Eurovision Song Contest 1981

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox song contest

The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the Template:Escyr with the song "What's Another Year" performed by Johnny Logan. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Script error: No such module "Lang". (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 4 April 1981, and was hosted by Irish television journalist Doireann Ní Bhriain.

Twenty countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the Template:Escyr. Template:Esccnty made their début this year, while Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty both returned to the competition, after their one-year and five-year absences, respectively. Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty decided not to participate.

The winner was the Template:Esccnty with the song "Making Your Mind Up", performed by Bucks Fizz, written by Andy Hill and John Danter. Template:Esccnty finished second for the second consecutive year, while Template:Esccnty finished third. Template:Esccnty 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 in which at one point the two male members ripped the skirts off the two female members, only to reveal mini-skirts; this today stands as one of the most defining moments in the contest's history.[1]

Location

File:The RDS Simmonscourt - panoramio.jpg
RDS Simmonscourt – host venue of the 1981 contest

Some hours after Johnny Logan won the 1980 contest, the head of Irish broadcaster, Script error: No such module "Lang". (RTÉ), Brian MacLochlainn announced that they would take on the responsibility of hosting the 1981 contest.[2] This ended up taking the 1981 contest, for the second time in the event's history, to Dublin, the capital of Ireland; the first such occasion was ten years earlier in 1971.

Participants

Script error: No such module "labelled list hatnote". Template:Interlanguage link info Template:ESC 1981 participants By October 1980, it looked as though 21 countries were planning to take part, the largest number so far, but Template:Esccnty then declared that they were no longer interested.[2] This year marked the début of Template:Esccnty in the contest; they finished in sixth place. Template:Esccnty returned to the contest; they had been absent from the previous year's event due to a clash of dates with the Yom HaZikaron holiday, which prevented them from defending their victories of 1978 and 1979.[3] They finished seventh. Template:Esccnty also returned to the competition after a five-year absence. Template:Esccnty decided not to enter due to lack of interest, while Template:Esccnty declined to take part after their debut entry the year before.[4] Morocco's king, Hassan II, "reportedly withdrew Rabat's participation from the contest the following year, saying that the country will never participate again".[5] The draw for the running order took place on 14 November 1980, with it being confirmed that there was a total of 20 entrants.[2]

Many previous contestants returned to the contest this year – notably Jean-Claude Pascal, who had won the contest for Template:Esccnty, although he could only manage 11th place this time. Peter, Sue and Marc returned for the fourth time, after representing Template:Esccnty, Template:Esccnty, and Template:Esccnty. Performing again for Switzerland, they remain the only act to sing Contest entries in four different languages (French, English, German and, on this occasion, Italian). Other returnees were Marty Brem who had represented Template:Esccnty as part of Blue Danube, Tommy Seebach who had represented Template:Esccnty –with Debbie Cameron providing him backing vocals in 1979–, and Björn Skifs who had represented Template:Esccnty. Cheryl Baker, a member of Bucks Fizz, had represented the Template:Esccnty as part of Co-Co, while Maxi, a member of Sheeba, had represented Template:Esccnty as a solo artist. In addition, Ismeta Dervoz, who had represented Template:Esccnty as part of Ambasadori, and Anita Skorgan, who had represented Template:Esccnty and Template:Esccnty, provided backing vocals for the same country.

