For a record third year in a row, Ireland hosted the 40th Eurovision Song Contest which was held again in the Point Theatre in Dublin
For the third consecutive time, Ireland was the host of the 40th Eurovision Song Contest. The contest was again held in the Point Theatre in Dublin – it was the first time ever that the Eurovision Song Contest took place in the same city for two years in a row. In 1994, the European Broadcasting Union decreased the number of participants to 23 to make sure that the song contest would not last longer than three hours. All of the five relegated countries from the preceding year – Turkey, Slovenia, Israel, Denmark and Belgium – returned to the contest. In contrast, the bottom seven countries of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest were relegated: Lithuania, Estonia, the Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland.
As it was the 40th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest this year, the programme started with a three-minute compilation of previous contests. Bookmakers thought that the Swedish entrant Jan Johansen’s song Se På Mig was favourite to win the entire contest, but instead neighbouring country Norway took first place with the song Nocturne performed by the group Secret Garden. The lyrics of the winning song only consisted of 24 words and despite the fact that Ireland did not win for the fourth time in a row, the Norwegian group’s violinist was in fact Irish. Ireland itself and it’s entry Dreamin‘ by Eddie Friel ended up at a disappointing 14th place.
1995 was the year of the Scandinavian countries at Eurovision: Norway won, Sweden came third and Denmark came fifth. Germany had its worst placing ever, only the Maltese jury awarded one single point to Stone & Stone’s Verliebt In Dich.
The Participants
| # | Representing country | Performer(s) | Song title, writer(s) and composer(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Poland TVP | Justyna | Sama | 015 | 18 |
| 02 | Ireland RTÉ | Eddie Friel | Dreamin‘ | 044 | 14 |
| 03 | Germany ARD | Stone and Stone | Verliebt In Dich | 001 | 23 |
| 04 | Bosnia & Herzegovina RTVBIH | Davor Popovic | Dvadeset I Prvi Vijek | 014 | 19 |
| 05 | Norway NRK | Secret Garden | Nocturne | 148 | 01 |
| 06 | Russia ORT | Philipp Kirkorov | Kolybelnaya Dlya Vulkana | 017 | 17 |
| 07 | Iceland RÚV | Bó Halldórsson | Núna | 031 | 15 |
| 08 | Austria ORF | Stella Jones | Die Welt Dreht Sich Verkehrt | 067 | 13 |
| 09 | Spain TVE | Anabel Conde | Vuelve Conmigo | 119 | 02 |
| 10 | Turkey TRT | Arzu Ece | Sev! | 021 | 16 |
| 11 | Croatia HRT | Magazin and Lidija | Nostalgija | 091 | 06 |
| 12 | France FT2 | Nathalie Santamaria | Il Me Donne Rendez-vous | 094 | 04 |
| 13 | Hungary MTV | Czaba Szigeti | Ùj Nèv Egy Règi Hàz Fàlan | 003 | 22 |
| 14 | Belgium RTBF | Frédéric Etherlinck | La Voix Est Libre | 008 | 20 |
| 15 | United Kingdom BBC | Love City Groove | Love City Groove | 076 | 10 |
| 16 | Portugal RTP | Tó Cruz | Baunilha E Chocolate | 005 | 21 |
| 17 | Cyprus CyBC | Alexandros Panayi | Sti Fotia | 079 | 09 |
| 18 | Sweden SVT | Jan Johansen | Se På Mej | 100 | 03 |
| 19 | Denmark DR | Aud Wilken | Fra Mols Til Skagen | 092 | 05 |
| 20 | Slovenia RTVSLO | Darja Svajger | Prisluhni Mi | 084 | 07 |
| 21 | Israel IBA | Liora | Amen | 081 | 08 |
| 22 | Malta PBM | Mike Spiteri | Keep Me In Mind | 076 | 10 |
| 23 | Greece ERT | Elina Constantopoulou | Pia Prossefchi | 068 | 12 |
Scoreboard
| Participant | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 3 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ireland | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 44 | 14 | |||||||||||
| Germany | 1 | 1 | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 8 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Norway | 5 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 148 | 1 | ||||
| Russia | 6 | 1 | 10 | 17 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Iceland | 4 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 31 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||
| Austria | 10 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 67 | 13 | ||||||||||
| Spain | 12 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 119 | 2 | |||||||
| Turkey | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| Croatia | 10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 91 | 6 | |||||||||||
| France | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 94 | 4 | ||||||
| Hungary | 2 | 1 | 3 | 22 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 1 | 7 | 8 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 12 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 76 | 10 | |||||||||||
| Portugal | 4 | 1 | 5 | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Cyprus | 8 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 79 | 9 | |||||||
| Sweden | 8 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 100 | 3 | |||||||
| Denmark | 7 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 92 | 5 | |||||||||
| Slovenia | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 84 | 7 | |||||||
| Israel | 6 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 81 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Malta | 2 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 76 | 10 | |||||||||||
| Greece | 5 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 68 | 12 |