| Netherlands | Nederland 3 | Willem van Beusekom | Unknown |
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet, NRK P2 | John Andreassen | Unknown |
| Portugal | RTP1 | Artur Agostinho | Unknown |
| Spain | TVE 2 | Beatriz Pécker | Unknown |
| Sweden | TV2 | Bengt Grafström | Maud Uppling |
| SR P3 | Kalle Oldby | ||
| Switzerland (German) | SRG Sportkette | Bernard Thurnheer | Unknown |
| Switzerland (French) | SSR Chaîne sportive | Serge Moisson | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI Canale sportivo | Unknown | |
| Turkey | TV1 | Unknown | Unknown |
| United Kingdom | BBC1 | Terry Wogan | Colin Berry |
| BBC Radio 2 | Ken Bruce | ||
| Yugoslavia | TV Beograd 1, TV Novi Sad, TV Zagreb 1 | Oliver Mlakar | Miša Molk |
| TV Ljubljana 1 | Unknown |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | SBS TV | Unknown |
| Canada | Radio-Canada | Celine Dion, René Angélil |
| Cyprus | RIK, A Programma | Unknown |
| Czechoslovakia | ČST2 | Unknown |
| Estonian SSR | ETV | Unknown |
| Faroe Islands | SvF | Unknown |
| Greenland | KNR | Unknown |
| Hungary | MTV2 | Unknown |
| Jordan | JTV2 | Unknown |
| Poland | TP1 | Unknown |
| Soviet Union | Programme One | Unknown |
Broadcast notes[]
- Australia - The show was broadcast on SBS TV deferred on 1 May 1988 at 19:30 AEST.
- Canada - The show was broadcast on Radio-Canada on a delayed basis and a shortened format on 30 May 1988 at 19:30 EDT.
- Czechoslovakia - The show was broadcast on ČST2 on a delayed basis and a shortened format on 29 May 1988 at 17:35 CEST.
- Estonian SSR - The show was broadcast on ETV on a delayed basis on 28 May 1988 at 22:10 MSD.
- Greenland - The show was broadcast on KNR on a delayed basis on 2 May 1988 at 20:45 GNST.
- Poland - The show was broadcast on TP1 on a delayed basis on 14 May 1988 at 20:00 CEST.
- Soviet Union - The show was broadcast on Programme One on a delayed basis on 28 May 1988 at 22:10 MSD.