Eurovision Song Contest 1988

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Eurovision Song Contest 1988" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Eurovision Song Contest 1988
Dates
Final	30 April 1988
Host
Venue	RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion, Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland
Presenter(s)	Pat Kenny Michelle Rocca
Musical director	Noel Kelehan
Directed by	Declan Lowney
Executive supervisor	Frank Naef
Executive producer	Liam Miller
Host broadcaster	Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)
Website	eurovision.tv/event/dublin-1988
Participants
Number of entries	21
Debuting countries	None
Returning countries	None
Non-returning countries	Cyprus
Participation map      Competing countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1988
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Winning song	Switzerland "Ne partez pas sans moi"
1987 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 1989

The Eurovision Song Contest 1988 was the 33rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following Johnny Logan's win at the 1987 contest with the song "Hold Me Now". Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 30 April 1988 and was hosted by Irish broadcaster Pat Kenny and the Miss Ireland 1980 Michelle Rocca, marking the first time since the 1979 contest that two presenters had hosted the contest.

Twenty-one countries took part, after an initial plan of twenty-two, as Cyprus' song was disqualified for breaching the contest's rules by being published a few years earlier, in an attempt to represent the country at a prior edition of the contest. The Cypriot song had been drawn to be performed 2nd in the running order.

The winner was Switzerland with the song "Ne partez pas sans moi", performed by Canadian singer Céline Dion and composed by Atilla Şereftuğ with lyrics in French by Nella Martinetti. Switzerland beat the United Kingdom by just one point in the last vote to win the title. The victory helped launch Dion's international career, subsequently leading her to become one of the best-selling artists of all time.