It’s that time of year again when the next two weeks are given over to the fun and excitement of the build up to the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest, this year to be held in Basel , Switzerland. My colleagues , John ,James and Richard are already out and about around there , so in the meantime , those of us back in Blighty will keep you entertained with all things Eurovision!

There is no doubt that Eurovision over the years has often given us lots of rather entertaining moments, apart from the singing ! Ranging from the funny, to weird, to dramatic and sometimes serious .Who could, for example, forget the four country win back in 1969 , or host Lil Lindfors , losing her skirt at the contest in Gothenburg in 1985? We at Eurovision decided it would be fun to look back at some of those entertaining moments , so each day during the run up to Basel 2025, we will be refreshing those memories by looking at one of those special moments .

Today’s Hi-light

Today we are taking a trip back to 1981 when the contest was held in Dublin, Ireland. Now, while most of our special moments involve the actual performers, there have also been occasions where the juries have given us some amusing moments too, particularly in the days before we could see the jury spokesperson . Back in 1981, the juries were called up by phone , with the presenter asking the country spokesperson for their votes . Sounds easy? Well it usually was, except that when it came to Yugoslavia’s turn to give their votes ,when presenter , Doireann Ni Bhriain, asked for their votes, the conversation started off with a slight pause, then the Yugoslavian spokesperson announcing ….”I don’t have it!”. That spokesperson was none other than Helga Vlahovic , who went on to present the 1990 contest in Zagreb ,along with Oliver Mlakar ,

What do you think? Do you remember this moment? What is your favourite memory of Eurovision ?Let us know by lea ving a comment in our comments box and you can find us on our FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, BLUESKY and X feeds.

You can see our previous memories HERE and HERE

Keep a look out for more of our favourite memories each day here at Eurovision Ireland !

Author: Sarah Rudman

Source: Eurovision Ireland, RTE

Visual Source : You Tube , James Scanlan.