Tomas Ledin

Basic information

Date:

19 April 1980

Venue:

Nederlands Congresgebouw, Den Haag, The Netherlands

Broadcaster:

NOS

Presenter(s):

Marlous Fluitsma

About the contest:

Not unreasonably, the Israeli’s didn’t fancy hosting the contest for a second successive year; indeed they didn’t take part at all. The BBC was asked to organise it but declined, so Dutch broadcaster NOS took up the mantle. There was so little time left that NOS had to dig out the set from the set they built for the 1976 contest.

Monaco withdrew and wouldn’t return until 2004. Turkey returned and was joined by its Arabic cousins, Morocco. It would be the only time Morocco would enter the contest. This allowed the number of entries to remain at 17 from the year before.

The familiar faces were Katja Ebstein, Maggie MacNeal and Paola, but there was also a glimpse of the future. Sally-Ann Triplett was part of Prima Donna and would be one half of Bardo two years later, Anna Vissi made the first of three appearances and last, but certainly not least, Australian born Johnny Logan won for the first time.

NOS came up with the novel idea that each song would be introduced by a personality from that country. They would come onto the stage and briefly talk about their country’s representative. A good idea but one which was never used again.

Trivia:

Scandal erupted in Belgium when it was discovered that the three members of Telex weren’t professional musicians, but were actually employees of the Belgian broadcaster who selected the song.

About the songs:

