United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984
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| Eurovision Song Contest 1984 | |
|---|---|
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| National selection | |
| Selection process | A Song For Europe |
| Selection date(s) | 4 April 1984 |
| Selected entrant | Belle and the Devotions |
| Selected song | "Love Games" |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 7th, 63 points |
The United Kingdom was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1984 by Belle and the Devotions with the song "Love Games". It was chosen as the British entry through the A Song for Europe national selection process and placed seventh at Eurovision, receiving 63 points.
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[edit] A Song for Europe 1984
The television show A Song for Europe was used once again to select the British entry, as it had since the United Kingdom's debut at the Contest in 1957. It was held on Wednesday 4 April and was hosted once again by Terry Wogan.
[edit] Entries
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The contest got off to an unmemorable start with Caprice singing Magical music. Alas it wasn't. This was a mid-tempo offering with a particularly weak orchestration. The lyrics told of a "sonic vibration, ungodly creation". Caprice consisted of Linda Hayes, Robert Greenfield, Mark Parnell, Steve Carter, Roger Askew and Josh Greifer. The group were originally called Cayenne.
Nina Shaw performed a more sturdy effort, Look at me now. With an endearing lisp, she belted out this mid-tempo song.
A former Welsh miner named Bryan Evans sang the first ballad of the night, This love is deep, a pleasant enough song but not memorable enough for a Euro audience.
The ever-present Paul Curtis had a hand in four of the finalists in 1984. Belle & the Devotions were the first of his performers, ostensibly three traffic lights on long legs. Dressed in day-glo bin-liners they sang Love games, a sub-Motown effort.
First Division ticked all the required Eurovision boxes i.e. two boys and two girls with an uptempo song, Where the action is. The entry involved a great deal of dancing, performed at a frenetic pace. Too manic for Eurovision? Group memebers were: Judy Lerose, Karla McClain, David Lane and Tim Clark. Tim was also in the Aces who backed Duke aka Paul Curtis at the UK final in 1980 as well as in the group Ritzy who were in the UK final of 1983.
Things quietened a little with Miriam Anne Lesley and Let it shine. This was a strong, anthemic ballad which Miriam had to perform while descending a spiral staircase. Surely an unfair move by the show's producers?
And then came Sinitta. Just a few months before So macho hit the charts, the lithe chanteuse tried her hand at Eurovision with the song Imagination. This was an energetic, repetitive pop song accompanied by dizzying camerawork. Her song "Imagination" was written by the trusted combination of Paul Curtis and Tony Hiller as was billed on the night as The Main Event. Tony had previously entered A Song for Europe in 1962 with the song "There's never been a girl".
Finally, another singer popular with the gay audience, Hazell Dean. She had previously appeared in the 1976 UK final, sporting an evening gown and a pudding-bowl hairdo. Surprisingly her 1984 entry, Stay in my life, was a pleading ballad. It did not fare well. Hazel only got into the final because the song "The first time" by Brian Fairweather and Martin Page had been disqualified. Hazel would later join Kit Rolfe to back Samantha Janus in Rome at the 1991 contest. Brian had previously written "Dancing in Heaven (orbital Be-Bop)" at the 1982 Song for Europe.
[edit] Voting and results
Edinburgh, Norwich, Belfast, London, Cardiff, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham were the centres delivering their votes. As usual it was 15 points to their favourite followed by 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5. Belle and the Devotions romped home with 112 points followed by First Division with 79. Nina Shaw scored 78, Sinitta 77 followed by a gap of fifteen points. Miriam Anne Lesley's 62 points was followed by Caprice with 60, Hazell Dean with 55 and Bryan Evans trailing with 53.
[edit] At Eurovision Song Contest 1984
Belle & the Devotions were booed off the stage at the Contest while the three backing singers for the group were never seen by the TV viewers (the BBC maintained that this was because one was pregnant) and The Devotions mimed along. English football fans in the previous Autumn had run riot in Luxembourg, causing damage to the city. The hostile reception of boos and jeers can therefore be understood. Despite the reception, the group finished 7th with 63 points. Sweden ended up winning the competition with the song "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley".
[edit] See also
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