Sweet Dreams was a British vocal trio composed of Carrie Gray (later Grant), Helen Kray and

Bobby McVay Robert (Bobby) McVay (born Glasgow) is a British singer and radio broadcaster. In 1983, he represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest as a member of the band Sweet Dreams. Singing the song " I'm Never Giving Up", the trio came ...

. This teen trio represented the UK in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1983 The Eurovision Song Contest 1983 was the 28th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It was held in Munich, then West Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Ein bißchen Frieden" by Nicole (German singer), Nicole. ...

with the song "

I'm Never Giving Up "I'm Never Giving Up", written and composed by Ron Roker, Jan Pulsford, and Phil Wigger, was the 's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, performed by the trio Sweet Dreams. Sweet Dreams won the right to perform at Munich by winning the UK n ...

Overview

The band was put together specifically to perform "I'm Never Giving Up" in ''A Song for Europe 1983'', the United Kingdom's preliminary round to the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest. Sweet Dreams were often compared to the band

Bucks Fizz Bucks Fizz were a British pop group that achieved success in the 1980s, most notably for winning the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Making Your Mind Up". The group was formed in January 1981 specifically for the contest and comp ...

,Evening Times; 19 August 1983 article; p.12. because they were both mixed-gender bands.

was a band from the UK, which won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "

Making Your Mind Up "Making Your Mind Up" is a song by the British pop group Bucks Fizz. It was the winner of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, representing the , and was composed by Andy Hill and John Danter. Released in March 1981, it was Bucks Fizz's debut si ...

." Bucks Fizz was the evident prototype for several acts entered in the 1982 UK edition of ''A Song for Europe''—including "Lovin' Feeling," another ''A Song for Europe 1983'' entrant. In 1982, "Lovin' Feeling" had featured McVay (in an otherwise female quartet) and had finished fourth with the song "Different Worlds, Different People."

''A Song for Europe 1983''

Sweet Dreams was the first of the eight contestants to perform on the

BBC-TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

A Song for Europe A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'' broadcast live from the

BBC Television Theatre Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

on 24 March 1983. Based on the tally from eight regional juries, "I'm Never Giving Up" was named the UK entrant for Eurovision 1983, receiving 109 points. In second place was "We've got all the Time in the World" by the band

Mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...

(also composed of two females and one male), which received 91 points. This trio was formed of twins

Tina & Sharon Enticott Tina may refer to: People *Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places *Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia * Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomon ...

and Dave Lusher.

Eurovision 1983

On the night of Eurovision 1983, held at

Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, also known by its sponsorship name of Audi Dome, is an indoor arena located in Sendling-Westpark, Munich, Germany. It was initially named after the president of the Bavarian State Sport Association. The 6,700-seat hall opene ...

in Munich, Sweet Dreams performed "I'm Never Giving Up" third in a field of twenty. They finished the contest in sixth place. In 2008, Carrie Gray (now known as Carrie Grant) stated "We came sixth, which actually at the time was really shameful, but these days that would be a serious result." The sixth-place finish of "I'm Never Giving Up" at Eurovision 1983 largely replicated the UK' standing at Eurovision 1982 when "

One Step Further "One Step Further", written by Simon Jefferis, was the 's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1982, performed by the duo Bardo, comprising Sally Ann Triplett and Stephen Fischer. Background Bardo were chosen to perform at the 1982 Eurovision So ...

" by

Bardo In some schools of Buddhism, ''bardo'' ( xct, བར་དོ་ Wylie: ''bar do'') or ''antarābhava'' (Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as ''zhōng yǒu'' and in Japanese as ''chū'u'') is an intermediate, transitio ...

had finished seventh: however while "One Step Further" had afforded Bardo a #2 UK hit "I'm Never Giving Up" rose no higher than #21 UK - in spite of a ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' appearance.

Later career

Sweet Dreams released a follow-up single "17 Electric (Look Out!)" in August 1983. To downplay the group's Eurovision association, the single was credited to "Dreams". However, "17 Electric (Look Out!)" failed to chart, precipitating the dissolution of the Sweet Dreams/Dreams trio by the end of 1983. Carrie Grant commented on the failure of "I'm Never Giving Up" to become a major hit or to afford Sweet Dreams any lasting success, saying, "Eurovision was so popular

n the UK N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

when I was growing up. It started to go off the boil n 1983 whenthere was a backlash for the first time." "I'm Never Giving Up" also gave Sweet Dreams a Top 30 hit in Ireland (#25). After the disbanding of the group, Gray went on to become a TV presenter, presenting ''

Fame Academy ''Fame Academy'' was a British television talent competition to search for and educate new musical talents. The winner received a chance to become a successful music artist and part of the international franchise ''Star Academy'' known under va ...

'' among others, while McVay became a radio presenter and later resumed his singing career when he joined

The Fizz The Fizz are a British pop music group formed in 2004 as a spin-off from the original group, Bucks Fizz. The core of the group consists of Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston, who are all former members of Bucks Fizz and performed as OBF ( ...

in 2015.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1983 English pop music groups British musical trios