Eurovision Song Contest 1981

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Eurovision Song Contest 1981
ESC 1981 logo.png
Dates
Final4 April 1981
Host
Venue RDS Simmonscourt
Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland
Presenter(s) Doireann Ní Bhriain
Executive producerNoel D Greene
DirectorIan McGarry
Musical director Noel Kelehan
EBU scrutineerFrank Naef
Host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)
Website eurovision.tv/event/dublin-1981 OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Participants
Number of entries20
Debuting countriesFlag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus
Returning countries
Non-returning countries
  • ESC 1981 Map 2.svg
         Competing countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1981
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Winning songFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
"Making Your Mind Up"
1980  Eurovision Song Contest  1982

The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1980 contest with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 4 April 1981, and was hosted by Irish television journalist Doireann Ní Bhriain.

Contents

Twenty countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the 1978 edition. Cyprus made their début this year, while Israel and Yugoslavia both returned to the competition, after their one-year and five-year absences, respectively. Morocco and Italy decided not to participate.

The winner was the United Kingdom with the song "Making Your Mind Up", performed by Bucks Fizz, written by Andy Hill and John Danter. Germany finished second for the second consecutive year, while France finished third. Norway again finished last, with its third nul points in the contest.

Bucks Fizz's win launched the group's hugely successful international career. Their performance on the Eurovision stage included a dance-routine where the two male members ripped the skirts off the two female members only to reveal mini-skirts, and today stands as one of the most defining moments in the contest's history. [1]

Location

RDS Simmonscourt - host venue of the 1981 contest. The RDS Simmonscourt - panoramio.jpg
RDS Simmonscourt – host venue of the 1981 contest.

Some hours after Johnny Logan won the 1980 contest, the head of Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Brian MacLochlainn announced that they would take on the responsibility of hosting the 1981 contest. [2] This ended up taking the 1981 contest, for the second time in the event's history, to Dublin, the capital of Ireland, the last time being ten years earlier in 1971.

Participating countries

Eurovision Song Contest 1981 Participation summaries by country

By October 1980, it looked as though 21 countries were planning to take part, the largest number so far, but Monaco declared that they were no longer interested. [2] This year marked the début of Cyprus in the contest, who finished in sixth place. Returning to the contest was Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest|Israel]], absent from the previous year's event due a clash of dates with the Yom HaZikaron holiday which prevented them from defending their victories in 1978 and 1979. [3] They finished seventh. Yugoslavia also returned to the competition after a five-year absence. Italy decided not to enter due to lack of interest, while Morocco declined to take part after their debut entry the year before. [4] Morocco's king, Hassan II, "reportedly withdrew Rabat's participation from the contest the following year, saying that the country will never participate again". [5] The draw for the running order took place on 14 November 1980, with it being confirmed that there were a total of 20 entrants. [2]

Eurovision Song Contest 1981 participants [6] [2]
CountryBroadcasterArtistSongLanguageSongwriter(s)Conductor
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria ORF Marty Brem "Wenn du da bist" German Werner Böhmler Richard Oesterreicher
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium BRT Emly Starr "Samson" Dutch
  • Kick Dandy
  • Penny Els
  • Giuseppe Marchese
Giuseppe Marchese
Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus CyBC Island"Monika" (Μόνικα) Greek
  • Doros Georgiades
  • Stavros Sideras
Mihalis Rozakis
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark DR Tommy Seebach and Debbie Cameron "Krøller eller ej" Danish Allan Botschinsky
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland YLE Riki Sorsa "Reggae O.K." Finnish
Henrik Otto Donner
Flag of France.svg  France TF1 Jean Gabilou "Humanahum" French
David Sprinfield
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany BR [a] Lena Valaitis "Johnny Blue"GermanWolfgang Rödelberger
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece ERT Yiannis Dimitras "Feggari kalokerino" (Φεγγάρι καλοκαιρινό)Greek
Giorgos Niarchos
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland RTÉ Sheeba "Horoscopes"English
  • Joe Burkett
  • Jim Kelly
Noel Kelehan
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel IBA Habibi "Halayla" (הלילה) Hebrew
Eldad Shrem
Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg CLT Jean-Claude Pascal "C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique"FrenchJoël Rocher
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands NOS Linda Williams "Het is een wonder"Dutch
  • Bart van de Laar
  • Cees de Wit
Rogier van Otterloo
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway NRK Finn Kalvik "Aldri i livet" Norwegian Finn Kalvik Sigurd Jansen
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal RTP Carlos Paião "Playback" Portuguese Carlos Paião Shegundo Galarza
Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg  Spain TVE Bacchelli "Y sólo tú" Spanish Amado JaénJoan Barcons
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden SVT Björn Skifs " Fångad i en dröm " Swedish
Anders Berglund
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland SRG SSR Peter, Sue and Marc "Io senza te" Italian
Rolf Zuckowski
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey TRT Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül "Dönme Dolap" Turkish Ali Kocatepe Onno Tunç
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom BBC Bucks Fizz "Making Your Mind Up"English
John Coleman
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia JRT Seid Memić Vajta "Lejla" (Лејла) Serbo-Croatian Ranko Boban Ranko Rihtman

