This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2009) |
Eurovision Song Contest 1980 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Country | United Kingdom | |||
National selection | ||||
Selection process | A Song for Europe 1980 | |||
Selection date(s) | 26 March 1980 | |||
Selected entrant | Prima Donna | |||
Selected song | "Love Enough for Two" | |||
Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
Finals performance | ||||
Final result | 3rd, 106 points | |||
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
|
The 1980 "A Song For Europe" contest was held on 26 March 1980 (the same day as that year's budget), at the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush and was hosted by a dinner-suited Terry Wogan. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded. The theme music was "Te deum" the Eurovision theme.
12 songs were chosen by the Music Publisher's Association.
Following his second place in the 1979 contest, songwriter Richard Gillinson was asked to submit a song to replace the disqualified entry "Tell Me" by The New Seekers, which was eliminated two weeks before the final after the group began promoting the track before the contest. [1] Gillinson's song "Surrender" was performed by the same artist who presented his 1979 song, Kim Clark. The lead vocal of "Tell Me" was taken by New Seeker Nicola Kerr, who had been one of the 'Plus Two' who had finished 3rd for Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977.
The twelve songs were voted on by 14 regional juries, who awarded 1-12 points to each song. Each of the 11 jurors awarded 1-5 points to each song, the total scores being added up, with the song earning the most points being awarded 12 points, the second placed song earned 11, the third 10 and so on, down to 1 point for the song with the fewest votes.
The jury spokesperson could be seen on screen awarding the votes, sometimes with the jury members in vision. These were broadcast from the BBC's 14 regional news studios.
Owing to a tie break and with the live show quickly running out of time, a clearly flustered Terry Wogan, unsure of what to do in this unprecedented circumstance, returned to the 14 juries who were hastily asked to pick their favourite between songs two and five. Some juries ignored their previous voting and switched allegiance to Prima Donna who won by eight votes to six. [2]
Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Scramble | "Don't Throw Your Love Away" | Peter Morris | 97 | 6th |
02 | Maggie Moone | "Happy Everything" | Geoff Stephens, Don Black | 137 | 2nd |
03 | Plain Sailing | "Easy" | Colin Stewart, Alan Stewart, Paul Stewart, Robert Freeman | 111 | 4th |
04 | Sonja Jones | "Here We'll Stay" | Tony Colton, Jean Roussell | 56 | 11th |
05 | Prima Donna | "Love Enough for Two" | Stephanie de Sykes, Stuart Slater | 139 | 1st |
06 | Jacqui Scott | "Symphony for You" | Johnny Goodison, Keith Mansfield | 67 | 8th |
07 | Duke and the Aces | "Love Is Alive" | Paul Curtis | 94 | 7th |
08 | Roy Winston | "Everything's All Right" | Roy Winston | 58 | 10th |
09 | Midnite | "Love Comes, Love Grows" | Gary Sulsh, Stuart Leathwood | 62 | 9th |
10 | The Main Event | "Gonna Do My Best" | Terry Bradford | 45 | 12th |
11 | Pussyfoot | "I Want to Be Me" | Mick Flynn, Mark Stevens | 111 | 4th |
12 | Kim Clark | "Surrender" | Richard Gillinson | 129 | 3rd |
Detailed Jury Votes [1] | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Draw | Song | Aberdeen | Newcastle | Plymouth | Leeds | Southampton | Bangor | London | Cardiff | Birmingham | Glasgow | Belfast | Bristol | Norwich | Manchester | Total score |
1 | "Don't Throw Your Love Away" | 10 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 97 |
2 | "Happy Everything" | 11 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 131 |
3 | "Easy" | 6 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 111 |
4 | "Here We'll Stay" | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 56 |
5 | "Love Enough for Two" | 8 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 131 |
6 | "Symphony for You" | 5 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 67 |
7 | "Love Is Alive" | 7 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 94 |
8 | "Everything's All Right" | 2 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 58 |
9 | "Love Comes, Love Grows" | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 62 |
10 | "Gonna Do My Best" | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 45 |
11 | "I Want to Be Me" | 9 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 111 |
12 | "Surrender" | 12 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 129 |
Tie-Break [1] | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Song | Aberdeen | Newcastle | Plymouth | Leeds | Southampton | Bangor | London | Cardiff | Birmingham | Glasgow | Belfast | Bristol | Norwich | Manchester | Total score | |
"Happy Everything" | X | X | X | X | X | X | 6 | |||||||||
"Love Enough for Two" | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | X | 8 |
Jury Spokespersons [1] | |
---|---|
Jury | Spokesperson |
Aberdeen | Gerry Davis |
Newcastle | Mike Neville |
Plymouth | Donald Heighway |
Leeds | Brian Baines |
Southampton | Peter Macann |
Bangor | Alun Evans |
London | Colin Berry |
Cardiff | Iwan Thomas |
Birmingham | David Stevens |
Glasgow | Douglas Brock |
Belfast | Mike Baguley |
Bristol | Derek Jones |
Norwich | Gill Hewitt |
Manchester | John Mundy |
At the Eurovision itself, "Love Enough for Two" scored 106 points and was positioned third overall. The event took place in The Hague in the Netherlands and was won by Ireland's "What's Another Year?" by Johnny Logan. [3]
Terry Wogan provided the BBC television commentary, whilst Steve Jones provided the BBC Radio 2 commentary. Regular Eurovision radio commentator Ray Moore served as spokesperson for the UK jury. This was the start for Wogan's continuous television commentary which he would do every year until 2008.
