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.

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. There was an orchestra off screen, conducted by John Coleman. 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.

Draw	Song	Composer	Artist	Points	Place
01	"Not Without Your Ticket (Don't Go)"	Luís Jardim & Jean Gilbert	Headache	50	7th
02	"All Cried Out"	Gary Benson	Gary Benson	63	=4th
03	"For Only a Day"	John Dawson Read & Chris Gunning	Unity	38	8th
04	"Wish"	Steve Elson & Don Gould	Beyond	67	3rd
05	"Making Your Mind Up"	Andy Hill & John Danter	Bucks Fizz	97	1st
06	"Have You Ever Been in Love"	Andy Hill, Peter Sinfield & John Danter	Gem	63	=4th
07	"Where Are You Now"	Lindsey Moore	Lezlee Carling	56	6th
08	"Don't Panic"	Adrian Baker	Liquid Gold	70	2nd

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). At the close of voting, Terry Wogan incorrectly announced 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.

Headache were: Dave Cooke(husband to Blue Peter presenter Tina Heath), Jean Gilbert, Luis Jardim, Val McKenna and Martyn David.

Beyond were: Steve Stroud (later Cheryl Baker's husband), Adrian Shepherd (later Cheryl Baker's fiancé), Gary Deans, Alan Ashe and Derek Austin.

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 received 136 points from the 19 juries, beating West Germany's Lena Valaitis with the song "Johnny Blue".

Points Awarded to United Kingdom

Points Awarded to United Kingdom
12 points	10 points	8 points	7 points	6 points
Israel Netherlands	Denmark Ireland Yugoslavia	Belgium Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey	France	Greece Portugal
5 points	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
Luxembourg	Austria Cyprus Germany	Finland Norway

Points Awarded by United Kingdom

12 points	Switzerland
10 points	Cyprus
8 points	Greece
7 points	Germany
6 points	Netherlands
5 points	Denmark
4 points	Israel
3 points	Belgium
2 points	Sweden
1 point	France

References

↑ Television's Greatest Hits, Network Books, Paul Gambaccini and Rod Taylor, 1993. ISBN 0 563 36247 2

External links

Bucks Fizz Official Website

United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest

Participation

~~1956~~ 1957 ~~1958~~ 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Artists

1950s	~~1956~~ Patricia Bredin ~~1958~~ Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson

1960s	Bryan Johnson The Allisons Ronnie Carroll Ronnie Carroll Matt Monro Kathy Kirby Kenneth McKellar Sandie Shaw Cliff Richard Lulu

1970s	Mary Hopkin Clodagh Rodgers The New Seekers Cliff Richard Olivia Newton-John The Shadows Brotherhood of Man Lynsey de Paul & Mike Moran Co-Co Black Lace

1980s	Prima Donna Bucks Fizz Bardo Sweet Dreams Belle and the Devotions Vikki Watson Ryder Rikki Scott Fitzgerald Live Report

1990s	Emma Samantha Janus Michael Ball Sonia Frances Ruffelle Love City Groove Gina G Katrina and the Waves Imaani Precious

2000s	Nicki French Lindsay Jessica Garlick Jemini James Fox Javine Hylton Daz Sampson Scooch Andy Abraham Jade Ewen

2010s	Josh Dubovie Blue Engelbert Humperdinck Bonnie Tyler Molly Electro Velvet Joe and Jake

Songs

1950s	~~1956~~ "All" ~~1958~~ "Sing, Little Birdie"

1960s	"Looking High, High, High" "Are You Sure?" "Ring-A-Ding Girl" "Say Wonderful Things" "I Love the Little Things" "I Belong" "A Man Without Love" "Puppet on a String" "Congratulations" "Boom Bang-a-Bang"

1970s	"Knock, Knock Who's There?" "Jack in the Box" "Beg, Steal or Borrow" "Power to All Our Friends" "Long Live Love" "Let Me Be the One" "Save Your Kisses for Me" "Rock Bottom" "The Bad Old Days" "Mary Ann"

1980s	"Love Enough for Two" "Making Your Mind Up" "One Step Further" "I'm Never Giving Up" "Love Games" "Love Is" "Runner in the Night" "Only the Light" "Go" "Why Do I Always Get it Wrong?"

1990s	"Give a Little Love Back to the World" "A Message to Your Heart" "One Step Out of Time" "Better the Devil You Know" "Lonely Symphony (We Will Be Free)" "Love City Groove" "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit" "Love Shine a Light" "Where Are You?" "Say It Again"

2000s	"Don't Play That Song Again" "No Dream Impossible" "Come Back" "Cry Baby" "Hold On to Our Love" "Touch My Fire" "Teenage Life" "Flying the Flag (for You)" "Even If" "It's My Time"

2010s	"That Sounds Good To Me" "I Can" "Love Will Set You Free" "Believe in Me" "Children of the Universe" "Still in Love with You" "You're Not Alone"

(Note: Entries scored out are when United Kingdom did not compete)

Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Countries

Final (by final results)	United Kingdom (winner) Germany France Switzerland Ireland Cyprus Israel Greece Netherlands Sweden Denmark Luxembourg Belgium Spain Yugoslavia Finland Austria Turkey Portugal Norway

Artists

Final (by final results)	Bucks Fizz Lena Valaitis Jean Gabilou Peter, Sue and Marc Sheeba Island Hakol Over Habibi Yiannis Dimitras Linda Williams Björn Skifs Tommy Seebach and Debbie Cameron Jean-Claude Pascal Emly Starr Bacchelli Seid Memić "Vajta" Riki Sorsa Marty Brem Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül Carlos Paião Finn Kalvik

Songs

Final (by final results)	"Making Your Mind Up" "Johnny Blue" "Humanahum" "Io senza te" "Horoscopes" "Monika" "Halayla" "Feggari Kalokerino" "Het is een wonder" "Fångad i en dröm" "Krøller eller ej" "C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique" "Samson" "Y sólo tú" "Lejla" "Reggae OK" "Wenn du da bist" "Dönme Dolap" "Playback" "Aldri i livet"

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