🔴 1996 Eurovision Song Contest Full Show From Oslo/Norway (English Commentary by Terry Wogan)

Date: 18 May 1996 - Host Venue: Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
Presenter: Ingvild Bryn, Morten Harket - Conductor: Frode Thingnæs
Directed by Pål Veiglum - Executive supervisor: Christine Marchal-Ortiz
Executive producer: Odd Arvid Strømstad
Host broadcaster: Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK)
Opening act: "Heaven's Not For Saints" performed by Morten Harket
Interval act: Nils Gaup & Runar Borge feat. Aamil Paus-Beacon - Burning
Participants: Number of entries 23 - Debuting countries: None
Returning countries: Estonia, Finland, Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland
Countries without right to start: Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Russia

The Eurovision Song Contest 1996 was the 41st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following Secret Garden's win at the 1995 contest in Dublin, Ireland with the song "Nocturne".

It was held on 18 May 1996 in Oslo Spektrum. The presenters were Ingvild Bryn and Morten Harket. Harket, lead singer of a-ha, opened the show with a performance of his single "Heaven's Not for Saints", which was a smash hit in Norway at the time. Twenty-three countries participated in the contest, with Eimear Quinn of Ireland crowned the winner after the final voting, with the song, "The Voice". The song was written by Brendan Graham, who also composed the 1994 winner "Rock 'n' Roll Kids". It was also a record seventh win for Ireland and the most recent win of Ireland.

A non-televised audio-only pre-qualification round was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), in order to shortlist the number of participating nations that would compete in the televised final from twenty-nine, to a more manageable twenty-three. Germany, Israel, Denmark, Hungary, Russia, Macedonia, and Romania all failed to qualify. Macedonia eventually went on to make their debut in 1998. The 1996 contest remains the only Eurovision without a German entry at the Grand Final of the festival.

Results:

Draw Country Artist Song Language Place Points
01 Turkey Şebnem Paker "Beşinci Mevsim" Turkish 12 57
02 United Kingdom Gina G "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit" English 8 77
03 Spain Antonio Carbonell "¡Ay, qué deseo!" Spanish 20 17
04 Portugal Lúcia Moniz "O meu coração não tem cor" Portuguese 6 92
05 Cyprus Constantinos "Mono gia mas" (Μόνο για μας) Greek 9 72
06 Malta Miriam Christine "In a Woman's Heart" English 10 68
07 Croatia Maja Blagdan "Sveta ljubav" Croatian 4 98
08 Austria George Nussbaumer "Weil's dr guat got" Vorarlbergish 10 68
09 Switzerland Kathy Leander "Mon cœur l'aime" French 16 22
10 Greece Marianna Efstratiou "Emis forame to himona anixiatika"
(Εμείς φοράμε το χειμώνα ανοιξιάτικα) Greek 14 36
11 Estonia Maarja-Liis Ilus & Ivo Linna "Kaelakee hääl" Estonian 5 94
12 Norway Elisabeth Andreassen "I evighet" Norwegian 2 114
13 France Dan Ar Braz & l'Héritage des Celtes "Diwanit Bugale" Breton 19 18
14 Slovenia Regina "Dan najlepših sanj" Slovene 21 16
15 Netherlands Maxine & Franklin Brown "De eerste keer" Dutch 7 78
16 Belgium Lisa del Bo "Liefde is een kaartspel" Dutch 16 22
17 Ireland Eimear Quinn "The Voice" English 1 162
18 Finland Jasmine "Niin kaunis on taivas" Finnish 23 9
19 Iceland Anna Mjöll "Sjúbídú" Icelandic 13 51
20 Poland Kasia Kowalska "Chcę znać swój grzech..." Polish 15 31
21 Bosnia and Herzegovina Amila Glamočak "Za našu ljubav" Bosnian 22 13
22 Slovakia Marcel Palonder "Kým nás máš" Slovak 18 19
23 Sweden One More Time "Den vilda" Swedish 3 100