The United Kingdom held a national pre-selection to choose the song that would go to the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest. It was held on 15 February 1961 and presented by Katie Boyle. The songs were voted on by a total of 120 jurors aged between 19 and 40. who were divided into 12 juries of ten in the following cities: Aberdeen, Glasgow, Belfast, Leeds, Bangor, Manchester, Norwich, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Bristol and Southampton. The Eric Robinson Orchestra supplied the music and vocal backing was provided by the Beryl Stott Singers.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1962. It was held on 11 February 1962 and presented by David Jacobs.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1963. It was held on 24 February 1963 and presented by David Jacobs.
The United Kingdom held a national selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1964. It was held on 7 February 1964 and presented by David Jacobs.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1965. It was held on 29 January 1965 and presented by David Jacobs.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, with the BBC selecting Kenneth McKellar to perform all the entries under consideration. After performing the five shortlisted songs weekly on BBC1's Kenneth McKellar's A Song For Everyone, the final was held on 27 January 1966 and presented by David Jacobs.
The United Kingdom held a national pre-selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1967. It was held on 25 February 1967 and presented by Rolf Harris.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1968. It was held on 5 March 1968 and presented by Cilla Black as a special edition of her debut BBC1 TV series 'Cilla'. Black had been the BBC's first choice to sing the 1968 UK entry, but she had turned it down as she did not believe any nation was likely to win back-to-back contests. As in 1967 when the UK won with Sandie Shaw, a current pop singer, Cliff Richard, was chosen to sing the song.
The United Kingdom held a televised national pre-selection broadcast on BBC1 to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 with Scottish singer Lulu. After performing all six songs weekly on her eponymous TV series Lulu, the final was held on 22 February 1969 and presented by Michael Aspel.
The final was held on 7 March 1970 and presented by Cliff Richard as part of the BBC1 series It's Cliff Richard!. Hopkin performed one of the six shortlisted songs each week, before performing all six in succession in the final. These performances were then immediately repeated. The votes were open to the public by post, with the results announced on 14 March.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1971. It was held on 20 February 1971 and presented by Cliff Richard as part of the BBC1 TV series It's Cliff Richard!
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1972. It was held on 12 February 1972 and presented by Cliff Richard as a special edition of his BBC1 TV series It's Cliff Richard! All songs were performed by the group The New Seekers, the first group ever to represent the UK in the contest and the first quintet ever to appear in Eurovision as a group.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1973. It was held on 24 February 1973 and presented by Cilla Black as part of her BBC1 series Cilla. Cliff Richard performed all of the six finalists in the final.
The United Kingdom held a national pre-selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1974. It was held on 23 February 1974 and presented by Jimmy Savile as part of the BBC1 TV series Clunk, Click... As It Happens, with Olivia Newton-John selected to perform all of the entries, in part due to the recommendation of her close friend Cliff Richard.
The United Kingdom held a national pre-selection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1975. The Shadows were selected by the BBC to represent the UK, after BBC executive Bill Cotton had stated that he specifically wanted a group to sing for Britain in 1975. The Shadows performed one song a week for six weeks on the BBC1 TV series Lulu, hosted by 1969 Eurovision joint winner Lulu. Uniquely, although the group were seen performing weekly, in fact they only recorded one performance of each of the six songs in December 1974, for a special edition of the series broadcast on 15 February 1975.
It took place on 25 February 1976 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. For the first time since 1964 a single act did not perform each of the nominated songs with rather each song being performed by a different act. Michael Aspel acted as presenter for the event.
A Song for Europe 1977, was held on 9 March 1977 at the New London Theatre and presented by Terry Wogan. Minutes before the show went live, a strike by BBC cameramen was called, preventing the televised broadcast of the show. The contest went ahead and a few hours later, the audio was aired on BBC Radio 2.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1978. It was held on Friday 31 March 1978 at the Royal Albert Hall and presented by Terry Wogan. The songs were backed by the Alyn Ainsworth Orchestra.
The United Kingdom held a national preselection to choose the song that would go to the Eurovision Song Contest 1979. A Song for Europe 1979 was planned to take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 8 March.
The 1980 "A Song For Europe" contest was held on 26 March 1980 (the same day as that year's budget), at the BBC Television Theatre in Shepherd's Bush and was hosted by a dinner-suited 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 theme music was "Te deum" the Eurovision theme.
The BBC reduced the number of finalists from twelve to eight in 1981. Terry Wogan hosted the contest on 11 March. It was held at the Television Theatre. 581 songs were submitted to the Music Publisher's Association to pick eight songs. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded.
The television show A Song for Europe was used once again to select the British entry, Terry Wogan once again hosted the contest, which was held on 24 March in Studio 1 of Television Centre, London. Eight songs were shortlisted from those submitted to the Music Publishers Association. Bucks Fizz were guests at the show, singing their current single My Camera Never Lies in a pre-recorded performance. The group were interviewed by Terry Wogan live during the show and group member Bobby G performed backing vocals for the winning artists, Bardo. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Ronnie Hazlehurst as conductor accompanied all the songs, but despite performing live, the orchestra were off-screen, behind the set. The set itself was partially recycled for the Doctor Who adventure Snakedance, broadcast almost a year later.
The television show A Song for Europe was used once again to select the British entry, Terry Wogan was once again the host and the show was staged at the Television Theatre on Thursday 24 March. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but all the music was pre-recorded.
