Talk:United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

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A group called Headache opened the contest with "Not Without Your Ticket (Don't Go)" written by Luis Jardim and Jean Gilbert. The group consisted of David Cooke, Jean Gilbert, Luis Jardim, Val McKenna and Martyn David.

Gary Benson, as a songwriter, had qualified for the UK finals of 1974 and 1975 and 1977 (writing "Someday", "Don't Throw it All Away" (which he would later release himself and earn a top 20 hit) and "After All This Time" for Olivia Newton John, The Shadows and Wesley Park and Smith respectively. In 1981 he performed his own entry, a ballad called "All Cried Out".

Unity were described as a female chorale, led by Sue Glover. Glover had previously been a member of Brotherhood of Man and had also provided Eurovision backing vocals for the UK's Lulu in 1969 and Germany's Joy Fleming in 1975. Unity (whose number included The Bill actress Lisa Maxwell) performed "For Only a Day", an anthem. The chorus was of five children called Lisa, Tracey, Linda, Annabel and Astra. It went on to be the Miss World song in the 1980s. The song was written by Chris Gunning and John Dawson Read. Astra Sheridan played "Yellow" Kang in Dr.Who episode "Paradise Towers". Lyndy Brill aka Linda Brill became an actress after the UK final and played Cathy Hargreaves in the BBC children's drama Grange Hill. Lisa Maxwell went on to host the BBC2 programme "No Limits" and then went on to play the character DI Sam Nixon in the ITV drame "The Bill". Sue Glover was born in India and together with her sister Heather formed the group The Myrtelles. Sue and Sunny aka Heather would later sing backing vocals in 1985 for Vikki at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Another strong anthemic ballad was "Wish" performed by Beyond. The song was written by Don Gould and Steve Elson. Beyond went on to be the backing band of Kate Robbins later that year where they scored a top ten hit with "More Than in Love".

Bucks Fizz was a two boy-two girl outfit singing "Making Your Mind Up". The song was a Rock'n'Roll 1950s-style number which depended as much on the dance routine as the vocal performance. Writers Andy Hill and John Danter were also responsible for the next song, "Have You Ever Been in Love" performed by Gem.This was another heart-rending ballad which later became a big hit for Leo Sayer.

Lezlee Carling performed another mid-tempo ballad, "Where Are You Now", written by Lindsey Moore. Lezlee Carling would later make an appearance on Three of a Kind in 1982.

She was followed by the best-known act of the night, Liquid Gold. "Don't Panic" was similar in style to their 1980 hit "Dance Yourself Dizzy" and both were written by Adrian Baker. The band was so sure of victory that they pre-recorded an appearance for that week's edition of Top of the Pops

--Tuzapicabit (talk) 12:02, 2 June 2012 (UTC)