Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Turkey was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "Dönme Dolap", written by Ali Kocatepe, and performed by the Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül. The Turkish participating broadcaster, Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT), selected its entry through a national final.

Eurovision Song Contest 1981
Participating broadcaster	Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT)
Country	Turkey
National selection
Selection process	5. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali
Selection date(s)	14 February 1981
Selected artist(s)	Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül
Selected song	"Dönme Dolap"
Selected songwriter(s)	Ali Kocatepe
Finals performance
Final result	18th, 9 points
Turkey in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1980 • 1981 • 1982►

Before Eurovision

5. Eurovision Şarkı Yarışması Türkiye Finali

Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT) held the national final on 14 February 1981 at its studios in Ankara, hosted by Bülend Özveren. Six songs competed and the winner was determined by a jury consisting of members of the public.^{[1] [2]}

Final – 14 February 1981

Draw	Artist	Song	Lyricist	Composer	Points	Place
1	Kayahan	"Dostluk"	Leyla Seber	Aydın Esen	—	6
2	İbo & Grup Vize (Rüya Ersavcı, Hülya Çetiner, Esra Çetiner, Gülden Caner, Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz)	"Nerede O Eski Tangolar?"	Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz	Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz	—	5
3	Ayşegül Aldinç & Modern Folk Üçlüsü	"İstanbul İstanbul"	Ülkü Aker	Cenk Taşkan	—	3
4	Coşkun Demir	"Miras"	Ali Kocatepe	Ali Kocatepe	—	4
5	Füsun Önal	"Bigudi"	Ayşe Irmak Manioğlu	Selçuk Başar	60	2
6	Ayşegül Aldinç & Modern Folk Üçlüsü	"Dönme Dolap"	Ali Kocatepe	Ali Kocatepe	87	1

At Eurovision

On the evening of the contest Ayşegül Aldinç and Modern Folk Üçlüsü performed second in the running order following Austria and preceding Germany. At the close of the voting the song received 9 points, thus Dönme Dolap shared 18th place with Portugal.^[3] Turkish jury awarded 12 points to Germany.^[4]

Members of the Turkish jury included Süheyla Aldoğan, Hidayet Yarken, Hatice Akbaş, Lüftiye Duman, Nebiye Yazıcı, Nesrin Demirel, Sami Ersoy, Mehmet Kuteş, Mustafa Ekinci, Cengiz Doğan, and Ali Arslan.^[5]

Voting

Points awarded to Turkey[6] Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points  Finland 4 points 3 points  Yugoslavia 2 points 1 point  Luxembourg

Points awarded by Turkey[6] Score Country 12 points  Germany 10 points  Spain 8 points  United Kingdom 7 points  Belgium 6 points  Austria 5 points  Netherlands 4 points  Yugoslavia 3 points  Ireland 2 points   Switzerland 1 point  Denmark

References

1. "TURKISH NATIONAL FINAL 1981".
2. "Turkey: Şarkı Yarışması 1981 Final".
3. "Final of Dublin 1981". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
4. Michael Kuyucu: Türkiye'nin Serüveni Eurovision, İstanbul, 2005, ISBN 975-8823-93-0, p.83-84
5. Yarışmacı ülkeler ve halk jürisi, Milliyet, 4 April 1981
6. "Results of the Final of Dublin 1981". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.