Eurovision Song Contest 1981

The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1980 contest with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 4 April 1981, and was hosted by Irish television journalist Doireann Ní Bhriain.

Eurovision Song Contest 1981
Dates
Final4 April 1981
Host
VenueRDS Simmonscourt
Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland
Presenter(s)Doireann Ní Bhriain
Musical directorNoel Kelehan
Directed byIan McGarry
Executive supervisorFrank Naef
Executive producerNoel D Greene
Host broadcasterRadio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ)
Websiteeurovision.tv/event/dublin-1981
Participants
Number of entries20
Debuting countries Cyprus
Returning countries
Non-returning countries
Participation map
  • A coloured map of the countries of Europe
         Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1981
Vote
Voting systemEach country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Winning song United Kingdom
"Making Your Mind Up"

Twenty countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the 1978 edition. Cyprus made their début this year, while Israel and Yugoslavia both returned to the competition, after their one-year and five-year absences, respectively. Morocco and Italy decided not to participate.

The winner was the United Kingdom with the song "Making Your Mind Up", performed by Bucks Fizz, written by Andy Hill and John Danter. Germany finished second for the second consecutive year, while France finished third. Norway again finished last, with its third nul points in the contest.

Bucks Fizz's win launched the group's hugely successful international career. Their performance on the Eurovision stage included a dance-routine where the two male members ripped the skirts off the two female members only to reveal mini-skirts, and today stands as one of the most defining moments in the contest's history.[1]

Location
RDS Simmonscourt – host venue of the 1981 contest.

Having won in 1980, head of Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Brian MacLochlainn announced that they would host the contest in 1981 within hours of Johnny Logan winning.[2] The 1981 contest took place in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. It was the second time the country (and city) had hosted the contest, the last time being ten years earlier in 1971.

Participating countries
Further information: List of countries in the Eurovision Song Contest

By October 1980, it looked as though 21 countries were planning to take part, the largest number so far, but Monaco declared that they were no longer interested.[2] This year marked the début of Cyprus in the contest, who finished sixth. Returning to the contest was Israel, who did not compete the previous year, despite winning the two years prior to that. They finished seventh. Yugoslavia also returned to the competition after a five-year absence. Italy decided not to enter due to lack of interest, while Morocco declined to take part after their debut entry the year before.[3] Morocco's king, Hassan II, "reportedly withdrew Rabat's participation from the contest the following year, saying that the country will never participate again".[4] Despite no reasons were given for this withdraw, two factors could explain it, first, Morocco's low placement in 1980 contest, and second, support to other Arab nations who had chosen not to engage with Israel on various platforms. The draw for the running order took place on 14 November 1980, with it being confirmed that there were a total of 20 entrants.[2]

Participants of the Eurovision Song Contest 1981[5][2][6][7]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) Conductor
 Austria ORF Marty Brem "Wenn du da bist" German Werner Böhmler Richard Oesterreicher
 Belgium BRT Emly Starr "Samson" Dutch
  • Kick Dandy
  • Penny Els
  • Giuseppe Marchese
 Giuseppe Marchese
 Cyprus CyBC Island "Monika" (Μόνικα) Greek
  • Doros Georgiades
  • Stavros Sideras
 Mihalis Rozakis
 Denmark DR Tommy Seebach and Debbie Cameron "Krøller eller ej" Danish
Allan Botschinsky
 Finland YLE Riki Sorsa "Reggae O.K." Finnish
Henrik Otto Donner
 France TF1 Jean Gabilou "Humanahum" French
David Sprinfield
 Germany BR[lower-alpha 1] Lena Valaitis "Johnny Blue" German
Wolfgang Rödelberger
 Greece ERT Yiannis Dimitras "Feggari kalokerino" (Φεγγάρι καλοκαιρινό) Greek
Giorgos Niarchos
 Ireland RTÉ Sheeba "Horoscopes" English
  • Joe Burkett
  • Jim Kelly
 Noel Kelehan
 Israel IBA Habibi "Halayla" (הלילה) Hebrew
Eldad Shrem
 Luxembourg CLT Jean-Claude Pascal "C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique" French
Joël Rocher
 Netherlands NOS Linda Williams "Het is een wonder" Dutch
  • Bart van de Laar
  • Cees de Wit
 Rogier van Otterloo
 Norway NRK Finn Kalvik "Aldri i livet" Norwegian Finn Kalvik Sigurd Jansen
 Portugal RTP Carlos Paião "Playback" Portuguese Carlos Paião Shegundo Galarza
 Spain TVE Bacchelli "Y sólo tú" Spanish Amado Jaén Joan Barcons
 Sweden SVT Björn Skifs "Fångad i en dröm" Swedish
Anders Berglund
  Switzerland SRG SSR Peter, Sue and Marc "Io senza te" Italian
Rolf Zuckowski
 Turkey TRT Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül "Dönme Dolap" Turkish Ali Kocatepe Onno Tunç
 United Kingdom BBC Bucks Fizz "Making Your Mind Up" English
John Coleman
 Yugoslavia JRT Seid Memić Vajta "Lejla" (Лејла) Serbo-Croatian Ranko Boban Ranko Rihtman

