The Eurovision Song Contest 1990 was the 35th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 5 May 1990 in the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, now present-day Croatia). Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radiotelevizija Zagreb (RTV Zagreb) on behalf of Jugoslavenska radiotelevizija (JRT), and presented by Oliver Mlakar and Helga Vlahović, the contest was held in Yugoslavia following the country's victory at the 1989 contest with the song "Rock Me" by the group Riva. It was the first contest to be held in the Balkans and the first to be held in a socialist state.
Twenty-two countries participated in the contest, with the same countries that had participated in 1989 returning. The 1990 contest was the first to implement an age limit on the competing performers, following criticism of the participation of two child performers in the previous year's event; all artists were now required to reach the age of sixteen within the year of the contest.
The winner was Italy for the second time in its history, with the song "Insieme: 1992", written and performed by Toto Cutugno. France and Ireland shared second place, with Iceland and Spain rounding out the top five countries. France and Spain both placed within the top 5 for the first time in several years, while Iceland recorded their best ever result.
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 | Italy | RAI | Toto Cutugno | "Insieme: 1992" | Gianni Madonini | 149 |
| 02 | France | Antenne 2 | Joëlle Ursull | "White and Black Blues" | Régis Dupré | 132 |
| Ireland | RTÉ | Liam Reilly | "Somewhere in Europe" | Noel Kelehan | 132 | |
| 04 | Iceland | RÚV | Stjórnin | "Eitt lag enn" | Jon Kjell Seljeseth | 124 |
| 05 | Spain | TVE | Azúcar Moreno | "Bandido" | Eduardo Leiva | 96 |
| 06 | United Kingdom | BBC | Emma | "Give a Little Love Back to the World" | Alyn Ainsworth | 87 |
| 07 | Yugoslavia | JRT | Tajči | "Hajde da ludujemo" (Хајде да лудујемо) | Stjepan Mihaljinec | 81 |
| 08 | Denmark | DR | Lonnie Devantier | "Hallo Hallo" | Henrik Krogsgaard | 64 |
| 09 | Germany | ARD/BR | Chris Kempers and Daniel Kovac | "Frei zu leben" | Rainer Pietsch | 60 |
| 10 | Austria | ORF | Simone | "Keine Mauern mehr" | Richard Oesterreicher | 58 |
| 11 | Switzerland | SRG SSR | Egon Egemann | "Musik klingt in die Welt hinaus" | Bela Balint | 51 |
| 12 | Belgium | RTBF | Philippe Lafontaine | "Macédomienne" | Rony Brack | 46 |
| 13 | Luxembourg | CLT | Céline Carzo | "Quand je te rêve" | Thierry Durbet | 38 |
| 14 | Cyprus | CyBC | Anastasiou | "Milas poli" (Μιλάς πολύ) | Stanko Selak | 36 |
| 15 | Netherlands | NOS | Maywood | "Ik wil alles met je delen" | Harry van Hoof | 25 |
| 16 | Sweden | SVT | Edin-Ådahl | "Som en vind" | Curt-Eric Holmquist | 24 |
| 17 | Turkey | TRT | Kayahan | "Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim" | Ümit Eroğlu | 21 |
| 18 | Israel | IBA | Rita | "Shara Barkhovot" (שרה ברחובות) | Rami Levin | 16 |
| 19 | Greece | ERT | Christos Callow | "Horis skopo" (Χωρίς σκοπό) | Mihalis Rozakis | 11 |
| 20 | Portugal | RTP | Nucha | "Há sempre alguém" | Carlos Alberto Moniz | 9 |
| 21 | Norway | NRK | Ketil Stokkan | "Brandenburger Tor" | Pete Knutsen | 8 |
| Finland | YLE | Beat | "Fri?" | Olli Ahvenlahti | 8 |
Broadcasts[]
Participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) | Spokesperson(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | FS1 | Barbara Stöckl | Unknown |
| Belgium (French) | RTBF 1 | Claude Delacroix | Unknown |
| Belgium (Dutch) | TV2 | Luc Appermont | |
| BRT 2 | Unknown | ||
| Cyprus | RIK, A Programma | Neophytos Taliotis | Unknown |
| Denmark | DR TV | Jørgen de Mylius | Unknown |
| DR P3 | Karlo Staunskær, Kurt Helge Andersen | ||
| Finland | TV1 | Erkki Pohjanheimo, Ossi Runne | Unknown |
| 2-verkko | Unknown | ||
| France | Antenne 2 | Richard Adaridi | Unknown |
| Germany | Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen | Fritz Egner | Unknown |
| Greece | ET1 | Dafni Bokota | Unknown |
| Iceland | Sjónvarpið, Rás 1 | Arthúr Björgvin Bollason | Unknown |
| Ireland | RTÉ 1 | Jimmy Greeley, Clíona Ní Bhuachalla | Eileen Dunne |
| RTÉ Radio 1 | Larry Gogan | ||
| Israel | Israeli Television, Reshet Gimel | No commentator | Unknown |
| Italy | Rai Due | Peppi Franzelin | Unknown |
| Luxembourg | RTL Télévision | Valérie Sarn | Unknown |
| Netherlands | Nederland 3 | Willem van Beusekom | Unknown |
| Norway | NRK Fjernsynet, NRK P2 | Leif Erik Forberg | Unknown |
| Portugal | RTP Canal 1 | Ana do Carmo | Unknown |
| Spain | TVE 2 | Luis Cobos | Unknown |
| Sweden | TV2 | Jan Jingryd | Jan Ellerås |
| SR P3 | Kersti Adams-Ray | ||
| Switzerland (German) | SRG Sportkette | Bernard Thurnheer | Unknown |
| Switzerland (French) | SSR Chaîne sportive | Thierry Masselot | |
| Switzerland (Italian) | TSI Canale sportivo | Emanuela Gaggini | |
| Turkey | TV1 | Unknown | Unknown |
| United Kingdom | BBC1, BBC TV Europe | Terry Wogan | Colin Berry |
| BBC Radio 2 | Ken Bruce | ||
| SSVC Television | Unknown | ||
| Yugoslavia | TV Beograd 1, TV Novi Sad, TV Ljubljana 1, Val 202, TV Zagreb 1, Radio Zagreb 1 | Unknown | Unknown |
| Radio Novi Sad | Róbert Farkas, Károly Kovács |
Non-participating countries[]
| Country | Broadcaster(s) | Commentator(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | SBS TV | Unknown |
| Czechoslovakia | ČST2 | Unknown |
| Estonian SSR | ETV | Unknown |
| Faroe Islands | SvF | Unknown |
| Greenland | KNR | Unknown |
| Poland | TP1 | Unknown |
| South Korea | KBS1 | Unknown |
| Soviet Union | Programme One | Unknown |
Broadcast notes[]
- Australia - The show was broadcast on SBS TV deferred on 6 May 1990 at 19:30 AEST.
- Czechoslovakia - The show was broadcast on ČST2 on a delayed basis on 28 May 1990 at 21:40 CEST.
- Greenland - The show was broadcast on KNR on a delayed basis on 19 May 1990 at 21:35 GNST.
- Italy - The show was broadcast on Rai Due deferred at 23:20 CEST.
- Poland - The show was broadcast on TP1 on a delayed basis on 19 May 1990 at 20:05 CEST.
- South Korea - The show was broadcast on KBS1 on a delayed basis on 23 June 1990 at 19:10 KST.