Eurovision Song Contest 1981

The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 4 April 1981 at the RDS Simmonscourt in Dublin, Ireland, and presented by Doireann Ní Bhriain. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ), who staged the event after winning the for with the song "What's Another Year" performed by Johnny Logan.

Broadcasters from twenty countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the . made their debut this year, while and both returned to the competition, after their one-year and five-year absences, respectively. and decided not to participate.

The winner was the with the song "Making Your Mind Up", performed by Bucks Fizz, written by Andy Hill and John Danter. finished second for the second consecutive year, while finished third. 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.

Location

thumb|left|RDS Simmonscourt – host venue of the 1981 contest

Some hours after Johnny Logan won the 1980 contest, the head of Irish broadcaster, (RTÉ), Brian MacLochlainn announced that they would take on the responsibility of hosting the 1981 contest. They finished seventh. also returned to the competition after a five-year absence. decided not to enter due to lack of interest, while 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 was a total of 20 entrants.

| Lena Valaitis

| "Johnny Blue"

| German

! scope="row" |

| ERT

| Yiannis Dimitras

| "" ()

| Greek

| Giorgos Niarchos

! scope="row" |

| RTÉ

| Sheeba

| "Horoscopes"

| English

| Noel Kelehan

! scope="row" |

| IBA

| Habibi

| "" ()

| Hebrew

! scope="row" |

| CLT

| Jean-Claude Pascal

| ""

| French

| Joël Rocher

! scope="row" |

| NOS

| Linda Williams

| ""

| Dutch

| Rogier van Otterloo

! scope="row" |

| NRK

| Finn Kalvik

| ""

| Norwegian

| Finn Kalvik

| Sigurd Jansen

! scope="row" |

| RTP

| Carlos Paião

| "Playback"

| Portuguese

| Carlos Paião

! scope="row" |

| TVE

| Bacchelli

| ""

| Spanish

| Joan Barcons

! scope="row" |

| SVT

| Björn Skifs

| ""

| Swedish

| Anders Berglund

! scope="row" |

| SRG SSR

| Peter, Sue and Marc

| ""

| Italian

| Rolf Zuckowski

! scope="row" |

| TRT

| Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül

| ""

| Turkish

| Onno Tunç

! scope="row" |

| BBC

| Bucks Fizz

| "Making Your Mind Up"

| English

| John Coleman

! scope="row" |

| JRT

| Seid Memić Vajta

| "Lejla" ()

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

{| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+ Results of the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" | Country

! scope="col" | Artist

! scope="col" | Song

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Points

! scope="col" | Place

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 1

| ""

| 20

| 17

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2

| Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül

| ""

| 9

| 18

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 3

| "Johnny Blue"

| 132

| 2

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 4

| ""

| 41

| 11

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 5

| Habibi

| ""

| 56

| 7

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 6

| and Debbie Cameron

| ""

| 41

| 11

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 7

| "Lejla"

| 35

| 15

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 8

| "Reggae O.K."

| 27

| 16

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 9

| "Humanahum"

| 125

| 3

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 10

| Bacchelli

| ""

| 38

| 14

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 11

| ""

| 51

| 9

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 12

| Sheeba

| "Horoscopes"

| 105

| 5

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 13

| ""

| 0

| 20

|- style="font-weight:bold; background:gold;"

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 14

| Bucks Fizz

| "Making Your Mind Up"

| 136

| 1

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 15

| "Playback"

| 9

| 18

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 16

| "Samson"

| 40

| 13

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 17

| ""

| 55

| 8

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 18

| Island

| "Monika"

| 69

| 6

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 19

| Peter, Sue and Marc

| ""

| 121

| 4

! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 20

| ""

| 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.

Annemi Genetz
Flip van der Schalie
Bengteric Nordell
Colin Berry
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.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Detailed voting results

! colspan="2" |

! scope="col"

! rowspan="20"

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Austria

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 20 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 6 || || || || 1 || || || 5 || 6 || || || || || || || || || || 2

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Turkey

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 9 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || 1 || || || 3 || 5 || || || || || || || || || || || ||

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Germany

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 132 || 5 || 12 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 3 || 8 || 8 || 2 || 7 || 8 || 12 || 3 || 6 || 4 || 7 || 12 || 10 || 5 || 8 || || 12

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Luxembourg

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 41 || 10 || || 5 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 3 || || || 4 || 3 || 1 || || || || || 4 || || || || 6 || 5

