Samantha Janus Samantha Zoe Womack (''née'' Janus; born 2 November 1972) is an English actress, singer, model and director who has worked in film, television and stage. Womack initially planned a career in singing and she represented the United Kingdom in ...

represented United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 with the Paul Curtis-written song "

A Message to Your Heart "A Message to Your Heart", written and composed by Paul Curtis, was the 's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1991, performed by singer and actress Samantha Janus. Paul Curtis had also penned the previous year's entry, "Give a Little Love Back t ...

", which was placed 10th.

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1991

That year's ''

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

'' was held on 29 March 1991 and was hosted by

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 week ...

. Following the somewhat negative comments by one member of the celebrity panel in 1990, the panel idea was dropped in 1991. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of

Ronnie Hazlehurst Ronald Hazlehurst (13 March 1928 – 1 October 2007) was an English composer and conductor who, having joined the BBC in 1961, became its Light Entertainment Musical Director. Hazlehurst composed the theme tunes for many well-known Briti ...

as conductor accompanied all the songs, the musicians appearing on camera for the first time since 1978. The eight songs in contention to represent the UK were presented during Terry Wogan's ''

Wogan ''Wogan'' is a British television talk show which was broadcast on BBC1 from 1982 until 1992, presented by Terry Wogan. It was usually broadcast live from the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush, London, until 1991. It was then broadcas ...

'' chat show on BBC1. Two songs were presented during each of four broadcasts between 20 and 27 March. A separate results show was broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

the same evening. BBC Radio 2 simulcast the final, with commentary by

Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...

, but did not broadcast the results show. Malcolm Roberts had been one of six singers who had jointly represented Luxembourg in the ''

Eurovision Song Contest 1985 The Eurovision Song Contest 1985 was the 30th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Gothenburg, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" by Herreys. Organised by the European ...

'', thus becoming the second entrant in a UK final to have participated in Eurovision for another nation, after Dan Duskey (aka Michael Palace) in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

UK Discography

*Samantha Janus - ''A Message to Your Heart'': Hollywood HWD104 (7" Single)/HDW104T (12" Single)/HWD104CD (CD Single). *Malcolm Roberts - ''One Love'': Madierpo 92/002 (Belgian release only).

At Eurovision

Samantha Janus went on to represent United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991, she performed 20th on the night, after Spain and before Cyprus, finishing 10th with 47 points. Her backing singers on the night (as they had been in the UK final) were Zoe Picot, Lucy Moorby and

Lyn Paul Lyn Paul (born Lynda Susan Belcher; 16 February 1949) is an English pop singer and actress. She came to fame as a member of the international chart-topping pop group the New Seekers in the early 1970s. She has more recently found success and criti ...

's sister Nikki Belcher. They were supported at the back of the stage by session singers

Hazell Dean Hazell Dean ( Poole; born 27 October 1952) is an English dance-pop singer, who achieved her biggest success in the 1980s as a leading Hi-NRG artist. She is best known for the top-ten hits in the United Kingdom "Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)", ...

and former

Belle and the Devotions Belle and the Devotions were a British pop group, ostensibly a group named after the singer Kit Rolfe. Under this name, she released the singles "Where Did Love Go Wrong?" and "Got to Let You Know" in 1983. In 1984, two other members, Laura Jam ...

lead singer, Kit Rolfe, who had been brought to Rome during rehearsals to help 'fix the vocals'.

Voting

References

{{Eurovision Song Contest 1991

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

Countries in the Eurovision Song Contest 1991 Eurovision Eurovision