United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971

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United Kingdom in the
Eurovision Song Contest 1971
Eurovision Song Contest 1971
Participating broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Selection processArtist: Internal selection
Song: A Song for Europe 1971
Selection date20 February 1971
Competing entry
Song"Jack in the Box"
Artist Clodagh Rodgers
Songwriters
Placement
Final result4th, 98 points
Participation chronology
◄1970 •1971• 1972►

The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 with the song "Jack in the Box", composed by John Worsley, with lyrics by David Myers, and performed by Clodagh Rodgers. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final, after having previously selected the performer internally.

Contents

The BBC were worried about the possible audience reaction to the British song due to the hostilities raging in Northern Ireland. They specifically selected a singer from Northern Ireland, Clodagh Rodgers, who was popular in both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, to ease any ill-feeling from the Dublin audience. However, Rodgers still received death threats from the IRA for representing the United Kingdom. [1]

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1971

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) held the national final on 20 February 1971 as part of the BBC1 TV series It's Cliff Richard! , presented by Cliff Richard. Clodagh Rodgers, a singer and actress from Northern Ireland, best known for her hit singles including, 1969 hits "Come Back and Shake Me" and "Goodnight Midnight" sang all the six finalists in the contest, having been internally selected by the BBC to represent the United Kingdom, in part due to worries as to what reaction the British artist would face at the contest in Dublin. Rodgers performed the songs weekly, before showcasing all six in the Song for Europe edition of the Cliff Richard Show, where they were also immediately repeated. Due to a postal strike, viewers were unable to cast votes for the songs this year, so 8 regional juries, consisting of 10 jurors with just one vote each for their favourite song, were constructed from members of the public. These juries were located in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester, and Norwich.

A Song for Europe 1971 –20 February 1971 [2]
DrawSongSongwriter(s)VotesPlace
1"Look Left, Look Right" Alan Hawkshaw, Ray Cameron65
2"In My World of Beautiful Things" Valerie Avon, Harold Spiro 124
3"Jack in the Box" John Worsley, David Myers221
4"Another Time, Another Place" Mike Leander, Eddie Seago65
5"Wind of Change" Brian Bennett, Mike Hawker 172
6"Someone to Love Me"Ernie Ponticelli, Gordon Rees172
Regional voting results [2]
DrawSong
Belfast
Birmingham
Bristol
Cardiff
Glasgow
London
Manchester
Norwich
Total
1"Look Left, Look Right"1416
2"In My World of Beautiful Things"14222112
3"Jack in the Box"1141643222
4"Another Time, Another Place"211116
5"Wind of Change"14323417
6"Someone to Love Me"82231117

Chart success

"Jack in the Box" was chosen as the winning song, with two songs tying for second place. Rodgers released two standard 7-inch singles of the winner, with one of the runners-up "Someone to Love Me" or "Wind of Change" on the B-Sides. She also released a three-track maxi single which included both the second placed songs. The combined sales of the three singles (which all shared the catalogue number RCA2066) reached No.4 in the UK singles chart; Rodgers last top 10 single in the UK. Later in the year, she released a fourth song from the final "Look Left, Look Right", together with the three already released tracks on the LP Rodgers and Heart. "Another Time, Another Place" was then included on the 1972 budget LP Clodagh Rodgers, after it had become a No.13 hit single for Engelbert Humperdinck. To date, only the last place song "In My World of Beautiful Things" has never been officially released in any form.

At Eurovision

"Jack in the Box" won the national and went on to come 4th in the contest, behind Monaco, Spain and Germany. [3] It was the first time since 1966 that the UK had not placed first or second.

Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis provided the BBC Television commentary, whilst Terry Wogan began his long running commitments with Eurovision, providing the radio commentary for BBC Radio 1 listeners, and he would commentate for both radio and television for most years until 2008.

Each country nominated two jury members, one below the age of 25 and the other above, who voted for their respective country by giving between one and five points to each song, except that representing their own country. All jury members were colocated at the venue in Dublin, and were brought on stage during the voting sequence to present their points. The jury members from the United Kingdom were Jeremy Paterson Fox and Gay Lowe. [4]

Voting

References

  1. ↑ Boyd, Brian. "Eurovision in Dublin, 1971: hotpants, 'women's lib' and boycotts". The Irish Times . Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 38–50. ISBN   978-1-84583-093-9.
  3. ↑ "Final of Dublin 1971". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. p. 60. ISBN   978-1-84583-093-9.
  5. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Dublin 1971". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
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