Eurovision Song Contest 1981

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Eurovision Song Contest 1981
Image:ESC 1981 logo.png
Final 4 April 1981
Presenter(s) Doireann Ní Bhriain
Conductor Noel Kelehan
Host broadcaster Flag of Ireland RTÉ
Venue RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion, Dublin, Ireland
Winning song Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
"Making Your Mind Up"
Voting system
Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 points to their 10 favourite songs
Number of entries 20
Debuting countries Flag of Cyprus Cyprus
Returning countries Flag of Israel Israel
Flag of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Withdrawing countries Flag of Italy Italy
Flag of Morocco Morocco
Nul points Flag of Norway Norway
Interval act Planxty with "Timedance"
Eurovision Song Contest
◄1980        1982►

The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on April 4, 1981 at the Simmonscourt Pavilion of the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin. The presenter was Doireann Ní Bhriain. Bucks Fizz were the winners of this Eurovision with the song Making Your Mind Up.

This year is remembered for their performance, which included a dance-routine where the two male members ripped the skirts off the two female members and today stands as one of the defining moments of the contest's history.

The voting proved to be memorable for its closeness. The UK won by four points, but leading up to this, five countries took pole position at various stages: UK, Germany, France, Switzerland and Ireland. Just before the penultimate vote, three countries (UK, Germany and Switzerland) were all on equal top marks. Another memorable moment occurred as host Doireann Ní Bhriain attempted to collect Yugoslavia's votes. The woman who answered the phone, who was evidently not a juror, simply answered "I don't have it," causing laughter to erupt from the audience.

This was the début year of Cyprus in the contest, who finished sixth.

Returning to the contest were 1961 winner, Jean-Claude Pascal for Luxembourg and Bucks Fizz member, Cheryl Baker who had performed in 1978 with the band Co-Co for the UK.

The interval act was traditional Irish band Planxty, who performed the lengthy piece "Timedance", which depicted Irish music through the ages. This is seen as a precursor to "Riverdance", which became famous after its performnce in 1994.







[edit] Results

Draw Country Language Artist Song English Translation Place Points
1 Flag of Austria Austria German Marty Brem Wenn Du Da Bist When You're Here 17 20
2 Flag of Turkey Turkey Turkish Modern Folk Trio and Ayseg Dönme Dolap The Carousel 18 9
3 Flag of Germany Germany German Lena Valaitis Johnny Blue Johnny Blue 2 132
4 Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg French Jean-Claude Pascal C'Est Peut-Être Pas L'Amérique It May Not Be America 11 41
5 Flag of Israel Israel Hebrew Habibi Halayla (הלילה) Tonight 7 56
6 Flag of Denmark Denmark Danish Debbie Cameron and Tommy Seebach Krøller Eller Ej Curly Hair Or Not 11 41
7 Flag of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia Serbo-Croatian Seid Memić "Vajta" Lejla Lejla 15 35
8 Flag of Finland Finland Finnish Riki Sorsa Reggae OK Reggae OK 16 27
9 Flag of France France French Jean Gabilou Humanahum Humanahum 3 125
10 Flag of Spain Spain Spanish Bacchelli Y Sólo Tú And Only You 14 38
11 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands Dutch Linda Williams Het Is Een Wonder It Is A Wonder 9 51
12 Flag of Ireland Ireland English Sheeba Horoscopes - 5 105
13 Flag of Norway Norway Norwegian Finn Kalvik Aldri I Livet Never In my Life 20 0
14 Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom English Bucks Fizz Making Your Mind Up - 1 136
15 Flag of Portugal Portugal Portuguese Carlos Paião Play-Back Playback 18 9
16 Flag of Belgium Belgium Dutch Emly Starr Samson Samson 13 40
17 Flag of Greece Greece Greek Yiannis Dimitras Fegari Kalokerino (Φεγγάρι καλοκαιρινό) Summer Moon 8 55
18 Flag of Cyprus Cyprus Greek Island Monika (Μόνικα) Monica 6 69
19 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland Italian Peter, Sue and Marc Io Senza Te Me Without You 4 121
20 Flag of Sweden Sweden Swedish Björn Skifs Fångad I En Dröm Captured In A Dream 10 50

[edit] Voting structure

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

  Results
Austria Turkey Germany Luxembourg Israel Denmark Yugoslavia Finland France Spain Netherlands Ireland Norway United Kingdom Portugal Belgium Greece Cyprus Switzerland Sweden
Contestants Austria   6 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Turkey 0   0 1 0 0 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Germany 5 12   3 8 8 2 7 8 12 3 6 4 7 12 10 5 8 0 12
Luxembourg 10 0 5   3 0 0 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 6 5
Israel 8 0 0 4   0 0 6 0 0 7 7 8 4 5 0 0 0 4 3
Denmark 0 1 1 7 0   0 0 4 3 2 0 0 5 2 12 0 0 0 4
Yugoslavia 0 4 0 0 0 0   8 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 5 2 3 10 0
Finland 0 0 0 0 2 0 0   1 2 5 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 6
France 12 0 12 12 7 2 4 10   0 6 4 5 1 10 3 8 7 12 10
Spain 0 10 0 0 6 0 0 0 0   4 3 10 0 3 0 0 0 2 0
Netherlands 3 5 3 0 4 7 0 0 2 7   0 0 6 7 2 3 2 0 0
Ireland 7 3 6 10 10 12 5 0 6 5 10   0 0 0 1 10 12 1 7
Norway 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0 0 0 0 0 0 0
United Kingdom 4 8 4 5 12 10 10 3 7 8 12 10 3   6 8 6 4 8 8
Portugal 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0 1 0 0 0
Belgium 1 7 0 0 1 6 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0   7 5 0 0
Greece 6 0 2 6 0 0 1 0 0 10 0 1 2 8 0 6   6 7 0
Cyprus 0 0 0 0 5 3 6 0 0 0 8 8 7 10 0 7 12   3 0
Switzerland 2 2 7 8 0 4 12 12 10 4 1 12 12 12 8 0 4 10   1
Sweden 0 0 10 2 0 5 7 1 12 0 0 0 6 2 0 4 0 1 0  
THE TABLE IS ORDERED BY APPEARANCE

[edit] Map

     Participating countries     Countries who have participated in the past but did not this year
     Participating countries     Countries who have participated in the past but did not this year