United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1985

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Eurovision Song Contest 1985
Participating broadcaster British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
National selection
Selection process A Song for Europe 1985
Selection date(s)9 April 1985
Selected artist(s) Vikki
Selected song"Love Is..."
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result4th, 100 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1984 •1985• 1986►

The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1985 with the song "Love Is...", written by Jimmy Kaleth and Vikki Watson, and performed by Vikki herself. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final.

Contents

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1985

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) held the national final, A Song for Europe 1985, on 9 April 1985 at Studio 1 of the BBC Television Centre in London, hosted by a suited Terry Wogan. The theme music (as it has been in previous years) 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.

In all, 333 songs were originally submitted to the Music Publisher's Association, with 8 songs chosen. Songwriters could only submit a maximum of two songs to the MPA, but the identity of the writers was not disclosed to the MPA judges. Due to the poor reception of the British entry in the previous year's Eurovision Song Contest, the BBC wanted to revert to the method used to select its entry used in 1964–1975 and approached both Bonnie Tyler and when she was unavailable, Lena Zavaroni to represent the United Kingdom and perform all the shortlisted songs in the national final. The MPA rebuffed the BBC's concept, wanting the composers and authors the option of choosing their own performers. A compromise rule was introduced, stating that no groups (more than 2 performers) were allowed to take part and writers would be limited to two entries each, however this rule was only in place for this one year. The songs were selected by around 90 people, DJs, producers and publishers.

Notable songwriters and performers included Paul Curtis who had had entries in the Eurovision final as well as a large number of previous entries in various British national finals, including writing the winning song in 1975. Despite the rule limiting song-writers to two entries, both his songs written with Graham Sacher reached the final eight. Together, Curtis and Sacher had won the A Song for Europe 1984 contest. 1970s glam rock singer Alvin Stardust (who had recently enjoyed a comeback in the charts) appeared as a performer as did Fiona Kennedy who was at the time a presenter of Record Breakers . [1] Annabel was Annabel Layton who competed at A Song for Europe 1981 contest as part of Unity. [2] Des Dyer had been the lead singer of the group 'Casablanca' who'd placed 3rd in the A Song for Europe 1983 contest. He would later be one of the British backing singers at the Eurovision Song Contest 1988.

Final

The show opened with a group of dancers, dancing to old Eurovision songs: "Making Your Mind Up", "Waterloo", "Puppet on a String", "Save Your Kisses for Me", "Boom Bang-a-Bang", and "Congratulations". The artists were introduced on stage with captions on screen, followed by presenter Terry Wogan. The songs had been first previewed in the previous week on the Wogan television show.

Nine regional juries located in Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester, Belfast, Glasgow, London, Norwich, Plymouth and Bristol voted for the songs. Each jury region awarded 15, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points to the songs.

A Song for Europe 1985 –9 April 1985 [3]
DrawArtistSongSongwriter(s)PointsPlace
1 Vikki "Love Is..."Jimmy Kaleth, Vikki Watson 1241
2Peter Beckett"I'm Crying"Jonathan Cregg597
3 Alvin Stardust "The Clock on the Wall"Peter Vale, Mick Leeson903
4James Oliver"What We Say With Our Eyes"James Oliver666
5Des Dyer"Energy" Clive Scott, Des Dyer 774
6Annabel"Let Me Love You One More Time" Paul Curtis, Graham Sacher725
7Kerri Wells"Dancing in the Night" Paul Curtis, Graham Sacher1012
8 Mike Redway and Fiona Kennedy "So Do I" Mike Redway 597
Detailed Jury Votes [3]
DrawSong
Belfast
Birmingham
Cardiff
Glasgow
London
Norwich
Bristol
Manchester
Plymouth
Total
1"Love Is..."151510151512151215124
2"I'm Crying"105695856559
3"The Clock on the Wall"781581291091290
4"What We Say With Our Eyes"697128567666
5"Energy"9101277698977
6"Let Me Love You One More Time"57810610810872
7"Dancing in the Night"1212961015121510101
8"So Do I"86559775759
Jury Spokespersons [3]
JurySpokesperson
Belfast Jim Neilly
Birmingham Paul Coia
Cardiff Iwan Thomas
Glasgow Viv Lumsden
London Colin Berry
Norwich Stewart White
Bristol Vivien Creegor
Manchester John Mundy
Plymouth Christopher Slade

UK Discography

  • Vikki - Love Is...: PRT 7P326 (7" Single)/12P326 (12" Single).
  • Peter Beckett - I'm Crying: MCA MCA959.
  • Alvin Stardust - (The) Clock On The Wall: Chrysalis ALVIN1 (Single withdrawn)/ALV3 (EP Release).
  • James Oliver - What We Say With Our Eyes: Ritz RITZ100.
  • Des Dyer - Voice Of America^: Splash CPS1005.
  • Annabell - Let Me Love You One More Time: Magnet MAG278.
  • Kerri Wells - Dancing In The Night: Magnet MAG279.
  • Redway & Kennedy - So Do I: MCA MCA960.

^Released in 1986 with alternative lyrics. Original track released only in Germany (TELDEC 6.14369).
(Tracks listed by their label details which in some cases didn't correspond with the contest entrants.)

At Eurovision

"Love Is..." performed by Vikki finished in fourth place, gaining 100 points overall, at the Eurovision Song Contest 1985. [4] Although the song did not receive any country's twelve points, it still managed to score with every jury but one (Cyprus). The British jury awarded their twelve points to the eventual winners, Norway's "La det swinge" by Bobbysocks!.

The final was broadcast on BBC 1 with Terry Wogan providing the commentary, Wogan actually commentated from BBC TV Centre in London as he was suffering from flu and was unable to fly to Gothenburg. BBC Radio 2 again decided not to broadcast the contest, but the contest was broadcast on British Forces Radio with commentary provided by Richard Nankivell. The BBC appointed Colin Berry as its spokesperson to announce the British jury vote.

Voting

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">UK national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest</span> BBC TV show

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References

  1. ↑ Official Charts Company - Alvin Stardust(Link redirected to OCC website)
  2. ↑ Songs 4 Europe - 1985 Song for Europe
  3. 1 2 3 Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 212–225. ISBN   978-1-84583-118-9.
  4. ↑ "Final of Gothenburg 1985". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Gothenburg 1985". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
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