Eurovision Song Contest 1980

The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 19 April 1980 at the in The Hague, Netherlands, and presented by Marlous Fluitsma. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NOS), who staged the event after the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which had won the Template:Escyr for Template:Esccnty, declined hosting responsibilities as it had staged the competition in 1979. Although Fluitsma was the main presenter, each song was introduced by a presenter appointed by each participating broadcaster, that in some cases was the same person providing the commentary.

Broadcasters from nineteen countries took part this year, with Template:Esccnty and the previous year's winner Template:Esccnty deciding not to participate, and Template:Esccnty returning. Template:Esccnty made its only appearance in the contest. It was the last Eurovision Song Contest not to be hosted in the previous edition's winning country until Template:Escyr.

The winner was Template:Esccnty with the song "What's Another Year", sung by Johnny Logan and written by Shay Healy.

Location

File:Statenhal Sebas Veldhuisen.jpg

, host venue of the 1980 contest

The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which won the contest in 1979, renounced its right to host the 1980 edition on 13 August 1979. The resignation was the result of failed negotiations between the broadcaster and the Knesset, after lawmakers did not authorize extra budget allocations for another international production hosted by IBA in a short space of time. However, rumours later emerged that the resignation was in actuality due to a controversy related to the date of the contest, which had been provisionally confirmed for 19 April 1980, coinciding with the Yom HaZikaron holiday. The issue itself became controversial in Israel, thanks to a translation error in several documents sent by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to IBA at the end of 1979, when negotiations regarding the holding of the contest would begin. However, IBA tried to negotiate several times with the EBU the possibility of changing the date. However, none of them were fruitful and on 10 December 1979, the Israeli withdrawal was confirmed, following confirmation that the date chosen for the competition was 19 April 1980.

Following these incidents, the EBU apologised to IBA, but even with their arguments, the date of the competition could not be changed, since the schedule for the participating broadcasters was tight and many of them already had their participation plans and programming schedules set up. This caused an atypical situation, because it was the only time in history that the country that had won the previous year could not defend its title.

Upon learning of the decision taken by the IBA, the EBU sent a public apology, claiming that "the lack of employees with knowledge of the Hebrew language has placed it in a strained situation". The issue was resolved when the IBA publicly accepted the apologies and confirmed that regardless of what happened in the 1980 contest, it would return in 1981.

Many years later, Yair Lapid, son of the late Tommy Lapid who was the general director of the IBA at the time, told in his father's biography, "that when his father discovered that holding the contest for two years in a row by IBA could result in unexpected bankruptcy. In December 1979, when this argument was presented to the other broadcasters, only NOS immediately accepted".

As news arrived, the EBU triggered an emergency protocol and invited the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as reserve host broadcaster, something that had already happened four other times (Template:Escyr, Template:Escyr, Template:Escyr, and Template:Escyr). However, this time alleging the same financial problems that delayed the Template:Escyr contest, the BBC ended up not taking over production. The third option was (TVE), due to the fact that the Spanish entry had finished second the previous year. However, with the period of the Spanish transition to democracy having already started, TVE also declined, despite the fact that the tourism board of the was already working in a bid with the Convention Center of Torremolinos as the venue with the aim of harnessing the area's touristic potential.

With negative responses from the reserve options, the EBU and the IBA decided to offer hosting rights to any of the other 15 broadcasters which had participated in the previous edition. 14 of them also gave negative responses to the situation, as no one expected the IBA to give up the rights. The situation only calmed down at the end of 1979, when (NOS) confirmed the date of the competition and its location, which was decided on 23 October. As it accepted the responsibility with little time to organize and produce the event, NOS allocated a smaller budget and reused many elements of the stage design from the Template:Escyr contest.

Production

As in Template:Escyr and Template:Escyr, the stage design was the work of Template:Ill. The main platform was decorated with a five-step staircase and three curved horizontal panels, in front of which participants performed their songs. The technique included a series of geometric elements suspended by cables that accompanied each performance, transforming into totally different images accompanied by colored lights that also changed with each song.

Given the short time for production, the Dutch art team ended up opting to recycle several elements from the 1976 contest stage, but with different uses. They chose to rescue several pieces from sets from other productions by the broadcaster, a warehouse and also a scrapyard, observing the conditions of use. Recycling also involved the contest's visual identity, in the same way that the opening video was a reissue of the one used four years earlier.

Participants

Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1980 participants After Israel announced its absence, Template:Esccnty entered the contest for its first, and to date only, participation. Template:Esccnty also withdrew from the contest, and would not return until 2004.

Several of the performing artists had previously competed as lead artists representing the same country in past editions: Paola del Medico had represented Template:Esccnty, Katja Ebstein had represented Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty, and Maggie MacNeal had represented the Template:Esccnty as part of Mouth and MacNeal.

