United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980

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The 1980 "A Song For Europe" contest was held in April 1980 (the same day as that year's budget), at the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush. The contest itslef was hosted by a dinner suited Terry Wogan. An offscreen orchestra was used, under the charge of John Coleman as conductor. The theme music was "Te deum" the Eurovision theme.

12 songs were chosen by the Music Publisher's Association.

[edit] The Songs

Song number one was by Scramble, a four piece guitar band from Liverpool, formed in 1969. It was written by Peter Morris and was called "Don't throw your love away".

Song number two was by Maggie Moone, a solo singer from Birmingham, singing "Happy everything". It was written by Jeff Stevens and Don Black. At the time this song was noted to have a chorus similar to the ending of the 1970 UK entry by Mary Hopkins (take off your coat and come inside/Put me in the arms I long to hold)

Song number three was by Plain Sailing, a five piece group singing "Easy". It was written by Stuart Freeman, a pseudonym of the names of the Stuart brothers and Alan Freeman, 4 out of the 5 members of the band.

Song number four was a Welsh solo singer called Sonya Jones, singing "Here we'll stay." Like many of the songs, backing singers could be heard, but not seen on stage. Not surprisingly, it received top marks from one of the Welsh juries during the voting.

Song number five was by the eventual winners Prima Donna, singing "Love enough for two". It was written by Stuart Slater and Stephanie de Sykes. The band were especially put together for the contest. At the eurovision, very little was changed in the performance, except for the colour of their outfits. At the song for europe contest, the lead singer can be clearly seen whispering something to his female partner on two occasions, although it's unknown what was said.

Song number six was by 16 year old Jackie Scott, from Blackpool, singing "Symphony for you". She performed solo at a piano, although she did stand up later to sing in front of the piano, suggesting that someone else was playing a piano throughout.

Song number seven was written by Paul Curtis, performed by Duke and the Aces, a five piece group featuring Canadians and an Italian, Bruno Tonioli, who would later go on to be a judge on Strictly Come Dancing. The song was called "Love is alive"

Song number eight was written by Roy Winston from Oxford, singing a song called "Everything's alright". This song featured backing singers, but this time they were visible on stage.

Song number nine was called "Love Comes, Love Grows" performed by a duo called Midnight.

Song number ten was by the Main Event, a band made up of members from Co-Co, who had entered A Song For Europe in 1976 and 1978, winning on that occasion. It feature Cheryl Baker, who would later find success with Bucks Fizz a year later. The song was called "Gonna Do my Best".

Song number eleven was by Pussyfoot, a "punk" type band singing "I want to be me" written by Mick Flynn, who was in the band with four women. This song was noted for the fact it polarised most juries, they either loved it or hated it. The Belfast jury gave it the top mark, and was the only song to get a perfect score from each of the Irish jury members. Loud cheers were heard from the audience everytime votes were given to them, even if they were low scores.

Song number twelve was by 19 year old Kim Clarke, who had entered the previous year with a similar song. It was called "Surrender" and would go onto become third, two points behind the tied winners. What's interesting about this song, was that it was never intended to enter; the New Seekers were due to enter, however their song was performed on Pebble Mill at One before the contest and was as such disqualified.

[edit] The voting

The twelve songs were voted on by 14 regional juries, who awarded 1-12 points to each song. Each of the 11 jurors awarded 1-5 points to each song, the total scores being added up, with the song earning the most points being awarded 12 points.

The jury spokesperson could be seen on screen awarding the votes, sometimes with the jury members in vision. These were broadcast from the BBC's 14 regional news studios.

Due to a tie break, the 14 juries were recalled and had to pick their favourite between songs two and five. Prima Donna won by 8 votes to 6.

[edit] Jury Spokespeople

In vote order:

Aberdeen: Gerry Davies Newcastle: Mike Neville Plymouth: Donald Hayway Leeds: Brian Baynes Southampton: Peter McCann Bangor: Alyn Evans London: Colin Berry Cardiff: Ewan Thomas Birmingham: David Stevens Glascow: Douglas Brock Belfast: Mike Baggley Bristol: Derek Jones Norwich: Jill Hewitt Manchester: John Monday

At the Eurovision itself, it scored 106 points and was positioned third overall. The event took place in The Hague and was won by Ireland ("What's Another Year?" by Johnny Logan).

United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
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United Kingdom in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest
2003 - 2004 - 2005