Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985
| Eurovision Song Contest 1985 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  Ireland | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | National Final | |||
| Selection date(s) | 27 March 1985 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Maria Christian | |||
| Selected song | "Wait Until the Weekend Comes" | |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 6th, 91 points | |||
| Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
Ireland was represented by Maria Christian, with the song '"Wait Until the Weekend Comes", at the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 4 May in Gothenburg, Sweden. "Wait Until the Weekend Comes" was chosen as the Irish entry at the national final on 27 March.
Before Eurovision
National final
The final was held at the studios of broadcaster RTÉ in Dublin, hosted by Gay Byrne. Eight songs took part, with the winner chosen by voting from 11 regional juries. One of the contenders was Marion Fossett, who was a member of Ireland's 1981 representatives Sheeba.[1]
| Draw | Artist | Song | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carol Ann | "Two Hearts" | 20 | 2 |
| 2 | Marion Fossett | "Only a Fantasy" | 7 | 6 |
| 3 | Jody McStravick | "Couldn't Live My Life" | 15 | 4 |
| 4 | Jacinta Whyte | "The Circus Song" | 6 | 7 |
| 5 | Jane Cassidy | "Long Before" | 16 | 3 |
| 6 | Mike Sherrard | "Hearts" | 3 | 8 |
| 7 | Trish O'Brien | "Hold Her Now" | 15 | 4 |
| 8 | Maria Christian | "Wait Until the Weekend Comes" | 28 | 1 |
| Detailed Regional Jury Votes | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Dublin Regional |
Castleblaney | Donegal | Westport | Galway | Birr | Limerick | Kenmare | Cork | Waterford | Dublin Central |
Total |
| 1 | "Two Hearts" | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 20 | |||
| 2 | "Only a Fantasy" | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||||||
| 3 | "Couldn't Live My Life" | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 15 | ||||||
| 4 | "The Circus Song" | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||
| 5 | "Long Before" | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 16 | ||||||
| 6 | "Hearts" | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 7 | "Hold Her Now" | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 15 | |||
| 8 | "Wait Until the Weekend Comes" | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 28 | |||
At Eurovision
On the night of the final Christian performed first in the running order, preceding Finland. At the close of voting "Wait Until the Weekend Comes" had picked up 91 points (including a maximum 12 from Italy), placing Ireland 6th of the 19 entries. Only the two final juries, Greece and Luxembourg failed to award the song any points at all. The Irish jury awarded its 12 points to contest winners Norway.[2]
Points awarded by Ireland
| 12 points |  Norway
|
| 10 points |  Sweden
|
| 8 points |  Israel
|
| 7 points |  Turkey
|
| 6 points |  Finland
|
| 5 points |  United Kingdom
|
| 4 points |  Germany
|
| 3 points |  Austria
|
| 2 points |  Spain
|
| 1 point |  Cyprus
|
Points awarded to Ireland
| Points awarded to Ireland | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 points | 10 points | 8 points | 7 points | 6 points |
| 5 points | 4 points | 3 points | 2 points | 1 point |