Returning artists

Of the performers, many previous contestants returned to the contest this year. Notably, Jean-Claude Pascal for Luxembourg, who had won the contest 20 years earlier, although could only manage 11th place this time. Repeated entrants Peter, Sue and Marc returned for the fourth time, after 1971, 1976 and 1979. Performing again for Switzerland, they remain the only act to sing in four different languages (French, English, German and this time, Italian). Other returnees were Marty Brem who had taken part the year before for Austria, Tommy Seebach for Denmark, and Björn Skifs for Sweden. Bucks Fizz member, Cheryl Baker had performed in 1978 with the band Co-Co for the UK, while Sheeba member Maxi had performed as a solo artist in 1973 for Ireland.

Bold indicates a previous winner.

Artist Country Previous year(s)
Jean-Claude Pascal  Luxembourg 1961
Peter, Sue and Marc   Switzerland 1971, 1976, 1979 (along with Pfuri, Gorps and Kniri)
Maxi (as part of Sheeba)  Ireland 1973
Ismeta Dervoz (as backing singer)  Yugoslavia 1976 (as part of Ambasadori)
Björn Skifs  Sweden 1978
Cheryl Baker (as part of Bucks Fizz)  United Kingdom 1978 (as part of Co-Co)
Tommy Seebach  Denmark 1979
Debbie Cameron 1979 (as backing singer for Tommy Seebach)
Marty Brem  Austria 1980 (part of Blue Danube)
Anita Skorgan (as backing singer)  Norway 1977, 1979

Format

The contest took place under heavy guard at the 1,600 seat Simmonscourt Pavilion of the RDS, which was normally used for agricultural and horse shows.[9] The set was the largest ever seen in the contest so far, being 150 feet across, 80 feet deep and 30 feet high.[2] Over 250 armed soldiers and police were on hand to protect against any likely political demonstrations, with the UK entrants being under constant guard during their time in Dublin due to threats from the IRA. This included an evacuation of the participants hotel at one point due to a bomb scare. The security measures were reported on British news reports on the day of the contest.[2]

Rehearsals at the Pavilion began on 31 March with each act allowed 30 minutes with the orchestra, continuing up until the day of the contest, which ended with a dress rehearsal at 16:30. On 1 April, the Irish Tourist Board held a reception for the contest at Jurys Hotel, Dublin.[2]

The presenter on this occasion was Doireann Ni Bhriain, who was well known in Ireland at the time as a TV presenter and for the current affairs radio show Women Today. She was chosen for her fluency in Irish and English as well as having studied French and Spanish, which she spoke with some ease.[10] She had also worked on the 1971 contest as an interpreter in the RTE press office. The director was Ian McGarry, while Noel Kelehan was the chief conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, which comprised 46 musicians.[2]

It cost RTÉ £530,000 to stage the show, although this included £110,000 from the EBU. From this, the Irish Government expected to make around £2,000,000 from tourism as a result of staging the show.[2][11] It was expected that the worldwide audience would be some 500 million with 30 countries broadcasting the event, including countries such as Hong Kong, the Soviet Union, United Arab Emirates and for the first time, Egypt.[2]

Each song was introduced by a filmed 'postcard', framed by an animated identification of the nation's location. Unlike previous films used in 1970 and 1976 that had also featured the performing artist, the 1981 films prominently included the authors and composers alongside the performing artist.

Contest overview

The interval act was traditional Irish band Planxty, who performed the lengthy piece "Timedance", which depicted Irish music through the ages. The dancers were from Dublin City Ballet with choreography by Iain Montague. This is seen as a precursor to Riverdance, which became famous after its performance in 1994. The song, which was written by Bill Whelan, went on to be released as a Planxty single and became a No.3 hit in the Irish charts.[12][13]

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1981[14]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1  Austria Marty Brem "Wenn du da bist" 20 17
2  Turkey Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül "Dönme Dolap" 9 18
3  Germany Lena Valaitis "Johnny Blue" 132 2
4  Luxembourg Jean-Claude Pascal "C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique" 41 11
5  Israel Habibi "Halayla" 56 7
6  Denmark Tommy Seebach and Debbie Cameron "Krøller eller ej" 41 11
7  Yugoslavia Seid Memić Vajta "Lejla" 35 15
8  Finland Riki Sorsa "Reggae O.K." 27 16
9  France Jean Gabilou "Humanahum" 125 3
10  Spain Bacchelli "Y sólo tú" 38 14
11  Netherlands Linda Williams "Het is een wonder" 51 9
12  Ireland Sheeba "Horoscopes" 105 5
13  Norway Finn Kalvik "Aldri i livet" 0 20
14  United Kingdom Bucks Fizz "Making Your Mind Up" 136 1
15  Portugal Carlos Paião "Playback" 9 18
16  Belgium Emly Starr "Samson" 40 13
17  Greece Yiannis Dimitras "Feggari kalokerino" 55 8
18  Cyprus Island "Monika" 69 6
19   Switzerland Peter, Sue and Marc "Io senza te" 121 4
20  Sweden Björn Skifs "Fångad i en dröm" 50 10

Spokespersons

Each country nominated a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1981 contest are listed below.

