Eurovision Song Contest 1980

The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 19 April 1980 in The Hague. The presenter was Marlous Fluitsma, although each song was introduced by a presenter from the participating nation. In some cases, this was the same person providing the commentary. The contest was won by Johnny Logan, representing Ireland with a song called "What's Another Year".[1][2]

Eurovision Song Contest 1980
Dates
Grand final	19 April 1980
Host
Venue	Nederlands Congresgebouw The Hague, Netherlands
Presenter(s)	Marlous Fluitsma Hans van Willigenburg (green room)
Musical director	Rogier van Otterloo
Directed by	Theo Ordeman
Executive supervisor	Frank Naef
Executive producer	Fred Oster
Host broadcaster	Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS)
Interval act	The Dutch Rhythm Steel and Show Band
Website	eurovision.tv/event/the-hague-1980
Participants
Number of entries	19
Debuting countries	Morocco
Returning countries	Turkey
Non-returning countries	Israel  Monaco
Participation map      Participating countries     Countries that participated in the past but not in 1980
Vote
Voting system	Each country awarded 12, 10, 8-1 point(s) to their 10 favourite songs
Nul points	None
Winning song	Ireland "What's Another Year"

Location

Nederlands Congresgebouw - host venue of the 1980 contest.

Israel, winners in 1979, declined to host the 1980 show for the second time in a row, as the IBA could not fund another international production, and the Israeli government turned down a request to extend the IBA budget. The European Broadcasting Union also set the broadcast on the same day as the Yom HaZikaron holiday, wherefore Israel decided not to participate. After Spain, the 2nd-place winner of 1979, and reportedly the UK, refused to host, the Netherlands finally agreed to host the show in a small-scale production. According to Yair Lapid, son of Tommy Lapid who was then the IBA director general, Lapid called his counterpart at NOS and convinced him to take the "undesired honour", when he realised that the extra cost could paralyse the regular work of the IBA.[3] As of 2020, this is the last contest that was not hosted by previous year's winning country. The Hague is the seat of government of the Netherlands and the capital of South Holland. It is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The contest took place at the Congresgebouw (presently known as the World Forum). The venue was constructed in 1969 and previously hosted the contest in 1976.

Contest overview

The venue that had hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, Congresgebouw, was chosen. Various parts of the opening sequence and stage of the 1976 festival were reused. Again, Roland de Groot took charge of the design. As with the 1977 and 1978 contests, there were no pre-filmed postcards between the songs, with a guest presenter from each nation introducing the entries. Apart from this, the presenter, Marlous Fluitsma, except for the voting, did not make the presentation in English or French, which means that the presentation was made almost entirely in Dutch. NOS spent just US$725,000 on the project.

After Israel announced its non-participation, Morocco entered into the contest instead. Monaco also did not participate after it did so in 1979.

Australian-born Johnny Logan representing Ireland was the winner of this Eurovision with the song "What's Another Year". This was Ireland's second time winning the competition, having won in 1970 with "All Kinds of Everything", which was also held on Dutch soil.

Germany were runners-up this year. They would finish in second place again the following year, finally winning in 1982. Germany would go on to finish second again in 1985 and 1987, making the 1980s their most successful Eurovision Song Contest decade. After two relatively poor placings, United Kingdom returned to form by coming third.

Format

The scoring system implemented in 1975 remained the same; each country had a jury who awarded 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 point(s) for their top ten songs. However this year for the first time, countries were required to cast their votes in ascending order, 1,2,3 etc. This change made for the added excitement of waiting for each country to award their highest 12 points at the end of each voting round.

Conductors

Each performance had a conductor who conducted the orchestra.[4][5]

•  Austria – Richard Oesterreicher
•  Turkey – Attila Özdemiroğlu
•  Greece – Jick Nacassian
•  Luxembourg – Norbert Daum
•  Morocco – Jean Claudric
•  Italy – Del Newman
•  Denmark – Allan Botschinsky
•  Sweden – Anders Berglund
•   Switzerland – Peter Reber
•  Finland – Ossi Runne
•  Norway – Sigurd Jansen
•  Germany – Wolfgang Rödelberger
•  United Kingdom – John Coleman
•  Portugal – Jorge Machado
•  Netherlands – Rogier van Otterloo
•  France – Sylvano Santorio
•  Ireland – Noel Kelehan
•  Spain – Javier Iturralde
•  Belgium – No National Representative

