United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978

United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978
Eurovision Song Contest 1978
Participating broadcaster	British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Country	United Kingdom
Selection process	A Song for Europe 1978
Selection date	31 March 1978
Competing entry
Song	"The Bad Old Days"
Artist	Co-Co
Songwriters	Stephanie de Sykes Stuart Slater
Placement
Final result	11th, 61 points
Participation chronology
◄1977 • 1978 • 1979►

The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 with the song "The Bad Old Days", written by Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater, and performed by the band Co-Co. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final.

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1978

The national final was held on Friday 31 March 1978 at the Royal Albert Hall, presented by Terry Wogan. The songs were backed by the Alyn Ainsworth Orchestra. ^[1]

Fourteen regional juries voted on the songs: Bristol, Bangor, Leeds, Norwich, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff, Plymouth, Glasgow, Southampton, and London. Each jury voted internally and ranked the songs 1–12, awarding 12 points for their highest scoring song, down to 1 point for the lowest scoring entry.

"The Bad Old Days" won the national and came 11th in the contest. Broadcast on the Friday after the Easter weekend in the United Kingdom, A Song for Europe 1978 was watched by 13.7 million viewers and was the 16th-most watched programme of the week – the show's highest ever rating. ^[1]

A Song for Europe 1978 –31 March 1978 ^[2]

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Points	Place
1	Christian	"Shine It On"	Bill Martin & Phil Coulter	114	3
2	Brown Sugar	"Oh No, Look What You've Done"	Wayne Bickerton & Tony Waddington	49	11
3	Fruit Eating Bears	"Door in My Face"	Neville Crozier & Chris Crash	49	11
4	Jacquie Sullivan	"Moments"	Jacquie Sullivan	106	6
5	Sunshine	"Too Much in Love"	Wayne Bickerton & Tony Waddington	81	8
6	Ronnie France	"Lonely Nights"	Paul Curtis	68	9
7	The Jarvis Brothers	"One Glance"	Paul Curtis	114	3
8	Co-Co	"The Bad Old Days"	Stephanie de Sykes & Stuart Slater	135	1
9	Bob James	"We Got It Bad"	Bob James & Labi Siffre	66	10
10	Midnight	"Don't Bother to Knock"	Kenny Lynch, Steve O'Donnell & Colin Horton-Jennings	116	2
11	Babe Rainbow	"Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way"	Irving Martin & Peter Morris	84	7
12	Labi Siffre	"Solid Love"	Labi Siffre	110	5

Both groups Co-Co and Sunshine had participated in A Song for Europe 1976 , albeit with different line-ups. Co-Co would return to A Song for Europe 1980 with another line-up, under the name The Main Event. Co-Co's member Cheryl Baker would eventually win the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the group Bucks Fizz.

Regional jury votes ^[2]

Draw	Song	Aberdeen	Norwich	Manchester	Bangor	Southampton	Leeds	Belfast	Bristol	Glasgow	Birmingham	London	Cardiff	Newcastle	Plymouth	Total
1	"Shine It On"	12	11	9	10	5	4	11	12	12	7	9	3	5	4	114
2	"Oh No, Look What You've Done"	7	2	2	1	3	2	2	9	5	2	3	1	4	6	49
3	"Door in My Face"	2	1	7	2	1	7	3	3	2	3	1	2	10	5	49
4	"Moments"	8	8	11	7	8	3	9	6	10	8	10	6	3	9	106
5	"Too Much in Love"	9	3	5	4	2	6	10	7	9	5	6	7	6	2	81
6	"Lonely Nights"	1	4	1	8	4	5	1	2	1	10	7	11	12	1	68
7	"One Glance"	6	7	3	5	9	12	6	11	11	9	12	4	11	8	114
8	"The Bad Old Days"	11	12	12	11	10	11	7	4	3	11	11	12	8	12	135
9	"We Got It Bad"	3	6	10	3	12	1	4	1	8	1	4	5	1	7	66
10	"Don't Bother to Knock"	4	9	8	6	11	10	8	5	7	12	8	10	7	11	116
11	"Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way"	5	5	4	9	7	8	5	10	6	6	5	9	2	3	84
12	"Solid Love"	10	10	6	12	6	9	12	8	4	4	2	8	9	10	110
Regional jury spokespersons [2]
Aberdeen –Gerry Davis Norwich –Chris Denham Manchester –Mike Riddoch Bangor –Gwyn Llewelyn Southampton – Peter Macann Leeds – Brian Baines Belfast –Michael Baguley Bristol –Derek Jones Glasgow – Ken Bruce Birmingham – Tom Coyne London – Ray Moore Cardiff –Frank Lincoln Newcastle – Mike Neville Plymouth –Donald Heighway

At Eurovision

The contest was broadcast on BBC1, with commentary by Terry Wogan, ^[3] and on radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, with commentary by Ray Moore. ^{[4] [5]} The contest was watched by 21 million viewers. ^[6]

The BBC appointed Colin Berry as its spokesperson to announce the British jury results. ^[7]

Voting

Points awarded to the United Kingdom [8] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points   Germany 7 points   Monaco 6 points   Portugal   Turkey 5 points   Austria   Luxembourg 4 points   Belgium 3 points   Greece   Ireland   Spain   Sweden 2 points   France   Israel   Netherlands    Switzerland 1 point

Points awarded by the United Kingdom [8] Score Country 12 points   Belgium 10 points   Monaco 8 points   France 7 points   Luxembourg 6 points   Italy 5 points   Israel 4 points   Sweden 3 points   Netherlands 2 points    Switzerland 1 point   Turkey

References

1. Television's Greatest Hits, Network Books, Paul Gambaccini and Rod Taylor, 1993. ISBN   0 563 36247 2
2. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 288–311. ISBN   978-1-84583-093-9.
3. "Eurovision Song Contest 1978 – BBC1". Radio Times . 22 April 1978. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023– via BBC Genome Project.
4. "Eurovision Song Contest 1978 – BBC Radio 2". Radio Times . 22 April 1978. Archived from the original on 10 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023– via BBC Genome Project.
5. "Schedule – BBC Radio 1 – 22 April 1978". Radio Times . 22 April 1978. Retrieved 10 January 2023– via BBC Genome Project.
6. "Audience reaction" . BBC Handbook 1979. pp. 33–34. Retrieved 4 November 2024– via Internet Archive.
7. Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 312–327. ISBN   978-1-84583-093-9.
8. "Results of the Final of Paris 1978". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.