Belgian superstar Viktor Laszlo was the host of the 32nd Eurovision Song Contest which was held on 9th May, 1987 in the capital Brussels
Belgium had the honour of hosting the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in the country’s history. he highest number of participants ever entered this year’s song contest: 22 countries found their way to Brussels. Greece and Italy returned to the contest after one year’s absence. The 1986 contest was won by a Walloon entry, but in 1987 the Flemish broadcaster, BRT, was responsible for the Belgian entry. BRT also wanted to co-organise the contest, but the Walloon broadcaster, RTBF decided to organise the Eurovision Song Contest 1987 on their own. The presenter of the 3-hour-show was the successful Belgian artist Viktor Laszlo who opened the contest presenting her latest song Breathless.
The winner of the 1987 Eurovision was Hold Me Now performed and written by Johnny Logan, who had already won in 1980 with What’s Another Year and had written the second-placed song in 1984 Terminal 3 performed in Luxembourg by Linda Martin. Johnny was the first singer to win the contest twice as a singer, but this would not be his last victory as he won the trophy again as a composer in 1992 when he wrote Why Me by Linda Martin which would win in Malmö.
Germany came second this year with the song Lass die Sonne in dein Herz by the group Wind. For the group, it was already the second silver ranking after being the runner up in 1985. The song still ranks as one of the best-known Eurovision hits in Denmark. Italy sent two internationally-known stars to Eurovision this year: Tozzi & Raf. Raf had written the worldwide hit Self Control three years earlier which was both a hit for him and for the cover-version by Laura Branigan. Although Eurovision statistics show that most male duos do not do well, Italy finished in third place in 1987.
The Participants
| # | Representing country | Performer(s) | Song title, writer(s) and composer(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Norway NRK | Kate Gulbrandsen | Mitt Liv | 065 | 09 |
| 02 | Israel IBA | Datner and Kushnir | Shir Habatlanim | 073 | 08 |
| 03 | Austria ORF | Gary Lux | Nur Noch Gefühl | 008 | 20 |
| 04 | Iceland RÚV | Halla Margarét | Hægt Og Hljótt | 028 | 16 |
| 05 | Belgium BRT | Liliane Saint-Pierre | Soldiers Of Love | 056 | 11 |
| 06 | Sweden SVT | Lotta Engberg | Boogaloo | 050 | 12 |
| 07 | Italy RAI | Umberto Tozzi and Raf | Gente Di Mare | 103 | 03 |
| 08 | Portugal RTP | Nevada | Neste Barco à Vela | 015 | 18 |
| 09 | Spain TVE | Patricia Kraus | No Estás Solo | 010 | 19 |
| 10 | Turkey TRT | Seyyal Tanner and Lokomotif | Sarkim Sevgi üstüne | 000 | 22 |
| 11 | Greece ERT | Bang | Stop! | 064 | 10 |
| 12 | The Netherlands NOS | Marcha | Rechtop In De Wind | 083 | 05 |
| 13 | Luxembourg CLT | Plastic Bertrand | Amour Amour | 004 | 21 |
| 14 | United Kingdom BBC | Rikki | Only The Light | 047 | 13 |
| 15 | France A2F | Christine Minier | Les Mots D’amour N’ont Pas De Dimanche | 044 | 14 |
| 16 | Germany ARD | Wind | Laß Die Sonne In Dein Herz | 141 | 02 |
| 17 | Cyprus CyBC | Alexia | Aspro Mavro | 080 | 07 |
| 18 | Finland YLE | Vicky Rosti | Sata Salamaa | 032 | 15 |
| 19 | Denmark DR | Anne-Catherine Herdorf and Bandjo | En Lille Melodi | 083 | 05 |
| 20 | Ireland RTÉ | Johnny Logan | Hold Me Now | 172 | 01 |
| 21 | Yugoslavia JRT | Novi Fosili | Ja Sam Za Ples | 092 | 04 |
| 22 | Switzerland SSR SRG | Carole Rich | Moitié Moitié | 026 | 17 |
Scoreboard
| Participant | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 4 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 65 | 9 | |||||||||
| Israel | 1 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 73 | 8 | |||||||||
| Austria | 7 | 1 | 8 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Iceland | 4 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 16 | |||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 56 | 11 | ||||||||||
| Sweden | 1 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 50 | 12 | |||||||||||||
| Italy | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 103 | 3 | ||||||
| Portugal | 2 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Spain | 10 | 10 | 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turkey | – | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greece | 2 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 64 | 10 | |||||||||||
| The Netherlands | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 83 | 5 | ||||||||
| Luxembourg | 2 | 2 | 4 | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 47 | 13 | |||||||||
| France | 5 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 44 | 14 | |||||||||||||
| Germany | 10 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 141 | 2 | ||
| Cyprus | 10 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 80 | 7 | |||||||||
| Finland | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 32 | 15 | |||||||||||||
| Denmark | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 83 | 5 | |||||||
| Ireland | 12 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 172 | 1 | |||
| Yugoslavia | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 92 | 4 | |||||||||
| Switzerland | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 17 |