United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1980

The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1980 with the song "Love Enough for Two", written by Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater, and performed by the group Prima Donna. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final.

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1980

A Song for Europe 1980 was held on 26 March 1980 at the BBC Television Theatre in London and was hosted by Terry Wogan. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded. 12 songs were chosen by the Music Publisher's Association.

Following his second place in the 1979 contest, songwriter Richard Gillinson was asked to submit a song to replace the disqualified entry "Tell Me" by the New Seekers, which was eliminated two weeks before the final after the group began promoting the track before the contest.<ref name="Roxburgh" /> Gillinson's song "Surrender" was performed by the same artist who presented his 1979 song, Kim Clark. The lead vocal of "Tell Me" was taken by New Seeker Nicola Kerr, who had been one of the 'Plus Two' who had finished 3rd for Template:Esccnty.

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 second placed song earned 11, the third 10 and so on, down to 1 point for the song with the fewest votes.

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.

Owing to a tie break and with the live show quickly running out of time, a clearly flustered Terry Wogan, unsure of what to do in this unprecedented circumstance, returned to the 14 juries who were hastily asked to pick their favourite between songs two and five.

A Song for Europe 1980Template:Snd26 March 1980<ref name="Roxburgh">Template:Cite book</ref>

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Points	Tiebreak	Place
1	Scramble	"Don't Throw Your Love Away"	Peter Morris	97	Template:N/A	6
2	Maggie Moone	"Happy Everything"	Geoff Stephens, Don Black	131	6	2
3	Plain Sailing	"Easy"	Colin Stewart, Alan Stewart, Paul Stewart, Robert Freeman	111	Template:N/A	4
4	Sonja Jones	"Here We'll Stay"	Tony Colton, Jean Roussell	56	Template:N/A	11
5	Prima Donna	"Love Enough for Two"	Stephanie de Sykes, Stuart Slater	131	8	1
6	Jacqui Scott	"Symphony for You"	Johnny Goodison, Keith Mansfield	67	Template:N/A	8
7	Duke and the Aces	"Love Is Alive"	Paul Curtis	94	Template:N/A	7
8	Roy Winston	"Everything's All Right"	Roy Winston	58	Template:N/A	10
9	Midnite	"Love Comes, Love Grows"	Gary Sulsh, Stuart Leathwood	62	Template:N/A	9
10	The Main Event	"Gonna Do My Best"	Terry Bradford	45	Template:N/A	12
11	Pussyfoot	"I Want to Be Me"	Mick Flinn, Mark Stevens	111	Template:N/A	4
12	Kim Clark	"Surrender"	Richard Gillinson	129	Template:N/A	3

Regional jury votes<ref name="Roxburgh" />

Draw	Song	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	scope="col" Template:Vert header	Total
1	"Don't Throw Your Love Away"	10	7	5	8	3	6	5	9	10	10	9	5	7	3	97
2	"Happy Everything"	11	8	8	11	8	10	10	12	12	6	10	12	8	5	131
3	"Easy"	6	5	12	10	12	9	8	7	5	5	6	9	6	11	111
4	"Here We'll Stay"	1	2	1	2	4	2	4	10	3	2	8	8	5	4	56
5	"Love Enough for Two"	8	12	9	12	9	12	12	11	8	8	7	6	11	6	131
6	"Symphony for You"	5	10	10	1	2	7	11	8	4	4	1	2	1	1	67
7	"Love Is Alive"	7	11	11	7	6	5	6	2	9	7	3	3	10	7	94
8	"Everything's All Right"	2	6	6	3	1	4	2	4	2	3	5	10	2	8	58
9	"Love Comes, Love Grows"	4	3	2	4	7	8	1	3	7	9	4	4	4	2	62
10	"Gonna Do My Best"	3	4	3	6	5	3	3	1	1	1	2	1	3	9	45
11	"I Want to Be Me"	9	1	7	5	11	1	7	6	6	11	12	11	12	12	111
12	"Surrender"	12	9	4	9	10	11	9	5	11	12	11	7	9	10	129
Tie-Break<ref name="Roxburgh" />
2	"Happy Everything"	X			X					X	X	X	X			6
5	"Love Enough for Two"		X	X		X	X	X	X					X	X	8
Regional jury spokespersons<ref name="Roxburgh" />
Template:Div col AberdeenTemplate:SndGerry Davis NewcastleTemplate:SndMike Neville PlymouthTemplate:SndDonald Heighway LeedsTemplate:SndBrian Baines SouthamptonTemplate:SndPeter Macann BangorTemplate:SndAlun Evans LondonTemplate:SndColin Berry CardiffTemplate:SndIwan Thomas BirminghamTemplate:SndDavid Stevens GlasgowTemplate:SndDouglas Brock BelfastTemplate:SndMike Baguley BristolTemplate:SndDerek Jones NorwichTemplate:SndGill Hewitt ManchesterTemplate:SndJohn Mundy

At Eurovision

At the Eurovision itself, "Love Enough for Two" scored 106 points and was positioned third overall. The event took place in the Hague in the Netherlands and was won by Ireland's "What's Another Year?" by Johnny Logan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Terry Wogan provided the BBC television commentary, whilst Steve Jones provided the BBC Radio 2 commentary. Regular Eurovision radio commentator Ray Moore served as spokesperson for the UK jury. This was the start for Wogan's continuous television commentary which he would do every year until Template:Esccnty.Template:Citation needed

Voting

Points awarded to the United Kingdom<ref name="1980detailed">Template:Cite web</ref>

Score	Country
12 points	Template:Esc
10 points	Template:Unbulleted list
8 points	Template:Unbulleted list
7 points	Template:Unbulleted list
6 points	Template:Unbulleted list
5 points	Template:Unbulleted list
4 points	Template:Esc
3 points	Template:Esc
2 points
1 point

Points awarded by the United Kingdom<ref name="1980detailed" />

Score	Country
12 points	Template:Esc
10 points	Template:Esc
8 points	Template:Esc
7 points	Template:Esc
6 points	Template:Esc
5 points	Template:Esc
4 points	Template:Esc
3 points	Template:Esc
2 points	Template:Esc
1 point	Template:Esc