Returning artists

Of the performers, many previous contestants returned to the contest this year. Notably, Jean-Claude Pascal for Luxembourg, who had won the contest 20 years earlier, although could only manage 11th place this time. Peter, Sue and Marc returned for the fourth time, after 1971, 1976 and 1979. Performing again for Switzerland, they remain the only act to sing in four different languages (French, English, German and this time, Italian). Other returnees were Marty Brem who had taken part the year before for Austria, Tommy Seebach for Denmark, and Björn Skifs for Sweden. Bucks Fizz member, Cheryl Baker had performed in 1978 with the band Co-Co for the UK, while Sheeba member Maxi had performed as a solo artist in 1973 for Ireland.

Bold indicates a previous winner.

ArtistCountryPrevious year(s)
Jean-Claude Pascal Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 1961
Peter, Sue and Marc Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 1971, 1976, 1979 (along with Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri)
Maxi (as part of Sheeba)Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 1973
Ismeta Dervoz (as backing singer)Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia 1976 (as part of Ambasadori)
Björn Skifs Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1978
Cheryl Baker (as part of Bucks Fizz)Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 1978 (as part of Co-Co)
Tommy Seebach Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 1979
Debbie Cameron 1979 (as backing singer for Tommy Seebach)
Marty Brem Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 1980 (part of Blue Danube)
Anita Skorgan (as backing singer)Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 1977, 1979

Format

The contest took place under heavy guard at the 1,600 seat Simmonscourt Pavilion of the RDS, which was normally used for agricultural and horse shows. [8] The set was the largest ever seen in the contest so far, being 150 feet across, 80 feet deep and 30 feet high. [2] Over 250 armed soldiers and police were on hand to protect against any likely political demonstrations, with the UK entrants being under constant guard during their time in Dublin due to threats from the IRA. This included an evacuation of the participants' hotel at one point due to a bomb scare. The security measures were reported on British news reports on the day of the contest. [2]

Rehearsals at the Pavilion began on 31 March with each act allowed 30 minutes with the orchestra, continuing up until the day of the contest, which ended with a dress rehearsal at 16:30. On 1 April, the Irish Tourist Board held a reception for the contest at Jurys Hotel, Dublin. [2]

The presenter on this occasion was Doireann Ni Bhriain, who was well known in Ireland at the time as a TV presenter and for the current affairs radio show Women Today. She was chosen for her fluency in Irish and English as well as having studied French and Spanish, which she spoke with some ease. [9] She had also worked on the 1971 contest as an interpreter in the RTE press office. The director was Ian McGarry, while Noel Kelehan was the chief conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, which comprised 46 musicians. [2]

It cost RTÉ £530,000 to stage the show, although this included £110,000 from the EBU. From this, the Irish Government expected to make around £2,000,000 from tourism as a result of staging the show. [2] [10] It was expected that the worldwide audience would be some 500 million with 30 countries broadcasting the event, including countries such as Hong Kong, the Soviet Union, United Arab Emirates and for the first time, Egypt. [2]

Each song was introduced by a filmed 'postcard', framed by an animated identification of the nation's location. Unlike previous films used in 1970 and 1976 that had also featured the performing artist, the 1981 films prominently included the authors and composers alongside the performing artist.

