United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983


The United Kingdom was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983 by Sweet Dreams with the song "I'm Never Giving Up". It was chosen as the British entry through the national selection process and placed sixth at Eurovision, receiving 79 points.

Before Eurovision

A Song for Europe 1983

The television show was used once again to select the British entry, as it had since the United Kingdom's debut at the Contest in 1957.

Competing entries

Of the entries, songwriters Tony Hiller, Martin Lee and Paul Curtis had had songs in the Eurovision final before. Songwriter Marty Kristian had competed with The New Seekers in 1972. His group featured former New Seekers singer Kathy Ann Rae and former entrant Lance Aston. "When the Kissing Stops" was originally intended for former winners Brotherhood of Man, but they declined the offer to appear. The group did go on to record the song however and it featured on their album Lightning Flash.

Final

The final was held on 24 March 1983 at the Television Theatre in London, and was hosted by Terry Wogan. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded. The votes of eight regional juries based in Cardiff, Belfast, Norwich, Glasgow, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and London decided the winner. Each jury region awarded 15 points to their favourite song, 12 points to the second, 10 points to the third and then 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 points in order of preference for the songs from 4th to 8th.

At Eurovision

After Bardo's "One Step Further" in the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest, the United Kingdom placed one spot better at sixth place, scoring 79 points, with "I'm Never Giving Up" by Sweet Dreams.
Terry Wogan provided the television commentary for BBC 1, additionally Wogan also provided commentary for viewers in Ireland and Australia for RTÉ 1 and SBS via the BBC. Due to the contest being held on St. George's Day, BBC Radio 2 opted not to broadcast the contest as they had already made plans to broadcast The St. George's Day Concert held at the same time. Colin Berry returned as spokesperson for the UK jury.

Points awarded to the United Kingdom

Points awarded by the United Kingdom

10 points
8 points
7 points
6 points
5 points
4 points
3 points
2 points
1 point