Did anyone notice, that after Mike Nolan goes off to sing the winning song, Terry incorrectly gives the title of one of the other songs, "Where Are You Now" 51:25
I was in the audience all those years ago. I loved Wish by Beyond but also Bucks Fiz of course. They were really good songs submitted whence had A Song for Europe
I love it when nobody's concerned about being polite and Terry's just shit-talking the songs and the delegations and they're snapping right back at him. It looks like fun.
Wow - I never realised that Leo Sayer covered a UK Eurovision hopeful!! Don't think Song 6 (Have you ever been in love?) would have won Eurovision, but what a good song. Thanks for sharing!
The definitive version of Have You Ever Been In Love is not Leo Sayers, this cover by Lena Zavaroni is a zillion times better Lena Zavaroni sings 'Have You Ever Been In Love' 1982
Yes I think it was strong enough for him to have been out on stage on his own. He straddled the emotions of pathos and melancholy without one hint of sentimentality.
One of the guys that wrote it was a chief songwriter in King Crimson called Pete Sinfield! Who were a "credible" prog rock band who once had a song called "21st century schiziod man!" From that to balladeering? Dig yourself out of this one pete!!!! Leo Sayer? The mind bogels!!!!
Did anyone notice when Terry introduced Bucks Fizz performing the song right at the end of the show..he said the wrong title "Where Are They Now?" which was song No 7?
Thank you for confirming that; I was trying to think where else it had been used, I knew it was some kind of big contest but probably not Eurovision :)
A good contest! The winner, Don't Panic, Have You Ever Been In love, Not Without Your Ticket, and esp. Wish - all great songs! Just one awful one - "For Only a Day". And Terry Wogan was actually FUNNY.....unbelieveable!
Somewhere in an alternative universe, song 1 won and we came dead last in Dublin with no points whatsoever and we became the laughing stock of Europe. Remember that this was the same year that Finland sent Riki Sorsa with Reggae OK, which went as well as a snowflake in a heatwave. None of these songs could have beaten ‘Johnny Blue’….other than the one that did of course. Interesting fact. Peter Sinfield, who wrote the lyrics to the song that was performed after Bucks Fizz’, went in to write the lyrics for most of Bucks Fuzz’ post Eurovision hits.
My god have you heard the rest of this lot! Bucks fizz couldn't go wrong with that drabathon behind them! Specially unity how twee were they! Even liquid gold managed to pull out their worse song ever for this, and thats not saying a lot with "dance yourself dizzy!!" But there really was no alternative to bucks fizz in this one!!!!
The standard was high this year. The most talented singer performed song 7. She would have done much better if her song had had a more uplifting message; especially towards the end. Song 3 did not deserve to come last, but who could argue with the choice of the winner ?
Gem song 6, guy on Piano was Andy Hill, who wrote for bucks fizz and on keyboards is Nichola Martin, who put bucks fizz together. Andy Hill also went on to Marry Nichola Martin and have a fling with Jay Aston. He also co wrote making your mind up
A wretched selection of songs, this was a walkover for Bucks Fizz. Some of the songs here were dreary beyond belief. "Have you ever been in love?" is a good song. But there was nothing to touch Bucks Fizz, who put in a much better performance here than in the ESC.
I wish they'd announce the points in ascending order, rather than order of performance. More suspense and excitement that way. 😐😒 And funny how the Beeb had video link-up to the jury spokespeople already in 1981, whereas we had to wait till 1994 to see the same in the Eurovision. 😐🤔
I suppose the Beeb already had live links between all their various production centres / studios so it was easier to pull this off. When it came to the actual contest they had to wait until satellite technology was at a level where reliable connections allowed the voting to move in-vision without it being a total disaster. I suspect some participating countries could have moved to in-vision sooner but it would have been messy having some in-vision and others on the phone.
Quite a decent pre-selection. The right choice won, but Liquid Gold and Gem also had great songs. Beyond had corny lyrics, but it was an OK song and good voices - one of them married Cheryl Baker! Unity - she looked like someone having their second wedding and using their daughters and nieces as bridesmaids! One of the girls is Lisa Maxwell who was in "The Bill" :D Sue Glover has a fantastic voice, but she needed a good song. Lezlee Carling and Gary Benson were decent - Lezlee as mentioned below needed a stronger song with an uplifting message. Headache - it was weird but it was very typical of it's time but I find that the worst of the eight and it should have exchanged places with Unity.
if I'm correct, the guy on guitar on song 4, is Alan Coates, who went on to tour with bucks fizz, and was in Prima Donna, with Lance Aston, Jay brother, the year prior. On drums looks like Adrian Shepherd, who also toured with bucks fizz, and was engaged to Cheryl Baker. The guy on base guitar looks like Steve stroud, who is married to Cheryl Baker. Cheryl Baker also represented the UK in 1978 in a band called coco
Can't do that as the songs for each contest can not have been released or performed publically before the September peceding the contest. This is due to be changed to much closer to the contest for next year.
I've just come across and will now have to look for other years. Really interesting for me as I was NEARLY on the 1977 edition until the project was shelved. It's fascinating seeing songs like these that will never ever be heard on the radio
When a stage choreography won the Eurovision Song Contest ... 😂😹 And 42 years later I'm still able to do it - though I never even liked the song (in the opposite to some of their later material, to be fair). 👍 Surprisingly good level for a UK national final - I would have sent "Have you ever been in love" to Dublin. 🏆 And my personal votes actually would have led to a different winner there ... (1 point to Flanders representing Belgium, 2 points to Portugal, 3 points to Luxembourg, 4 points to Austria, 5 points to West Germany, 6 points to Switzerland, 7 points to France, 8 points to Greece, 10 points to Sweden and finally 12 points to Ireland) 🎤 By the way, the German version of "Making your mind up" is titled "Rock 'n' Roll Cowboy", sung by Maggie Mae. And of course many Germans still refuse to spend their holidays in Switzerland since then ... 😄 Anyway, enjoyed watching this 1981 edition of "A Song for Europe" for the very first time. 🆒
Don't panic should've won by a mile. What a powerhouse voice Ellie Hope had. Great live performance, and in tune. Which is more than could ever be said for the dreadful Bucks Fizz.
