Hold Me Now: Mr. Eurovision Claims His Second

MAY 15 1987 · 12:00

Johnny Logan · "Hold Me Now" · Ireland · 1987 Placement: 1st · Score: 172 · Language: English · Composers: Johnny Logan · Venue: Centenary Palace · Host: Brussels, Belgium · Type: winner · Broadcast: color crt On May 9, 1987, at the Centenary Palace in Brussels, Johnny Logan — seven years after his 'What's Another Year' victory — returned to Eurovision as the Irish entry with 'Hold Me Now,' a power ballad he had written himself. This time he was no longer the unknown Australian-Irish singer in a tuxedo; he was a veteran performer with international credits, performing a song he had crafted specifically for Eurovision's format. The performance was, by the standards of 1987 Eurovision, restrained — a single singer, minimal staging, the song building through orchestral swells into a sustained final chorus. Logan won with 172 points. In doing so, he became the first performer in Eurovision history to win twice — an achievement that would remain singular for 36 years until Loreen won her second in 2023. The victory consolidated Logan's identity as 'Mr. Eurovision,' a title initially bestowed half-ironically by the Irish and UK press but which became permanent and genuine over subsequent decades as Logan's Eurovision relationship deepened. Context Eurovision 1987 was hosted by Belgium following Sandra Kim's 1986 victory — her win at age 13 had been controversial. The contest was in a phase of relative pop stability; established songwriters and producers were submitting entries to well-resourced national selections, and the field was dominated by professionalized pop-industry product. Ireland was entering a period of Eurovision dominance — 1980 Logan, 1987 Logan, 1992 Linda Martin (Logan-written), 1993 Niamh Kavanagh, 1994 Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan, 1996 Eimear Quinn — six wins in fifteen years. Logan's 1987 entry was written, produced, and performed by him alone, an unusual level of single-artist control in Eurovision's otherwise collaborative submission tradition. Legacy Logan's 1987 win made him the singular Eurovision double-performer-winner until Loreen's 2023 double. He would go on to win Eurovision a third time as songwriter of Linda Martin's 1992 'Why Me?,' making him the only person ever to win Eurovision three times in any capacity. The 'Mr. Eurovision' title became permanent. For Ireland, the 1987 result was the country's third Eurovision victory and the most emotionally resonant — the return of an exiled-then-returned performer closing his own arc with a self-authored song on home-continent territory. 'Hold Me Now' remains a permanent fixture of Irish and European pop-standard programming. Mythology Logan is sometimes described as the only person to win Eurovision three times as performer; he won twice as performer and once as songwriter. The 'Mr. Eurovision' title is occasionally reported as EBU-conferred; it was press-bestowed and has no official status. 'Hold Me Now' is sometimes credited to multiple co-writers; Logan wrote both music and lyrics.