# 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.
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.

## Location

Some hours after Johnny Logan won the 1980 contest, the head of Irish broadcaster, Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), Brian MacLochlainn announced that they would take on the responsibility of hosting the 1981 contest. This ended up taking the 1981 contest, for the second time in the event's history, to Dublin, the capital of Ireland, the last time being ten years earlier in 1971.

## Participating countries

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. This year marked the début of Cyprus in the contest, who finished in sixth place. Returning to the contest was Israel, absent from the previous year's event due a clash of dates with the Yom HaZikaron holiday which prevented them from defending their victories in 1978 and 1979. 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. Morocco's king, Hassan II, "reportedly withdrew Rabat's participation from the contest the following year, saying that the country will never participate again". The draw for the running order took place on 14 November 1980, with it being confirmed that there were a total of 20 entrants.
Of the performers, many previous contestants returned to the contest this year. Notably, Jean-Claude Pascal, who had won the contest for Luxembourg in 1961, although could only manage 11th place this time. Peter, Sue and Marc returned for the fourth time, after representing Switzerland in 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 represented Austria in 1980 part of Blue Danube, Tommy Seebach who had represented Denmark in 1979 –with Debbie Cameron providing him backing vocals in 1979–, and Björn Skifs who had represented Sweden in 1978. Cheryl Baker, a member of Bucks Fizz, had represented the United Kingdom in 1978 as part of Co-Co, while Sheeba, a member of Maxi, had represented Ireland in 1973 as a solo artist. In addition, Ismeta Dervoz, who had represented Yugoslavia in 1976 as part of Ambasadori, and Anita Skorgan, who had represented Norway in 1977 and 1979, provided backing vocals for the same country.

## 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. The set was the largest ever seen in the contest so far, being 150 feet across, 80 feet deep and 30 feet high. 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.
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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.

### 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.
* Netherlands – Flip van der Schalie
* Sweden – Bengteric Nordell
* United Kingdom – Colin Berry
* Yugoslavia – Helga Vlahović

## 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.

### 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 |
| 4 | Germany | Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey |
| 2 | Ireland | Cyprus, Denmark |
| 2 | United Kingdom | Netherlands, Israel |
| 1 | Cyprus | Greece |
| 1 | Denmark | Belgium |
| 1 | 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. 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.
Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.