Today 30 years ago, one of the most iconic Eurovision winners won the contest in one of the most memorable voting sequences in the history of Eurovision.
The second day of rehearsals for the Eurovision 2018 is about to begin. But it’s also an exciting day because exactly 30 years ago today – the 30th of April 1998- one of the most famous and iconic Eurovision acts won the contest. Today we can celebrate the anniversary of Celine Dion and Switzerland’s victory with “Ne Partez pans sans moi”.
The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was held at he RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion in Dublin, and the favorite to win was Scott Fitzgerald from the United Kingdom with the song “Go”. He did take the lead in the voting. However, in one of the most exiting moments in Eurovision voting history, Switzerland beat the United Kingdom by just a single point in the last vote to win the title. Yugoslavia was the last country to give their vote and gave 6 to Switzerland – a big disappointment could be heard in the audience, as the United Kingdom was expected to get more points. But Yugoslavia didn’t give any points to the British entry – and the twenty-year-old Celine Dion ended up with 137 points and Scott Fitzgerald only got 136.
A happy Celine Dion could then celebrate her victory.
Celine Dion had been a successful child singer in French speaking countries for some years, but it was her Eurovision victory and later her song from the Disney movie “Beauty and the Beast” that set off her career in the rest of the world. Today she has sold more than 220 million copies worldwide of her records.