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Israel

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 56 || 8 || || || 4 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || 6 || || || 7 || 7 || 8 || 4 || 5 || || || || 4 || 3

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Denmark

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 41 || || 1 || 1 || 7 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || 4 || 3 || 2 || || || 5 || 2 || 12 || || || || 4

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Yugoslavia

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 35 || || 4 || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 8 || || || || 2 || 1 || || || 5 || 2 || 3 || 10 ||

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Finland

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 27 || || || || || 2 || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 1 || 2 || 5 || 5 || || || 1 || || || || 5 || 6

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | France

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 125 || 12 || || 12 || 12 || 7 || 2 || 4 || 10 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || 6 || 4 || 5 || 1 || 10 || 3 || 8 || 7 || 12 || 10

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Spain

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 38 || || 10 || || || 6 || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 4 || 3 || 10 || || 3 || || || || 2 ||

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Netherlands

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 51 || 3 || 5 || 3 || || 4 || 7 || || || 2 || 7 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || 6 || 7 || 2 || 3 || 2 || ||

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Ireland

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 105 || 7 || 3 || 6 || 10 || 10 || 12 || 5 || || 6 || 5 || 10 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || || 1 || 10 || 12 || 1 || 7

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Norway

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 0 || || || || || || || || || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || || || || || ||

|- style="background:gold;"

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; font-weight:bold; background:gold;" | United Kingdom

| style="text-align:right; font-weight:bold;" | 136 || 4 || 8 || 4 || 5 || 12 || 10 || 10 || 3 || 7 || 8 || 12 || 10 || 3 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 6 || 8 || 6 || 4 || 8 || 8

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Portugal

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 9 || || || 8 || || || || || || || || || || || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || || 1 || || ||

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Belgium

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 40 || 1 || 7 || || || 1 || 6 || 8 || 2 || || || || || || 3 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 7 || 5 || ||

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Greece

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 55 || 6 || || 2 || 6 || || || 1 || || || 10 || || 1 || 2 || 8 || || 6 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 6 || 7 ||

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Cyprus

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 69 || || || || || 5 || 3 || 6 || || || || 8 || 8 || 7 || 10 || || 7 || 12 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 3 ||

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Switzerland

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 121 || 2 || 2 || 7 || 8 || || 4 || 12 || 12 || 10 || 4 || 1 || 12 || 12 || 12 || 8 || || 4 || 10 || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" | || 1

! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#f2f2f2;" | Sweden

| style="text-align:right; background:#f2f2f2;" | 50 || || || 10 || 2 || || 5 || 7 || 1 || 12 || || || || 6 || 2 || || 4 || || 1 || || style="text-align:left; background:#aaa;" |

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" | N.

! scope="col" | Contestant

! scope="col" | Nation(s) giving 12 points

! scope="row" | 5

| || , , , ,

! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 4

| || , , ,

! scope="row" rowspan="2" | 2

| || ,

! scope="row" rowspan="3" | 1

| ||

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.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+ Broadcasters and commentators in participating countries

! scope="col" | Country

! scope="col" | Broadcaster

! scope="col" | Channel(s)

! scope="col" | Commentator(s)

! scope="col" |

! scope="row" |

| ORF

| FS2

| Ernst Grissemann

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="3" |

| BRT

| TV1

| Luc Appermont

| style="text-align:center" |

| rowspan="2" | RTBF

| RTBF1

| style="text-align:center" |

| RTBF Radio 1

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="row" |

| CyBC

| RIK

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="row" |

| DR

| DR TV

| Jørgen de Mylius

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" | YLE

| TV1

| Ossi Runne

| style="text-align:center" rowspan="2" |

! scope="row" |

| colspan="2" | TF1

| Patrick Sabatier

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="row" |

| ARD

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="row" |

| ERT

| ERT,

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" | RTÉ

| RTÉ 1

| Larry Gogan

| style="text-align:center" rowspan="2" |

| RTÉ Radio 1

| Pat Kenny

! scope="row" |

| IBA

| Israeli Television

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="row" |

| CLT

| Jacques Navadic and

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="row" |

| NOS

| Pim Jacobs

| style="text-align:center" |

! scope="rowgroup" rowspan="2" |

| rowspan="2" | NRK

| Knut Aunbu

| style="text-align:center" rowspan="2" |

| NRK

Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Location

Format

Spokespersons

Detailed voting results<span class="anchor" id="Scoreboard"></span>

12 points

Broadcasts<span class="anchor" id="Broadcasters and commentators"></span>