Eurovision Song Contest 1981 participants[6][2]
Country Broadcaster Artist Song Language Songwriter(s) Conductor
Template:Esc ORF Marty Brem "Script error: No such module "Lang"." German Werner Böhmler Richard Oesterreicher
Template:Esc BRT Emly Starr "Samson" Dutch Template:Hlist Giuseppe Marchese
Template:Esc CyBC Template:Ill "Monika" (Script error: No such module "Lang".) Greek Template:Hlist Template:Ill
Template:Esc DR Tommy Seebach and Debbie Cameron "Script error: No such module "Lang"." Danish Template:Hlist Allan Botschinsky
Template:Esc YLE Riki Sorsa "Reggae O.K." Finnish Template:Hlist Henrik Otto Donner
Template:Esc TF1 Jean Gabilou "Humanahum" French Template:Hlist David Sprinfield
Template:Esc BRTemplate:Efn Lena Valaitis "Johnny Blue" German Template:Hlist Template:Ill
Template:Esc ERT Template:Ill "Script error: No such module "Lang"." (Script error: No such module "Lang".) Greek Template:Hlist Giorgos Niarchos
Template:Esc RTÉ Sheeba "Horoscopes" English Template:Hlist Noel Kelehan
Template:Esc IBA Habibi "Script error: No such module "Lang"." (Script error: No such module "Lang".) Hebrew Template:Hlist Template:Ill
Template:Esc CLT Jean-Claude Pascal "Script error: No such module "Lang"." French Template:Hlist Joël Rocher
Template:Esc NOS Linda Williams "Script error: No such module "Lang"." Dutch Template:Hlist Rogier van Otterloo
Template:Esc NRK Finn Kalvik "Script error: No such module "Lang"." Norwegian Finn Kalvik Sigurd Jansen
Template:Esc RTP Carlos Paião "Playback" Portuguese Carlos Paião Template:Ill
Template:Esc TVE Bacchelli "Script error: No such module "Lang"." Spanish Template:Ill Joan Barcons
Template:Esc SVT Björn Skifs "Script error: No such module "Lang"." Swedish Template:Hlist Anders Berglund
Template:Esc SRG SSR Peter, Sue and Marc "Script error: No such module "Lang"." Italian Template:Hlist Rolf Zuckowski
Template:Esc TRT Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül "Script error: No such module "Lang"." Turkish Template:Ill Onno Tunç
Template:Esc BBC Bucks Fizz "Making Your Mind Up" English Template:Hlist John Coleman
Template:Esc JRT Seid Memić Vajta "Lejla" (Script error: No such module "Lang".) Serbo-Croatian Ranko Boban Ranko Rihtman

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.[7] 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 British 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 television 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.[8] 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][9] 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, the 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 accompanying dancers were from Dublin City Ballet.[10] 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.[11][12]

Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1981[13]
R/O Country Artist Song Points Place
1 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 20 17
2 Template:Esc Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 9 18
3 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Johnny Blue" 132 2
4 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 41 11
5 Template:Esc Habibi "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 56 7
6 Template:Esc Template:Sortname and Debbie Cameron "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 41 11
7 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Lejla" 35 15
8 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Reggae O.K." 27 16
9 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Humanahum" 125 3
10 Template:Esc Bacchelli "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 38 14
11 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 51 9
12 Template:Esc Sheeba "Horoscopes" 105 5
13 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 0 20
14 Template:Esc Bucks Fizz "Making Your Mind Up" 136 1
15 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Playback" 9 18
16 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Samson" 40 13
17 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 55 8
18 Template:Esc Island "Monika" 69 6
19 Template:Esc Peter, Sue and Marc "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 121 4
20 Template:Esc Template:Sortname "Script error: No such module "Lang"." 50 10

Spokespersons

Each participating broadcaster appointed a spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for its 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[18][19]
scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header scope="col" Template:Vert header
rowspan="20" Template:Vert header Austria 20 6 1 5 6 2
Turkey 9 1 3 5
Germany 132 5 12 3 8 8 2 7 8 12 3 6 4 7 12 10 5 8 12
Luxembourg 41 10 5 3 4 3 1 4 6 5
Israel 56 8 4 6 7 7 8 4 5 4 3
Denmark 41 1 1 7 4 3 2 5 2 12 4
Yugoslavia 35 4 8 2 1 5 2 3 10
Finland 27 2 1 2 5 5 1 5 6
France 125 12 12 12 7 2 4 10 6 4 5 1 10 3 8 7 12 10
Spain 38 10 6 4 3 10 3 2
Netherlands 51 3 5 3 4 7 2 7 6 7 2 3 2
Ireland 105 7 3 6 10 10 12 5 6 5 10 1 10 12 1 7
Norway 0
United Kingdom 136 4 8 4 5 12 10 10 3 7 8 12 10 3 6 8 6 4 8 8
Portugal 9 8 1
Belgium 40 1 7 1 6 8 2 3 7 5
Greece 55 6 2 6 1 10 1 2 8 6 6 7
Cyprus 69 5 3 6 8 8 7 10 7 12 3
Switzerland 121 2 2 7 8 4 12 12 10 4 1 12 12 12 8 4 10 1
Sweden 50 10 2 5 7 1 12 6 2 4 1

