Eurovision Song Contest 1986
When they finally won the 1985 contest, it was a source of pride among the Norwegian population, and the national broadcaster, NRK, took full advantage of being able to showcase Norway and its achievements in front of over 500 million television viewers.By the autumn of 1985, NRK had decided to hold the next year's contest at the Grieghallen in Bergen, turning down other bids from capital Oslo, and main cities of Stavanger, Sandnes and Trondheim.[1] As this was the first time Norway hosted a Eurovision Song Contest, NRK commissioned a lavish budget for the event, turning Grieghallen into a Viking-esque "ice palace" for the live show, complete with white and pastel neon lights for the stage.Åse Kleveland, a well-known folk guitarist and singer, who was President of the Norwegian Association of Musicians and a former Eurovision entrant in 1966, sang the multilingual "Welcome to Music" as the opening act, incorporating English and French primarily, in addition to other European languages.Each video began with clips of various scenic views of a part of Norway, which then 'flipped' to reveal a message of greeting, written in the language of the upcoming song, alongside details of the title, author and composer.After the video, Åse Kleveland gave details of the entry and introduced the conductors in a mix of English and French, reading from cards represented by the flag of the upcoming country.However, only twenty countries ultimately participated, as the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), which had already selected the song "Wagon-lit" performed by Polina to represent Greece, made a late decision to not compete due to the event falling on Holy Saturday in the Eastern Orthodox calendar.[13] The contest was reportedly broadcast in Greece and Jordan; in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union via Intervision; and in Australia, Gibraltar, and South Korea, with an estimated maximum audience of 600 million viewers and listeners.
GrieghallenÅse KlevelandHarald TusbergJohn AndreassenEgil Monn-IversenNorsk rikskringkastingIcelandNetherlandsYugoslaviaGreeceBelgiumJ'aime la vieEurovision Song ContestBergen1985 contestLa det swingeBobbysocks!European Broadcasting UnionSandra KimSwitzerlandCrown Prince HaraldCrown Princess SonjaPrincess Märtha LouisePrince Haakon Magnusnul pointsStavangerSandnesTrondheimVikingMarienlystTerry WoganKatie BoyleSissel KyrkjebøSteinar OfsdalKringkastingsorkesteretUdsikter fra UlrikenaccordionrecorderhardingfeleList of countries in the Eurovision Song ContestAustriaCyprusDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyIrelandIsraelLuxembourgNorwayPortugalSwedenTurkeyUnited Kingdomprevious year's eventHellenic Broadcasting CorporationPolinaHoly SaturdayEastern OrthodoxElpidaGreece in 1979Timna BrauerGermanPeter CorneliusRichard OesterreicherFrenchMartyn FordLise HaavikDanishFinnishKari KuivalainenOssi RunneAntenne 2Cocktail ChicJean-Claude PetitIngrid PetersHans BlumIcelandicLuv BugNoel KelehanMoti GiladiSarai TzurielHebrewSherisse LaurenceFrank DostalFrizzle SizzleHarry van HoofKetil StokkanNorwegianPortugueseColin FrechterCadillacSpanishLasse HolmMonica TörnellSwedishAnders BerglundSRG SSRDaniela SimonsNella MartinettiAtilla ŞereftuğKlips ve OnlarTurkishİlhan İremMelih KibarUnited KingdomRunner in the NightDoris DragovićSerbo-CroatianNorway in 1966Agneta Bolme BörjeforsColin BerryIntervisionErnst GrissemannTélé 2Luc AppermontJørgen de MyliusPatrice LaffontErstes Deutsches FernsehenSjónvarpiðRás 1RTÉ 1Brendan BalfeRTÉ Radio 1Larry GoganIsraeli Television