The 1987 Çeşme International Song Contest was held between June 24 and 28, 1987. This event was also known as the “2nd International Çeşme Music Festival”.
1987 Çeşme International Song Contest – Table of Contents
The Show Structure and Venue
The festival’s “International Music Competition” (Cesme International Song Contest), hosted by Halit Kıvanç, Cansu Akbel, daughter of master announcer Can Akbel, and Anthony Delon, son of Alain Delon, was held at Çeşme Castle on Saturday night, June 27, 1987. Anthony Delon introduced the artists in English and French. The competition was known as “Türkiye’s Eurovision”. Çeşme Castle was filled to capacity for the International Song Contest, the final event of the Çeşme Sea Festival. 340 guests (190 foreign and 150 Turkish) were hosted, including the contestants and the artists who formed the jury. The competition’s first prize was $5,000, and the second was $3,000.
The festival was watched by Belgian, Swiss, Yugoslavian, Monaco, French, German and Dutch television channels and various foreign press outlets. The jury consisted of Sopot Festival organiser Andrzej Koyalik, Bratislava Festival organiser Peter Horak, Dutch TV Music Department Head John de Mol, Scandinavian broadcaster Lars Wigman, “Billboard” international editor Mike Hennesey, International Federation of the Phonographic Industry IFPI’s David Attard, German TV producer Albert Krogman, French TV producer Jacques Bancarel, International Federation of Festival Organizations FIDOF Secretary General Armando Moreno and composer, musician and producer Onno Tunç. The president of the World Record Association and one of the founders of the Atlantic Records music company, Nasuhi Ertegün, was the head of the jury. Turhan Yükseler conducted the competition orchestra.
Artist Participation & Awards
Artists and groups from 18 countries participated in the competition. Türkiye was represented in the competition by Grup Denk, which came second in the 1987 Eurovision qualifiers. Grup Denk, consisting of Bora Ebeoğlu, Zeynep Draman, Oya Küçümen, and Zeynep Alev Aydeniz, sang Melih Kibar’s composition “Paydos.”
In addition to Thomas Anders, Kim Wilde, Caroline Verdi, Bolland & Bolland, and Johnny Logan sang their songs. The English group Double Take won the 2nd International Çeşme Music Competition. The group, formed by brothers Guy and Robert Miles, came first with their song “Rockola”. Adriano Pappelardo from Italy came second and Kari Iveland from Norway came third. Grup Denk, competing on behalf of Turkey, also received a $500 honorable mention. Natalie L’Hermite, 21, from Luxembourg, won the second $500 honorable mention and FIDOF’s “Young Talents Special Award” with her song J’Pars.
A $5,000 award from Çeşme Municipality was won by Yugoslav Doris Dragović, who sang “Anita”. The festival, whose concerts were filmed by French Television, was broadcast live on TRT TV1 starting at 22:05, and was broadcast for 4 hours in the USSR. The music competition, described as the “local Eurovision”, significantly contributed to Turkey’s “modern image” abroad with 28 hours of foreign television broadcast, together with the Soviet Union and European countries, and reached 200 million viewers. Until 1987, Turkey had never seen so many celebrities in its field together. And no organisation created by Turkey had ever received such broadcast requests from world television stations.
On the night of June 27, 1987, with Nora Balling and Utah as backing vocalists, Thomas Anders sang Brother Louie, Jet Airliner and We Still Have Dreams as playbacks at the competition night at Çeşme Castle. Anders’ stage performance at the Çeşme Music Festival was also broadcast live on TRT TV1.
Festival Organisation
The festival organisers were Ahmet San (34) and Mustafa Oğuz (35). Ekrem Oran (16), who 32 years later would become the mayor of Çeşme, was Ahmet San’s festival assistant. Minister of Culture and Tourism Mesut Yılmaz and Prime Ministry Chief Advisor Adnan Kahveci also attended the festival as guests.
Watch the 1987 Çeşme International Song Contest
See also: Thomas Anders at the 1987 Çeşme International Song Contest posted by Karşıyaka Blog – 10 minutes and 16 seconds: Watch on YouTube.
See also: LikeCesme.com – Çeşme Music and LikeCesme.com – Çeşme Castle Museum