The fall of the European communism and the German re-unification was the main issue of the songs of the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest in Zagreb.
The present Croatian capital of Zagreb was the choice of Yugoslavia’s broadcaster JRT as host city for the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest. 22 countries participated in the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest, the same ones as in 1989. Many of the songs were about the political changes in Europe like the fall of the Iron Curtain and a united Europe. Norway’s song Brandenburger Tor and Austria’s Keine Mauern Mehr reflected the German re-unification topic.
The Spanish performance was plagued by technical problems. First the backing track failed to play, then it was started too early. The delegation’s conductor completely lost control and the Spanish duo, Azúcar Moreno, left the stage. The second attempt was successful and the duo ended up in fifth place. The Belgian entrant, Philippe Lafontaine, reached the 12th place with his song Macédomienne. Afterwards, he refused to release the CD as the song was a love token for his Macedonian wife, however he did release it years later to help a refugee project in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Eurovision veteran, Serge Gainsbourg, wrote the French entry White And Black Blues performed by Joelle Ursull which was a spectacular multicultural song with lots of African drumming. It ended up sharing the second place with Ireland.
The well-known Italian singer Toto Cutugno won this year’s song contest with the song Insieme: 1992 which was about a united Europe in anticipation of the completion of the European Single Market, due at the end of 1992. Both the French and the Italian songs went on to be big hits in Europe and were played all summer long. Even nowadays, both songs are regarded as Eurovision evergreens.
The Participants
| # | Representing country | Performer(s) | Song title, writer(s) and composer(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Spain TVE | Azúcar Moreno | Bandido | 096 | 05 |
| 02 | Greece ERT | Christos Callow and Wave | Horis Skopo | 011 | 19 |
| 03 | Belgium RTBF | Philippe Lafontaine | Macédomienne | 046 | 12 |
| 04 | Turkey TRT | Kayahan | Gözlerinin Hapsindeyim | 021 | 17 |
| 05 | The Netherlands NOS | Maywood | Ik Wil Alles Met Je Delen | 025 | 15 |
| 06 | Luxembourg CLT | Céline Carzo | Quand Je Te Rêve | 038 | 13 |
| 07 | United Kingdom BBC | Emma | Give A Little Love Back To The World | 087 | 06 |
| 08 | Iceland RÚV | Stjórnin | Eitt Lag Enn | 124 | 04 |
| 09 | Norway NRK | Ketil Stokkan | Brandenburger Tor | 008 | 21 |
| 10 | Israel IBA | Rita | Shara Barechovot | 016 | 18 |
| 11 | Denmark DR | Lonnie Devantier | Hallo Hallo | 064 | 08 |
| 12 | Switzerland SSR SRG | Egon Egemann | Musik Klingt In Die Welt Hinaus | 051 | 11 |
| 13 | Germany ARD | Chris Kempers and Daniel Kovac | Frei Zu Leben | 060 | 09 |
| 14 | France A2F | Joelle Ursull | White And Black Blues | 132 | 02 |
| 15 | Yugoslavia JRT | Tajci | Hajde Da Ludujemo | 081 | 07 |
| 16 | Portugal RTP | Nucha | Há Sempre Alguém | 009 | 20 |
| 17 | Ireland RTÉ | Liam Reilly | Somewhere In Europe | 132 | 02 |
| 18 | Sweden SVT | Edin-Ådahl | Som En Vind | 024 | 16 |
| 19 | Italy RAI | Toto Cutugno | Insieme: 1992 | 149 | 01 |
| 20 | Austria ORF | Simone | Keine Mauern Mehr | 058 | 10 |
| 21 | Cyprus CyBC | Haris Anastasiou | Milas Poli | 036 | 14 |
| 22 | Finland YLE | Beat | Fri? | 008 | 21 |
Scoreboard
| Participant | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 8 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 96 | 5 | ||||||
| Greece | 6 | 5 | 11 | 19 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 4 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 46 | 12 | ||||||||||||
| Turkey | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 17 | |||||||||||||||||
| The Netherlands | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 25 | 15 | ||||||||||||
| Luxembourg | 5 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 38 | 13 | |||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 1 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 87 | 6 | ||||||||
| Iceland | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 124 | 4 | |||||
| Norway | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 21 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Israel | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Denmark | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 64 | 8 | |||||||||
| Switzerland | 1 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 51 | 11 | ||||||||||||
| Germany | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 60 | 9 | ||||||||||||
| France | 2 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 132 | 2 | |||||
| Yugoslavia | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 81 | 7 | |||||||||
| Portugal | 7 | 2 | 9 | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Ireland | 12 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 132 | 2 | |||||
| Sweden | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 16 | ||||||||||||||||
| Italy | 7 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 149 | 1 | |||
| Austria | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 58 | 10 | ||||||||||
| Cyprus | 5 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 36 | 14 | ||||||||||||||
| Finland | 5 | 3 | 8 | 21 |