United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987

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United Kingdom in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1987

Eurovision Song Contest 1987
Participating broadcaster| British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Country|  United Kingdom
Selection process| A Song for Europe 1987
Selection date| 10 April 1987
Competing entry
Song| "Only the Light"
Artist| Rikki
Songwriter| Richard Peebles
Placement
Final result| 13th, 47 points
Participation chronology
| ◄1986 • | 1987 | • 1988►

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The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1987 with the song "Only the Light", written and performed by Rikki. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final.

## Before Eurovision

[edit]

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### A Song for Europe 1987

[edit]

In a change to previous years, 10 songs were performed instead of the usual eight. None of the performers had ever performed in A Song for Europe before, and none of the writers had ever written for the contest before. As well as Music Publisher's Association selecting some of the songs, songs from record publishers were also submitted. They were selected in the following manner (as recounted by the radio commentator during the interval act): "Around 400 songs were selected by the Music Publisher's Association and the British Phonographic Industries. These songs were reviewed by 10 juries of 6 people, whittling them down to 50 songs. They were down reduced to 20 songs, which were sent to the BBC, and the 10 were chosen by producer Brian Whitehouse, Mike Batt, Bruce Welch, some radio and television producers, and representatives from the MPA and BPI".

#### Final

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The final was held on 10 April 1987, live from Studio 1 of the BBC Television Centre in London. The contest was hosted by Terry Wogan. It was also broadcast on BBC Radio 2, and this was the first and only instance in which the radio commentator could also be heard on television, passing comment after each song, and during the interval act. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Ronnie Hazlehurst as conductor accompanied all the songs, but despite performing live, the orchestra were off-screen, behind the set. Hazlehurst's arrangement of the title music which had made its debut the previous year, was an upbeat arrangement of the traditional Te Deum music and was used again for the title sequence. The interval act was a pre-recorded dancing performance by The Anthony Van Laast Dancers.

Nine regional juries located in Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh, London, Norwich, Newcastle, and Bristol voted for the songs. Juries ranked the songs internally and awarded 15 points to their favourite, 12 to the second, 10 to the third, 9 to the fourth, 8 to the fifth, 7 to the sixth, 6 to the seventh, 5 to the eighth, 3 to the ninth and 1 to their least preferred.

A Song for Europe 1987 – 10 April 1987[1] Draw  | Artist  | Song  | Songwriter(s)  | Points  | Place

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1  | Rikki  | "Only the Light"  | Richard Peebles  | 112  | 1
2  | Siy  | "Lion Within"  | David Hughes, Richard Marcangelo  | 48  | 8
3  | Mike Stacey  | "I Want You"  | Steve Thompson, John Verity | 72  | 5
4  | Mal Pope | "Everybody"  | Mal Pope | 58  | 7
5  | Ann Turner  | "Too Hot to Handle"  | Bob Heatlie | 101  | 2
6  | Ian Prince  | "Master of the Game"  | Ian Prince  | 34  | 10
7  | Gordon Campbell  | "Just Let Me"  | Gordon Campbell  | 43  | 9
8  | Zuice  | "Bless Your Lucky Stars"  | Stephen Carmichael  | 78  | 3
9  | John T Ford  | "What You Gonna Do"  | John T Ford, Malcolm Poole  | 75  | 4
10  | Heavy Pettin'  | "Romeo"  | Gordon Bonner, Gary Moat, Steve Hayman  | 60  | 6
Detailed Jury Votes[1] Draw  | Song  |

Belfast

Birmingham

Bristol

Edinburgh

Cardiff

Manchester

London

Newcastle

Norwich

| Total

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1  | "Only the Light"  | 12 | 7 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 112
2  | "Lion Within"  | 6 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 1  | 48
3  | "I Want You"  | 8 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10  | 72
4  | "Everybody"  | 10 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 5  | 58
5  | "Too Hot to Handle"  | 9 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 12  | 101
6  | "Master of the Game"  | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3  | 34
7  | "Just Let Me"  | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 6  | 43
8  | "Bless Your Lucky Stars"  | 5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 9  | 78
9  | "What You Gonna Do"  | 15 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 8  | 75
10  | "Romeo"  | 3 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 7  | 60
Jury Spokespersons[1]

* Belfast – Stefanie Callister
* Birmingham – Pamela Armstrong
* Bristol – Angela Rippon
* Edinburgh – Louise Welsh
* Cardiff – Iwan Thomas
* Manchester – John Mundy
* London – Colin Berry
* Newcastle – Simon Willis
* Norwich – Susan Osman

## At Eurovision

[edit]

"Only the Light" was performed 14th in the running order on the night of the contest, following Luxembourg and preceding France. At the close of the voting, United Kingdom had received 47 points, placing 13th out of 22 competing countries.[2] It was the worst performing entry of the UK up to that point, and would remain so for the next 13 years, until 2000.[citation needed]

The British jury awarded its 12 points to the contest winners Ireland.[3]

### Voting

[edit]

Points awarded to the United Kingdom[3] | Score  | Country

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12 points  |
10 points  |  Israel
8 points  |
7 points  |
6 points  |
5 points  |

*  Austria
*  Sweden
*   Switzerland

4 points  |  Denmark
3 points  |

*  Belgium
*  Ireland
*  Portugal
*  Turkey

2 points  |

*  Cyprus
*  Yugoslavia

1 point  |

*  Finland
*  Luxembourg

Points awarded by the United Kingdom[3] | Score  | Country

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12 points  |  Ireland
10 points  |  Germany
8 points  |  Belgium
7 points  |  Denmark
6 points  |  Cyprus
5 points  |  Greece
4 points  |  Israel
3 points  |  Netherlands
2 points  |  Luxembourg
1 point  |  Italy

## References

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1. ^ a b c Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 277–300\. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
2. ^ "Final of Brussels 1987". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
3. ^ a b c "Results of the Final of Brussels 1987". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.

