Eurovision Song Contest 1984

The Eurovision Song Contest 1984, the 29th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the 1983 contest with the song "Si la vie est cadeau" by Corinne Hermes. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster RTL Télévision (RTL), the contest was held at the Théâtre Municipal on Saturday 5 May 1984 and was hosted by Luxembourgish actress Désirée Nosbusch, who was only 19 years of age making her the youngest presenter in Eurovision history.

Eurovision Song Contest 1984
Dates
Final5 May 1984
Host
VenueThéâtre Municipal
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Presenter(s)Désirée Nosbusch
Musical directorPierre Cao
Directed byRené Steichen
Executive supervisorFrank Naef
Executive producerRay van Cant
Host broadcasterRTL Télévision (RTL)
Opening actIn an introductory video, Pierre Cao and the RTL orchestra performed instrumental versions of all the past Eurovision winners from Luxembourg and L'amour est bleu, one of Luxembourg's most popular entries.
Interval actPrague Theatre of Illuminated Drawings
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/luxembourg-1984
Participants
Number of entries19
Debuting countriesNone
Returning countries Ireland
Non-returning countries
Participation map
  •      Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1984
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Nul points in finalNone
Winning song Sweden
"Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley"

Nineteen countries took part in the contest. Israel did not enter due to it conflicting with the country's Yom HaZikaron holiday. Greece was also absent. On the other hand, Ireland, who had not participated the previous year, returned this year. Iceland was also going to participate for the first time but withdrew due to lack of financial support.[1]

The winner was Sweden with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" performed by Herreys. This was the first winning song in Swedish, as ABBA had performed "Waterloo" in English when they won in 1974. Richard and Louis Herrey became the first teenage males to win Eurovision and to this day remain the youngest ever male winners, being 19 years and 260 days and 18 years and 184 days of age respectively.[2]

Location
Grand Théâtre, Luxembourg City - host venue of the 1984 contest.

Luxembourg City is a commune with city status, and the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse Rivers in southern Luxembourg. The city contains the historic Luxembourg Castle, established by the Franks in the Early Middle Ages, around which a settlement developed.

The Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, inaugurated in 1964 as the Théâtre Municipal de la Ville de Luxembourg, became the venue for the 1984 contest. It is the city's major venue for drama, opera and ballet.[3][4] It also hosted the 1973 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Format

Roland de Groot, who had also designed the set for the 1970, 1976 and 1980 contests, returned with a stage concept similar to that of 1976, using translucent panels of varying shapes suspended above the stage and operated on a pully system of ropes, with color changes for each panel to create unique backdrops for each entry.[5] Unusually, the live orchestra was not seen on camera, being positioned slightly under the stage itself in a traditional orchestra pit, out of sight of the cameras.

The presentation by Désirée Nosbusch, a Luxembourg native working and living in the USA, made her at 19 years-of-age the youngest ever host of the competition. She hosted the show in a lax manner, which was quite unusual for the show at the time. Her style was also unusual in that rather than making announcements in multiple languages, she instead switched between English, French, German and Luxembourgish mid-sentence, not finishing any of her announcements in a single language.

The postcards in between each song were of a similar concept to those first devised for the 1979 competition and featured mime artists virtually visiting each of the participant nations. The actors, known collectively as "The Tourists" were superimposed into animated representations of the tourist attractions of each country, with the combined use of animated and real props, all created using the Chroma-Key process.[6]

1984 is also notable for the audible booing that could be heard from the audience, particularly at the end of the UK's performance. It was said that the booing was due to English football hooligans having rioted in Luxembourg in November 1983 after failing to qualify for the 1984 UEFA European Football Championship.

Voting structure

Before the contest, Sweden was not expected to win or even achieve a high placing. In the run-up to the contest, bookmakers Ladbrokes had the lowest odds on songs from Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Sweden was considered a "dark horse" entry with high odds.

Each country had a jury that awarded one to eight, 10 and 12 points for their top ten songs.

At the close of the penultimate jury's votes, there was only a difference of six points between Sweden and Ireland, at 141 and 135 respectively. However, Yugoslavia was the only country who had not given any points to Ireland, and Portugal, the last jury, gave them only two points, crushing their chances. Portugal's voting also cost Denmark, who had been holding at a strong third position, even leading the scoreboard for a short time, a potential victory, when Portugal's 12 lifted Spain from 94 to 106 points. Portugal at the same time had only given Denmark one point making Denmark's total 101 points. Despite this, this was the latter country's best position in over 20 years.