Results

Draw	Country	Artist	Song	Language[6][7]	Place	Points
01	Austria	Blue Danube	"Du bist Musik"	German	8	64
02	Turkey	Ajda Pekkan	"Pet'r Oil"	Turkish	15	23
03	Greece	Anna Vissi and the Epikouri	"Autostop" (Ωτοστόπ)	Greek	13	30
04	Luxembourg	Sophie & Magaly	"Papa pingouin"	French	9	56
05	Morocco	Samira Bensaïd	"Bitaqat Hub" (بطاقة حب)	Arabic	18	7
06	Italy	Alan Sorrenti	"Non so che darei"	Italian	6	87
07	Denmark	Bamses Venner	"Tænker altid på dig"	Danish	14	25
08	Sweden	Tomas Ledin	"Just nu!"	Swedish	10	47
09	Switzerland	Paola	"Cinéma"	French	4	104
10	Finland	Vesa-Matti Loiri	"Huilumies"	Finnish	19	6
11	Norway	Sverre Kjelsberg & Mattis Hætta	"Sámiid ædnan"	Norwegian^a	16	15
12	Germany	Katja Ebstein	"Theater"	German	2	128
13	United Kingdom	Prima Donna	"Love Enough for Two"	English	3	106
14	Portugal	José Cid	"Um grande, grande amor"	Portuguese^b	7	71
15	Netherlands	Maggie MacNeal	"Amsterdam"	Dutch	5	93
16	France	Profil	"Hé, hé, m'sieurs dames"	French	11	45
17	Ireland	Johnny Logan	"What's Another Year"	English	1	143
18	Spain	Trigo Limpio	"Quédate esta noche"	Spanish	12	38
19	Belgium	Telex	"Euro-Vision"	French	17	14

Notes

a.^ Although the song was performed in Norwegian, the title and sentence in the lyrics "Sámiid ædnan" is in Northern Sami.

b.^ Also contains words in Italian, French, German and English.

Score sheet

Johnny Logan performing his winning song "What's Another Year"

The Netherlands gained a strong lead early on, getting the maximum 'douze points' from three of the first four voting countries. This was not to last, however, as Germany and eventually Ireland overtook them.

		Results
		Total score	Austria	Turkey	Greece	Luxembourg	Morocco	Italy	Denmark	Sweden	Switzerland	Finland	Norway	Germany	United Kingdom	Portugal	Netherlands	France	Ireland	Spain	Belgium
Contestants	Austria	64			1		3	4	5	1	4	5	6	4	6	3	3	4	10	4	1
	Turkey	23	3				12	8
	Greece	30	5			1		2	2				4		3	1	8		4
	Luxembourg	56	1	1					4	6		3	7		8			7	8	3	8
	Morocco	7						7
	Italy	87	2	6	2				3	10	8	6	2	7	4	12	1	2	2	10	10
	Denmark	25			4		2				6	7	1	5
	Sweden	47		8	10	10	6	5			5			2						1
	Switzerland	104	6	2		5	7	3	8	2		12	10	10	7	6	10		12	2	2
	Finland	6											5					1
	Norway	15					4							6			2	3
	Germany	128	8	10		3	10	12	7	5	7	2			10	8	12	10	5	12	7
	United Kingdom	106	7	5		8	8		10	12	10	4		3		7	7	5	6	8	6
	Portugal	71		4	5	4		10	6	8	2	1	8	1			5	6	7		4
	Netherlands	93	12	12	6	12				3	3	10		8	2	4		12	1	5	3
	France	45		3	7	2	1		1	4	1		3		5		4		3	6	5
	Ireland	143	10		12	7		1	12	7	12	8	12	12	12	5	6	8		7	12
	Spain	38	4	7	8	6	5	6								2
Belgium	14			3										1	10
The table is ordered by appearance

12 points

Below is a summary of all 12 points in the final:

N.	Contestant	Voting nation
7	Ireland	Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom
4	Netherlands	Austria, France, Luxembourg, Turkey
3	Germany	Italy, Netherlands, Spain
2	Switzerland	Finland, Ireland
1	Italy	Portugal
	Turkey	Morocco
	United Kingdom	Sweden

Returning artists

Katja Ebstein during rehearsals

Maggie MacNeal during rehearsals

Artist	Country	Previous year(s)
Katja Ebstein	Germany	1970, 1971
Maggie MacNeal	Netherlands	1974 (part of Mouth & MacNeal)
Paola del Medico	Switzerland	1969

Song presenters

Each song was introduced by a presenter from the national country.[5] A few countries used their commentators as presenters, with Turkey's radio commentator and the TV commentators of Denmark, Sweden and Finland being utilised for this role. All the introductions were made in the language in which the song was performed, with the exception of Ireland which was introduced in Irish.

•  Austria – Chris Lohner
•  Turkey – Şebnem Savaşçı
•  Greece – Kelly Sakakou
•  Luxembourg – Michèle Etzel
•  Morocco – Mohammed Bouzidi
•  Italy – Beatrice Cori
•  Denmark – Jørgen de Mylius
•  Sweden – Ulf Elfving
•   Switzerland – Lyliam Stambac
•  Finland – Heikki Harma
•  Norway – Åse Kleveland (Norwegian representative in the 1966 Contest and host of the 1986 Contest)
•  Germany – Carolin Reiber
•  United Kingdom – Noel Edmonds
•  Portugal – Eládio Clímaco
•  Netherlands – Marlous Fluitsma
•  France – Évelyne Dhéliat
•  Ireland – Thelma Mansfield
•  Spain – Mari Cruz Soriano
•  Belgium – Arlette Vincent

