The Scandinavium, the venue for the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest, was the biggest hall to that date to host the Europe-wide show.

The city of Gothenburg was chosen by the Swedish broadcaster to be host city to the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest.This year, the Netherlands chose to withdraw from the contest because it collided with the country’s national Rememberance Day. Yugoslavia also decided to stay home because of a national holiday. Israel and Greece returned to the contest so the number of participants was 19 again, just as in the previous year. The set in Gothenburg’s Scandinavium was very modern and bigger than any venue before. Parts of the set would later be re-used for the Swedish national final Melodifestival in 1987.

Norway surprised everyone with their victory this year. The entry La Det Swinge by the duo Bobbysocks, won after a close race with the German entry, Für Alle by the group Wind. Bobbysocks consisted of the singers Elisabeth Andreasson and Hanne Krogh. Elisabeth had already taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1982 for Sweden where she was one half of the group Chips. Hanne Krogh had represented Norway already in 1971, but only came 17th with her song Lycken Er. She would again return to the Eurovision stage in 1991 as part of the Norwegian group Just 4 Fun.

The contest was hosted by former participant Lill Lindfors who shocked the audience with an act in which it seemed that her skirt was torn off. This was of course well-rehearsed, and remains one of the most-remembered highlighs in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. She also congratulated the Norwegian team by saying: „I’m so pleased you won. Norway so often loses.“.

The Participants

01	IrelandRTÉ	Maria Christian	Wait Until The Weekend Comes	091	06
02	FinlandYLE	Sonja Lumme	Eläköön Elämä	058	09
03	CyprusCyBC	Lia Vishy	To Katalava Arga	015	16
04	DenmarkDR	Hot Eyes	Sku‘ Du Spør Fra No’n	041	11
05	SpainTVE	Paloma San Basilio	La Fiesta Terminó	036	14
06	FranceA2F	Roger Bens	Femme Dans Ses Rêves Aussi	056	10
07	TurkeyTRT	MFÖ	Di Dai Di Dai Dai (a’sik Oldum)	036	14
08	BelgiumBRT	Linda Lepomme	Laat Me Nu Gaan	007	19
09	PortugalRTP	Adelaïde	Penso Em Ti, Eu Sei	009	18
10	GermanyARD	Wind	Für Alle	105	02
11	IsraelIBA	Izhar Cohen	Olé Olé	093	05
12	ItalyRAI	Al Bano and Romina Power	Magic, Oh Magic	078	07
13	NorwayNRK	Bobbysocks	La Det Swinge	123	01
14	United KingdomBBC	Vikki	Love Is…	100	04
15	SwitzerlandSSR SRG	Mariella Farré and Pino Gasparini	Piano Piano	039	12
16	SwedenSVT	Kikki Danielsson	Bra Vibrationer	103	03
17	AustriaORF	Gary Lux	Kinder Dieser Welt	060	08
18	LuxembourgCLT	Margo, Franck Olivier, Diane Solomon, Ireen Sheer, Malcolm Roberts and Chris Roberts	Children, Kinder, Enfants	037	13
19	GreeceERT	Takis Biniaris	Miazoume	015	16

Scoreboard

Participant																				Points	Place
Ireland	10	8	7	3	1	3	4			8	12		3	8	4	7	5	5	3	91	6
Finland			6					10	6	1	7				6	10	2	3	7	58	9
Cyprus								8	1		3						3			15	16
Denmark	5	3	3			10	6				2		6	1		5				41	11
Spain			1		8			6	2			1		2				12	4	36	14
France	3		4		5			12		3	10	3		3		6	4	1	2	56	10
Turkey		1			2		2		7				1		3		12		8	36	14
Belgium																		7		7	19
Portugal								7										2		9	18
Germany		10	12	10	10	8			4	7		10	8	7	10	8			1	105	2
Israel	7		5	4		12	7	2	8		5	6	10	5	8	2	7		5	93	5
Italy	6	2	10	1	6	5				4		12		12	12			8		78	7
Norway	12	12		12	4	2	12	1	12	12	6	7			1	12	6		12	123	1
United Kingdom	2	6		5	7	6	5	4	5	2	8	8	7	6	5	4	10	10		100	4
Switzerland	1	5	2	6	3		1	3				2	5	4		1		6		39	12
Sweden	4	7		8	12	7	8		10	6	4	5	12		2		8	4	6	103	3
Austria		4		7		1	10	5	3	10		4	2			3	1		10	60	8
Luxembourg	8			2		4	3			5	1		4	10						37	13
Greece			8												7					15	16