The winner was Norway with the song "La det swinge", composed and written by Rolf Løvland and performed by the group Bobbysocks.

[1] The chosen venue was the Scandinavium, an indoor arena inaugurated in 1971, home to the Frölunda HC ice hockey team and the Gothenburg Horse Show.

[2][3][4] The Scandinavium was chosen by host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) from a number of bids submitted by various Swedish cities and venues; among those known to have been considered to stage the contest were the Berwald Hall in Stockholm and the Tipshallen [sv] in Jönköping.

[3][6][7] During the week leading up to the rehearsals and the televised event, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and SVT held an official reception for the participating delegations, which was hosted on the evening of 1 May 1985 at Kronhuset.

Greece and Israel both returned following a one-year absence, however the Netherlands and Yugoslavia, which had competed in the previous year's contest, declined to enter in 1985 as the date of the contest coincided with memorial days in the countries, specifically the Remembrance of the Dead, and the anniversary of the death of Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito, respectively.

[9] The Danish group Hot Eyes represented their nation for a second consecutive year, while the Italian duo Al Bano and Romina Power also made a second contest appearance, having previously competed for their country in 1976.

[32] The points awarded by each country were determined by an assembled jury of eleven individuals, who were all required to be members of the public with no connection to the music industry, with a recommendation that there should be a balance between the sexes and that half should be under 25 years old.

In any cases where two or more songs in the top ten received the same number of votes, a show of hands by all jury members was used to determine the final placing.

[6][35] Following the confirmation of the nineteen participating countries, a draw was held in Gothenburg on 7 December 1984 to determine the running order (R/O) of the contest.

[19][36] The interval act featured jazz guitarists Peter Almqvist and Ulf Wakenius, performing as Guitars Unlimited.

[37][38] Lindfors was also part of a memorable moment from the contest: when she returned to the stage following the interval act, the skirt of her outfit, designed by Christer Lindarw, got caught on the set and ripped off in an apparent wardrobe malfunction, before Lindfors unclipped the top portion of her outfit to reveal a dress;[7][33][39] returning to the microphone, she remarked to the audience, "I just wanted you to wake up a little.

[37][40] The winner was Norway represented by the song "La det swinge", composed and written by Rolf Løvland, and performed by Hanne Krogh and Elisabeth Andreasson as Bobbysocks.

[48] Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.