Eurovision Song Contest Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Eurovision Song Contest Wiki
Eurovision Song Contest 1980
Eurovision Song Contest 1980

Johnny Logan won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time and brought Ireland to their second of a record seven wins.


The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the Silver Anniversary edition and was held on 19 April 1980 in The Hague, Netherlands. The presenter was Marlous Fluitsma, although each song was introduced by a presenter from the participating country in their native language. In some cases, this was the same person providing the commentary.

Israel, winners in 1979, declined to host the 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. Moreover, the date that was eventually set for the 1980 contest by the European Broadcasting Union coincided with Israel's Day of Remembrance for their casualties of war, so Israel decided not to participate at all.  Spain (who finished runner-up in 1979) and the United Kingdom also declined to host, but the Dutch broadcaster NOS volunteered to put on the show provided that they had the ability to scale down the production.  Some of the footage from the opening sequence was actually recycled from the opening of the 1976 contest, which was also held in The Hague.

Morocco joined the Eurovision family for the first (and so far only) time. It is rumored that they were only brought in to replace Israel. Monaco also withdrew, and would not return until the 2004 semi final. Turkey returned after a year away.

The contest was won by Ireland for the second time with the song What's Another Year performed by Johnny Logan.

Participants[]

Draw Country Artist Song Language Translation Place Points
01 Flag of Austria Austria Blue Danube Du bist Musik German You are music 8 64
02 Flag of Turkey Türkiye Ajda Pekkan Petr'Oil Turkish -- 15 23
03 Flag of Greece Greece Anna Vissi & The Epikouri Autostop Greek Hitch-hiking 13 30
04 Flag of Luxembourg Luxembourg Sophie & Magaly Papa Pingouin French Papa Penguin 9 56
05 Flag of Morocco Morocco Samira Bensaïd Bitaqat Hob Arabic Love card 18 7
06 Flag of Italy Italy Alan Sorrenti Non so che darei Italian I don't know what to give 6 87
07 Flag of Denmark Denmark Bamses Venner Tænker altid på dig Danish Always thinking of you 14 25
08 Flag of Sweden Sweden Tomas Ledin Just nu! Swedish Right now! 10 47
09 Flag of Switzerland Switzerland Paola del Medico Cinéma French Cinema 4 104
10 Flag of Finland Finland Vesa-Matti Loiri Huilumies Finnish A flute man 19 6
11 Flag of Norway Norway Sverre & Mattis Sámiid Ædnan Norwegian Lapland 16 15
12 Flag of Germany Germany Katja Ebstein Theater German -- 2 128
13 Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom Prima Donna Love Enough For Two English 3 106
14 Flag of Portugal Portugal José Cid Um grande, grande amor Portuguese A big, big love 7 71
15 Flag of The Netherlands The Netherlands Maggie MacNeal Amsterdam Dutch -- 5 93
16 Flag of France France Profil Hé, hé M'sieurs, dames French Hey, hey, ladies and gentlemen 11 45
17 Flag of Ireland Ireland Johnny Logan What's Another Year English -- 1 143
18 Flag of Spain Spain Trigo Limpio Quédate esta noche Spanish Stay tonight 12 38
19 Flag of Belgium Belgium Télex Eurovision French -- 17 14

Trivia[]

  • This was the first year the points were read in ascending numerical order.   This was to increase the excitement factor for the audience as to which country would get the 12 points.
  • Presenter Marlous Fluitsma used a different phone to call each country for their results during the voting sequence, most notably a Mickey Mouse phone was used to call the United Kingdom.
  • Katja Ebstein became the only artist to finish in the top three on three different occasions without having won the contest.
  • Israel became the first country to not defend its title after winning in 1979.
  • The Belgian entry was the first (and at present, only) song to mention the contest directly by name and include "Te Deum" in its melody.
  • Hé, hé M'sieurs, dames marks the 400th song performed in the contest.
  • Eurovision Again used the scoreboard images from The Reorder Board YouTube channel during the voting for its airing of the 1980 contest in July 2021. This made the scoring easier to follow.
  • It would be the last time that another country stepped in to host by deferral from the winning nation until 2023, when the United Kingdom hosted on behalf of Ukraine (winner of 2022) when it was impossible for the latter to do so.
Eurovision Song Contest
Editions
195619571958195919601961196219631964196519661967196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979198019811982198319841985198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Countries
AlbaniaAndorraArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHungaryIcelandIrelandIsraelItalyLatviaLithuaniaLuxembourgMaltaMoldovaMonacoMontenegroMoroccoThe NetherlandsNorth MacedoniaNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSerbiaSerbia and MontenegroSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTurkeyUnited KingdomUkraineYugoslavia
Winning Songs
RefrainNet Als ToenDors, mon amourEen beetjeTom PillibiNous les amoureuxUn premier amourDanseviseNon ho l'etàPoupée de Cire, Poupée de SonMerci, ChériePuppet on a StringLa, La, LaBoom Bang-a-BangVivo CantandoUn jour, un enfantDe TroubadourAll Kinds of EverythingUn banc, un arbre, une rueAprès ToiTu Te ReconnaîtrasWaterlooDing-a-DongSave Your Kisses For MeL'Oiseau et l'enfantA-Ba-Ni-BiHallelujahWhat's Another YearMaking Your Mind UpEin bißchen FriedenSi la vie est cadeauDiggiloo DiggileyLa Det SwingeJ'aime La VieHold Me NowNe Partez Pas Sans MoiRock MeInsieme: 1992Fångad av en stormvindWhy Me?In Your EyesRock 'n' Roll KidsNocturneThe VoiceLove Shine a LightDivaTake Me To Your HeavenFly on the Wings of LoveEverybodyI WannaEveryway That I CanWild DancesMy Number OneHard Rock HallelujahMolitvaBelieveFairytaleSatelliteRunning ScaredEuphoriaOnly TeardropsRise Like a PhoenixHeroes1944Amar pelos doisToyArcadeZitti e buoniStefaniaTattoo
Specials
Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song ContestEurovision's Greatest HitsEurope Shine a Light
Aspects of Eurovision
CommentatorEuroClubEurovision VillageExecutive SupervisorFlag ParadeGrand PrixGreen RoomHead of DelegationInterval ActNational FinalNational JuryOfficial RulesOpening CeremonyPre-PartiesPre-Song PostcardsReference GroupRest of the World VoteRunning Order DrawSemi-FinalsScoreboardSpokespersonTelevotingVoting Systems
Miscellaneous
Big FiveCurse of 43Curse of Number TwoCurse of GreenDouze Points!ESCRadio AwardsESC Top 250Eurovision AgainEurovision National BroadcastersEurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire SagaFounding SevenLGBT visibilityLynda WoodruffMarcel Bezençon AwardsNul PointsOGAERecordsStand-insThe Reorder BoardTie SituationTop Scoring SongsVoting DiasporaWinner's CurseWithdrawn SongsYou're a Vision Award
Advertisement