The 1979 winner, Israel, did not have the means to host the song contest again so the BBC was asked to organize the event.

They declined, so the Netherlands became the organiser despite the fact that there was not enough time left and Dutch TV NOS had to re-use most of the stage from 1976 when they hosted the contest last.

NOS picked April 19th as the date for the song contest, but as this was the Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, the defending champion decided not to participate which marked the only time when the winner of one Eurovision Song Contest didn't participate in the next edition.

For the second time, the Eurovision champion winner, Ireland, was the host for the event which took place in Dublin.

In 1981, the total amount of participating countries was 20 once again equalling the record set three years earlier in Paris.

The opening sequence of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest showed 'old Ireland' blending into 'modern Ireland' with shots of Celtic ruins, cliffs, castles, edited together with close-ups of art and shots of planes, waterfalls, people in the park, children feeding birds, traditional door knockers, front doors, architecture and horse races. The sequence ended with a map of Europe on a globe which span round to reveal the Eurovision Song Contest logo.

The fairly unknown Harrogate in the UK was this year's host city of the Eurovision Song Contest.

France was absent due to the fact that the national broadcaster thought that the Eurovision Song Contest would not be interesting for its viewers any longer. But only a year later in 1983, France returned to the contest with a different broadcaster.

Greece also withdrew from the contest, leaving 18 countries in the competition. Greece was supposed to enter the contest with the song Sarantapente Kopelies performed by Themis Adamantidis but the Greek minister of culture Melina Mercouri decided to withdraw the song just two weeks before the contest as it did not meet her quality standards.

For the second time since 1957, the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Germany, this time in Munich.

The presenter of this year's song contest was Marlene Charell who presented the performers in three languages, German, French and English, but she was very nervous and made 13 mistakes in the voting alone. She also mixed up the names of the performers and the conductors to the displeasure of the artists.

Italy, France and Greece returned but Ireland decided to stay out. The set was quite small but unique as the stage was arc-shaped surrounding the orchestra section.

After last holding the contest in 1973, Luxembourg played host for the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest.

The total number of participants was 19, one country less than in the preceding year as Greece decided not to enter a song. The contest also clashed with Israel's Remembrance Day, so the country wasn't present in Luxembourg either. Ireland returned to the contest though, finishing second.

The host country, Luxembourg, had problems finding a suitable venue. In the end, RTL decided to hold the contest in the tiny Théâtre Municipal and as a consequence, only VIPs, press and members of each country's delegation were allowed in.

The city of Gothenburg was chosen by the Swedish broadcaster to be the host city of the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest.

This year, the Netherlands chose to withdraw from the contest because it collided with the country's national Remembrance Day. Yugoslavia also decided to stay home because of a national holiday.

The contest was hosted by former participant Lill Lindfors who shocked the audience with an act in which it seemed that her skirt was torn off. This was of course well-rehearsed, and remains one of the most-remembered highlights in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest. She also congratulated the Norwegian team by saying: "I’m so happy for you – Norway has been last so many times that you really deserve it!"

For the first time, Norway had the honour of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest in its 31st edition.

The Netherlands and Yugoslavia returned, Italy and Greece withdrew from the from the contest and Iceland made their debut. Iceland had wanted to participate for some years already, but the small Atlantic island nation had to wait until a satellite connection to Iceland could be established.

The contest was one big commercial for Norway as a country as all the postcards introducing the participants showed the beauty of the Norwegian landscape.

Belgium had the honour of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in the country's history.

The highest number of participants ever entered this year's song contest: 22 countries found their way to Brussels. Greece and Italy returned after one year's absence.

The 1986 contest was won by a Walloon entry, but in 1987 the Flemish broadcaster, BRT, was responsible for the Belgian entry. BRT also wanted to co-organise the contest, but the Walloon broadcaster, RTBF decided to organise the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest on their own. The presenter of the 3-hour-show was the successful Belgian artist Viktor Laszlo who opened the contest presenting her latest song Breathless.

In 1988, 21 countries participated in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Cyprus decided to withdraw because their entry did not match the rules of the contest - it had already been published previously. The venue of the 1988 contest was the same as in 1981, but this time, RTÉ managed to create a very special stage that created the illusion of a space-age-style grid which suggested that it was a huge arena with lots of lighting and special effects. Even nowadays, this set is still praised by experts.

The 1988 Eurovision Song Contest was hosted in Dublin for the third time, and featured one of the most exciting voting sequences in the long history of the contest.

Lausanne had never hosted the Eurovision Song Contest before.

In fact it was only the second time since 1956 that Swiss TV had the chance to host Europe's biggest musical event. With Cyprus back in competition, there were 22 countries again, just like in 1987.

The French participant Nathalie Pâque was just 11 years old and one of the Israeli representatives just one year older which led the European Broadcasting Union to a change of rules in the coming years, that a participant had to reach the age 16 in the year the contest was held.