The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition held on 4 April 1981 at the RDS Simmonscourt Pavilion in Dublin and presented by Doireann Ní Bhriain.
Israel returned after its year off, but Italy did not participate this year due to lack of interest, and Morocco withdrew permanently, whilst Cyprus made its debut. SFR Yugoslavia returned to the contest after five years of absence. In 1981, the total amount of participating countries was 20 once again, equaling the record set three years earlier in Paris.
The opening sequence of the 1981 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 1981 logo.
During the voting, Doireann was having trouble connecting with the Yugoslavian jury, and when asked for their votes the spokesperson, Helga Vlahovic, commented "I don't have it". This made for a comedic moment. Also, the scoreboard went awry part-way through with Ireland having over 300 points and nothing been added to France. That error soon resolved itself.
The United Kingdom won for the fourth time with the song Making Your Mind Up by Bucks Fizz, beating Germany to the win by 4 points. Swiss participants Peter Reber, Sue Schell & Marc Dietrich participated for the fourth and final time and for the fourth time in a different language, this time in Italian. Bucks Fizz notably did one of Eurovision's earlier costume changes, when the men tore off the women's skirts to reveal miniskirts.
Returning performers[]
| Artist(s) | Previous year(s) |
|---|---|
| Marty Brem | 1980 (member of Blue Danube) |
| Tommy Seebach | 1979 |
| Maxi (with Sheeba) | 1973 |
| Jean-Claude Pascal | 1961 (winner) |
| Björn Skifs | 1978 |
| Peter, Sue & Marc | 1971, 1976, 1979 |
| Cheryl Baker (with Bucks Fizz) | 1978 (member of Co-Co) |
Participants[]
| Draw | Country | Artist | Song | Language | Translation | Place | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  Austria
|
Marty Brem | Wenn du da bist | German | When you're here | 17 | 20 |
| 02 |  Türkiye
|
Modern Folk Trio & Ayşegül Aldinç | Dönme Dolap | Turkish | The carousel | 18 | 9 |
| 03 |  Germany
|
Lena Valaitis | Johnny Blue | German | -- | 2 | 132 |
| 04 |  Luxembourg
|
Jean-Claude Pascal | C'est peut-être pas l'Amérique | French | It may not be America | 11 | 41 |
| 05 |  Israel
|
Hakol Over Habibi | Halayla | Hebrew | Tonight | 7 | 56 |
| 06 |  Denmark
|
Tommy Seebach & Debbie Cameron | Krøller eller ej | Danish | Curls or not | 11 | 41 |
| 07 |  Yugoslavia
|
Seid Memic | Lejla | Bosnian | Leila | 15 | 35 |
| 08 |  Finland
|
Riki Sorsa | Reggae OK | Finnish | -- | 16 | 27 |
| 09 |  France
|
Jean Gabilou | Humanahum | French | 3 | 125 | |
| 10 |  Spain
|
Bachelli | Y sólo tú | Spanish | And only you | 14 | 38 |
| 11 |  The Netherlands
|
Linda Williams | Het is een wonder | Dutch | It is a wonder | 9 | 51 |
| 12 |  Ireland
|
Sheeba | Horoscopes | English | -- | 5 | 105 |
| 13 |  Norway
|
Finn Kalvik | Aldri i livet | Norwegian | Never in my life | 20 | 0 |
| 14 |  United Kingdom
|
Bucks Fizz | Making Your Mind Up | English | -- | 1 | 136 |
| 15 |  Portugal
|
Carlos Paião | Playback | Portuguese | 18 | 9 | |
| 16 |  Belgium
|
Emily Starr | Samson | Dutch | 13 | 40 | |
| 17 |  Greece
|
Yiannis Dimitras | Feggari Kalokerino | Greek | Summer moon | 8 | 55 |
| 18 |  Cyprus
|
Island | Monika | -- | 6 | 69 | |
| 19 |  Switzerland
|
Peter, Sue & Marc | Io senza te | Italian | Me without you | 4 | 121 |
| 20 |  Sweden
|
Björn Skifs | Fångad i en dröm | Swedish | Captured in a dream | 10 | 50 |