Detailed voting results

Each country had a jury who awarded 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 point(s) for their top ten songs.

Detailed voting results[17][18]
Total score
Austria
Turkey
Germany
Luxembourg
Israel
Denmark
Yugoslavia
Finland
France
Spain
Netherlands
Ireland
Norway
United Kingdom
Portugal
Belgium
Greece
Cyprus
Switzerland
Sweden
Contestants
 Austria 2061562
Turkey 9135
Germany 13251238827812364712105812
Luxembourg 411053431465
Israel 568467784543
Denmark 4111743252124
Yugoslavia 35482152310
Finland 2721255156
France 125121212724106451103871210
Spain 38106431032
Netherlands 51353472767232
Ireland 105736101012565101101217
Norway 0
United Kingdom 136484512101037812103686488
Portugal 981
Belgium 40171682375
Greece 55626110128667
Cyprus 69536887107123
Switzerland 121227841212104112121284101
Sweden 50102571126241

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
5   Switzerland Finland,  Ireland,  Norway,  United Kingdom,  Yugoslavia
4  France Austria,  Germany,  Luxembourg,   Switzerland
 Germany Portugal,  Spain,  Sweden,  Turkey
2  Ireland Cyprus,  Denmark
 United Kingdom Netherlands,  Israel
1  Cyprus Greece
 Denmark Belgium
 Sweden France

Broadcasts

Each participating broadcaster was required to relay the contest via its networks. Non-participating EBU member broadcasters were also able to relay the contest as "passive participants". Broadcasters were able to send commentators to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language and to relay information about the artists and songs to their television viewers.[19]

Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below. In addition to the participating countries, the contest was also reportedly broadcast in Iceland, in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union via Intervision, and in Egypt, Hong Kong, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.[2]

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Austria ORF FS2 Ernst Grissemann [20][21]
 Belgium BRT TV1 Luc Appermont [22][23]
RTBF RTBF1 Unknown [22][23]
 Cyprus CyBC RIK Fryni Papadopoulou [24]
 Denmark DR DR TV Jørgen de Mylius [25]
 Finland YLE TV1 Ossi Runne [26]
Rinnakkaisohjelma Matti Paalosmaa
 France TF1 Patrick Sabatier [22][27]
 Germany ARD Deutsches Fernsehen Unknown [20][23]
 Greece ERT ERT Mako Georgiadou [28][29]
 Ireland RTÉ RTÉ 1 Unknown [30]
RTÉ Radio 1 Unknown [31]
 Israel IBA Israeli Television Unknown [32]
 Luxembourg CLT RTL Télé-Luxembourg Unknown [22]
 Netherlands NOS Nederland 1 Pim Jacobs [23]
 Norway NRK NRK Fjernsynet Knut Aunbu [33]
NRK[lower-alpha 2] Erik Heyerdahl
 Portugal RTP RTP1 Unknown [34][35]
Antena 1 Unknown
 Spain TVE TVE 1 Miguel de los Santos [36]
 Sweden SVT TV1 Ulf Elfving [15][26][33]
  Switzerland SRG SSR TV DRS[lower-alpha 3] Theodor Haller [20][27][37]
TSR Georges Hardy
TSI[lower-alpha 3] Giovanni Bertini
 Turkey TRT TRT Televizyon Unknown [38]
 United Kingdom BBC BBC1 Terry Wogan [2][39][40]
BBC Radio 2 Ray Moore
 Yugoslavia JRT TV Beograd 1 Unknown [41][42][43]
TV Ljubljana 1 Unknown
TV Zagreb 1 Unknown
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
 Australia SBS 2EA, 3EA Unknown [44]
 Czechoslovakia ČST ČST2[lower-alpha 4] Unknown [45]
 Hungary MTV MTV2[lower-alpha 5] András Sugár [46]
 Iceland RÚV Sjónvarpið[lower-alpha 6] Dóra Hafsteinsdóttir [47]

Notes
    1. On behalf of the German public broadcasting consortium ARD[8]
    2. Deferred broadcast at 22:40 CEST (20:40 UTC)[33]
    3. Broadcast through a second audio programme on TSR[27]
    4. Delayed broadcast on 3 May 1981 at 17:10 CEST (15:50 UTC)[45]
    5. Delayed broadcast on 2 May 1981 at 21:50 CEST (19:50 UTC)[46]
    6. Delayed broadcast on 19 April 1981 at 21:10 WET (21:10 UTC)[47]

    References
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    3. "ESCToday – 1981". Esctoday.com. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
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    6. "1981 – 26th edition". diggiloo.net. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
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    10. "Sunday Times – Doireann Ni Bhriain, Keeping the faith
    11. “No Sax please, We're Irish!”, David Wigg, Daily Express, 4 April 1981
    12. "Ceolas: Planxty". Ceolas.org.
    13. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
    14. "Final of Dublin 1981". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
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