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The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up", composed by John Danter, with lyrics by Andy Hill, and performed by Bucks Fizz. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final titled A Song for Europe 1981. The entry eventually won the Eurovision Song Contest.
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| Eurovision Song Contest 1981 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participating broadcaster | British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) | |||
| Country |  United Kingdom | |||
| National selection | ||||
| Selection process | A Song for Europe 1981 | |||
| Selection date(s) | 11 March 1981 | |||
| Selected artist(s) | Bucks Fizz | |||
| Selected song | "Making Your Mind Up" | |||
| Selected songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Finals performance | ||||
| Final result | 1st, 136 points | |||
| United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest | ||||
| ||||
A Song for Europe 1981
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reduced the number of finalists from twelve to eight in 1981. Terry Wogan hosted the national final on 11 March at the BBC Television Theatre in London. 581 songs were submitted to the Music Publisher's Association to pick eight songs. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded. The show was the 16th most watched programme of the week with a rating of 12.4 million viewers, the highest for three years.[1] Johnny Logan was scheduled to appear as a guest on the programme, but had to cancel shortly before the air date.
Seven regional juries voted on the songs. The regional juries voted internally and awarded 15 points to their favourite song, 12 points to the second, 10 points to the third and then 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points in order of preference for the songs from 4th to 8th. Before the reprise, Terry Wogan incorrectly read the title of the winning song as "Where Are You Now." The prizes were presented by Wogan to John Danter, one of the songwriters, and to Mike Nolan, one of the performers.
| Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Headache | "Not Without Your Ticket (Don't Go)" | Luís Jardim, Jean Gilbert | 50 | 7th |
| 02 | Gary Benson | "All Cried Out" | Gary Benson | 63 | 4th |
| 03 | Unity | "For Only a Day" | John Dawson Read, Christopher Gunning | 38 | 8th |
| 04 | Beyond | "Wish" | Steve Elson, Don Gould | 67 | 3rd |
| 05 | Bucks Fizz | "Making Your Mind Up" | Andy Hill, John Danter | 97 | 1st |
| 06 | Gem | "Have You Ever Been in Love?" | Andy Hill, Peter Sinfield, John Danter | 63 | 4th |
| 07 | Lezlee Carling | "Where Are You Now" | Lindsey Moore | 56 | 6th |
| 08 | Liquid Gold | "Don't Panic" | Adrian Baker | 70 | 2nd |
| Draw | Song | Birmingham |
Cardiff |
Manchester |
Belfast |
Edinburgh |
London |
Bristol |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Not Without Your Ticket" | 7 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 50 |
| 2 | "All Cried Out" | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 63 |
| 3 | "For Only a Day" | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 38 |
| 4 | "Wish" | 15 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 67 |
| 5 | "Making Your Mind Up" | 10 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 97 |
| 6 | "Have You Ever Been in Love" | 8 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 63 |
| 7 | "Where Are You Now" | 6 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 56 |
| 8 | "Don't Panic" | 9 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 70 |
| Jury | Spokesperson |
|---|---|
| Birmingham | David Stevens |
| Cardiff | Iwan Thomas |
| Manchester | John Mundy |
| Belfast | Peter Dickson |
| Edinburgh | Jim O'Hara |
| London | Ray Moore |
| Bristol | Andy Batten-Foster |
UK Discography
Unusually for the UK competition, three of the finalists reached the UK Singles Chart. "Making Your Mind Up" spent three weeks at number one, whilst the runner-up, "Don't Panic!" reached number 42 at more-or-less the same time. "Have You Ever Been in Love?" was a UK no.10 hit for Leo Sayer in 1982, also reaching no.4 in Australia. The track was covered by many other artists, including Peter Cetera and Westlife. "For Only A Day" was later used as the theme song for Miss World 1983, performed live by all the contestants during the broadcast.
- Gary Benson – All Cried Out: Warner Bros./WEA K17773.
- Unity – For Only A Day: Epic A1066.
- Beyond – Wish: Radioactive RAD102.
- Bucks Fizz – Making Your Mind Up: RCA PB5339.
- Paris – Have You Ever Been in Love?: RCA PB5475.
- Leo Sayer – Have You Ever Been in Love?: Chrysalis CHS2596 (1982).
- Liquid Gold – Don't Panic: Polo POLO12-8.
"Making Your Mind Up" performed by Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest 1981. It received 136 points from the 19 juries, beating Germany's "Johnny Blue" by Lena Valaitis.[3]
Members of the British jury included Norman Harper, S. Andrew, David Bratt, P. Green, A. Harmann, J.P. Robinson, D. Ruteledge, S. Tapper, I. Tyler, G. Wallbank, and Conor E. Young.[2]
Voting
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