Ireland’s capital Dublin became the host again of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest after Johnny Logan won the contest in the preceding year with What’s Another Year which was a European bestseller, but he would even be outscored by the 1981 winner Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Fizz from the United Kingdom
For the second time, the Eurovision champion winner, Ireland, was the host for the event which took place in Dublin. In 1981, the total amount of participating countries was 20 once again equalling the record set three years earlier in Paris. Morocco withdrew after their first participation, and Italy decided to stay at home as well because the interest in the country had diminished. Yugoslavia returned to the contest after five years of absence, so did Israel after the county had missed out on one contest. Finally, Cyprus made its Eurovision debut. It was also the first year Egypt’s television viewers could follow the contest live on television.
The opening sequence of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest showed ‚old Ireland‘ blending into ‚modern Ireland‘ with shots of Celtic ruins, cliffs, castles, edited together with close-ups of art and shots of planes, waterfalls, people in the park, children feeding birds, traditional door knockers, front doors, architecture and horse races. The sequence ended with a map of Europe on a globe which span round to reveal the Eurovision logo.
The United Kingdom’s entry Making Your Mind Up by the group Bucks Fizz won the 1981 contest after a close race with Germany’s entry Johnny Blue by Lena Valaitis. Bucks Fizz was specially formed for the Eurovision Song Contest and had created a memorable show act when the 2 guys in the group ripped off the skirts of the 2 girls, revealing a shorter skirt underneath. To date, it is seen by many as one of the most memorable moments in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. Bucks Fizz continued their career all over Europe with many hitsongs during the 1980s, like The Land Of Make Believe and My Camera Never Lies.
Participants
| # | Representing country | Performer(s) | Song title, writer(s) and composer(s) | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Austria ORF | Marty Brem | Wenn Du Da Bist | 020 | 17 |
| 02 | Turkey TRT | Modern Folk Trio and Aysegül | Dönme Dolap | 009 | 18 |
| 03 | Germany ARD | Lena Valaitis | Johnny Blue | 132 | 02 |
| 04 | Luxembourg CLT | Jean-Claude Pascal | C’est Peut-être Pas L’amérique | 041 | 11 |
| 05 | Israel IBA | Habibi | Halaylah | 056 | 07 |
| 06 | Denmark DR | Debbie Cameron and Tommy Seebach | Krøller Eller Ej | 041 | 11 |
| 07 | Yugoslavia JRT | Seid-Memic Vajta | Leila | 035 | 15 |
| 08 | Finland YLE | Riki Sorsa | Reggae O.k. | 027 | 16 |
| 09 | France TF1 | Jean Gabilou | Humanahum | 125 | 03 |
| 10 | Spain TVE | Bacchelli | Y Solo Tú | 038 | 14 |
| 11 | The Netherlands NOS | Linda Williams | Het Is Een Wonder | 051 | 09 |
| 12 | Ireland RTÉ | Sheeba | Horoscopes | 105 | 05 |
| 13 | Norway NRK | Finn Kalvik | Aldri I Livet | 000 | 20 |
| 14 | United Kingdom BBC | Bucks Fizz | Making Your Mind Up | 136 | 01 |
| 15 | Portugal RTP | Carlos Paião | Play-back | 009 | 18 |
| 16 | Belgium BRT | Emly Starr | Samson | 040 | 13 |
| 17 | Greece ERT | Yiannis Dimitras | Feggari Kalokerino | 055 | 08 |
| 18 | Cyprus CyBC | Island | Monika | 069 | 06 |
| 19 | Switzerland SSR SRG | Peter, Sue and Marc | Io Senza Tei | 121 | 04 |
| 20 | Sweden SVT | Björn Skifs | Fångad I En Dröm | 050 | 10 |
Scoreboard
| Participant | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Points | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 17 | |||||||||||||||
| Turkey | 5 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Germany | 5 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 132 | 2 | ||
| Luxembourg | 10 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 41 | 11 | |||||||||||
| Israel | 8 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 56 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Denmark | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 41 | 11 | ||||||||||
| Yugoslavia | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 35 | 15 | ||||||||||||
| Finland | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 27 | 16 | ||||||||||||
| France | 12 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 125 | 3 | |||
| Spain | 3 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 38 | 14 | |||||||||||||
| The Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 51 | 9 | ||||||||
| Ireland | 7 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 105 | 5 | |||||
| Norway | – | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United Kingdom | 4 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 136 | 1 | |
| Portugal | 8 | 1 | 9 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Belgium | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 40 | 13 | |||||||||||
| Greece | 6 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 55 | 8 | |||||||||
| Cyprus | 7 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 69 | 6 | ||||||||||
| Switzerland | 2 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 121 | 4 | |||
| Sweden | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 50 | 10 |