Participating countries

Nineteen participating countries competed this year. Israel did not enter due to it conflicting with the country's Yom HaZikaron holiday. Greece was also absent. Ireland, who had not participated the previous year, returned this year. Iceland was also going to participate for the first time but withdrew due to lack of financial support.[7]

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who directed the orchestra.[8][9]

Returning artists
Artist Country Previous year(s)
Mary Roos  Germany 1972
Kit Rolfe (part of Belle and the Devotions)  United Kingdom 1983 (backing singer)
Izolda Barudžija (part of Vlado & Isolda)  Yugoslavia 1982 (part of Aska), 1983 (part of Danijel's back vocals)
Gary Lux (backing singer for Anita)  Austria 1983 (as member of Westend)

Results
Draw Country Artist Song Language[10][11] Place[12] Points
01  Sweden Herreys "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" Swedish 1 145
02  Luxembourg Sophie Carle "100% d'amour" French 10 39
03  France Annick Thoumazeau "Autant d'amoureux que d'étoiles" French 8 61
04  Spain Bravo "Lady, Lady" Spanish[lower-alpha 1] 3 106
05  Norway Dollie de Luxe "Lenge leve livet" Norwegian 17 29
06  United Kingdom Belle and the Devotions "Love Games" English 7 63
07  Cyprus Andy Paul "Anna Maria Lena" (Άννα Μαρία Λένα) Greek 15 31
08  Belgium Jacques Zegers "Avanti la vie" French[lower-alpha 2] 5 70
09  Ireland Linda Martin "Terminal 3" English 2 137
10  Denmark Hot Eyes "Det' lige det" Danish 4 101
11  Netherlands Maribelle "Ik hou van jou" Dutch 13 34
12  Yugoslavia Vlado and Isolda "Ciao, amore" Serbo-Croatian[lower-alpha 2] 18 26
13  Austria Anita "Einfach weg" German 19 5
14  Germany Mary Roos "Aufrecht geh'n" German 13 34
15  Turkey Beş Yıl Önce, On Yıl Sonra "Halay" Turkish 12 37
16  Finland Kirka "Hengaillaan" Finnish 9 46
17   Switzerland Rainy Day "Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein?" German 16 30
18  Italy Alice and Franco Battiato "I treni di Tozeur" Italian[lower-alpha 3] 5 70
19  Portugal Maria Guinot "Silêncio e tanta gente" Portuguese 11 38

Scoreboard
Voting results[13][14]
Total score
Sweden
Luxembourg
France
Spain
Norway
United Kingdom
Cyprus
Belgium
Ireland
Denmark
Netherlands
Yugoslavia
Austria
Germany
Turkey
Finland
Switzerland
Italy
Portugal
Contestants
 Sweden 14566410712712121041212381064
Luxembourg 397755843
France 61226310128477
Spain 10610810646377226123812
Norway 298713262
United Kingdom 6331382281412714106
Cyprus 314141012
Belgium 70121223834510110
Ireland 13712531048101237101010712122
Denmark 101538612125810364525151
Netherlands 342781655
Yugoslavia 26238382
Austria 514
Germany 34472625125
Turkey 37654211036
Finland 4675154635163
Switzerland 3011015814
Italy 70101217671278
Portugal 38456788

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
5  Sweden Austria,  Cyprus,  Denmark,  Germany,  Ireland
4  Ireland Belgium,  Italy,  Sweden,   Switzerland
2  Belgium France,  Luxembourg
 Denmark Norway,  United Kingdom
 Italy Spain,  Finland
 Spain Portugal,  Turkey
1  Cyprus Yugoslavia
 France Netherlands

Spokespersons

Each country announced their votes in the order of performance. The following is a list of spokespersons who announced the votes for their respective country.