Contest overview

The interval act was traditional Irish band Planxty, who performed the lengthy piece "Timedance", which depicted Irish music through the ages. The accompanying dancers were from Dublin City Ballet. [11] This is seen as a precursor to Riverdance , which became famous after its performance in 1994. The song, which was written by Bill Whelan, went on to be released as a Planxty single and became a No.3 hit in the Irish charts. [12] [13]

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 [14]
R/OCountryArtistSongPointsPlace
1Flag of Austria.svg  Austria Marty Brem "Wenn du da bist"2017
2Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül "Dönme Dolap"918
3Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Lena Valaitis "Johnny Blue"1322
4Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg Jean-Claude Pascal "C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique"4111
5Flag of Israel.svg  Israel Habibi "Halayla"567
6Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Tommy Seebach and Debbie Cameron "Krøller eller ej"4111
7Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia Seid Memić Vajta "Lejla"3515
8Flag of Finland.svg  Finland Riki Sorsa "Reggae O.K."2716
9Flag of France.svg  France Jean Gabilou "Humanahum"1253
10Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg  Spain Bacchelli "Y sólo tú"3814
11Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands Linda Williams "Het is een wonder"519
12Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Sheeba "Horoscopes"1055
13Flag of Norway.svg  Norway Finn Kalvik "Aldri i livet"020
14Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Bucks Fizz "Making Your Mind Up"1361
15Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal Carlos Paião "Playback"918
16Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Emly Starr "Samson"4013
17Flag of Greece.svg  Greece Yiannis Dimitras "Feggari kalokerino"558
18Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus Island"Monika"696
19Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland Peter, Sue and Marc "Io senza te"1214
20Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Björn Skifs " Fångad i en dröm "5010

Spokespersons

Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1981 contest are listed below.

Detailed voting results

Each country had a jury who awarded 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 point(s) for their top ten songs.

Detailed voting results [18] [19]
Total score
Austria
Turkey
Germany
Luxembourg
Israel
Denmark
Yugoslavia
Finland
France
Spain
Netherlands
Ireland
Norway
United Kingdom
Portugal
Belgium
Greece
Cyprus
Switzerland
Sweden
Contestants
Austria2061562
Turkey9135
Germany13251238827812364712105812
Luxembourg411053431465
Israel568467784543
Denmark4111743252124
Yugoslavia35482152310
Finland2721255156
France125121212724106451103871210
Spain38106431032
Netherlands51353472767232
Ireland105736101012565101101217
Norway0
United Kingdom136484512101037812103686488
Portugal981
Belgium40171682375
Greece55626110128667
Cyprus69536887107123
Switzerland121227841212104112121284101
Sweden50102571126241

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.ContestantNation(s) giving 12 points
5Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland Flag of Finland.svg  Finland , Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland , Flag of Norway.svg  Norway , Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom , Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg  Yugoslavia
4Flag of France.svg  France Flag of Austria.svg  Austria , Flag of Germany.svg  Germany , Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg , Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal , Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg  Spain , Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden , Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey
2Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus , Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands , Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
1Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg  Cyprus Flag of Greece.svg  Greece
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Flag of France.svg  France

Broadcasts

Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants". 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. [20] In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Iceland, in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision, and in Egypt, Hong Kong, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, with an estimated global audience of 600 million viewers. [2] [21]

