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United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987

Eurovision Song Contest 1987
Participating broadcasterBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processA Song for Europe 1987
Selection date(s)10 April 1987
Selected artist(s)Rikki
Selected song"Only the Light"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result13th, 47 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1986 • 1987 • 1988►

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

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A Song for Europe 1987

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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". The interval act was a pre-recorded dancing performance by The Anthony Van Laast Dancers.

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.

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.[1]

A Song for Europe 1987 – 10 April 1987[2]
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Points Place
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[2]
Draw Song
Belfast
Birmingham
Bristol
Edinburgh
Cardiff
Manchester
London
Newcastle
Norwich
 Total
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[2]
Jury Spokesperson
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

UK Discography

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At Eurovision

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"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.[3] It was the worst performing entry of the UK up to that point, and would remain so for the next 13 years, until 2000.

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

Voting

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References

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  1. ^ Song for Europe 1987
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Final of Brussels 1987". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Brussels 1987". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.