The United Kingdom was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 with the song "The Bad Old Days", written by Stephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater, and performed by the band Co-Co. The British participating broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), selected its entry through a national final.

Before Eurovision A Song for Europe 1978 The national final was held on Friday 31 March 1978 at the Royal Albert Hall, presented by Terry Wogan. The songs were backed by the Alyn Ainsworth Orchestra.

Fourteen regional juries voted on the songs: Bristol, Bangor, Leeds, Norwich, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Birmingham, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff, Plymouth, Glasgow, Southampton, and London. Each jury voted internally and ranked the songs 1–12, awarding 12 points for their highest scoring song, down to 1 point for the lowest scoring entry.

"The Bad Old Days" won the national and came 11th in the contest. Broadcast on the Friday after the Easter weekend in the United Kingdom, A Song for Europe 1978 was watched by 13.7 million viewers and was the 16th-most watched programme of the week – the show's highest ever rating.Television's Greatest Hits, Network Books, Paul Gambaccini and Rod Taylor, 1993.

+ A Song for Europe 197831 March 1978 Artist Song Songwriter(s) Points Place 1 Christian "Shine It On" 114 3 2 Brown Sugar "Oh No, Look What You've Done" 49 11 3 Fruit Eating Bears "Door in My Face" 49 11 4 Jacquie Sullivan "Moments" Jacquie Sullivan 106 6 5 Sunshine "Too Much in Love" 81 8 6 Ronnie France "Lonely Nights" Paul Curtis 68 9 7 The Jarvis Brothers "One Glance" Paul Curtis 114 3 8 Co-Co "The Bad Old Days" 135 1 9 Bob James "We Got It Bad" 66 10 10 Midnight "Don't Bother to Knock" 116 2 11 Babe Rainbow "Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way" 84 7 12 Labi Siffre "Solid Love" Labi Siffre 110 5

Both groups Co-Co and Sunshine had participated in , albeit with different line-ups. Co-Co would return to with another line-up, under the name The Main Event. Co-Co's member Cheryl Baker would eventually win the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the group Bucks Fizz.

+ Regional jury votes Song scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" scope="col" Total 1 "Shine It On" 12 11 9 10 5 4 11 12 12 7 9 3 5 4 114 2 "Oh No, Look What You've Done" 7 2 2 1 3 2 2 9 5 2 3 1 4 6 49 3 "Door in My Face" 2 1 7 2 1 7 3 3 2 3 1 2 10 5 49 4 "Moments" 8 8 11 7 8 3 9 6 10 8 10 6 3 9 106 5 "Too Much in Love" 9 3 5 4 2 6 10 7 9 5 6 7 6 2 81 6 "Lonely Nights" 1 4 1 8 4 5 1 2 1 10 7 11 12 1 68 7 "One Glance" 6 7 3 5 9 12 6 11 11 9 12 4 11 8 114 8 "The Bad Old Days" 11 12 12 11 10 11 7 4 3 11 11 12 8 12 135 9 "We Got It Bad" 3 6 10 3 12 1 4 1 8 1 4 5 1 7 66 10 "Don't Bother to Knock" 4 9 8 6 11 10 8 5 7 12 8 10 7 11 116 11 "Don't Let Me Stand in Your Way" 5 5 4 9 7 8 5 10 6 6 5 9 2 3 84 12 "Solid Love" 10 10 6 12 6 9 12 8 4 4 2 8 9 10 110 Regional jury spokespersons AberdeenGerry Davis NorwichChris Denham ManchesterMike Riddoch BangorGwyn Llewelyn SouthamptonPeter Macann LeedsBrian Baines BelfastMichael Baguley BristolDerek Jones GlasgowKen Bruce BirminghamTom Coyne LondonRay Moore CardiffFrank Lincoln NewcastleMike Neville PlymouthDonald Heighway

At Eurovision The contest was broadcast on BBC1, with commentary by Terry Wogan, and on radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, with commentary by Ray Moore. The contest was watched by 21 million viewers.

The BBC appointed Colin Berry as its spokesperson to announce the British jury results.

Voting

+ Points awarded to the United Kingdom Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

+ Points awarded by the United Kingdom Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point

References