United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1971

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Eurovision Song Contest 1971
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processArtist: Internal selection
Song: A Song for Europe 1971
Selection date(s)20 February 1971
Selected entrant Clodagh Rodgers
Selected song"Jack in the Box"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result4th, 98 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1970 •1971• 1972►

The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1971.

Contents

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1971

The show was held on 20 February 1971 as part of the BBC1 TV series It's Cliff Richard! and was presented by Cliff Richard. Clodagh Rodgers, a singer and actress from Northern Ireland, best known for her hit singles including, 1969 hits "Come Back and Shake Me" and "Goodnight Midnight" sang all the six finalists in the contest, having been chosen by the BBC to represent the UK, in part due to worries as to what reaction the UK artist would face at the contest in Dublin. Rodgers performed the songs weekly, before showcasing all six in the Song for Europe edition of the Cliff Richard Show, where they were also immediately repeated. Due to a postal strike, viewers were unable to cast votes for the songs this year, so 8 regional juries, consisting of 10 jurors with just one vote each for their favourite song, were constructed from members of the public. These juries were located in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester & Norwich.

A Song for Europe 1971 –20 February 1971 [1]
DrawSongSongwriter(s)VotesPlace
1"Look Left, Look Right" Alan Hawkshaw, Ray Cameron65
2"In My World of Beautiful Things" Valerie Avon, Harold Spiro 124
3"Jack in the Box" John Worsley, David Myers221
4"Another Time, Another Place" Mike Leander, Eddie Seago65
5"Wind of Change" Brian Bennett, Mike Hawker 172
6"Someone to Love Me"Ernie Ponticelli, Gordon Rees172
Regional voting results [1]
DrawSongBelfastBirminghamBristolCardiffGlasgowLondonManchesterNorwichTotal
1"Look Left, Look Right"1416
2"In My World of Beautiful Things"14222112
3"Jack in the Box"1141643222
4"Another Time, Another Place"211116
5"Wind of Change"14323417
6"Someone to Love Me"82231117

Chart success

"Jack in the Box" was chosen as the winning song, with two songs tying for second place. Rodgers released two standard 7-inch singles of the winner, with one of the runners-up "Someone to Love Me" or "Wind of Change" on the B-Sides. She also released a three-track maxi single which included both the second placed songs. The combined sales of the three singles (which all shared the catalogue number RCA2066) reached No.4 in the UK singles chart; Rodgers last top 10 single in the UK. Later in the year, she released a fourth song from the final "Look Left, Look Right", together with the three already released tracks on the LP Rodgers and Heart. "Another Time, Another Place" was then included on the 1972 budget LP Clodagh Rodgers, after it had become a No.13 hit single for Engelbert Humperdinck. To date, only the last place song "In My World of Beautiful Things" has never been officially released in any form.

At Eurovision

"Jack in the Box" won the national and went on to come 4th in the contest. [2]

For the performance in Dublin, Rodgers wore a pink frilly top and spangled hot pants. She finished in fourth place, behind Monaco, Spain and Germany. It was the first time since 1966 that the UK had not placed first or second.

Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis provided the BBC Television commentary, whilst Terry Wogan began his long running commitments with the Eurovision, providing the radio commentary for BBC Radio 1 listeners and he would commentate for both radio and television for most years until 2008.

Each country nominated two jury members, one below the age of 25 and the other above, who voted for their respective country by giving between one and five points to each song, except that representing their own country. All jury members were colocated at the venue in Dublin, and were brought on stage during the voting sequence to present their points. The jury members from the United Kingdom were Jeremy Paterson Fox and Gay Lowe. [3]

Voting

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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 1973.

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Sweden did not compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 1970, as a protest against that four countries shared the victory the preceding year. They were, however, back for the 1971 contest. Five semi-finals were held, with the same three competitors in all of them, as part of the popular TV show Hylands hörna. The group Family Four won all of the semi-finals, and therefore sung all the songs in the final. The song "Vita vidder", written and composed by Håkan Elmquist, won and represented Sweden at ESC, held in Dublin.

The Netherlands was represented by Saskia and Serge, with the song "Tijd", at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in Dublin. The song was the winner of the Dutch national final for the contest, held on 24 February. Saskia and Serge were selected internally by broadcaster NOS as the 1971 performers; it is widely thought that this was done in response to the 1970 preselection in which the couple's song "Spinnewiel" was placed runner-up by the juries despite being the overwhelming favourite of the Dutch public.

Norway was represented by 15-year-old Hanne Krogh, with the song "Lykken er", at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in Dublin. "Lykken er" was chosen as the Norwegian entry at the Melodi Grand Prix on 20 February.

Portugal was represented for the second time by Carlos Mendes, with the song "A festa da vida", at the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 25 March in Edinburgh. "A festa da vida" was chosen as the Portuguese entry at the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa on 22 February.

Portugal was represented by Tonicha, with the song "Menina do alto da serra", at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 3 April in Dublin. "Menina do alto da serra" was chosen as the Portuguese entry at the Grande Prémio TV da Canção Portuguesa on 11 February.

Finland was represented by Markku Aro and Koivistolaiset, with the song "Tie uuteen päivään", at the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest, which took place on 13 April in Dublin.

References

  1. 1 2 Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 38–50. ISBN   978-1-84583-093-9.
  2. ↑ "Final of Dublin 1971". Eurovision Song Contest. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  3. ↑ Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn, United Kingdom: Telos Publishing. p. 60. ISBN   978-1-84583-093-9.
  4. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Dublin 1971". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
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