Yugoslavia was present at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981, held in

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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 ...

, after last participating at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1976 The Eurovision Song Contest 1976 was the 21st edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in The Hague, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In. Organised by the European Broad ...

contest in

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Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Before Eurovision

Jugovizija 1981

After a four-year break, Yugoslavia returned to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981. The Yugoslav national final to select their entry, ''Jugovizija 1981'', was held on 28 February at the Belgrade TV Studios, and was hosted by Minja Subota and

Helga Vlahović Helga Vlahović (28 January 1945 – 27 February 2012) was a Croatian journalist, producer, and television personality, whose career spanned five decades in both SFR Yugoslavia and later Croatia. She was one of the most popular television pre ...

. Sixteen songs made it to the national final, which was broadcast by JRT to all of the regions of Yugoslavia. The winner was decided by the votes of eight regional juries (

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

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Titograd Podgorica (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Подгорица, ; Literal translation, lit. 'under the hill') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city was formerly known as Titograd ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

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and

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). The winning entry was "Lejla", performed by Bosnian singer

Seid Memić Vajta Seid Memić, known by his stage name Vajta, (born 8 March 1950, in Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is a Bosnian singer and the vocalist for the Yugoslav rock band Teška industrija ("Heavy Industry"). In 1973, Vajta moved to Sarajevo and that ...

and composed by Ranko Boban.

At Eurovision

Yugoslavia performed 7th on the night of the contest, following Denmark and preceding Finland. At the close of voting it had received 35 points, placing 15th out of 20 contestants. The Yugoslav jury awarded its 12 points to Switzerland.

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 ...