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Commentator(s)Ref(s)
Flag of Austria.svg Austria ORF FS2 Ernst Grissemann [22] [23]
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium BRT TV1 Luc Appermont [24] [25]
RTBF RTBF1, Télé 2 [26]
RTBF Radio 1 [27]
Flag of Cyprus (1960-2006).svg Cyprus CyBC RIK [28]
Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark DR DR TV Jørgen de Mylius [29]
Flag of Finland.svg Finland YLE TV1 Ossi Runne [30]
Rinnakkaisohjelma  [ fi ] Matti Paalosmaa  [ fi ]
Flag of France.svg France TF1 Patrick Sabatier [31]
Flag of Germany.svg Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen [26]
Flag of Greece.svg Greece ERT ERT, A Programma [32] [33]
Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland RTÉ RTÉ 1 Larry Gogan [34] [35]
RTÉ Radio 1 Pat Kenny [36] [37]
Flag of Israel.svg Israel IBA Israeli Television [38]
Flag of Luxembourg.svg Luxembourg CLT RTL Télé-Luxembourg [26]
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands NOS Nederland 1 Pim Jacobs [25]
Flag of Norway.svg Norway NRK NRK Fjernsynet Knut Aunbu [39]
NRK [b] Erik Heyerdahl  [ no ]
Flag of Portugal.svg Portugal RTP RTP1 [40]
RDP Antena 1 [41]
Flag of Spain (1977-1981).svg Spain TVE TVE 1 Miguel de los Santos  [ es ] [42]
Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden SVT TV1 Ulf Elfving [43]
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS [c] Theodor Haller  [ de ] [45] [44]
TSR Georges Hardy  [ fr ]
TSI [c] Giovanni Bertini [46] [47]
Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey TRT TRT Televizyon [48]
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom BBC BBC1 Terry Wogan [49]
BBC Radio 2 Ray Moore [50]
Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg Yugoslavia JRT TV Beograd 1 [51]
TV Ljubljana 1  [ sl ] [52]
TV Novi Sad  [ sr ] [53]
TV Zagreb 1 [54]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
CountryBroadcasterChannel(s)Commentator(s)Ref(s)
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia SBS 2EA, 3EA [55]
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg Czechoslovakia ČST ČST2 [d] [56]
Flag of Denmark.svg GreenlandNuuk TV [e] [57]
Flag of Hong Kong 1959.svg Hong Kong TVB TVB Pearl [f] [58]
Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary MTV MTV2 [g] András Sugár  [ hu ] [59]
Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland RÚV Sjónvarpið [h] Dóra Hafsteinsdóttir [60]
Flag of Jordan.svg Jordan JTV JTV2 [61]
Flag of the Netherlands Antilles (1959-1986).svg Netherlands Antilles TeleAruba [i] [62]
TeleCuraçao [j] Pim Jacobs [63] [64]
Flag of Poland.svg Poland TP TP1 [k] [65]
Flag of South Korea (1949-1984).svg South Korea KBS 1TV [l] [66]

Notes

    1. On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD [7]
    2. Deferred broadcast at 22:40 (CEST) [39]
    3. 1 2 Broadcast through a second audio programme on TSR [44]
    4. Delayed broadcast in a shortened format on 3 May 1981 at 17:10 (CEST) [56]
    5. Delayed broadcast on 23 May 1981 at 20:40 (WGST) [57]
    6. Deferred broadcast on 7 April at 21:30 (HKT) [58]
    7. Delayed broadcast on 2 May 1981 at 21:50 (CEST) [59]
    8. Delayed broadcast on 19 April 1981 at 21:10 (WET) [60]
    9. Delayed broadcast on 25 July 1981 at 20:00 (ADT) [62]
    10. Delayed broadcast on 13 July 1981 at 22:00 (ADT) [63]
    11. Delayed broadcast on 25 April 1981 at 22:45 (CEST) [65]
    12. Delayed broadcast on 16 April 1981 at 21:40 (KST) [66]

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    The Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was the 42nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 3 May 1997 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) and presented by Carrie Crowley and Ronan Keating, the contest was held in Ireland following the country's victory at the 1996 contest with the song "The Voice" by Eimear Quinn. The 1997 contest was the seventh – and to date last – edition to be staged in Ireland, as well as the fourth to be produced by RTÉ in five years. The Point Theatre served as the host venue for the third time, following the 1994 and 1995 contests, becoming the only venue to have been the site of three Eurovision Song Contests.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest</span>

    Ireland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 57 times since making its debut at the 1965 contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in 1983 and 2002. The current Irish participant broadcaster in the contest is Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). Ireland shares a joint record total of seven wins with Sweden, and is the only country to have won three times consecutively. Ireland has finished second four times as well.

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