Broadcasters, commentators and spokespersons

Spokespersons

Listed below is the order in which votes were cast during the 1980 contest along with the spokesperson who was responsible for announcing the votes for their respective country.[8]

1.  Austria – Jenny Pippal
2.  Turkey – Başak Doğru
3.  Greece – Niki Venega
4.  Luxembourg – Jacques Harvey
5.  Morocco – Kamal Irassi
6.  Italy – Mariolina Cannuli
7.  Denmark – Bent Henius
8.  Sweden – Arne Weise
9.   Switzerland – Michel Stocker[9]
10.  Finland – Kaarina Pönniö[10]
11.  Norway – Roald Øyen[11]
12.  Germany – TBC
13.  United Kingdom – Ray Moore[5]
14.  Portugal – Teresa Cruz
15.  Netherlands – Flip van der Schalie
16.  France – Fabienne Égal
17.  Ireland – David Heffernan
18.  Spain – Alfonso Lapeña
19.  Belgium – Jacques Olivier

Broadcasters and commentators

Each national broadcaster also sent a commentator to the contest, in order to provide coverage of the contest in their own native language.

Country	Broadcaster(s)	Commentator(s)	Ref(s)
Participating countries
Austria	FS2	Günther Ziesel	[12]
	Hitradio Ö3	Walter Richard Langer
Belgium	RTBF1	French: Jacques Mercier	[8]
	BRT1	Dutch: Luc Appermont	[8]
	RTB La Première	French: Marc Danval
	BRT Radio 1	Dutch: Herwig Haes
Denmark	DR TV	Jørgen de Mylius	[8]
	DR P3	Erik Wiedemann
Finland	YLE TV1	Heikki Harma and Aarre Elo	[8]
France	TF1	Patrick Sabatier	[8]
	France Inter	Julien Lepers
Germany	Deutsches Fernsehen	Ado Schlier
	Deutschlandfunk/hr3	Roger Horné
Greece	ERT	Mako Georgiadou
	Proto Programma	Dimitris Konstantaras
Ireland	RTÉ 1	Larry Gogan	[8]
	RTÉ Radio 1	Pat Kenny
Italy	Rete 2	Michele Gammino	[8]
Luxembourg	RTL Télé Luxembourg	Jacques Navadic	[8]
	RTL	André Torrent
Morocco	TVM	TBC
Netherlands	Nederland 2	Pim Jacobs	[8]
	Hilversum 1	Willem van Beusekom
Norway	NRK	Knut Aunbu	[8]
	NRK P1	Erik Heyerdahl
Portugal	RTP1	Isabel Wolmar
Spain	TVE1	Miguel de los Santos	[8]
Sweden	SVT TV1	Ulf Elfving	[8]
	SR P3	Kent Finell
Switzerland	TV DRS	German: Theodor Haller	[13]
	TSR	French: Georges Hardy	[8][14]
	TSI	Italian: Enzo Guidi
Turkey	Ankara Television	Bülend Özveren	[8]
	Radyo 3	Şebnem Savaşçı
United Kingdom	BBC1	Terry Wogan	[5][8][15]
	BBC Radio 2	Steve Jones	[5]
	BFBS Radio	Andrew Pastouna	[5]

National jury members

•  Finland – Toivo Kärki[16]
•  Ireland – Mary Hannon
•  Spain – José María Reíllo, Carmen Miranda, Emilio Machado, María José Nieto, Rafael Lozano, Nieves Aguado, Ana Menéndez, Rafael Gómez, Isabel Ortiz, Pedro Olivares, Mari Luz Blanco

References

1. "Eurovision 1980 Results: Voting & Points". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 2018-09-27.
2. The Eurovision Song Contest, retrieved 2018-09-27
3. Yair Lapid, "Memoires After my Death", Keter Books, Jerusalem 2010 (ISBN 978-965-07-1792-6), p. 239 (in Hebrew)
4. "And the conductor is..." Retrieved 24 August 2020.
5. Roxburgh, Gordon (2016). Songs for Europe: The United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. Volume Three: The 1980s. Prestatyn: Telos Publishing. pp. 352–365. ISBN 978-1-84583-118-9.
6. "Eurovision Song Contest 1980". The Diggiloo Thrush. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
7. "Eurovision Song Contest 1980". 4Lyrics.eu. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
8. "Eurovision 1980 - Cast and Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
9. Baumann, Peter Ramón (OGAE Switzerland)
10. "Selostajat ja taustalaulajat läpi vuosien? • Viisukuppila". Viisukuppila.fi. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
11. Dyrseth, Seppo (OGAE Norway)
12. Dellanoi, Dietmar (OGAE Austria)
13. "Au Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 17 April 1980.
14. "Au Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson". Radio TV - Je vois tout. Lausanne, Switzerland: Le Radio SA. 17 April 1980.
15. "Grand Final: 1980, 1980, Eurovision Song Contest". BBC.
16. http://www.viisukuppila.fi/phpBB3/viisula/topic8529.html#p1018060

External links

• Official website