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Eurovision Song Contest 1980
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Eurovision Song Contest 1980
The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 19 April 1980 at the Nederlands Congresgebouw in The Hague, Netherlands, and presented by Marlous Fluitsma. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), who staged the event after the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which had won the 1979 contest for Israel, declined hosting responsibilities as it had staged the competition in 1979. Although Fluitsma was the main presenter, each song was introduced by a presenter appointed by each participating broadcaster, that in some cases was the same person providing the commentary.
Broadcasters from nineteen countries took part this year, with Monaco and the previous year's winner Israel deciding not to participate, and Turkey returning. Morocco made its only appearance in the contest. It was the last Eurovision Song Contest not to be hosted in the previous edition's winning country until 2023.
The winner was Ireland with the song "What's Another Year", sung by Johnny Logan and written by Shay Healy.
The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which won the contest in 1979, renounced its right to host the 1980 edition on 13 August 1979. The resignation was the result of failed negotiations between the broadcaster and the Knesset, after lawmakers did not authorize extra budget allocations for another international production hosted by IBA in a short space of time. However, rumours later emerged that the resignation was in actuality due to a controversy related to the date of the contest, which had been provisionally confirmed for 19 April 1980, coinciding with the Yom HaZikaron holiday. The issue itself became controversial in Israel, thanks to a translation error in several documents sent by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to IBA at the end of 1979, when negotiations regarding the holding of the contest would begin. However, IBA tried to negotiate several times with the EBU the possibility of changing the date. However, none of them were fruitful and on 10 December 1979, the Israeli withdrawal was confirmed, following confirmation that the date chosen for the competition was 19 April 1980.
Following these incidents, the EBU apologised to IBA, but even with their arguments, the date of the competition could not be changed, since the schedule for the participating broadcasters was tight and many of them already had their participation plans and programming schedules set up. This caused an atypical situation, because it was the only time in history that the country that had won the previous year could not defend its title.
Upon learning of the decision taken by the IBA, the EBU sent a public apology, claiming that "the lack of employees with knowledge of the Hebrew language has placed it in a strained situation". The issue was resolved when the IBA publicly accepted the apologies and confirmed that regardless of what happened in the 1980 contest, it would return in 1981.
Many years later, Yair Lapid, son of the late Tommy Lapid who was the general director of the IBA at the time, told in his father's biography, "that when his father discovered that holding the contest for two years in a row by IBA could result in unexpected bankruptcy. In December 1979, when this argument was presented to the other broadcasters, only NOS immediately accepted".
As news arrived, the EBU triggered an emergency protocol and invited the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as reserve host broadcaster, something that had already happened four other times (1960, 1963, 1972, and 1974). However, this time alleging the same financial problems that delayed the 1977 contest, the BBC ended up not taking over production. The third option was Televisión Española (TVE), due to the fact that the Spanish entry had finished second the previous year. However, with the period of the Spanish transition to democracy having already started, TVE also declined, despite the fact that the tourism board of the Costa del Sol was already working in a bid with the Convention Center of Torremolinos as the venue with the aim of harnessing the area's touristic potential.
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Eurovision Song Contest 1980
The Eurovision Song Contest 1980 was the 25th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 19 April 1980 at the Nederlands Congresgebouw in The Hague, Netherlands, and presented by Marlous Fluitsma. It was organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), who staged the event after the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which had won the 1979 contest for Israel, declined hosting responsibilities as it had staged the competition in 1979. Although Fluitsma was the main presenter, each song was introduced by a presenter appointed by each participating broadcaster, that in some cases was the same person providing the commentary.
Broadcasters from nineteen countries took part this year, with Monaco and the previous year's winner Israel deciding not to participate, and Turkey returning. Morocco made its only appearance in the contest. It was the last Eurovision Song Contest not to be hosted in the previous edition's winning country until 2023.
The winner was Ireland with the song "What's Another Year", sung by Johnny Logan and written by Shay Healy.
The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA), which won the contest in 1979, renounced its right to host the 1980 edition on 13 August 1979. The resignation was the result of failed negotiations between the broadcaster and the Knesset, after lawmakers did not authorize extra budget allocations for another international production hosted by IBA in a short space of time. However, rumours later emerged that the resignation was in actuality due to a controversy related to the date of the contest, which had been provisionally confirmed for 19 April 1980, coinciding with the Yom HaZikaron holiday. The issue itself became controversial in Israel, thanks to a translation error in several documents sent by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to IBA at the end of 1979, when negotiations regarding the holding of the contest would begin. However, IBA tried to negotiate several times with the EBU the possibility of changing the date. However, none of them were fruitful and on 10 December 1979, the Israeli withdrawal was confirmed, following confirmation that the date chosen for the competition was 19 April 1980.
Following these incidents, the EBU apologised to IBA, but even with their arguments, the date of the competition could not be changed, since the schedule for the participating broadcasters was tight and many of them already had their participation plans and programming schedules set up. This caused an atypical situation, because it was the only time in history that the country that had won the previous year could not defend its title.
Upon learning of the decision taken by the IBA, the EBU sent a public apology, claiming that "the lack of employees with knowledge of the Hebrew language has placed it in a strained situation". The issue was resolved when the IBA publicly accepted the apologies and confirmed that regardless of what happened in the 1980 contest, it would return in 1981.
Many years later, Yair Lapid, son of the late Tommy Lapid who was the general director of the IBA at the time, told in his father's biography, "that when his father discovered that holding the contest for two years in a row by IBA could result in unexpected bankruptcy. In December 1979, when this argument was presented to the other broadcasters, only NOS immediately accepted".
As news arrived, the EBU triggered an emergency protocol and invited the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as reserve host broadcaster, something that had already happened four other times (1960, 1963, 1972, and 1974). However, this time alleging the same financial problems that delayed the 1977 contest, the BBC ended up not taking over production. The third option was Televisión Española (TVE), due to the fact that the Spanish entry had finished second the previous year. However, with the period of the Spanish transition to democracy having already started, TVE also declined, despite the fact that the tourism board of the Costa del Sol was already working in a bid with the Convention Center of Torremolinos as the venue with the aim of harnessing the area's touristic potential.
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