United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986

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[edit] A Song for Europe 1986

As well as the previews on BBC1's Wogan show, all eight finalists were also heard at regular intervals on Radio 2. Was 1986 a classic year for the UK final?

April 2nd's final opened with 1985 Eurovision winners, Bobbysocks, wowing the crowd with a rendition of their winning song. They were probably distracted by the hundreds of BBC dancers getting in their way.

The first song of the contest was the catchy Dreamer, performed by Vanity Fair. Having already had a career stretching back nearly twenty years, the group were on good form and a victory looked possible.

Next came the ballad Dancing with you again, a ponderous effort from three boys called Palace. The lead singer Michael Palace was better known to Eurovision fans as Dan Duskey, a member of The Duskeys who represented Ireland in 1982.

With a mullet hairstyle and plenty of nerves, Colin Heywood sang a powerful Eurovision ballad called No easy way to love.

A more miserable ballad was served up by Chad Brown. I'm sorry was downbeat and very sorry for itself.

Tongue tied was a pleasant, if bland, MOTR number sung by Kenny Charles and was in stark contrast to the sixth song, Runner in the night by the group Ryder. This was a bombastic piece of shouting, upbeat and different.

Jump were the archetypal song contest group, three girls in pink and two likely lads with knowing smiles. Don't hang up on love was uptempo and all the right key changes. The audience loved it.

They were left a little perplexed though by the final entry, War of the roses, from the group Future. What should have been a powerful performance was ruined by the shouting match that evolved between the two lead singers.

Terry then came back on stage to chat to Bobbysocks, a somewhat bizarre conversation about the delights of Bergen.

[edit] The Voting

Terry was on fine form as he bantered with the jury spokesman, almost causing Leeds' Linda Dryborough-Smith to dry. In a close competition, Ryder emerged victorious with 145 points, followed by Jump with 137 and Vanity Fair with 99. Palace took the fourth spot with 91 points followed by Kenny Charles with 86, Colin Heywood with 80, Chad Brown with 78 and finally Future with 76.

[edit] Eurovision Song Contest 1986

After a brief trip to the heady heights of fourth place in the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest, the UK slumped back to 6th or 7th place (see 1982, 1983 and 1984) in 1986. The song Runner In The Night by Ryder failed to wow judges and it only received 72 points overall.

Belgian 13-year-old Sandra Kim won with J'Aime La Vie.

United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
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United Kingdom in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
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