| VENUE
Congresgebouw, The Hague |
 |
ENTRIES 19 |
| HOST
Marlous Fluitsma |
DEBUTS Morocco |
Some countries, like Luxembourg and Monaco,
participated in Eurovision for many years and then pulled out. Others like
many of the old Eastern bloc, were relative latecomers to the contest but
are now regulars. But 1980 is the only instance of a country's one sole
appearance in the event as Morocco sneaked in with a very ethnic song
that, perhaps predictably, fared very poorly, picking up just 7 points,
all of them from Italy.
One of the most striking things about the contest
was the juxtaposition of some really ethnic songs (Norway, Morocco,
Finland) with some of the blandest pap you have ever heard, Luxembourg's
"Papa Penguin", and a slew of frothy boy-girl disco numbers.
Invariable, the formulaic pap won the day. There were songs called
'Cinema', 'Theater' and, amazingly, 'Eurovision'.
Johnny Logan rose above all this exotica with a
classic ballad, the first male soloist to win since 1966, if you discount Izhar Cohen. He was certainly knocking back the beers during the voting,
and suitably emotional "I love you Ireland" when reprising his
song.
| Austria |
Du Bist Musik |
Blue Danube |
8 |
| Turkey |
Pet'r Oil |
Adja Pekkan |
15 |
| Greece |
Autostop |
Anna Vissi & The Epikouri |
13 |
| Luxembourg |
Le Papa Pingouin |
Sophie Et Magaly |
9 |
| Morocco |
Bitakat Hob |
Samira Bensaid |
18 |
| Italy |
Non So Che Darei |
Alan Sorrenti |
6 |
| Denmark |
Tænker Altid På Dig |
Bamses Venner |
14 |
| Sweden |
Just Nu |
Tomas Ledin |
10 |
| Switzerland |
Cinéma |
Paola |
4 |
| Finland |
Huilumies |
Vesa-Matti Loiri |
19 |
| Norway |
Samiid Ædnan |
Sverre Kjelsberg & Mattis Haetta |
16 |
| Germany |
Theater |
Katja Ebstein |
2 |
| United Kingdom |
Love Enough For Two |
Prima Donna |
3 |
| Portugal |
Um Grande Grande Amor |
José Cid |
7 |
| Netherlands |
Amsterdam |
Maggie MacNeal |
5 |
| France |
Hé Hé M'sieurs Dames |
Profil |
11 |
| Ireland |
What's Another Year? |
Johnny Logan |
1 |
| Spain |
Quédate Esta Noche |
Trigo Limpio |
12 |
| Belgium |
Euro-Vision |
Télex |
17 |
Voting

IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK:
The USA imposes sanctions
against Iran in the wake of the kidnap of American hostages. |