United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979
- Peter Morris
◄1978 • | 1979 | • 1980► |
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1979. A Song for Europe 1979 was planned to take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 8 March.
Before Eurovision
A Song for Europe 1979
After a day's rehearsals at the Royal Albert Hall a strike by BBC technicians stopped the show about an hour before transmission. Audio recordings of the songs were voted on by 14 regional juries: Bristol, Bangor, Leeds, Norwich, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Belfast, Cardiff, Plymouth, Glasgow, Southampton and London. The jury in Manchester could not be contacted and since the winner had a more than 12 point winning margin, their scores were not included. This led to an immaterial tie for second place. The Manchester votes were later verified and added to the scores, demoting the song Call My Name down to third place. The following day, the 12 songs were broadcast on Terry Wogan's Radio 2 show and a recap of the top places, plus an interview with the winners took place on the BBC TV Show Nationwide the same evening.
Final
Draw | Artist | Song | Songwriter(s) | Points | Place |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Black Lace | "Mary Ann" | Peter Morris | 132 | 1 |
2 | Lynda Virtu | "You Are My Life" | Tony Colton & Jean Roussel | 82 | 8 |
3 | Ipswich | "Who Put the Shine on Our Shoes?" | Nola York | 90 | 5 |
4 | Herbie Flowers and the Daisies | "Mr Moonlight" | Herbie Flowers, Doreen Chanter | 90 | 5 |
5 | M Squad | "Miss Caroline Newley" | Adrian Baker | 44 | 11 |
6 | Eleanor Keenan | "Call My Name" | Roger Whittaker | 109 | 3 |
7 | Guys 'n' Dolls | "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?" | Ben Findon & Michael Myers | 56 | 10 |
8 | Linda Kendrick | "All I Needed Was Your Love" | Doug Taylor | 33 | 12 |
9 | Monte Carlo | "Home Again (Living With You)" | David Knowles | 83 | 7 |
10 | Sal Davis | "Let It All Go" | Paul Curtis | 77 | 9 |
11 | The Nolan Sisters | "Harry, My Honolulu Lover" | Terry Bradford | 101 | 4 |
12 | Kim Clark | "Fantasy" | Richard Gillinson | 117 | 2 |
UK Discography
- Black Lace - Mary Ann: EMI EMI2919.
- Lynda Virtu - You Are My Life: Mercury/Utopia TANGO7.
- Ipswich - Who Put the Shine on Our Shoes?: Epic SEPC7195.
- Herbie Flowers & the Daisies - Mr. Moonlight: EMI EMI2917.
- M Squad - Miss Caroline Newley: Ariola ARO150.
- Eleanor Keenan - Call My Name: CBS SCBS7198.
- Roger Whittaker - Call My Name: Columbia DB9065.
- Guys 'n' Dolls - How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?: Magnet MAG141.
- Linda Kendrick - All I Needed Was Your Love: Epic SEPC7199.
- Monte Carlo - Home Again (Living With You): EMI EMI2918.
- Sal Davis - Let It All Go: Decca F13825.
- The Nolan Sisters - Harry, My Honolulu Lover: Epic SEPC7197.
- Kim Clark - Fantasy: CBS SCBS7196.
Only the winning song reached the UK singles chart.
At Eurovision
Black Lace were the winners of A Song for Europe with "Mary Ann" and went on to place 7th at the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest in Jerusalem.
This was also the only Eurovision between 1972 and 2008 in which Terry Wogan did not provide either the television or radio commentary. Wogan had originally been scheduled to provide the television commentary but opted out of going to Israel following comments he made of the 1978 winner "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" sounding like "I Wanna Be a Polar Bear". Instead his Radio 2 colleague John Dunn provided the television commentary. Ray Moore provided the radio commentary on both BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2.[2]
Voting
|
|
References
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Two: The 1970s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 328–351. ISBN 978-1-84583-093-9.
- ^ Roxburgh, Gordon (2014). Songs For Europe - The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest Volume Two: The 1970's. UK: Telos Publishing. p. 354. ISBN 978-1-84583-065-6.
