United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1987

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[edit] A Song for Europe 1987

The contest was held on 10 April 1987, live from the BBC Television Centre, 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.

An orchestra was once again used, under the baton of Ronnie Hazlehurst for the second time, having taken over from John Coleman in 1986. As usual for the A Song For Europe, the orchestra was not seen on stage. The title music had changed from previous years, as an upbeat arrangement of the traditional Te Deum music.

[edit] The Songs

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, described 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.

Song number 1 was written and performed by Richard Peebles, known on stage as Rikki. He performed "Only the light" with 3 backing singers, and on stage drummer and keyboard player. The drummer was David Watson. Rikki had also written "Hitching a ride" for Middle of the Road. He gave a slightly strained performance, not helped by the bellowing female backing singer.

Song number 2 was written by Richard Marcangelo and David Hughes, sung by 20 year old Siy, a fashion design student. She sang "Lion within" again accompanied by a band, one bassist, a saxophonist, and a keyboard player. The Daily Mirror reported that the song had originally been written for Duran Duran. A vocal mix-up part way through led to the group singing the immortal line, "like a fish that runs in slow motion".

Song number 3 was written by John Verity and Steve Thompson, performed by Mike Stacey, all of which from Yorkshire. The song was called "I want you". This song differed from the studio version, being different in key, and also having substantial parts missed out in order to make it last less than three minutes. Three backing singers were on stage, two male and one female. Although well performed, this was a dated ballad.

Song number 4 was written and performed by Mal Pope from Wales. The song was called "Everybody". He was accompanied by a harmonica player (Paul Henry) and three female backing singers. The harmonica replaced an electrically made keyboard sound used in the studio version.

Song number 5 sung by Ann Turner, and written by Robert Heatlie(he also wrote Japanese boy). The song, a sultry ballad, was called "Too Hot To Handle". Ann performed alone on stage. The song differed from the studio version in terms of key and instrumentation. "Too hot to handle" was often heard playing in the background in scenes featuring the Queen Vic pub in the BBC soap EastEnders.

Song number 6 was performed by its writer, Ian Prince. Called "Master of the Game", it was performed with a band on stage.

Song number 7 was written and performed by Gordon Campbell, who at the time was the British 800 metres champion. He is now a Scottish music producer. He had also written for Shakin Stevens in the past. He was accompanied on stage by an acoustic guitarist. The song was called "Just let me" and started with the singer sat on a suitcase.

Song number 8 was called "Bless your lucky stars" and performed by Zuice, written by Stephen Carmichael and Tony Black. Lead singer was Hazel Fernandez who would appear in the 1998 contest, singing with The Collective. "Bless your lucky stars" was the most contemporary song on offer in 1987.

Song number 9 was written by Mac Poole and John T Ford. John T Ford sang on stage alone, singing "What you gonna do" another song that differed in terms of instrumentation from the studio version. Although not seen, Mac Poole, the other writer, was playing drums with the off screen orchestra for this song.

Song number 10 was from a band called Heavy Pettin, the song was called "Romeo". The group had been together five years, and the song was written by the band. This entry was Bon Jovi-lite.

The interval act was a dancing performance by the Anthony Van Laast dancers.

[edit] The Voting

Nine regional juries (Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, London, Newcastle and Norwich) cast their votes. This was a particularly close competition which saw Rikki edge to an eleven point victory (112 points) over Ann Turner (101 points). Zuice came a distant third with 78 points followed by John T. Ford with 75, Mike Stacey with 72, Heavy Pettin' with 60, mal Pope with 58, Siy with 48, Gordon Campbell with 43 and Ian Prince last with just 34 points.

[edit] Eurovision Song Contest 1987

The 1987 Eurovision Song Contest saw the UK's worst entry of the 1980s - as Rikki's "Only the Light" received a dismal 47 points, reaching 13th place overall.

Johnny Logan repeated his 1980 success and won again for Ireland.