Blue Danube	Austria - Blue Danube - Du Bist Musik (German) Music/Lyrics: Klaus-Peter Sattler Conductor: Richard Österreicher Synchronised choreography, a list of famous composers and a key change easier to spot than a feminist at a Jim Davidson gig: what more does a song need?
Ajda Pekkan	Turkey - Ajda Pekkan - Petr'oil (Turkish) Music/Lyrics: Atilla Ozdemiroglu/Sanar Yurdatapan Conductor: Atilla Ozdemiroglu For those fed up with songs about love, this is something completely different. In the days before tourism, oil was the big industry and Ajda played it straight while singing its praises.
Anna Vishy	Greece - Anna Vishy and the Epikouri - Autostop (Greek) Music/Lyrics: Jick Nakassian/Rony Sofou Conductor: Jick Nakassian Anna, one of Greece’s biggest stars, made her contest debut with a song which probably wouldn’t feature highly on her greatest hits album.
Sophie and Magaly	Luxembourg - Sophie and Magaly - Papa Pingouin (French) Music/Lyrics: Pierre Delanoë, Jean-Paul Cara/ Ralph Siegel, Bernd Meinunger Conductor: Norbert Daum Drifting into the bizarre, Luxembourg sent two petit sisters and a large man in a penguin outfit. It’s easy to hum along with, but was it really necessary to dress the backing singers up as penguins too?
Samira Bensaïd	Morocco - Samira Bensaïd - Bitakat Hob (Arabic) Music/Lyrics: Abdel Ati Amenna/Malou Rouanne Conductor: Jean Claudric Morocco’s first and so far only foray into the contest is very Arabic. It was certainly a different sound for the contest and starts well, but eventually, the end seems a long time coming.
Alan Sorrenti	Italy - Alan Sorrenti - Non So Che Darei (Italian) Music/Lyrics: Alan Sorrenti/Alan Sorrenti Conductor: Del Newman After taking a couple of off years, Italy returned to form. Alan’s voice sounds quite normal during the verses, but goes soprano for the chorus.
Bamses Venner	Denmark - Bamses Venner - Tænker Altid På Dig (Danish) Music/Lyrics: Bjarne Gren Jensen/Flemming Jorgensen Conductor: Allan Botschinsky Bamses Venner were four men in stripy jumpers who kept movement to a minimum as they performed this easy to remember little song. A bit of swaying from side to side sufficed.
Tomas Ledin	Sweden - Tomas Ledin - Just Nu (Swedish) Music/Lyrics: Tomas Ledin/Tomas Ledin Conductor: Anders Berglund Just Nu is a rock song and Tomas struts around the stage like a true rock star. There are shades of Mick Jagger in the way he carried the microphone stand.
Paola	Switzerland - Paola - Cinéma (French) Music/Lyrics: Peter Reber/Peter Reber, Véronique Muller Conductor: Peter Reber Eleven years after she finished fifth in the contest, Paola’s second effort is a quirky tune which grows steadily from a reserved start as does Paola’s performance.
Vesa-Matti Loiri	Finland - Vesa-Matti Loiri - Huilumies (Finnish) Music/Lyrics: Aarno Raninen/Vexi Salmi Conductor: Ossi Runne Vesa combines singing with playing the flute, although not at the same time! Huilumies is a slightly messy song which fails to leave an impression.
Sverre Kjellsberg and Mattis Hætta	Norway - Sverre Kjellsberg and Mattis Hætta - Sámiid Ædnan (Norwegian) Music/Lyrics: Sverre Kjellsberg/Ragnar Olsen Conductor: Sigurd Jansen The Sami people live north of the Arctic Circle and the threats facing their very traditional way of life were highlighted in this very ethnic song, which also includes the traditional Sami song
Katja Ebstein	Germany - Katja Ebstein - Theater (German) Music/Lyrics: Ralph Siegel/ Bernd Meinunger Conductor: Wolfgang Rődelberger Katia’s third and final Eurovision entry could be from the musical Caberet. She’s ably assisted by four men wearing black suits whose faces are painted white.
Prima Donna	United Kingdom - Prima Donna - Love Enough For Two (English) Music/Lyrics: Stephanie de Sykes, Stuart Slater/ Stephanie de Sykes, Stuart Slater Conductor: John Coleman Having survived a tie-break in the British selection show, Prima Donna, a six member vocal group of three men and three women, gave a suitably smiley performance of this cheerful song.
José Cid	Portugal - José Cid - Um Grande, Grande Amor (Portuguese) Music/Lyrics: José Cid/José Cid Conductor: Jorge Machado Saying goodbye in four different languages, José led the way through this mostly lively number, which is quite infectious.
Maggie MacNeal	The Netherlands - Maggie MacNeal - Amsterdam (Dutch) Music/Lyrics: Frans Smit, Sjoukje Smit, Robert Verwey/Alex Alberts Conductor: Rogier van Otterloo Six years after her successful collaboration with the charismatic Mouth, Maggie represented the hosts with a slightly self-obsessed song, but it’s none the worse for that and is worth a listen.
Profil	France - Profil - Hé, Hé M'sieurs Dames (French) Music/Lyrics: Sylvano Santorio/Richard de Bordeaux, Richard Joffo Conductor: Sylvano Santorio Profil wore matching outfits with multi coloured stripes across the front. They were co-ordinated to the extent of the stripes joining up along the line of the five singers. As for the song, it’s quite europop.
Johnny Logan	Ireland - Johnny Logan - What's Another Year (English) Music/Lyrics: Shay Healy/Shay Healy Conductor: Noel Kelehan The most successful of contest careers started here. It’s a heartbreaking ballad about the struggle Shay Healy’s Dad had coming to terms with the death of his wife.
Trigo Limpio	Spain - Trigo Limpio - Qué Date Esta Noche (Spanish) Music/Lyrics: José Antonio Martin/José Antonio Martin Conductor: Javier Iturralde The Spanish entry spends it’s time rising and dipping in volume and pace. The chorus is virtually chanted rather than sung.
Telex	Belgium - Telex - Euro-vision (French) Music/Lyrics: Daniel Dupret, Michel Muert, Marc Mullart/ Daniel Dupret, Michel Muert, Marc Mullart Conductor: It’s not quite Kraftwerk, but electro-pop makes an early appearance in the contest before it became trendy. Who says the Eurovision Song Contest has always been stuck in the past.