The television show A Song for Europe was used once again to select the British entry, It was held on Wednesday 4 April in Studio 1 of Television Centre, London and was hosted once again 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 1985 edition of A Song for Europe was held at the BBC Television Centre in Studio 1 on 9 April, hosted by a suited Terry Wogan. The theme music (as it has been in previous years) was Te Deum. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of John Coleman as conductor accompanied all the songs, but despite performing live, the orchestra was off-screen, behind the set.
The British national final to select their entry, A Song for Europe 1986, was held on 2 April at the BBC Television Centre, London in Studio 1, and was hosted by Terry Wogan. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Ronnie Hazlehurst as conductor accompanied all but the winning song, but despite performing live, the orchestra were off-screen, behind the set. The rule introduced for 1984 prohibiting groups or 'made for Eurovision' acts from participating was rescinded. The winning song was decided by the votes of eleven regional juries across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The scoreboard was incorrectly adjusted during the broadcast and the final tallies shown on screen did not correspond with the scores announced on air.
The final was held on 10 April 1987, live from Studio 1 of the BBC Television Centre, London. The contest was hosted by Terry Wogan. It was also broadcast on BBC Radio 2, and this was the first and only instance in which the radio commentator could also be heard on television, passing comment after each song, and during the interval act. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Ronnie Hazlehurst as conductor accompanied all the songs, but despite performing live, the orchestra were off-screen, behind the set. The title music had changed from previous years, as an upbeat arrangement of the traditional Te Deum music.
The final was held on 25 March 1988, in Studio 1 at the BBC Television Centre. It was hosted by Terry Wogan. The theme music and title sequence were the same the one used in the previous year, a revamped Te Deum. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Ronnie Hazlehurst as conductor accompanied all the songs, but despite performing live, the orchestra were off-screen, behind the set.
The final was held on 24 March 1989 from Studio 6, at Television Centre, London, featuring eight songs and hosted by Terry Wogan on BBC1. A separate results show was broadcast on BBC1 the same evening. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Ronnie Hazlehurst as conductor accompanied all but the winning song, but despite performing live, the orchestra were off-screen, behind the set. Hazlehurst conducted two live keyboard players who accompanied the UK entry’s backing track at the Eurovision final in Lausanne. For the second year running, the BBC convened a panel to pass comment on each of the songs. The panel comprised Deke Arlon, Gary Davies, Leslie Bricusse, and former Eurovision winner Lulu.
The 1990 edition of A Song for Europe was held in Television Centre, London on 30 March in Studio 1. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Alyn Ainsworth as conductor accompanied all the songs, but despite performing live, the orchestra were off-screen, behind the set. Terry Wogan presided over the eight finalists and a panel of 'experts' was assembled to comment on each of the entries. The panel was composed of Gloria Hunniford, Tim Rice, Cathy McGowan and Gary Davies.
That year's A Song For Europe was held on 29 March 1991 and was hosted by Terry Wogan. Following the somewhat negative comments by one member of the 'expert' panel in 1990, the panel idea was dropped in 1991. The BBC Concert Orchestra under the direction of Ronnie Hazlehurst as conductor accompanied all the songs, the musicians appearing on camera for the first time since 1978.
The eight songs in contention to represent the UK were presented during Terry Wogan's Wogan chat show on BBC1. Two songs were presented during each of four broadcasts between 8 and 30 March. The songs were also featured in various programmes on BBC Radio 2. Ball performed all the songs in the British national final A Song For Europe held on 3 April (recorded the previous evening) at the BBC Television Centre TC3 studios in London, with the winner of A Song For Europe decided through televoting.
A Song for Europe was broadcast on 9 April 1993 although the show had been recorded the previous evening. Only the voting sequence and winning reprise was presented live. Terry Wogan hosted the event and Sonia performed all eight finalists, which were presented during four ten-minute preview programmes broadcast weekly on BBC1 between 14 March and 4 April.
The eight songs in contention to represent the UK were presented during four ten-minute preview programmes broadcast on BBC1 between 5 and 12 March 1994. The voting for the UK's entry took place on 18 March 1994 in A Song For Europe 1994 (filmed the day before), hosted by Terry Wogan and featured guest panellists Richard O'Brien and Jonathan King.
The selection for the UK's entry took place on Friday 31 March 1995 in A Song For Europe '95, hosted, as ever, by Terry Wogan. After three years of having one act perform all the nominated songs, the UK national round for 1995 reverted to a multi-artist format
In 2000, the BBC reverted to the historic A Song for Europe title for the national selection competition, but retained the format from the previous selection show The Great British Song Contest (1996–99). The format consisted of a radio semi-final with eight songs, with the top four songs, selected by televoting, progressing to the televised final. The final of A Song for Europe, was held on 20 February 2000 and was hosted by Katy Hill on BBC One. The winner was selected by televoting.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) continued to use a national final, A Song for Europe, to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, continuing with the format of a radio semi-final with eight songs, with the top four songs, selected by televoting, progressing to the televised final. The national final was held at the BBC's Elstree Studios in London on 11 March, hosted by Katy Hill, with the winner being chosen by televoting.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) continued to use a national final, A Song for Europe, to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, continuing with the format of a radio semi-final with eight songs, with the top four songs, selected by televoting, progressing to the televised final. The final was held on 3 March 2002 at the BBC TV Centre in London, hosted by Claire Sweeney and Christopher Price.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) continued to use a national final, A Song for Europe, to select their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, continuing with the format of a radio semi-final with eight songs, with the top four songs, selected by televoting, progressing to the televised final. The final was held on 2 March 2003, hosted by Terry Wogan on BBC One. In between each song, previous Eurovision Song Contest winners for the United Kingdom shared their experience at the contest. After the songs were over, the voting lines were open briefly. In this time, the regional vote announcers were introduced.