United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "Making Your Mind Up", composed by John Danter, with lyrics by Andy Hill, and performed by Bucks Fizz. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final titled A Song for Europe 1981. The entry eventually won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1981

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reduced the number of finalists from twelve to eight in 1981. Terry Wogan hosted the national final on 11 March at the BBC Television Theatre in London. 581 songs were submitted to the Music Publisher's Association to pick eight songs. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded. The show was the 16th most watched programme of the week with a rating of 12.4 million viewers, the highest for three years.<ref>Television's Greatest Hits, Network Books, Paul Gambaccini and Rod Taylor, 1993. Template:ISBN</ref> Johnny Logan was scheduled to appear as a guest on the programme, but had to cancel shortly before the air date.

Seven regional juries voted on the songs. The regional juries voted internally and awarded 15 points to their favourite song, 12 points to the second, 10 points to the third and then 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points in order of preference for the songs from 4th to 8th. Before the reprise, Terry Wogan incorrectly read the title of the winning song as "Where Are You Now". The prizes were presented by Wogan to John Danter, one of the songwriters, and to Mike Nolan, one of the performers.

A Song for Europe 1981Template:Snd11 March 1981<ref name="Roxburgh">Template:Cite book</ref>

Draw	Artist	Song	Songwriter(s)	Points	Place
1	Headache	"Not Without Your Ticket (Don't Go)"	Luís Jardim, Jean Gilbert	50	7th
2	Gary Benson	"All Cried Out"	Gary Benson	63	4th
3	Unity	"For Only a Day"	John Dawson Read, Christopher Gunning	38	8th
4	Beyond	"Wish"	Steve Elson, Don Gould	67	3rd
5	Bucks Fizz	"Making Your Mind Up"	Andy Hill, John Danter	97	1st
6	Gem	"Have You Ever Been in Love?"	Andy Hill, Peter Sinfield, John Danter	63	4th
7	Lezlee Carling	"Where Are You Now"	Lindsey Moore	56	6th
8	Liquid Gold	"Don't Panic"	Adrian Baker	70	2nd

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	Total
1	"Not Without Your Ticket"	7	5	10	10	6	5	7	50
2	"All Cried Out"	12	8	8	8	8	10	9	63
3	"For Only a Day"	5	6	5	6	5	6	5	38
4	"Wish"	15	9	6	9	12	8	8	67
5	"Making Your Mind Up"	10	15	15	15	15	15	12	97
6	"Have You Ever Been in Love"	8	10	7	12	7	9	10	63
7	"Where Are You Now"	6	12	9	7	9	7	6	56
8	"Don't Panic"	9	7	12	5	10	12	15	70
Regional jury spokespersons<ref name="Roxburgh" />
Template:Div col BirminghamTemplate:SndDavid Stevens CardiffTemplate:SndIwan Thomas ManchesterTemplate:SndJohn Mundy BelfastTemplate:SndPeter Dickson EdinburghTemplate:SndJim O'Hara LondonTemplate:SndRay Moore BristolTemplate:SndAndy Batten-Foster

At Eurovision

"Making Your Mind Up" performed by Bucks Fizz won the Eurovision Song Contest 1981. It received 136 points from the 19 juries, beating Template:Esccnty's "Johnny Blue" by Lena Valaitis.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Members of the British jury included Norman Harper, S. Andrew, David Bratt, P. Green, A. Harmann, J.P. Robinson, D. Ruteledge, S. Tapper, I. Tyler, G. Wallbank, and Conor E. Young.<ref name=Roxburgh />

Voting

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Score	Country
12 points	Template:Unbulleted list
10 points	Template:Unbulleted list
8 points	Template:Unbulleted list
7 points	Template:Esc
6 points	Template:Unbulleted list
5 points	Template:Esc
4 points	Template:Unbulleted list
3 points	Template:Unbulleted list
2 points
1 point

Points awarded by the United Kingdom<ref name="1981detailed" />

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

References

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