* v
* t
* e

United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest

National selection (former; contestants)

Participation|

* 1957
* 1959
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* 2014
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* ~~2020~~
* 2021
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Artists|

* Andy Abraham
* Olly Alexander
* The Allisons
* Michael Ball
* Bardo
* Belle and the Devotions
* Black Lace
* Blue
* Patricia Bredin
* Brotherhood of Man
* Bucks Fizz
* Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson
* Ronnie Carroll
* Co-Co
* Josh Dubovie
* Electro Velvet
* Emma
* Jade Ewen
* Scott Fitzgerald
* James Fox
* Nicki French
* Jessica Garlick
* Gina G
* Mary Hopkin
* Engelbert Humperdinck
* Imaani
* Samantha Janus
* Javine
* Jemini
* Joe and Jake
* Bryan Johnson
* Lucie Jones
* Katrina and the Waves
* Kathy Kirby
* Lindsay
* Live Report
* Love City Groove
* Lulu
* Kenneth McKellar
* Molly
* Matt Monro
* Mike Moran
* Mae Muller
* The New Seekers
* James Newman
* Olivia Newton-John
* Lynsey de Paul
* Precious
* Prima Donna
* Remember Monday
* Michael Rice
* Cliff Richard
* Rikki
* Clodagh Rodgers
* Frances Ruffelle
* Ryder
* Sam Ryder
* Daz Sampson
* Scooch
* The Shadows
* Sandie Shaw
* Sonia
* SuRie
* Sweet Dreams
* Bonnie Tyler
* Vikki

Songs|

* "All"
* "Are You Sure?"
* "The Bad Old Days"
* "Beg, Steal or Borrow"
* "Believe in Me"
* "Better the Devil You Know"
* "Bigger than Us"
* "Boom Bang-a-Bang"
* "Children of the Universe"
* "Come Back"
* "Congratulations"
* "Cry Baby"
* "Dizzy"
* "Don't Play That Song Again"
* "Embers"
* "Even If"
* "Flying the Flag (For You)"
* "Give a Little Love Back to the World"
* "Go"
* "Hold On to Our Love"
* "I Belong"
* "I Can"
* "I Love the Little Things"
* "I Wrote a Song"
* "I'm Never Giving Up"
* "It's My Time"
* "Jack in the Box"
* "Knock, Knock Who's There?"
* "Let Me Be the One"
* "Long Live Love"
* "Looking High, High, High"
* "Love City Groove"
* "Love Enough for Two"
* "Love Games"
* "Love Is..."
* "Love Shine a Light"
* "Love Will Set You Free"
* "Making Your Mind Up"
* "A Man Without Love"
* "Mary Ann"
* "A Message to Your Heart"
* ~~"My Last Breath"~~
* "Never Give Up on You"
* "No Dream Impossible"
* "One Step Further"
* "One Step Out of Time"
* "Only the Light"
* "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit"
* "Power to All Our Friends"
* "Puppet on a String"
* "Ring-A-Ding Girl"
* "Rock Bottom"
* "Runner in the Night"
* "Save Your Kisses for Me"
* "Say It Again"
* "Say Wonderful Things"
* "Sing, Little Birdie"
* "Space Man"
* "Still in Love with You"
* "Storm"
* "Teenage Life"
* "That Sounds Good to Me"
* "Touch My Fire"
* "We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)"
* "What the Hell Just Happened?"
* "Where Are You?"
* "Why Do I Always Get It Wrong"
* "You're Not Alone"

* Note: Entries scored out signify where the United Kingdom did not compete. Italics indicate an entry in a future contest.
* See also: UK Eurovision discography

* v
* t
* e

Eurovision Song Contest 1987

Countries|

* Austria
* Belgium
* Cyprus
* Denmark
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Israel
* Italy
* Luxembourg
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Portugal
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Turkey
* United Kingdom
* Yugoslavia

Artists|

* Alexia
* Bang
* Datner and Kushnir
* Lotta Engberg
* Kate Gulbrandsen
* Halla Margrét
* Anne-Cathrine Herdorf and Bandjo
* Patricia Kraus
* Johnny Logan
* Gary Lux
* Marcha
* Christine Minier
* Nevada
* Novi fosili
* Plastic Bertrand
* Carol Rich
* Rikki
* Vicky Rosti
* Liliane Saint-Pierre
* Seyyal Taner and Grup Lokomotif
* Umberto Tozzi and Raf
* Wind

Songs|

* "Amour, amour"
* "Aspro mavro"
* "Boogaloo"
* "Gente di mare"
* "Hægt og hljótt"
* "Hold Me Now"
* "Ja sam za ples"
* "Lass die Sonne in dein Herz"
* "En lille melodi"
* "Mitt liv"
* "Moitié, moitié"
* "Les Mots d'amour n'ont pas de dimanche"
* "Neste barco à vela"
* "No estás solo"
* "Nur noch Gefühl"
* "Only the Light"
* "Rechtop in de wind"
* "Şarkım Sevgi Üstüne"
* "Sata salamaa"
* "Shir Habatlanim"
* "Soldiers of Love"
* "Stop"

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