Eurovision 1981: Dublin

Dublin’s second contest, ten years after its first, was held in a hall normally used for horse and agricultural shows: the Simmonscourt Pavilion of the Royal Dublin Society, with 1,600 seats. Into it went the largest set the contest had yet seen, 150 feet across and 30 feet high.

Under guard

More than 250 armed soldiers and police protected the event. The British entrants were watched constantly for as long as they were in Dublin, because of threats from the IRA.

At one point the hotel where the delegations were staying was evacuated after a bomb scare. British news bulletins were reporting on the security on the day of the contest.

Twenty, nearly twenty-one

Cyprus entered for the first time and finished sixth. Israel was back after its forced absence, and Yugoslavia after five years.

Italy stayed away, citing a lack of interest. Morocco did not return either; its king, Hassan II, is reported to have ended the experiment himself, saying the country would never take part again.

For a while a record twenty-one entries had seemed likely. Then Monaco changed its mind.

Old hands

Jean-Claude Pascal, the winner of 1961, sang for Luxembourg again and came eleventh.

The Swiss trio Peter, Sue and Marc appeared for the fourth time and set a record nobody has matched. They had sung in French in 1971, in English in 1976 and in German in 1979. In Dublin they sang in Italian, and finished fourth.

Sweden’s Björn Skifs, who had forgotten his words in Paris, came back and finished tenth.

The presenter

Doireann Ní Bhriain was chosen for her languages: fluent Irish and English, and good French and Spanish. She knew the contest from the inside, too. In 1971 she had worked in the press office as an interpreter.

What it cost

Irish television spent £530,000 on the show, £110,000 of which came from the EBU. The government expected about £2 million back from tourism. Thirty countries took the broadcast, Egypt for the first time, and the audience was put at around 500 million.

Timedance

The interval act was the folk band Planxty playing a long piece called “Timedance”, a journey through Irish music across the centuries, with dancers from Dublin City Ballet. It was written by Bill Whelan.

It is seen now as a first sketch of something else. Thirteen years later, at another Dublin contest, Whelan’s “Riverdance” filled the same slot.

Four points

The top of the scoreboard was tight all the way down. The United Kingdom’s Bucks Fizz won with “Making Your Mind Up” on 136 points. Germany’s Lena Valaitis was four behind, France eleven behind, and Switzerland fifteen.

It was Germany’s second runner-up finish in a row.

What everybody remembers is the routine. Partway through, the two men in the group tore the long skirts off the two women, who were wearing short ones underneath. It became one of the best-known moments the contest has produced, and it launched the group’s career.

At the other end, Norway’s Finn Kalvik scored nothing. It was the third time Norway had finished on zero.