Competing countries Countries that participated in the past but not in 1981
Vote
Voting system
Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Winning song
United Kingdom "Making Your Mind Up"
1980 ← Eurovision Song Contest → 1982
The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the 1980 contest with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the contest was held at the RDS Simmonscourt on 4 April 1981, and was hosted by Irish television journalist Doireann Ní Bhriain.
Twenty countries participated in the contest, equalling the record of the 1978 edition. Cyprus made their début this year, while Israel and Yugoslavia both returned to the competition, after their one-year and five-year absences, respectively. Morocco and Italy decided not to participate.
The winner was the United Kingdom with the song "Making Your Mind Up", performed by Bucks Fizz, written by Andy Hill and John Danter. Germany finished second for the second consecutive year, while France finished third. Norway again finished last, with its third nul points in the contest.
Bucks Fizz's win launched the group's hugely successful international career. Their performance on the Eurovision stage included a dance-routine where the two male members ripped the skirts off the two female members only to reveal mini-skirts, and today stands as one of the most defining moments in the contest's history.[1]
^"Dublin 1981". Eurovision.tv. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
and 30 Related for: Eurovision Song Contest 1981 information
Cyprus has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 40 times since making its debut in 1981. Cyprus' first entry was the group Island, who finished...
United Kingdom has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 65 times. It first took part in the second contest in 1957 and has entered every year since...
Luxembourg has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 38 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956. The nation participated in all but one...
Spain has participated in the EurovisionSongContest in every edition since 1961, in total 63 times. Since 1999, Spain has been one of the "Big Five"...
participated in the EurovisionSongContest 54 times since its debut at the 1964 contest. Since then it has missed five contests (1970, 2000, 2002, 2013...
Greece has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 43 times since its debut in 1974, missing six contests in that time (1975, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1999...
Austria has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 56 times since its debut in 1957. The country has won twice, in 1966 and 2014, and such it holds...
participated in the EurovisionSongContest 48 times since making its debut as one of only seven countries to compete at the first contest in 1956, which took...
participated in the EurovisionSongContest since it started in 1956. Winners of the contest have come from twenty-seven of those countries. The contest, organised...
71 songs written by 147 songwriters have won the EurovisionSongContest, an international song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting...
Israel returned at the EurovisionSongContest1981 held in Dublin, Ireland, after withdrawing from the 1980 contest because of National Day of Remembrance...
The EurovisionSongContest 2024 was the 68th edition of the EurovisionSongContest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at...
The EurovisionSongContest (French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson) was first held in 1956, originally conceived as an experiment in transnational...
The EurovisionSongContest (French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international song competition organised...
"A Song for Europe 1981" to choose who would represent them in the EurovisionSongContest1981. "A Song for Europe 1981" was held on 11 March 1981 where...
France has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 68 times since its debut at the first contest in 1956. France is one of only seven countries to...
participated in the EurovisionSongContest 56 times since making its debut at the 1965 contest in Naples, missing only two contests since, in 1983 and...
participated in the EurovisionSongContest 63 times since making its debut at the first contest in 1956, missing only four contests, in 1995, 1999, 2001...
The EurovisionSongContest 1956 was the first edition of the annual EurovisionSongContest, organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host...
Germany has officially participated in every EurovisionSongContest since its inaugural edition in 1956, except in 1996 when its entry did not qualify...
Sweden has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 62 times since making its debut in 1958, missing only three contests since then (1964, 1970 and 1976)...
North Macedonia has participated in the EurovisionSongContest 21 times since its official debut in 1998. The country had attempted to participate in...
Germany was represented by Lena Valaitis, with the song "Johnny Blue", at the 1981EurovisionSongContest, which took place on 4 April in Dublin. "Johnny...
United Kingdom in the EurovisionSongContest1981, held in Dublin, winning the contest. Following its win in the contest, the song reached No. 1 in the...