A Song for Europe 1980
A Song for Europe 1980 was held on 26 March 1980 at the BBC Television Theatre in London and was hosted by 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. 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 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.
|
A Song for Europe 1980 –26 March 1980 [1] | Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Tiebreak | Place |
|---|
| 1 | Scramble | "Don't Throw Your Love Away" | Peter Morris | 97 | — | 6 |
| 2 | Maggie Moone | "Happy Everything" | Geoff Stephens, Don Black | 131 | 6 | 2 |
| 3 | Plain Sailing | "Easy" | Colin Stewart, Alan Stewart, Paul Stewart, Robert Freeman | 111 | — | 4 |
| 4 | Sonja Jones | "Here We'll Stay" | Tony Colton, Jean Roussell | 56 | — | 11 |
| 5 | Prima Donna | "Love Enough for Two" | Stephanie de Sykes, Stuart Slater | 131 | 8 | 1 |
| 6 | Jacqui Scott | "Symphony for You" | Johnny Goodison, Keith Mansfield | 67 | — | 8 |
| 7 | Duke and the Aces | "Love Is Alive" | Paul Curtis | 94 | — | 7 |
| 8 | Roy Winston | "Everything's All Right" | Roy Winston | 58 | — | 10 |
| 9 | Midnite | "Love Comes, Love Grows" | Gary Sulsh, Stuart Leathwood | 62 | — | 9 |
| 10 | The Main Event | "Gonna Do My Best" | Terry Bradford | 45 | — | 12 |
| 11 | Pussyfoot | "I Want to Be Me" | Mick Flinn, Mark Stevens | 111 | — | 4 |
| 12 | Kim Clark | "Surrender" | Richard Gillinson | 129 | — | 3 |
United Kingdom 
