United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2021) |
| United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 1981 | ||||
| Participating broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) | |||
| Country |  United Kingdom | |||
| Selection process | A Song for Europe 1981 | |||
| Selection date | 11 March 1981 | |||
| Competing entry | ||||
| Song | "Making Your Mind Up" | |||
| Artist | Bucks Fizz | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Placement | ||||
| Final result | 1st, 136 points | |||
| Participation chronology | ||||
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The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up", composed by John Danter, with lyrics by Andy Hill, and performed by Bucks Fizz. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final titled A Song for Europe 1981. The entry eventually won the Eurovision Song Contest.
Before Eurovision
[edit] | This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. (April 2025) |
A Song for Europe 1981
[edit]The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reduced the number of finalists from twelve to eight in 1981. Terry Wogan hosted the national final on 11 March at the BBC Television Theatre in London. 581 songs were submitted to the Music Publisher's Association to pick eight songs. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded. The show was the 16th most watched programme of the week with a rating of 12.4 million viewers, the highest for three years.[1] Johnny Logan was scheduled to appear as a guest on the programme, but had to cancel shortly before the air date.
Seven regional juries voted on the songs. The regional juries voted internally and awarded 15 points to their favourite song, 12 points to the second, 10 points to the third and then 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points in order of preference for the songs from 4th to 8th. Before the reprise, Terry Wogan incorrectly read the title of the winning song as "Where Are You Now". The prizes were presented by Wogan to John Danter, one of the songwriters, and to Mike Nolan, one of the performers.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Headache | "Not Without Your Ticket (Don't Go)" | Luís Jardim, Jean Gilbert | 50 | 7th |
| 2 | Gary Benson | "All Cried Out" | Gary Benson | 63 | 4th |
| 3 | Unity | "For Only a Day" | John Dawson Read, Christopher Gunning | 38 | 8th |
| 4 | Beyond | "Wish" | Steve Elson, Don Gould | 67 | 3rd |
| 5 | Bucks Fizz | "Making Your Mind Up" | Andy Hill, John Danter | 97 | 1st |
| 6 | Gem | "Have You Ever Been in Love?" | Andy Hill, Peter Sinfield, John Danter | 63 | 4th |
| 7 | Lezlee Carling | "Where Are You Now" | Lindsey Moore | 56 | 6th |
| 8 | Liquid Gold | "Don't Panic" | Adrian Baker | 70 | 2nd |
| Draw | Song | Birmingham
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Cardiff
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Manchester
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Belfast
|
Edinburgh
|
London
|
Bristol
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Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Not Without Your Ticket" | 7 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 50 |
| 2 | "All Cried Out" | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 63 |
| 3 | "For Only a Day" | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 38 |
| 4 | "Wish" | 15 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 67 |
| 5 | "Making Your Mind Up" | 10 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 97 |
| 6 | "Have You Ever Been in Love" | 8 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 63 |
| 7 | "Where Are You Now" | 6 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 56 |
| 8 | "Don't Panic" | 9 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 70 |
| Regional jury spokespersons[2] | |||||||||
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At Eurovision
[edit]"Making Your Mind Up" performed by Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest 1981. It received 136 points from the 19 juries, beating Germany's "Johnny Blue" by Lena Valaitis.[3]
Members of the British jury included Norman Harper, S. Andrew, David Bratt, P. Green, A. Harmann, J.P. Robinson, D. Ruteledge, S. Tapper, I. Tyler, G. Wallbank, and Conor E. Young.[2]
Voting
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References
[edit]- ^ Television's Greatest Hits, Network Books, Paul Gambaccini and Rod Taylor, 1993. ISBN 0 563 36247 2
- ^ a b c d Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 56–83. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
- ^ "Final of Dublin 1981". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Dublin 1981". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.