United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978

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Stephanie de Sykes
  • Stuart Slater
  • Finals performance
    Final result11th, 61 points
    United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
    ◄1977 1978 1979►

    The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1978. It was held on Friday 31 March 1978 at the Royal Albert Hall and presented by Terry Wogan. The songs were backed by the Alyn Ainsworth Orchestra.[1]

    The Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast on 22 April 1978, with Terry Wogan providing the BBC Television commentary and Ray Moore providing the BBC Radio 2 commentary. Colin Berry returned to present the UK jury results.

    Before Eurovision

    A Song for Europe 1978

    Fourteen regional juries voted on the songs: Bristol, Bangor, Leeds, Norwich, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff, Plymouth, Glasgow, Southampton and London. Each jury voted internally and ranked the songs 1–12, awarding 12 points for their highest scoring song, down to 1 point for the lowest scoring entry.

    Final

    "The Bad Old Days" won the national and came 11th in the contest. Broadcast on Good Friday, a national holiday in the UK, A Song for Europe was watched by 13.7 million viewers and was the 16th-most watched programme of the week – the show's highest ever rating.[1]

    A Song for Europe 1978 – 31 March 1978[2]
    Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Points Place
    1 Christian "Shine It On" Bill Martin & Phil Coulter 114 3
    2 Brown Sugar "Oh No, Look What You've Done" Wayne Bickerton & Tony Waddington 49 11
    3 Fruit Eating Bears "Door in My Face" Neville Crozier & Chris Crash 49 11
    4 Jacquie Sullivan "Moments" Jacquie Sullivan 106 6
    5 Sunshine "Too Much in Love" Wayne Bickerton & Tony Waddington 81 8
    6 Ronnie France "Lonely Nights" Paul Curtis 68 9
    7 The Jarvis Brothers "One Glance" Paul Curtis 114 3
    8 Co-Co "The Bad Old Days"
    Stephanie de Sykes
    & Stuart Slater
    135 1
    9 Bob James "We Got It Bad" Bob James & Labi Siffre 66 10
    10 Midnight "Don't Bother to Knock" Kenny Lynch, Steve O'Donnell & Colin Horton-Jennings 116 2
    11 Babe Rainbow "Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way" Irving Martin & Peter Morris 84 7
    12 Labi Siffre "Solid Love" Labi Siffre 110 5

    Both groups 'Co-Co' and 'Sunshine' had participated in the A Song for Europe 1976 contest, albeit with different line-ups. 'Co-Co' would return to the A Song for Europe contest in 1980 with another line-up, under the name 'The Main Event'. Cheryl Baker of 'Co-Co' would eventually win the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the group 'Bucks Fizz'.

    Detailed Jury Votes[2]
    Draw Song
    Aberdeen
    Norwich
    Manchester
    Bangor
    Southampton
    Leeds
    Belfast
    Bristol
    Glasgow
    Birmingham
    London
    Cardiff
    Newcastle
    Plymouth
    Total score
    1 "Shine It On" 12 11 9 10 5 4 11 12 12 7 9 3 5 4 114
    2 "Oh No, Look What You've Done" 7 2 2 1 3 2 2 9 5 2 3 1 4 6 49
    3 "Door in My Face" 2 1 7 2 1 7 3 3 2 3 1 2 10 5 49
    4 "Moments" 8 8 11 7 8 3 9 6 10 8 10 6 3 9 106
    5 "Too Much in Love" 9 3 5 4 2 6 10 7 9 5 6 7 6 2 81
    6 "Lonely Nights" 1 4 1 8 4 5 1 2 1 10 7 11 12 1 68
    7 "One Glance" 6 7 3 5 9 12 6 11 11 9 12 4 11 8 114
    8 "The Bad Old Days" 11 12 12 11 10 11 7 4 3 11 11 12 8 12 135
    9 "We Got It Bad" 3 6 10 3 12 1 4 1 8 1 4 5 1 7 66
    10 "Don't Bother to Knock" 4 9 8 6 11 10 8 5 7 12 8 10 7 11 116
    11 "Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way" 5 5 4 9 7 8 5 10 6 6 5 9 2 3 84
    12 "Solid Love" 10 10 6 12 6 9 12 8 4 4 2 8 9 10 110
    Jury Spokespersons[2]
    Jury Spokesperson
    Aberdeen Gerry Davis
    Norwich Chris Denham
    Manchester Mike Riddoch
    Bangor Gwyn Llewelyn
    Southampton Peter Macann
    Leeds Brian Baines
    Belfast Michael Baguley
    Bristol Derek Jones
    Glasgow Ken Bruce
    Birmingham Tom Coyne
    London Ray Moore
    Cardiff Frank Lincoln
    Newcastle Mike Neville
    Plymouth Donald Heighway

    UK Discography

    • Christian – Shine It On: Polydor 2059012.
    • Brown Sugar – Oh No, Look What You've Done: State STAT77.
    • Fruit Eating Bears – Door in My Face: DJM DJS10857.
    • Jacquie Sullivan – Moments: Air CHS2219.
    • Sunshine – Too Much in Love: State STAT76.
    • Ronnie France – Lonely Nights: Pye 7N46062.
    • The Jarvis Brothers – One Glance: EMI EMI2777.
    • Co-Co – The Bad Old Days: Ariola/Hansa AHA513.
    • Bob James – We Got It Bad: Polydor 2059016.
    • Midnight – Don't Bother to Knock: Ariola/Hansa AHA514.
    • Babe Rainbow – Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way: Mercury 6007113.
    • Labi Siffre – Solid Love: EMI EMI2750.

    Only the winning song reached the UK Singles Chart.

    At Eurovision

    Voting

    References

    1. ^
    2. ^ .
    3. ^ a b "Results of the Final of Paris 1978". European Broadcasting Union. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.