United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

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Eurovision Song Contest 1981
Country	United Kingdom
National selection
Selection process	A Song for Europe 1981
Preselection date(s)	11 March 1981
Selected entrant	Bucks Fizz
Selected song	"Making Your Mind Up"
Finals performance
Final result	1st, 136 points

The United Kingdom and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) held a national final titled "A Song for Europe 1981" to choose who would represent them in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981. "A Song for Europe 1981" was held on 11 March 1981 where Bucks Fizz was chosen with "Making Your Mind Up" as the entrant. At Eurovision, he placed first winning the competition with 136 points.

[edit] A Song for Europe 1981

The BBC reduced the number of finalists from twelve to eight in 1981. Terry Wogan hosted the contest on March 11th. It was held at the Television Theatre. 581 songs were submitted to the Music Publisher's Association to pick eight songs. There was an orchestra off screen, under the baton of John Coleman

[edit] The songs

A group called Headache opened the contest with "Not Without Your Ticket (Don't Go)" written by Luis Jardim and Jean Gilbert.

Gary Benson, as a songwriter, had qualified for the UK finals of 1974 and 1975 and 1977 (writing "Someday", "Don't Throw it All Away" (which he would later release himself and earn a top 20 hit) and "After All This Time" for Olivia Newton John, The Shadows and Wesley Park and Smith respectively. In 1981 he performed his own entry, a ballad called "All Cried Out".

Unity were described as a female chorale, led by Sue Glover. Glover had previously been a member of Brotherhood of Man and had also provided Eurovision backing vocals for the UK's Lulu in 1969 and Germany's Joy Fleming in 1975. Unity (whose number included The Bill actress Lisa Maxwell) performed "For Only a Day", an anthem. The chorus was of five children called Lisa, Tracey, Linda, Annabel and Astra. It went on to be the Miss World song in the 1980s. The song was written by Chris Gunning and John Dawson Read.

Another strong anthemic ballad was "Wish" performed by Beyond. The song was written by Don Gould and Steve Elson. Beyond went on to be the backing band of Kate Robbins later that year where they scored a top ten hit with "More Than in Love".

Bucks Fizz was a two boy-two girl outfit singing "Making Your Mind Up". The song was a Rock'n'Roll 1950s-style number which depended as much on the dance routine as the vocal performance. Writers Andy Hill and John Danter were also repsonsible for the nest song, "Have You Ever Been in Love" performed by Gem.This was another heart-rending ballad which later became a big hit for Leo Sayer.

Lezlee Carling performed another mid-tempo ballad, "Where Are You Now", written by Lindsey Moore. Lezlee Carling would later make an appearance on Three of a Kind in 1982.

She was followed by the best-known act of the night, Liquid Gold. "Don't Panic" was similar in style to their 1980 hit "Dance Yourself Dizzy" and both were written by Adrian Baker. The band was so sure of victory that they pre-recorded an appearance for that week's edition of Top of the Pops

[edit] The voting

Seven regional juries voted on the songs. They were based in Birmingham (spokesperson: David Stevens), Cardiff (Ewan Thomas), Manchester (John Mundy), Belfast (Peter Dixon), Edinburgh (Jim O' Hara), London (Ray Moore) and Bristol (Andy Battern Foster). The final scoreboard was:

• 1st - Making Your Mind Up - 97 points
• 2nd - Don't Panic - 70 points
• 3rd - Wish - 67 points
• 4th - Have You Ever Been in Love - 63 points
• 4th - All Cried Out - 63 points
• 6th - Where are You Now - 56 points
• 7th - Not Without Your Ticket (Don't Go) - 50 points
• 8th - For Only a Day - 38 points

The prizes were presented by Terry Wogan to John Danter, one of the songwriters, and to Mike Nolan, one of the performers. Terry then incorrectly announced the winning song as "Where are you now?"

[edit] At Eurovision

1981 was the year that Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom with their song "Making Your Mind Up". It won 136 points from the 19 juries, beating West Germany's Lena Valaitis whose Johnny Blue won 132 points.

The points given to the United Kingdom by each of the 19 other national juries were as follows (points shown in order that they were awarded):

Overall the United Kingdom was not in the lead until France awarded them 7 points; the lead before that point had changed a couple of times between France and Ireland. The UK only lost the lead one more time before the end of the competition, to Switzerland when the UK jury placed its own vote. Interestingly, only two countries gave the United Kingdom the full 12 points: Israel and the Netherlands.

[edit] How the UK jury voted

When the UK jury placed their vote they gave the full 12 points to Switzerland, placing them in the lead over the UK. The UK didn't regain the lead until two sets of results later, when Belgium gave the UK 8 points and didn't award Switzerland any at all.

[edit] See also

• Eurovision Song Contest 1981

[edit] External links

• Bucks Fizz Official Website