|
|
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1972.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1976.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1977, which was held in Wembley, London following the United Kingdom's victory in the previous year's contest.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1978. It was held on Friday 31 March 1978 at the Royal Albert Hall and presented by Terry Wogan. The songs were backed by the Alyn Ainsworth Orchestra.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1979. A Song for Europe 1979 was planned to take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 8 March.
The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with the song "Cry Baby" written by Martin Isherwood. The song was performed by the duo Jemini. The British entry for the 2003 contest in Riga, Latvia was selected via the national final A Song for Europe 2003, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Eight acts competed in the national final which consisted of a semi-final and a final, during which the winner was selected entirely through a regional televote.
The United Kingdom was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983 by Sweet Dreams with the song "I'm Never Giving Up". It was chosen as the British entry through the A Song for Europe national selection process and placed sixth at Eurovision, receiving 79 points.
The United Kingdom was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 by Belle and the Devotions with the song "Love Games". It was chosen as the British entry through the A Song for Europe national selection process and placed seventh at Eurovision, receiving 63 points.
The 1985 edition of A Song for Europe was held at the BBC Television Centre in Studio 1 on 9 April, hosted by a suited Terry Wogan. The theme music was Te Deum. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but despite performing live, the orchestra was off-screen, behind the set.
The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 with its entry "Runner in the Night" performed by the group Ryder. The song was chosen through the A Song for Europe national final which consisted of eight songs in 1986. At the Eurovision Song Contest 1986 held in Bergen, Norway, Ryder and the song placed seventh with 72 points.
The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988 with its entry "Go" performed by Scott Fitzgerald and written by Julie Forsyth. The song was chosen through the "A Song for Europe" national final which consisted of eight songs in 1988. At the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, Fitzgerald and his song was placed second with 136 points.
The United Kingdom was represented by Emma in the Eurovision Song Contest 1990 with the song "Give a Little Love Back to the World".
The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 with the song "No Dream Impossible" written by Russ Ballard and Chris Winter. The song was performed by Lindsay Dracass. The British entry for the 2001 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark, was selected via the national final A Song for Europe 2001, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Eight acts competed in the national final which consisted of a semi-final and a final, during which the winner was selected entirely through a public televote.
Eurovision: You Decide is the most recent name of a BBC television programme that was broadcast annually to select the United Kingdom's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. The show had previously gone under several other names, including Festival of British Popular Songs (1957), Eurovision Song Contest British Final (1959–1960), The Great British Song Contest (1996–1999), Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up (2004–2007), Eurovision: Your Decision (2008), and Eurovision: Your Country Needs You (2009–2010), but was known, for most of its history, as A Song for Europe.
The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Touch My Fire" written by Javine Hylton, John Themis and Jonathan Shalit. The song was performed by Javine. The British entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine was selected via the national final Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up 2005, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Five acts competed in the national final and the winner was selected entirely through a public vote.
Prima Donna were the United Kingdom representatives in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980. The group comprised sisters Kate and Jane Robbins, Sally Ann Triplett, Danny Finn, Alan Coates and Lance Aston. Finn was a former member of The New Seekers and was married to fellow ex-New Seeker Eve Graham. Robbins later embarked on a successful career as a comedian, impressionist and actress.
Maggie Moone is a British singer, best remembered for her role on the UK version of Name That Tune.
The United Kingdom participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008 with the song "Even If" written by Andy Abraham, Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins. The song was performed by Andy Abraham. The British entry for the 2008 contest in Belgrade, Serbia was selected via the national final Eurovision: Your Decision, organised by the British broadcaster BBC. Six acts competed in the national final and the winner was selected through three rounds of voting.
The United Kingdom has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 65 times. Its first participation was at the second contest, in 1957, and it has entered every year since 1959. The country has won the contest five times: in 1967, with Sandie Shaw and the song "Puppet on a String"; in 1969, with Lulu and the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang"; in 1976, with Brotherhood of Man and the song "Save Your Kisses for Me"; in 1981, with Bucks Fizz and the song "Making Your Mind Up"; and in 1997, with Katrina and the Waves and the song "Love Shine a Light". The UK has also achieved a record sixteen second-place finishes, the first in 1959 and the most recent in 2022.