Eurovision Song Contest 1980 participants

Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)	Conductor
Template:Esc	ORF	Template:Ill	""	German	Template:Ill	Richard Oesterreicher
Template:Esc	RTBF	Telex	"Euro-Vision"	French	Template:Hlist	Template:N/A
Template:Esc	DR	Bamses Venner	""	Danish	Template:Hlist	Allan Botschinsky
Template:Esc	YLE	Vesa-Matti Loiri	""	Finnish	Template:Hlist	Ossi Runne
Template:Esc	TF1		""	French	Template:Hlist	Sylvano Santorio
Template:Esc	BRTemplate:Efn	Katja Ebstein	""	German	Template:Hlist	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	ERT	Anna Vissi and the Template:Ill	"Autostop" ()	Greek	Template:Hlist	Jick Nacassian
Template:Esc	RTÉ	Johnny Logan	"What's Another Year"	English	Shay Healy	Noel Kelehan
Template:Esc	RAI	Alan Sorrenti	""	Italian	Alan Sorrenti	Del Newman
Template:Esc	CLT	Sophie and Magaly	""	French	Template:Hlist	Norbert Daum
Template:Esc	RTM	Samira Bensaïd	"" ()	Arabic	Template:Hlist	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	NOS	Maggie MacNeal	"Amsterdam"	Dutch	Template:Hlist	Rogier van Otterloo
Template:Esc	NRK	Sverre Kjelsberg and Mattis Hætta	""	Norwegian	Template:Hlist	Sigurd Jansen
Template:Esc	RTP	José Cid	""	Portuguese	José Cid	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	TVE		""	Spanish	José Antonio Martín	Javier Iturralde
Template:Esc	SVT	Tomas Ledin	""	Swedish	Tomas Ledin	Anders Berglund
Template:Esc	SRG SSR	Paola	""	French	Template:Hlist	Peter Reber
Template:Esc	TRT	Ajda Pekkan	""	Turkish	Template:Hlist	Attila Özdemiroğlu
Template:Esc	BBC	Prima Donna	"Love Enough for Two"	English	Template:Hlist	John Coleman

Format

The venue that had hosted the Template:Escyr, the , was again chosen to stage the event. Because of the limited budget and time available, NOS decided to recycle several elements of the 1976 production such as several opening video sequences and many pieces and elements that had been used in other NOS shows since then. Again, Roland de Groot took charge of the design. As with the 1977 and 1978 contests, there were no pre-filmed postcards between the songs, with a guest presenter appointed by each participating broadcaster introducing the entries. Apart from this, Marlous Fluitsma presented the contest almost entirely in Dutch, with exceptions in the protocol parts and in the voting where she used French and English. Thus, the broadcaster host spent only NLG 900.000 on organizing the contest, from the overall amount of NLG 1.5 million. At least 300 journalists were onsite to cover the event.

Song presenters

Each of the 19 contestants was presented by a presenter from that country appointed by each participating broadcaster, in some cases the same person providing the commentary. Each of the songs was introduced in the same language as the song was performed, with the exception of the Irish introduction, which was made in Irish, whereas the song was performed in English. The British presenter was incorrectly identified in the onscreen caption as 'Noel Edmunds' and the Finnish presenter as 'Heikki Haarma'.

• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndŞebnem Savaşçı
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndKelly Sakakou
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndMohammed Bouzidi
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndBeatrice Cori
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndJørgen de Mylius
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndUlf Elfving
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndLyliam Stambac
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndHeikki Harma
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndÅse Kleveland
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndCarolin Reiber
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndNoel Edmonds
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndEládio Clímaco
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndMarlous Fluitsma
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndÉvelyne Dhéliat
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndThelma Mansfield
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndMari Cruz Soriano
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndTemplate:Ill

Contest overview

Template:Multiple image During the live interval act performance of San Fernando by The Dutch Rhythm Steel and Show Band with the Lee Jackson dancers, Hans van Willigenburg intercut brief interviews with some of the participants backstage in the green room, speaking to the singers from Germany, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, and the Netherlands, each in their own language.

Australian-born Johnny Logan, representing his parents' country Template:Esccnty, was ultimately crowned the winner with the song "What's Another Year". This was Ireland's second victory in the competition, having previously won in Template:Escyr with "All Kinds of Everything", coincidentally also held on Dutch soil. It was also the first time that a male solo artist (albeit with backing vocals) had won the contest since Udo Jürgens won for Template:Esccnty.

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1980

R/O	Country	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Template:Esc	Blue Danube	""	64	8
2	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	""	23	15
3	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname and the Epikouri	"Autostop"	30	13
4	Template:Esc	Sophie and Magaly	""	56	9
5	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	""	7	18
6	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	""	87	6
7	Template:Esc	Bamses Venner	""	25	14
8	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	""	47	10
9	Template:Esc	Paola	""	104	4
10	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	""	6	19
11	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname and Mattis Hætta	""	15	16
12	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	""	128	2
13	Template:Esc	Prima Donna	"Love Enough for Two"	106	3
14	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	""	71	7
15	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Amsterdam"	93	5
16	Template:Esc		""	45	11
17	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"What's Another Year"	143	1
18	Template:Esc		""	38	12
19	Template:Esc	Telex	"Euro-Vision"	14	17

Spokespersons

Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for its respective country via telephone. Known spokespersons at the 1980 contest are listed below.

• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndBent Evold
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndKaarina Pönniö
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndDavid Hefferman
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndArne Weise
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndRay Moore

Detailed voting results

File:Eurovisie Songfestival 1980 ( Den Haag ) winnaar Johnny Logan in aktie, Bestanddeelnr 930-7803.jpg

Johnny Logan performing "What's Another Year"

The scoring system implemented in 1975 remained the same; each country had a jury who awarded 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 point(s) for their top ten songs. However this year for the first time, spokespersons were required to declare their scores in ascending order, 1,2,3 etc. This change made for the added excitement of waiting for each country to award their highest 12 points at the end of each voting round.

For the voting sequence, Marlous Fluitsma used a different telephone to speak to each of the nineteen jury spokespersons, although the phones were simply props and were not connected.

Detailed voting results

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rowspan="19" Template:Vert header	Austria	64			1		3	4	5	1	4	5	6	4	6	3	3	4	10	4	1
Turkey	23	3				12	8
Greece	30	5			1		2	2				4		3	1	8		4
Luxembourg	56	1	1					4	6		3	7		8			7	8	3	8
Morocco	7						7
Italy	87	2	6	2				3	10	8	6	2	7	4	12	1	2	2	10	10
Denmark	25			4		2				6	7	1	5
Sweden	47		8	10	10	6	5			5			2						1
Switzerland	104	6	2		5	7	3	8	2		12	10	10	7	6	10		12	2	2
Finland	6											5					1
Norway	15					4							6			2	3
Germany	128	8	10		3	10	12	7	5	7	2			10	8	12	10	5	12	7
United Kingdom	106	7	5		8	8		10	12	10	4		3		7	7	5	6	8	6
Portugal	71		4	5	4		10	6	8	2	1	8	1			5	6	7		4
Netherlands	93	12	12	6	12				3	3	10		8	2	4		12	1	5	3
France	45		3	7	2	1		1	4	1		3		5		4		3	6	5
Ireland	143	10		12	7		1	12	7	12	8	12	12	12	5	6	8		7	12
Spain	38	4	7	8	6	5	6								2
Belgium	14			3										1	10

12 points

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

N.	Contestant	Nation(s) giving 12 points
7	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
4	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
3	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
2	Template:Esc	Template:Esc, Template:Esc
1	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc
	Template:Esc	Template:Esc

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. The contest was also reportedly broadcast in Cyprus, Israel, Iceland, and Jordan; in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union via Intervision; and in Cuba, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates, with an estimated audience of 450 million viewers. The contest was reportedly broadcast via radio in countries including Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.

Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref(s)
Template:Flagu	ORF	FS2	Ernst Grissemann
Template:Flagu	RTBF	RTBF1	Jacques Mercier
		RTBF Radio 1	Template:N/A
	BRT	TV1	Luc Appermont
Template:Flagu	DR	DR TV	Jørgen de Mylius
Template:Flagu	YLE	TV1,	Heikki Harma
Template:Flagu	TF1		Patrick Sabatier
Template:Flagu	ARD		Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	ERT	ERT	Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	RTÉ	RTÉ 1	Larry Gogan
		RTÉ Radio 1	Pat Kenny
Template:Flagu	RAI	Template:Efn	Michele Gammino
Template:Flagu	CLT		Jacques Navadic
Template:Flagu	NOS		Pim Jacobs
		Hilversum 1	Willem van Beusekom
Template:Flagu	NRK		Knut Aunbu
		NRKTemplate:Efn	Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	RTP	RTP1	Template:N/A
	RDP		Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	TVE	TVE 1	Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	SVT	TV1	Ulf Elfving
	Template:Ill	SR P3	Kent Finell
Template:Flagu	SRG SSR	TV DRS	Template:Ill
		TSR	Template:Ill
		TSITemplate:Efn	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	TRT		Bülend Özveren
			Şebnem Savaşçı
Template:Flagu	BBC	BBC1	Terry Wogan
		BBC Radio 2Template:Efn	Steve Jones
	BFBS	BFBS Radio	Andrew Pastouna

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref(s)
Template:Flagu	CyBC	RIK	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	TVB	TVB JadeTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A
		TVB PearlTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	RÚV	Template:Efn	Björn Baldursson
Template:Flagu	IBA	Israeli TelevisionTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A
		Template:Ill, Template:Ill	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	JTV	JTV2	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	ATM	TeleArubaTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	TVR	Template:Efn	Template:N/A
Template:Flagu	KBS	KBSTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A

External links

• Template:Official website