Eurovision Song Contest Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Eurovision Song Contest Wiki


The Eurovision Song Contest 1986 was the 31st edition held on 3 May 1986 at the Grieghalle in Bergen, Norway by way of Bobbysocks!' win in Gothenburg the previous year. It was hosted by Åse Kleveland, who, like Lill Lindfors before her, represented her country at the 1966 contest.

Iceland made its debut, while Yugoslavia and the Netherlands returned after a year away.  Italy and Greece withdrew.

Several milestones were reached in this edition: the 500th song was performed by Sherisse Laurence representing Luxembourg, who was also the very first Canadian artist to participate in the contest. It also launched the career of interval act performer Sissel Kyrkjebø, who would later go on to perform at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer and lend her voice to the soundtrack of the hit 1997 movie Titanic.

After finishing last place the previous year, Belgium emerged as the winner with the song J'aime La Vie performed by Sandra Kim. At only 13 years old, Sandra became the youngest ever Eurovision winner, a record that under the current rules of the contest and with the creation of Junior Eurovision, will never be broken.

Participants[]

Draw Country Artist Song Language Translation Place Points
01 Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg Sherisse Laurence L'amour de ma vie French The love of my life 3 117
02 Flag of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia Doris Dragović Željo Moja Croatian My desire 11 49
03 Flag of France France Cocktail Chic Européennes French Europeans 17 13
04 Flag of Norway Norway Ketil Stokkan Romeo Norwegian -- 12 44
05 Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Ryder Runner in the Night English 7 72
06 Flag of Iceland Iceland ICY Gleðibankinn Icelandic The bank of fun 16 19
07 Flag of The Netherlands The Netherlands Frizzle Sizzle Alles heeft ritme Dutch Everything has rhythm 13 40
08 Flag of Turkey Türkiye Klips ve Onlar Halley Turkish -- 9 53
09 Flag of Spain Spain Cadillac Valentino Spanish 10 51
10 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland Daniela Simmons Pas pour moi French Not for me 2 140
11 Flag of Israel Israel Moti Giladi and Sarai Tzuriel Yavo Yom Hebrew A day will come 19 7
12 Flag of Ireland Ireland Luv Bug You Can Count On Me English -- 4 96
13 Flag of Belgium Belgium Sandra Kim J'aime La Vie French I love life 1 176
14 Flag of Germany Germany Ingrid Peters Über die Brücke geh'n German Crossing the bridge 8 62
15 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus Elpida Tora Zo Greek Now I live 20 4
16 Flag of Austria Austria Timna Brauer Die Zeit ist einsam German Time is lonely 18 12
17 Flag of Sweden Sweden Lasse Holm and Monica Törnell E' de' det här du kallar kärlek? Swedish Is this what you call love? 5 78
18 Flag of Denmark Denmark Lise Haavik Du er fuld af løgn Danish You are full of lies 6 77
19 Flag of Finland Finland Kari Kuivalainen Never The End Finnish -- 15 22
20 Flag of Portugal Portugal Dora Não sejas mau para mim Portuguese Don't be bad to me 14 28
Eurovision Song Contest
Editions
195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Countries
AlbaniaAndorraArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandIsraelItalyLatviaLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaMoldovaMonacoMontenegroMoroccoThe NetherlandsNorth MacedoniaNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSerbiaSerbia and MontenegroSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUnited KingdomUkraineYugoslavia
Winning Songs
RefrainNet Als ToenDors, mon amourEen beetjeTom PillibiNous les amoureuxUn premier amourDanseviseNon ho l'etàPoupée de Cire, Poupée de SonMerci, ChériePuppet on a StringLa, La, LaBoom Bang-a-BangVivo CantandoUn jour, un enfantDe TroubadourAll Kinds of EverythingUn banc, un arbre, une rueAprès ToiTu Te ReconnaîtrasWaterlooDing-a-DongSave Your Kisses For MeL'Oiseau et l'enfantA-Ba-Ni-BiHallelujahWhat's Another YearMaking Your Mind UpEin bißchen FriedenSi la vie est cadeauDiggiloo DiggileyLa Det SwingeJ'aime La VieHold Me NowNe Partez Pas Sans MoiRock MeInsieme: 1992Fångad av en stormvindWhy Me?In Your EyesRock 'n' Roll KidsNocturneThe VoiceLove Shine a LightDivaTake Me To Your HeavenFly on the Wings of LoveEverybodyI WannaEveryway That I CanWild DancesMy Number OneHard Rock HallelujahMolitvaBelieveFairytaleSatelliteRunning ScaredEuphoriaOnly TeardropsRise Like a PhoenixHeroes1944Amar pelos doisToyArcadeZitti e buoniStefaniaTattoo
Specials
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision's Greatest HitsEurope Shine a Light
Aspects of Eurovision
CommentatorEuroClubEurovision VillageExecutive SupervisorFlag ParadeGrand PrixGreen RoomHead of DelegationInterval ActNational FinalNational JuryOfficial RulesOpening CeremonyPre-PartiesPre-Song PostcardsReference GroupRest of the World VoteRunning Order DrawSemi-FinalsScoreboardSpokespersonTelevotingVoting Systems
Miscellaneous
Big FiveCurse of 43Curse of Number TwoCurse of GreenDouze Points!ESCRadio AwardsESC Top 250Eurovision AgainEurovision National BroadcastersEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire SagaFounding SevenLGBT visibilityLynda WoodruffMarcel Bezençon AwardsNul PointsOGAERecordsStand-insThe Reorder BoardTie SituationTop Scoring SongsVoting DiasporaWinner's CurseWithdrawn SongsYou're a Vision Award

Trivia[]

  • The top 3 places on the scoreboard (Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg) were countries that were part of the Founding Seven nations. This would eventually repeat itself in 2021, when Italy, France and Switzerland made up the top 3 that year. And similarly, all three podium finishers in both years performed their songs in a language other than English (all French in 1986, and Italian and French in 2021).
    • In both instances, a French song finished in 2nd and 3rd.
  • This was the only year in the 100% jury era where Turkey made the top 10.
  • The Swiss broadcaster petitioned to get Belgium disqualified due to the controversy over Sandra Kim's actual age, but to no avail.
Advertisement