Tobson's Winners: 1986 - 1990

For me, personally, these five years are the most important in Eurovision history. Possibly not the best. I can't tell. I know them by heart, the songs and the performances, I grew up with these songs.

Even the bad ones feel like old friends. I can understand them, explain their weaknesses. Like them a little bit anyway. Forgive them for not being masterpieces.

It also makes picking out favourites even harder. It is like selecting one favourite among your children. Almost.

What I am trying to say is that for every favourite picked in this chapter, there are several other candidates close behind in the running. One day I will dissect these years in detail here on the blog.

But now for my personal winners.

1986 - Germany



Ingrid Peters - Über die Brücke geh'n (Germany 1986)

1986 offers one of my favourite selection of entries ever. Here is a wide range of styles and moods, many really good choruses and a heap of really good performances.

Switzerland and Luxembourg offer very strong songs, Turkey is a real gem, Portugal has a great pop number, France and Norway are fun, Yugoslavia is tender and the list goes on.

But this German song is like a wonder of elegance and craftmanship. It has a large and breezy sound, it has a very strong handle of a chorus and it is brilliantly sung by Ingrid Peters.

In retrospect, the lyrics are also touching, as a love song between the "two Germanys" to build a bridge, to understand each other and to have a peek over the wall.

Less than four years later the wall would crack down, and you could see right through it.

Real winner:
Sandra Kim - J'aime la vie (Belgium)


1987 - Turkey



Seyyal Taner & Lokomotif - Sarkim sevgi üstüne (Turkey 1987)

Another year bursting full of personal favourites. Belgium, Italy, Yugoslavia, Finland, Cyprus, Spain, Norway... the list is neverending.

But the Turks knock the socks off everyone. Mainly because they were really doing what I have already pinpointed as my favourite asset: they do their thing without trying to be loved by everyone.

They were loved in Brussels throughout the week, seen as a possible surprise act, appearing on stage like a musical thunderstorm, breaking every rule concerning how you should sound, look and act on the eurovision stage.

That earned them a big fat zero in the end. Not one of the twenty-one juries considered this entry worthy of a single point. Even the famously neutral SVT commentator made a remark how strange he found that verdict.

If you were different during the late 80's, the juries would punish you. These days, standing out from the rest is an asset. I like the new world order better.

Real winner:
Johnny Logan - Hold Me Now (Ireland)


1988 - Luxembourg



Lara Fabian - Croire (Luxembourg 1988)

Out of these five years, I find 1988 to be a somewhat weaker edition compared to the others. Anyhow, there are a few songs that are absolute top class. Like Israel. Like Turkey.

And like Luxembourg, introducing Lara Fabian, in a few years time set to be a huge household name in the entire French-speaking world.

This is an attempt at the classical French ballad again, the kind that would just walk in and floor all competition. But despite being powerful and lyrical, it didn't quite make it all the way.

She was beaten by another icon to be of French song, Céline Dion. Her career needed the victory more, as it apparently opened doors for her American career. But Lara's song is stronger. My winner.

Real winner:
Céline Dion - Ne partez pas sans moi (Switzerland)


1989 - Italy



Anna Oxa & Fausto Leali - Avrei voluto (Italy 1989)

I almost had to call this a tie in the end. How can I judge which one is better, this one or Finland? And then we have Turkey a very close third. And Spain a very close fourth.

But there is a raw, untamed energy and wrath in this song that I find overwhelming. Also this one breaks out from the eurovision formula in a nice way that proved a bit too much for the juries.

But the juries have possibly never been less up to the task than in 1989. They hardly do a single thing right, the entire voting is a mess. The final result is a farce.

Yugoslavia won with a happy song, but hardly their most convincing effort ever. More commercial songs, like Sweden, Austria and Germany, were left behind. When the winning team is welcomed on stage, the audience gives them a glacial reception with no cheers and no applause.

Rather a revealing image of where the ESC was heading for the next couple of years.

Real winner:
Riva - Rock Me (Yugoslavia)


1990 - Israel



Rita - Shara barechovot (Israel 1990)

Late 1989 had shaken Europe and by 1990, the landscape looked different. New times with no possibilities, and maybe this made the juries a bit braver again.

They did favour more classical songs like Ireland and Iceland, sure, but also gave high points to daring choices like France and Spain.

However, the demanding and experimental pop lament from Israel prooved too much and Rita landed the second worst result of the Jewish state until then. It does take a few listenings, admittedly, and maybe the juries simply didn't have the time to break into it fully.

But this is a lovingly crafted little masterpiece of a song, belted out with gusto and conviction. Maybe not the song you whistle in the shower the next day, but a very fine piece of pop art.

Real winner:
Toto Cutugno - Insieme: 1992