United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978

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Eurovision Song Contest 1978
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
National selection
Selection process A Song for Europe 1978
Selection date(s)31 March 1978
Selected entrant Co-Co
Selected song"The Bad Old Days"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result11th, 61 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄197719781979►

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. [1]

Contents

The Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast on 22 April 1978, with Terry Wogan providing the BBC Television commentary and Ray Moore providing the BBC Radio 2 commentary. Colin Berry returned to present the UK jury results.

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1978

Fourteen regional juries voted on the songs: Bristol, Bangor, Leeds, Norwich, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff, Plymouth, Glasgow, Southampton and London. Each jury voted internally and ranked the songs 1–12, awarding 12 points for their highest scoring song, down to 1 point for the lowest scoring entry.

Final

"The Bad Old Days" won the national and came 11th in the contest. Broadcast on Good Friday, a national holiday in the UK, A Song for Europe was watched by 13.7 million viewers and was the 16th-most watched programme of the week – the show's highest ever rating. [1]

A Song for Europe 1978 31 March 1978 [2]
DrawArtistSongSongwriter(s)PointsPlace
1Christian"Shine It On" Bill Martin & Phil Coulter 1143
2Brown Sugar"Oh No, Look What You've Done" Wayne Bickerton & Tony Waddington 4911
3Fruit Eating Bears"Door in My Face"Neville Crozier & Chris Crash4911
4Jacquie Sullivan"Moments"Jacquie Sullivan1066
5Sunshine"Too Much in Love"Wayne Bickerton & Tony Waddington818
6Ronnie France"Lonely Nights" Paul Curtis 689
7The Jarvis Brothers"One Glance"Paul Curtis1143
8 Co-Co "The Bad Old Days" Stephanie de Sykes & Stuart Slater1351
9Bob James"We Got It Bad"Bob James & Labi Siffre 6610
10Midnight"Don't Bother to Knock" Kenny Lynch, Steve O'Donnell & Colin Horton-Jennings1162
11Babe Rainbow"Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way" Irving Martin & Peter Morris847
12 Labi Siffre "Solid Love"Labi Siffre1105

Both groups 'Co-Co' and 'Sunshine' had participated in the A Song for Europe 1976 contest, albeit with different line-ups. 'Co-Co' would return to the A Song for Europe contest in 1980 with another line-up, under the name 'The Main Event'. Cheryl Baker of 'Co-Co' would eventually win the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the group 'Bucks Fizz'.

Detailed Jury Votes [2]
DrawSong
Aberdeen
Norwich
Manchester
Bangor
Southampton
Leeds
Belfast
Bristol
Glasgow
Birmingham
London
Cardiff
Newcastle
Plymouth
Total score
1"Shine It On"12119105411121279354114
2"Oh No, Look What You've Done"7221322952314649
3"Door in My Face"21721733231210549
4"Moments"88117839610810639106
5"Too Much in Love"93542610795676281
6"Lonely Nights"1418451211071112168
7"One Glance"6735912611119124118114
8"The Bad Old Days"111212111011743111112812135
9"We Got It Bad"361031214181451766
10"Don't Bother to Knock"4986111085712810711116
11"Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way"55497851066592384
12"Solid Love"1010612691284428910110
Jury Spokespersons [2]
JurySpokesperson
Aberdeen Gerry Davis
Norwich Chris Denham
Manchester Mike Riddoch
Bangor Gwyn Llewelyn
Southampton Peter Macann
Leeds Brian Baines
Belfast Michael Baguley
Bristol Derek Jones
Glasgow Ken Bruce
Birmingham Tom Coyne
London Ray Moore
Cardiff Frank Lincoln
Newcastle Mike Neville
Plymouth Donald Heighway

UK Discography

  • Christian – Shine It On: Polydor 2059012.
  • Brown Sugar – Oh No, Look What You've Done: State STAT77.
  • Fruit Eating Bears – Door in My Face: DJM DJS10857.
  • Jacquie Sullivan – Moments: Air CHS2219.
  • Sunshine – Too Much in Love: State STAT76.
  • Ronnie France – Lonely Nights: Pye 7N46062.
  • The Jarvis Brothers – One Glance: EMI EMI2777.
  • Co-Co – The Bad Old Days: Ariola/Hansa AHA513.
  • Bob James – We Got It Bad: Polydor 2059016.
  • Midnight – Don't Bother to Knock: Ariola/Hansa AHA514.
  • Babe Rainbow – Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way: Mercury 6007113.
  • Labi Siffre – Solid Love: EMI EMI2750.

Only the winning song reached the UK Singles Chart.

At Eurovision

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. 1 2 Television's Greatest Hits, Network Books, Paul Gambaccini and Rod Taylor, 1993. ISBN   0 563 36247 2
  2. 1 2 3 Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 288–311. ISBN   978-1-84583-093-9.
  3. 1 2 "Results of the Final of Paris 1978". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.