Prima Donna (band)
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- This article is about the band from the UK. For other uses, see Prima Donna (disambiguation).
Prima Donna were the United Kingdom representatives in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980. The group members were Kate Robbins, Lance Aston, Sally Ann Triplett, Jane Robbins, Danny Finn and Alan Coates. Finn was a former member of The New Seekers and was married to fellow ex-Seeker Eve Graham. Kate Robbins later had a highly successful career as a comedienne, impressionist and actress. They performed the song Love Enough for Two which finished in third place, with 106 points. The song was written and composed by Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater. It was their second entry to reach the Eurovision final, having also composed The Bad Old Days in 1978 for Co-Co (which until 1987, was the worst placed UK entry in Eurovision history).
Their journey to the Eurovision Song Contest final in The Hague was not straightforward and they only won the UK heat A Song For Europe after a very dubious 'sudden death' countback after the initial regional voting had placed them joint first with Maggie Moone. In an unrehearsed panic, host Terry Wogan asked each of the 14 regional juries to cast a single vote for which of the songs they preferred. Some juries voted against the way they had earlier in the show and with the scoreboard unable to keep up, the entire process descended into farce. Regardless, Prima Donna were (correctly) declared the winners and went forward to Eurovision.
Author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor notes in his The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History that Sally-Ann Triplett is one of only four singers to have sung for the United Kingdom in the competition twice, alongside Ronnie Carroll, Cliff Richard and Cheryl Baker of Bucks Fizz. [1] O'Connor also notes that this was the first UK entry since 1964 not to make the UK singles chart prior to the Eurovision final, only debuting in the top 75 the week after the contest, peaking at number 48. [2]
[edit] Bardo, Audio & The Pearls
Sally-Ann Triplett returned to Eurovision in 1982, as one half of the group Bardo. Lance Aston's sister Jay Aston won Eurovision the following year as a founder member of Bucks Fizz. Lance Aston tried again to reach the Eurovision final, performing with another ex-New Seeker Kathryn Ann Rae in the 1983 A Song For Europe contest as part of the group Audio. They finished 4th of the 8 shortlisted entries with the song Love On Your Mind, written by Trevor Spencer and Marty Kristian, another New Seeker! Jane Robbins also had another attempt at the UK Eurovision ticket, in 1989 as part of female quartet The Pearls. They also placed 4th of 8 entries in the contest with the song Love Come Down.
[edit] References
- ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
- ^ O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
