"Go", written and composed by Julie Forsyth (a member of the pop group

Guys 'n' Dolls Guys 'n' Dolls were a UK pop group, initially comprising a three-girl/three-boy line-up and later becoming two-girl/two-boy. In the mid-1970s, they scored UK top-ten hits with the singles " There's a Whole Lot of Loving" and "You Don't Have to ...

and the daughter of English entertainer

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...

), was the 's entry at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1988 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 with the song " Hold Me Now". Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU ...

, performed by

Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

. Bruce Forsyth and his wife were in the audience at the contest, supporting their daughter. Fitzgerald won the right to perform at the contest, held in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, by winning the UK national final, ''

A Song for Europe A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...

'', where he was the eighth singer to perform. Fitzgerald was also the first singer to be chosen to represent the United Kingdom via a national telephone vote. In Dublin, the song was performed fourth on the night, after 's

Boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

with "

Nauravat silmät muistetaan Finland was represented by the band Boulevard, with the song "Nauravat silmät muistetaan", at the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 30 April in Dublin. Before Eurovision National final The final was held 13 February 1988 at t ...

", and before 's Mazhar-Fuat-Özkan with " Sufi." At the end of judging that evening, "Go" took the second-place slot with 136 points. Turkey, Belgium and Italy awarded their 12-point designations to the UK that evening. In one of the closest voting rounds up to that time, the UK lost the competition by one point to 's representative,

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, with her song "

Ne partez pas sans moi "Ne partez pas sans moi" (; "Don't Leave Without Me") is a song recorded by Canadian singer Celine Dion. The song was written by Atilla Şereftuğ and Nella Martinetti. It is best known as the Swiss winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contes ...

". According to author and contest historian

John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous m ...

, this was the closest contest yet, with the winning margin being just 0.73%. The strong showing in the 1988 contest was an indicator of things to come for the United Kingdom, as it would become the first of eleven straight top ten placings in the contest, and the first of four second-place finishes in the next six years. In a departure from the past two years, an

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

ballad was on offer this year, telling the story of two former lovers meeting by chance. Fitzgerald, in the role of the lovesick man, relates the sad story; his former lover had left him years before for another man, and now that she has returned, so has all the sorrow he felt. After Eurovision, the song placed at No. 52 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The song was later covered by Russian singer

Philipp Kirkorov Philipp Bedrosovich Kirkorov PAR (russian: Филипп Бедросович Киркоров; bg, Филип Бедросов Киркоров, Filip Bedrosov Kirkorov; born 30 April 1967) is a Bulgarian-born Russian pop singer. He is a five ...

Charts

References

Eurovision songs of the United Kingdom Eurovision songs of 1988 1988 in British music 1988 singles Pop ballads 1988 songs Songs about heartache {{1980s-UK-single-stub