After 33 years, the Eurovision Song Contest returned to Switzerland, the first host country and first winner. The Palais de Beaulieu was chosen as the venue for this edition, in the French-speaking city of Lausanne.
Céline Dion reprised her winning song “Ne partez pas sans moi” in the opening of the event, being followed by the debut of “Where Does My Heart Beat Now”, the first single of her upcoming album Unison. While her 1988 Eurovision song was Céline’s first breakout moment, “Where Does My Heart Beat Now” was the song that launched her career on a global scale. Eventually, the song reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first top-10 charting song in the US.
22 countries took part in the contest, including Cyprus which returned after being disqualified the year prior. Switzerland, the host country, was represented by the band Furbaz and their song “Viver senza tei”, the only time that Romansh -the fourth national Swiss language- was ever used in the contest.
Between the contestants, two children took part: 12-years-old Gili Natanael for Israel and 11-years-old Nathalie Pâque for France. Nathalie is the youngest contestant ever in the Eurovision Song Contest. Due to controversy, EBU decided to restrict the participation of children younger than 16 in 1990.
Regarding the songs, 1989 was not a particularly strong year. After “Hold me now” and “Ne partez pas sans moi” victories, most countries decided to participate with ballads and low-tempo songs, making the event feel slow and a bit tedious, despite some strong vocals. In its fourth participation in the contest, Iceland got its worst-ever result: nul points with “Það sem enginn sér” by Daníel Ágúst Haraldsson.
In this context, more uptempo songs like Denmark, Finland and Yugoslavia stood out. “Vi maler byen rød” by Birthe Kjær gave Denmark a third-place for the second time in a row. This happy schlager song is also remembered because the conductor Henrik Krogsgaard joins the background singers halfway through the song (being replaced by the musical director, Swiss Benoît Kaufman). “La dolce vita” by Anneli Saaristo, a Spanish-inspired song, gave Finland one of its best results before Lordi’s win in 2006.
“Rock me”, by Croatian band Riva, performed last in the contest. Due to its pop-rock nature, the song stood out and became the eventual winner of the contest, receiving 137 points (7 more than the runner-up, United Kingdom’s “Why Do I Always Get It Wrong”), although it has not particularly been well received by eurofans. It was Yugoslavia’s first and only win. Although the victory by Riva gave the country some hope when they started to organize 1990’s contest, “Rock me” was almost their swan song. Nationalisms were already rising in the country and, in less than a year, Yugoslavia started its disintegration.