Broadcasts

National broadcasters were able to send a commentary team to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language. According to host Sophie Carle, thirty countries broadcast the 1984 contest.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria FS2 Ernst Grissemann [24]
 Belgium RTBF1 French: Jacques Mercier [25]
BRT TV1 Dutch: Luc Appermont [26]
 Cyprus RIK Pavlos Pavlou [19]
 Denmark DR TV Jørgen de Mylius [27]
 Finland YLE TV1 Heikki Seppälä [28]
YLE Rinnakkaisohjelma Jaakko Salonoja
 France Antenne 2 Léon Zitrone [25]
 Germany Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen Ado Schlier [29]
Deutschlandfunk Roger Horné
 Ireland RTÉ 1 Gay Byrne
RTÉ Radio 1 Larry Gogan
 Italy Rai Due Antonio De Robertis
Rai Radio 1
 Luxembourg RTL Télévision Valérie Sarn and Jacques Navadic [25]
RTL plus Helmut Thoma and Karlchen
 Netherlands Nederland 1 Ivo Niehe [30]
 Norway NRK Roald Øyen [31]
 Portugal RTP1 Fialho Gouveia [32]
 Spain TVE 2 José-Miguel Ullán [33]
 Sweden TV1 Fredrik Belfrage [15]
  Switzerland TV DRS German: Bernard Thurnheer
TSR French: Serge Moisson
TSI Italian: Ezio Guidi
 Turkey TRT Başak Doğru
 United Kingdom BBC1 Terry Wogan [34][9]
British Forces Radio Richard Nankivell [9]
 Yugoslavia TVB 2 Serbo-Croatian: Mladen Popović
TVZ 1 Serbo-Croatian: Oliver Mlakar
TVL 1 Slovene: Tomaž Terček
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Australia Network 0–28 Unknown
 Iceland Sjónvarpið Unknown
 Israel Israeli Television No commentator (delayed broadcast)
 Soviet Union CT USSR [lower-alpha 4]

Notes
  1. Contains some words in English
  2. Contains some words in Italian
  3. Contains some words in German
  4. Broadcast as an informational program presented by Alexander Kavyerznyev; only showed the performances, voting segment, and winning performance.

References
  1. "Morgunblaðið, 20.03.1983". Timarit.is. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  2. O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official Celebration. Carlton Books, 2015. ISBN 978-1-78097-638-9. Pages 32-33
  3. "The "Grand Théâtre" of Luxembourg City offers high quality cultural events" Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, Luxembourg National Tourist Office, London. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  4. "Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg" Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine, Théâtre Info Luxembourg. (in French) Retrieved 27 December 2010.
  5. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Behind the scenes footage of the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest in Luxembourg". YouTube.
  6. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Eurovision 1984 : The Postcards". YouTube.
  7. "Morgunblaðið, 20.03.1983". Timarit.is. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  8. "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  9. Roxburgh, Gordon (2017). Songs For Europe - The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. UK: Telos Publishing. pp. 200–211. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
  10. "Eurovision Song Contest 1984". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  11. "Eurovision Song Contest 1984". 4Lyrics.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  12. "Final of Luxembourg 1984". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  13. "Results of the Final of Luxembourg 1984". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  14. "Eurovision Song Contest 1984 – Scoreboard". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  15. "Infosajten.com". Infosajten.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  16. Zitrone, Léon et al. (May 5, 1984). 29ème Concours Eurovision de la Chanson 1984 [29th Eurovision Song Contest 1984] (Television production). Luxembourg: RTL, Antenne 2 (commentary).
  17. Dyrseth, Seppo (OGAE Norway)
  18. "The Eurovision Song Contest (1984 TV Special) : Full Cast & Crew". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
  19. Savvidis, Christos (OGAE Cyprus)
  20. "ESC 1984 - Danish comments (DR) 4:6". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2020-10-16.
  21. Leidse Courant, 5 May 1984
  22. "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  23. Baumann, Peter Ramón (OGAE Switzerland)
  24. Archived October 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  25. Christian Masson. "1984 - Luxembourg". Songcontest.free.fr. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  26. Adriaens, Manu & Loeckx-Van Cauwenberge, Joken. Blijven kiken!. Lannoo, Belgium. 2003 ISBN 90-209-5274-9
  27. "Forside". esconnet.dk. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  28. "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  29. "Eurovision Song Contest 1984". Ecgermany.de. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  30. "Welkom op de site van Eurovision Artists". Eurovisionartists.nl. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  31. "Hvem kommenterte før Jostein Pedersen? - Debattforum". Nrk.no. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  32. "Comentadores Do ESC - escportugalforum.pt.vu | o forum eurovisivo português". 21595.activeboard.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  33. "FORO FESTIVAL DE EUROVISIÓN • Ver Tema - Uribarri comentarista Eurovision 2010". Eurosongcontest.phpbb3.es. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  34. Eurovision Song Contest 1984 BBC Archives
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