Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1977

Last updated

Eurovision Song Contest 1977
CountryFlag of Ireland.svg  Ireland
National selection
Selection processNational Final
Selection date(s)20 February 1977
Selected entrant The Swarbriggs Plus Two
Selected song"It's Nice to Be in Love Again"
Selected songwriter(s)
  • Tommy Swarbrigg
  • Jimmy Swarbrigg
Finals performance
Final result3rd, 119 points
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄197619771978►

Ireland was represented by The Swarbriggs Plus Two, with the song "It's Nice to Be in Love Again", at the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 7 May in London. "It's Nice to Be in Love Again" was chosen as the Irish entry at the national final on 20 February.

Contents

Jimmy and Tommy Swarbrigg had previously represented Ireland in 1975, and were joined on this occasion by Alma Carroll and Nicola Kerr.

Before Eurovision

National final

The final was held at the studios of broadcaster RTÉ in Dublin, hosted by Mike Murphy. Eight songs took part, with the winner chosen by voting from ten regional juries. Other participants included past and future Irish representatives Dickie Rock (1966) and Colm C. T. Wilkinson (1978), while future Eurovision winner Linda Martin performed as a member of the group Chips. [1]

DrawArtistSongPointsPlace
1Jamie Stone"If I Give My Love"192
2 Dickie Rock "I Can't Go On Without You"86
3Sunshine"Look Before You Leap"08
4D. J. Curtin"You Cannot Stop the Music"57
5 The Swarbriggs Plus Two "It's Nice to Be in Love Again"251
6 Denis Allen "Da-Dum Da-Dum, I Love You So"125
7 Colm C. T. Wilkinson "There Was a Dream"183
8Chips"Goodbye Goodbye"134

At Eurovision

On the night of the final the group performed first in the running order, preceding Monaco. Pre-contest betting rated Ireland as one of the front runners, along with the entries from Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. At the close of voting "It's Nice to Be in Love Again" had picked up 119 points, placing Ireland third of the 18 entries, the country's best placement since Dana's victory seven years earlier. [2] The song had gained four maximum 12s from Israel, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom with only Finland failing to award it any points at all. It was therefore somewhat ironic that the Irish jury awarded its 12 points to Finland. [3]

Voting

Related Research Articles

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.

Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with the song "They Can't Stop the Spring" written by John Waters and Tommy Moran. The song was performed by the band Dervish, which was internally selected in November 2006 by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) to represent the nation at the 2007 contest in Helsinki, Finland. RTÉ organised the national final Eurosong 2007 to select the song that Dervish would perform. Four songs faced a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "They Can't Stop the Spring" as the Irish entry.

For the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest in Rome, the song "Could It Be That I'm in Love", written and composed by Liam Reilly and performed by Kim Jackson, was chosen to represent Ireland, after it won the national final selection. Composer Liam Reilly had represented Ireland in the 1990 Eurovision Song Contest in Zagreb, coming in second place with his own composition; Kim Jackson had also provided backing vocals for that entry.

For the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest in Lausanne, the song "The Real Me", written, composed and performed by Kiev Connolly, was chosen to represent Ireland when it won the national final selection.

Belgium was represented by Dream Express, with the song "A Million in One, Two, Three", at the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place in London on 7 May.

Denmark was represented by Anne-Cathrine Herdorf, with the song "En lille melodi", at the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 9 April in Brussels. "En lille melodi" was chosen as the Danish entry at the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix on 28 February.

Norway was represented by Anita Skorgan, with the song "Oliver", at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 31 March in Jerusalem, Israel. "Oliver" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 10 February. This was the second of three Eurovision appearances for Skorgan.

France was represented by Marie Myriam, with the song "L'oiseau et l'enfant", at the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 7 May in London. "L'oiseau et l'enfant" went on to bring France a fifth Eurovision victory, a record at the time.

Ireland was represented by Red Hurley, with the song "When", at the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in The Hague. "When" was chosen as the Irish entry at the national final on 8 February.