- ^ a b "Results of the Final of Jerusalem 1979". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
External links
- UK National Final 1979
- v
- t
- e
- 1957
- 1959
- 1960
- 1961
- 1962
- 1963
- 1964
- 1965
- 1966
- 1967
- 1968
- 1969
- 1970
- 1971
- 1972
- 1973
- 1974
- 1975
- 1976
- 1977
- 1978
- 1979
- 1980
- 1981
- 1982
- 1983
- 1984
- 1985
- 1986
- 1987
- 1988
- 1989
- 1990
- 1991
- 1992
- 1993
- 1994
- 1995
- 1996
- 1997
- 1998
- 1999
- 2000
- 2001
- 2002
- 2003
- 2004
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
2020- 2021
- 2022
- 2023
- 2024
- Andy Abraham
- Olly Alexander
- The Allisons
- Michael Ball
- Bardo
- Belle and the Devotions
- Black Lace
- Blue
- Patricia Bredin
- Brotherhood of Man
- Bucks Fizz
- Pearl Carr and Teddy Johnson
- Ronnie Carroll
- Co-Co
- Josh Dubovie
- Electro Velvet
- Emma
- Jade Ewen
- Scott Fitzgerald
- James Fox
- Nicki French
- Jessica Garlick
- Gina G
- Mary Hopkin
- Engelbert Humperdinck
- Imaani
- Samantha Janus
- Javine
- Jemini
- Joe and Jake
- Bryan Johnson
- Lucie Jones
- Katrina and the Waves
- Kathy Kirby
- Lindsay
- Live Report
- Love City Groove
- Lulu
- Kenneth McKellar
- Molly
- Matt Monro
- Mike Moran
- Mae Muller
- The New Seekers
- James Newman
- Olivia Newton-John
- Lynsey de Paul
- Precious
- Prima Donna
- Michael Rice
- Cliff Richard
- Rikki
- Clodagh Rodgers
- Frances Ruffelle
- Ryder
- Sam Ryder
- Daz Sampson
- Scooch
- The Shadows
- Sandie Shaw
- Sonia
- SuRie
- Sweet Dreams
- Bonnie Tyler
- Vikki
- "All"
- "Are You Sure?"
- "The Bad Old Days"
- "Beg, Steal or Borrow"
- "Believe in Me"
- "Better the Devil You Know"
- "Bigger than Us"
- "Boom Bang-a-Bang"
- "Children of the Universe"
- "Come Back"
- "Congratulations"
- "Cry Baby"
- "Dizzy"
- "Don't Play That Song Again"
- "Embers"
- "Even If"
- "Flying the Flag (For You)"
- "Give a Little Love Back to the World"
- "Go"
- "Hold On to Our Love"
- "I Belong"
- "I Can"
- "I Love the Little Things"
- "I Wrote a Song"
- "I'm Never Giving Up"
- "It's My Time"
- "Jack in the Box"
- "Knock, Knock Who's There?"
- "Let Me Be the One"
- "Long Live Love"
- "Looking High, High, High"
- "Love City Groove"
- "Love Enough for Two"
- "Love Games"
- "Love Is..."
- "Love Shine a Light"
- "Love Will Set You Free"
- "Making Your Mind Up"
- "A Man Without Love"
- "Mary Ann"
- "A Message to Your Heart"
"My Last Breath"- "Never Give Up on You"
- "No Dream Impossible"
- "One Step Further"
- "One Step Out of Time"
- "Only the Light"
- "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit"
- "Power to All Our Friends"
- "Puppet on a String"
- "Ring-A-Ding Girl"
- "Rock Bottom"
- "Runner in the Night"
- "Save Your Kisses for Me"
- "Say It Again"
- "Say Wonderful Things"
- "Sing, Little Birdie"
- "Space Man"
- "Still in Love with You"
- "Storm"
- "Teenage Life"
- "That Sounds Good to Me"
- "Touch My Fire"
- "We Will Be Free (Lonely Symphony)"
- "Where Are You?"
- "Why Do I Always Get It Wrong"
- "You're Not Alone"
- Note: Entries scored out signify where the United Kingdom did not compete