12 points

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

N. Contestant Nation(s) giving 12 points
5 Template:Esc Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
4 Template:Esc Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
Template:Esc Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc, Template:Esc
2 Template:Esc Template:Esc, Template:Esc
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.[20] 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, with an estimated global audience of 600 million viewers.[2][21]

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 [22][23]
Template:Flagu BRT TV1 Luc Appermont [24]
RTBF RTBF1 Template:N/A [25]
RTBF Radio 1 Template:N/A [26]
Template:Flagu CyBC RIK Template:N/A [27]
Template:Flagu DR DR TV Jørgen de Mylius [28]
Template:Flagu YLE TV1 Ossi Runne [29]
Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:Ill
Template:Flagu TF1 Patrick Sabatier [30]
Template:Flagu ARD Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:N/A [31]
Template:Flagu ERT ERT, Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:N/A [32][33]
Template:Flagu RTÉ RTÉ 1 Larry Gogan [34][35]
RTÉ Radio 1 Pat Kenny [36][37]
Template:Flagu IBA Israeli Television Template:N/A [38]
Template:Flagu CLT Script error: No such module "Lang". Jacques Navadic [24][31]
Template:Flagu NOS Script error: No such module "Lang". Pim Jacobs [39]
Template:Flagu NRK Script error: No such module "Lang". Knut Aunbu [40]
NRKTemplate:Efn Template:Ill
Template:Flagu RTP RTP1 Template:N/A [41]
RDP Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:N/A [42]
Template:Flagu TVE TVE 1 Template:Ill [43]
Template:Flagu SVT TV1 Ulf Elfving [44]
Template:Flagu SRG SSR TV DRSTemplate:Efn Template:Ill [45][46]
TSR Template:Ill
TSITemplate:Efn Giovanni Bertini [47][48]
Template:Flagu TRT Script error: No such module "Lang". Template:N/A [49]
Template:Flagu BBC BBC1 Terry Wogan [50]
BBC Radio 2Template:Efn Ray Moore [51]
Template:Flagu JRT Script error: No such module "Lang"., Template:Ill, Template:Ill, TV Zagreb 1 Minja Subota and Helga Vlahović [52][53][54]
TV Ljubljana 1 Template:N/A [55]
Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries
Country Broadcaster Channel(s) Commentator(s) Ref(s)
Template:Flagu SBS 2EA, 3EA Template:N/A [56]
Template:Flagu ČST ČST2Template:Efn Template:N/A [57]
Template:Flagu Nuuk TVTemplate:Efn Template:N/A [58]
Template:Flagu TVB TVB PearlTemplate:Efn Template:N/A [59]
Template:Flagu MTV MTV2Template:Efn Template:Ill [60]
Template:Flagu RÚV Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Efn Dóra Hafsteinsdóttir [61]
Template:Flagu JTV JTV2 Template:N/A [62]
Template:Flagu TeleArubaTemplate:Efn Template:N/A [63]
TeleCuraçaoTemplate:Efn Pim Jacobs [64][65]
Template:Flagu TP TP1Template:Efn Template:N/A [66]
Template:Flagu KBS 1TVTemplate:Efn Template:N/A [67]

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Sister project

Template:Eurovision Song Contest 1981 Template:Eurovision Song Contest Template:Portal bar

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ "Sunday Times – Doireann Ni Bhriain, Keeping the faith Template:Webarchive
  9. ↑ “No Sax please, We're Irish!”, David Wigg, Daily Express, 4 April 1981
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ a b Template:Cite magazine
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  45. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  46. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  48. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  49. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  50. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
  51. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
  52. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  53. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  54. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  55. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  56. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  57. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
  58. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  59. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  60. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
  61. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  62. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  63. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  64. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  65. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  66. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  67. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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