Ireland was represented by the female trio

Sheeba Sheeba were an all-girl pop trio popular in Ireland in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were Maxi, Marion Fossett and Frances Campbell. They are best known for representing the host nation, Ireland, in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 ...

in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1981 The Eurovision Song Contest 1981 was the 26th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Dublin, Ireland, following the country's victory at the with the song "What's Another Year" by Johnny Logan. Organised by the Europea ...

with the song "Horoscopes", written by Joe Kelly and Jim Burkett.

Before Eurovision

The National Song Contest 1981

Competing entries

Sheeba had previously appeared at the National finals in 1978, while member Maxi had performed for Ireland at the 1973 Eurovision finals. They were one of two female trios in the Contest - the other being The Duskey Sisters. Male/female groups were represented by opening act Tara and closing act Karen Black and The Nevada - the latter being a famous recording act in Ireland at the time under the line up of Roy Taylor, Karen Black and The Nevada. Their song "My Pet Parrot" was largely a novelty song (featuring a man dressed as a Parrot playing trombone (whom Black later claimed was drunk during the performance) and became heavily played on Irish radio. Tony Kenny was also a famous artist in Ireland at the time and had released many hit singles, as well as performing a number of times in the National finals. Nicola Kerr was known at the time for being a member of the current line-up of UK pop group (and former Eurovision entrants)

The New Seekers The New Seekers are a British pop group, formed in London in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music would hav ...

. The remaining two contestants were also solo females, Helen Jordan and Sylvia McFadden (who received 'nul points' with her own composition). Sheeba would later take part in the 1982 National Song Contest, where they came 7th. Two other artists competing this year entered also: Tony Kenny, who came 6th and The Duskey Sisters (as

The Duskeys The Duskeys was an Irish family pop group, known for their participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982 with the song " Here Today Gone Tomorrow". Background Formed after the break-up of Sandy Kelly's (real name Philomena Ellis) touring s ...

) who won.

Final

The final was held on 1 March 1981 at the RTE TV Studios in Dublin, hosted by

Mike Murphy Michael James Murphy (born 20 October 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, actor and property developer. He is best known for his long broadcasting career with RTÉ, presenting many TV shows such as ''The Live Mike'', '' Winning Streak'' and '' The Bi ...

. The winner was chosen by 10 regional juries. Killarney was due to announce their votes after Dublin, but due to connection problems, they had to announce their votes last. The show's result was a surprise as "My Pet Parrot" had been touted as the favourite to win before the Contest. The contest closed with all the Contestants performing

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

's "

I Write The Songs "I Write the Songs" is a popular song written by Bruce Johnston in 1975 and released on his album '' Going Public'' in 1977. Barry Manilow's version reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in January 1976 Bronson, Fred (2003). '' ...

" on stage as the credits rolled.

At Eurovision

The song is an up-tempo number, with the girls singing about the fascination some people have with

horoscopes A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...

and star signs. They explain that this is "crazy, crazy", because "it's we, not the stars above, who write our horoscopes". They tell their listeners that they have to work hard to achieve their goals in life instead of waiting and doing nothing ("success comes from what we do, not from what we're told"). The three singers wore revealing green dresses during the performance. The Eurovision final in 1981 was held at the RDS in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It was presented by Doireann Ní Bhriain. Sheeba were the 12th act to perform. ''Sheeba'' finished fifth in the Eurovision Song Contest final on April 4. They received two maximums of 12 points during the voting. The overall winner was

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The song "Horoscopes" became a No. 3 hit in the Irish charts.

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1981

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

1981 songs