How a French-language song achieved a historic Eurovision victory in Dublin

Wars & Conflicts · Published 9 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1988, the Eurovision Song Contest witnessed a landmark moment that remains unbroken. A young Céline Dion secured Switzerland's second win with a French-language entry, marking the last time a song in that language has ever taken the top prize in the competition's history.

Dublin, Ireland, hosted the 33rd iteration of the competition at the RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion on 30 April 1988. Hosted by Pat Kenny and Michelle Rocca, the event followed Ireland's 1987 victory with Johnny Logan's "Hold Me Now". The production introduced several technical innovations to appeal to younger viewers, including a computer-generated scoreboard displayed on Philips video walls and the first time the audio signal was transmitted in stereo via the Eurovision terrestrial network.

The competition saw 22 countries submit entries, though Cyprus was ultimately unable to participate. The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation had selected "Thimame," but discovered the song had previously competed in the 1984 Cypriot national selection under a different title. Because the national selection rules did not allow for a runner-up to be declared, and time was insufficient for a new selection, Cyprus had to withdraw.

A major milestone occurred when Switzerland won with "Ne partez pas sans moi"—Atilla Şereftuğ composed the music and Nella Martinetti wrote the lyrics. Until 2026, no French-language track has won since this entry. The event produced varied results: the United Kingdom secured its eleventh second-place finish, whereas Austria ended in last place for the sixth time, scoring zero points for the second time.

The voting process relied on an assembled jury of sixteen individuals per country. These jurors were members of the public with no ties to the music industry, split evenly by gender and across four age groups ranging from 15 to 60. In the event of a tie for first place, the rules mandated that the tied artists perform their entries again for the non-involved juries to decide a winner.

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