Ireland was represented by The Swarbriggs, with the song "That's What Friends Are For", at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 22 March in Stockholm. "That's What Friends Are For" was chosen as the Irish entry at the national final on 9 February.

Ireland was represented by Colm C. T. Wilkinson, with the song "Born to Sing", at the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 22 April in Paris. "Born to Sing" was chosen as the Irish entry at the national final on 5 March.

Finland was represented by Katri Helena, with the song "Katson sineen taivaan" at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 31 March in Jerusalem. "Katson sineen taivaan" was chosen as the Finnish entry at the national final organised by broadcaster Yle and held on 10 February. This was the first of Katri Helena's two Eurovision appearances for Finland, after she had finished runner-up in three previous national finals.

Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "New Tomorrow" written by Lise Cabble and Jakob Glæsner. The song was performed by the band A Friend in London. The Danish broadcaster DR organised the national final Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2011 in order to select the Danish entry for the 2011 contest in Düsseldorf, Germany. Ten songs competed in a televised show where the winner was selected over three rounds of voting. The results of the first round were decided upon through the combination of jury voting and public voting while the results in the second and third round were determined solely by public televoting. "New Tomorrow" performed by A Friend in London was the winner after gaining the most public votes in the third round.

Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Only Love Survives" written by Wez Devine and Ryan Dolan. The song was performed by Ryan Dolan. The Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) organised the national final Eurosong 2013 in order to select the Irish entry for the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. Five songs faced the votes of five regional juries and a public televote, ultimately resulting in the selection of "Only Love Survives" performed by Ryan Dolan as the Irish Eurovision entry.

Latvia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Love Injected" written and performed by Aminata. The Latvian broadcaster Latvijas Televīzija (LTV) organised the national final Supernova 2015 in order to select the Latvian entry for the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. Twenty songs were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of four shows: two heats, one semi-final and a final. In the heats and the semi-final, four entries were selected to advance from each show: two entries selected based on a public televote and two entries selected by a four-member jury panel. Four songs ultimately qualified to compete in the final on 22 February 2015 where a public vote exclusively selected "Love Injected" performed by Aminata as the winner.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "Sing It Away" written by Sandhja Kuivalainen, Milos Rosas, Heikki Korhonen, Petri Matara and Markus Savijoki. The song was performed by Sandhja. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2016 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. 18 entries were selected to compete in the national final, which consisted of three semi-finals and a final, taking place in February 2016. Six entries competed in each semi-final and the top three from each semi-final, as selected solely by a public vote, advanced to the final. Nine entries competed in the final on 27 February where the 50/50 combination of votes from ten jury groups representing different factions of Finnish society and votes from the public selected "Sing It Away" performed by Sandhja as the winner.

Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Blackbird" and performed by Lasse Piirainen and Leena Tirronen under the name Norma John. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2017 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Ten entries were selected to compete in the national final on 28 January 2017 where the 50/50 combination of votes from ten international jury groups and votes from the public selected "Blackbird" performed by Norma John as the winner.

Australia participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "We Got Love" written by Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci and Jessica Mauboy. The song was performed by Jessica Mauboy, who was internally selected by the Australian broadcaster Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) to represent that nation at the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Mauboy was announced as the Australian representative on 11 December 2017. The song Mauboy performed, "We Got Love", was presented to the public on 8 March 2018.

Ireland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Together", sung by Ryan O'Shaughnessy and written by O'Shaughnessy, Mark Caplice and Laura Elizabeth Hughes. The Irish song and the singer for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal were internally selected by the Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). O'Shaughnessy's internal selection was announced on 31 January 2018, while "Together" was presented on 9 March 2018.

References

  1. "IRISH NATIONAL FINAL 1977". natfinals.50webs.com. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  2. "Final of London 1977". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  3. ESC History Eurovision - Ireland 1977
  4. 1 2 "Results of the Final of London 1977". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.