United_Kingdom_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest_1981
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, they placed first winning the competition with 136 points.
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| Eurovision Song Contest 1981 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country |  United Kingdom | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | A Song for Europe 1981 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 11 March 1981 | |||
| Selected entrant | Bucks Fizz | |||
| Selected song | "Making Your Mind Up" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 1st, 136 points | |||
| United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
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A Song for Europe 1981
The BBC reduced the number of finalists from twelve to eight in 1981. Terry Wogan hosted the contest on 11 March. It was held at the Television Theatre. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Headache | "Not Without Your Ticket (Don't Go)" | Luís Jardim, Jean Gilbert | 50 | 7th |
| 02 | Gary Benson | "All Cried Out" | Gary Benson | 63 | 4th |
| 03 | Unity | "For Only a Day" | John Dawson Read, Christopher Gunning | 38 | 8th |
| 04 | Beyond | "Wish" | Steve Elson, Don Gould | 67 | 3rd |
| 05 | Bucks Fizz | "Making Your Mind Up" | Andy Hill, John Danter | 97 | 1st |
| 06 | Gem | "Have You Ever Been in Love?" | Andy Hill, Peter Sinfield, John Danter | 63 | 4th |
| 07 | Lezlee Carling | "Where Are You Now" | Lindsey Moore | 56 | 6th |
| 08 | Liquid Gold | "Don't Panic" | Adrian Baker | 70 | 2nd |
| Detailed Jury Votes[2] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draw | Song | Birmingham |
Cardiff |
Manchester |
Belfast |
Edinburgh |
London |
Bristol |
Total score |
| 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 |
| Jury Spokespersons[2] | |
|---|---|
| Jury | Spokesperson |
| Birmingham | David Stevens |
| Cardiff | Iwan Thomas |
| Manchester | John Mundy |
| Belfast | Peter Dickson |
| Edinburgh | Jim O'Hara |
| London | Ray Moore |
| Bristol | Andy Batten-Foster |
UK Discography
Unusually for the UK competition, three of the finalists reached the UK Singles Chart. Making Your Mind Up spent three weeks at number one, whilst the runner-up, Don't Panic! reached number 42 at more-or-less the same time. Have You Ever Been in Love? was a UK no.10 hit for Leo Sayer in 1982, also reaching no.4 in Australia. The track was covered by many other artists, including Peter Cetera and Westlife. For Only A Day was later used as the theme song for the 1983 Miss World contest, performed live by all the contestants during the broadcast.
- Gary Benson – All Cried Out: Warner Bros./WEA K17773.
- Unity – For Only A Day: Epic A1066.
- Beyond – Wish: Radioactive RAD102.
- Bucks Fizz – Making Your Mind Up: RCA PB5339.
- Paris – Have You Ever Been in Love?: RCA PB5475.
- Leo Sayer – Have You Ever Been in Love?: Chrysalis CHS2596 (1982).
- Liquid Gold – Don't Panic: Polo POLO12-8.
1981 was the year that Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom with their song "Making Your Mind Up". It received 136 points from the 19 juries, beating Germany's Lena Valaitis with the song "Johnny Blue".[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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- Television's Greatest Hits, Network Books, Paul Gambaccini and Rod Taylor, 1993. ISBN 0 563 36247 2
- 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.
- "Results of the Final of Dublin 1981". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.