Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Eurovision Song Contest 1981
Country	Ireland
National selection
Selection process	National final - Regional juries
Selection date(s)	1 March 1981
Selected entrant	Sheeba
Selected song	"Horoscopes"
Finals performance
Final result	5th, 105 points
Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1980 • 1981 • 1982►

The National Song Contest 1981 was staged on the first of March at RTÉ Studios in Dublin. The show was Presented by popular Irish host, Mike Murphy. Eight finalists took part, with female trio Sheeba winning the Contest with the song "Horoscopes", written by Joe Kelly and Jim Burkett.^[1]

Contestants

Sheeba had previously appeared at the National finals in 1978, while member Maxi had performed for Ireland at the 1973 Eurovision finals. They were one of two female trios in the Contest - the other being The Duskey Sisters. Male/female groups were represented by opening act Tara and closing act Karen Black and The Nevada - the latter being a famous recording act in Ireland at the time under the line up of Roy Taylor, Karen Black and The Nevada. Their song "My Pet Parrot" was largely a novelty song (featuring a man dressed as a Parrot playing trombone (whom Black later claimed was drunk during the performance!)) and became heavily played on Irish radio. Tony Kenny was also a famous artist in Ireland at the time and had released many hit singles, as well as performing a number of times in the National finals. Nicola Kerr was known at the time for being a member of the current line-up of UK pop group (and former Eurovision entrants) The New Seekers. The remaining two contestants were also solo females, Helen Jordan and Sylvia McFadden (who received 'nul points' with her own composition).

The show's result was a surprise as "My Pet Parrot" had been touted as the favourite to win before the Contest. The Contest closed with all the Contestants performing Barry Manilow's "I Write The Songs" on stage as the credits rolled.

A=Ballina, B=Enniscorthy, C=Monaghan, D=Cork, E=Ballyshannon, F=Dublin, G=Mullingar, H=Galway, I=Nenagh, J=Killarney

Killarney was due to announce their votes after Dublin, but due to connection problems, they had to announce their votes last.

Sheeba would also take part in the 1982 National Song Contest, where they came 7th. Two other artists competing this year entered also: Tony Kenny, who came 6th and The Duskey Sisters (as The Duskeys) who won.

Eurovision final

The Eurovision final in 1981 was held at the RDS in Dublin, Ireland. It was presented by Doireann Ní Bhriain. Sheeba were the 12th act to perform.

Points awarded by Ireland

12 points	Switzerland
10 points	United Kingdom
8 points	Cyprus
7 points	Israel
6 points	Germany
5 points	Finland
4 points	France
3 points	Spain
2 points	Yugoslavia
1 point	Greece

Sheeba finished fifth in the Eurovision Song Contest final on April 4. They received two maximums of 12 points during the voting. The overall winner was United Kingdom.

The song "Horoscopes" became a No. 3 hit in the Irish charts.^[2]

References

Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest   Participation 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016   Artists 1960s 1960 to 1964 Butch Moore Dickie Rock Sean Dunphy Pat McGeegan Muriel Day 1970s Dana Angela Farrell Sandie Jones Maxi Tina Reynolds The Swarbriggs Red Hurley The Swarbriggs Plus Two Colm 'C.T.' Wilkinson Cathal Dunne 1980s Johnny Logan Sheeba The Duskeys 1983 Linda Martin Maria Christian Luv Bug Johnny Logan Jump the Gun Kiev Connolly & The Missing Passengers 1990s Liam Reilly Kim Jackson Linda Martin Niamh Kavanagh Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan Eddie Friel Eimear Quinn Marc Roberts Dawn Martin The Mullans 2000s Eamonn Toal Gary O'Shaughnessy 2002 Mickey Harte Chris Doran Donna and Joe Brian Kennedy Dervish Dustin the Turkey Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy 2010s Niamh Kavanagh Jedward Ryan Dolan Can-linn feat. Kasey Smith Molly Sterling Nicky Byrne   Songs 1960s 1960 to 1964 "Walking the Streets in the Rain" "Come Back to Stay" "If I Could Choose" "Chance of a Lifetime" "The Wages of Love" 1970s "All Kinds of Everything" "One Day Love" "Ceol an Ghrá" "Do I Dream" "Cross Your Heart" "That's What Friends Are For" "When" "It's Nice To Be In Love Again" "Born to Sing" "Happy Man" 1980s "What's Another Year?" "Horoscopes" "Here Today Gone Tomorrow" 1983 "Terminal 3" "Wait Until the Weekend Comes" "You Can Count On Me" "Hold Me Now" "Take Him Home" "The Real Me" 1990s "Somewhere In Europe" "Could It Be That I'm In Love" "Why Me?" "In Your Eyes" "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" "Dreamin'" "The Voice" "Mysterious Woman" "Is Always Over Now?" "When You Need Me" 2000s "Millennium of Love" "Without Your Love" 2002 "We've Got the World" "If My World Stopped Turning" "Love?" "Every Song Is a Cry for Love" "They Can't Stop the Spring" "Irelande Douze Pointe" "Et Cetera" 2010s "It's for You" "Lipstick" "Waterline" "Only Love Survives" "Heartbeat" "Playing with Numbers" "Sunlight" (Note: Entries scored out are when Ireland did not compete)