United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983

The United Kingdom was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983 by Sweet Dreams with the song "I'm Never Giving Up". It was chosen as the British entry through the A Song for Europe national selection process and placed sixth at Eurovision, receiving 79 points.

Eurovision Song Contest 1983
Country United Kingdom
National selection
Selection processA Song For Europe
Selection date(s)24 March 1983
Selected entrantSweet Dreams
Selected song"I'm Never Giving Up"
Selected songwriter(s)
Finals performance
Final result6th, 79 points
United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
◄1982 • 1983 • 1984►

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1983

The television show A Song for Europe was used once again to select the British entry, as it had since the United Kingdom's debut at the Contest in 1957.

Competing entries

Of the entries, songwriters Tony Hiller, Martin Lee and Paul Curtis had had songs in the Eurovision final before. Songwriter Marty Kristian had competed with The New Seekers in 1972. His group featured former New Seekers singer Kathy Ann Rae and former entrant Lance Aston (of Prima Donna). "When the Kissing Stops" was originally intended for former winners Brotherhood of Man, but they declined the offer to appear. The group did go on to record the song however and it featured on their album Lightning Flash.

Final

The final was held on 24 March 1983 at the Television Theatre in London, and was hosted by Terry Wogan. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded. The votes of eight regional juries based in Cardiff, Belfast, Norwich, Glasgow, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and London decided the winner. Each jury region awarded 15 points to their favourite song, 12 points to the second, 10 points to the third and then 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points in order of preference for the songs from 4th to 8th.[1]

Final – 24 March 1983
Draw Artist Song Songwriter(s) Points Place
1 Sweet Dreams "I'm Never Giving Up" Ron Roker, Phil Wigger, Jan Pulsford 109 1
2 Sam Childs "I'm Going Home" Geoff Stephens, Graham Preskett 50 8
3 Stuart Slater "All Around the World" Stephanie de Sykes, Stuart Slater 63 5
4 Casablanca "With Love" Des Dyer, Clive Scott 72 3
5 Mirror "We've Got All the Time in the World" Tony Hiller, Paul Curtis 91 2
6 Audio "Love On Your Mind" Marty Kristian, Trevor Spencer 68 4
7 Rubic "When the Kissing Stops" Tony Hiller, Martin Lee, Barry Upton 63 5
8 Ritzy "Keeping Our Love Alive" Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett 60 7

At Eurovision

After Bardo's "One Step Further" in the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, the United Kingdom placed one spot better at sixth place, scoring 79 points, with "I'm Never Giving Up" by Sweet Dreams.

Terry Wogan provided the television commentary for BBC 1, additionally Wogan also provided commentary for viewers in Ireland and Australia for RTÉ 1 and SBS via the BBC. Due to the contest being held on St. George's Day, BBC Radio 2 opted not to broadcast the contest as they had already made plans to broadcast The St. George's Day Concert held at the same time. Colin Berry returned as spokesperson for the UK jury.

Points awarded to the United Kingdom
Points awarded to the United Kingdom
12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points
5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

Points awarded by the United Kingdom
12 points Yugoslavia
10 points Israel
8 points Sweden
7 points Germany
6 points Finland
5 points Norway
4 points Belgium
3 points Austria
2 points Denmark
1 point Netherlands

See also

References
  1. Songs 4 Europe - 1983 Song for Europe
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