Eurovision Song Contest 1981

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 {{#invoke:Lang|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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (RTÉ), Brian MacLochlainn announced that they would take on the responsibility of hosting the 1981 contest.<ref name=Roxburgh /> 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

Template:Further 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.<ref name=Roxburgh /> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Morocco's king, Hassan II, "reportedly withdrew Rabat's participation from the contest the following year, saying that the country will never participate again".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The draw for the running order took place on 14 November 1980, with it being confirmed that there was a total of 20 entrants.<ref name=Roxburgh />

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.

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Roxburgh" />
Country	Broadcaster	Artist	Song	Language	Songwriter(s)	Conductor
Template:Esc	ORF	Marty Brem	lang}}"	German	Werner Böhmler	Richard Oesterreicher
Template:Esc	BRT	Emly Starr	"Samson"	Dutch	Template:Hlist	Giuseppe Marchese
Template:Esc	CyBC	Island	lang}})	Greek	Template:Hlist	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	DR	Tommy Seebach and Debbie Cameron	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	Yiannis Dimitras	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Greek	Template:Hlist	Giorgos Niarchos
Template:Esc	RTÉ	Sheeba	"Horoscopes"	English	Template:Hlist	Noel Kelehan
Template:Esc	IBA	Habibi	lang}}" ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}})	Hebrew	Template:Hlist	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	CLT	Jean-Claude Pascal	lang}}"	French	Template:Hlist	Joël Rocher
Template:Esc	NOS	Linda Williams	lang}}"	Dutch	Template:Hlist	Rogier van Otterloo
Template:Esc	NRK	Finn Kalvik	lang}}"	Norwegian	Finn Kalvik	Sigurd Jansen
Template:Esc	RTP	Carlos Paião	"Playback"	Portuguese	Carlos Paião	Template:Ill
Template:Esc	TVE	Bacchelli	lang}}"	Spanish	Template:Ill	Joan Barcons
Template:Esc	SVT	Björn Skifs	lang}}"	Swedish	Template:Hlist	Anders Berglund
Template:Esc	SRG SSR	Peter, Sue and Marc	lang}}"	Italian	Template:Hlist	Rolf Zuckowski
Template:Esc	TRT	Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül	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	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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The set was the largest ever seen in the contest so far, being 150 feet across, 80 feet deep and 30 feet high.<ref name="Roxburgh" /> 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.<ref name=Roxburgh />

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.<ref name=Roxburgh />

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.<ref>"Sunday Times – Doireann Ni Bhriain, Keeping the faith Template:Webarchive</ref> 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.<ref name=Roxburgh />

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.<ref name=Roxburgh /><ref>“No Sax please, We're Irish!”, David Wigg, Daily Express, 4 April 1981</ref> 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.<ref name=Roxburgh />

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

citation

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Template:Abbr	Country	Artist	Song	Points	Place
1	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	20	17
2	Template:Esc	Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül	lang}}"	9	18
3	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	"Johnny Blue"	132	2
4	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	41	11
5	Template:Esc	Habibi	lang}}"	56	7
6	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname and Debbie Cameron	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	lang}}"	38	14
11	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	lang}}"	51	9
12	Template:Esc	Sheeba	"Horoscopes"	105	5
13	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	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	lang}}"	55	8
18	Template:Esc	Island	"Monika"	69	6
19	Template:Esc	Peter, Sue and Marc	lang}}"	121	4
20	Template:Esc	Template:Sortname	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.

• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndAnnemi Genetz<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndFlip van der Schalie<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndBengteric Nordell<ref name="Melfest">Template:Cite book</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndColin Berry<ref name=Roxburgh>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Template:FlaguTemplate:SndHelga Vlahović<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.

citation

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		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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Roxburgh" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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)	Template:Abbr
Template:Flagu	ORF	FS2	Ernst Grissemann	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	BRT	TV1	Luc Appermont	<ref name="Voorpost">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Limburgs" />
	RTBF	RTBF1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		RTBF Radio 1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	CyBC	RIK	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	DR	DR TV	Jørgen de Mylius	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	YLE	TV1	Ossi Runne	<ref name="HS">Template:Cite news</ref>
		lang}}	Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	TF1		Patrick Sabatier	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	ARD	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref name="Revue" />
Template:Flagu	ERT	ERT, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	RTÉ	RTÉ 1	Larry Gogan	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		RTÉ Radio 1	Pat Kenny	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	IBA	Israeli Television	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	CLT	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref name="Revue">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	NOS	lang}}	Pim Jacobs	<ref name="Limburgs">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	NRK	lang}}	Knut Aunbu	<ref name="Norsk">Template:Cite news</ref>
		NRKTemplate:Efn	Template:Ill
Template:Flagu	RTP	RTP1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	RDP	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVE	TVE 1	Template:Ill	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Flagu	SVT	TV1	Ulf Elfving	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	SRG SSR	TV DRSTemplate:Efn	Template:Ill	<ref name="Fernsehen">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Je vois tout">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		TSR	Template:Ill
		TSITemplate:Efn	Giovanni Bertini	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TRT	lang}}	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	BBC	BBC1	Terry Wogan	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
		BBC Radio 2Template:Efn	Ray Moore	<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	JRT	lang}}, Template:Ill, Template:Ill, TV Zagreb 1	Minja Subota and Helga Vlahović	<ref name="Politika">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
		TV Ljubljana 1	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Broadcasters and commentators in non-participating countries

Country	Broadcaster	Channel(s)	Commentator(s)	Template:Abbr
Template:Flagu	SBS	2EA, 3EA	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Template:Flagu	ČST	ČST2Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Czechoslovakia">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	Nuuk TVTemplate:Efn		Template:N/A	<ref name="Greenland">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TVB	TVB PearlTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="HongKong">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	MTV	MTV2Template:Efn	Template:Ill	<ref name="Hungary">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Template:Flagu	RÚV	lang}}Template:Efn	Dóra Hafsteinsdóttir	<ref name="Iceland">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	JTV	JTV2	Template:N/A	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TeleArubaTemplate:Efn		Template:N/A	<ref name="Aruba">Template:Cite news</ref>
	TeleCuraçaoTemplate:Efn		Pim Jacobs	<ref name="Curaçao">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	TP	TP1Template:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Poland">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Flagu	KBS	1TVTemplate:Efn	Template:N/A	<ref name="Korea">Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website