Eurovision: You Decide was the most recent name of the BBC TV show broadcast to select the United Kingdom's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest.
Shows of similar formats have previously gone under several other names, including Festival of British Popular Songs, Eurovision Song Contest British Final, A Song For Europe, The Great British Song Contest, Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up and Eurovision: Your Decision. In 2011 the selection process was replaced by an internal BBC decision, but this process ended after 2015 with a revival of a national final for 2016 under a new name. The You Decide format was axed in September 2019 and an internal selection was used for the UK's 2020 participation.
This page lists the contestants for each year of the show; the winners of the contest are in bold-italics.
Competition In 1957, 1959 and 1960, there were a series of televised heats prior to the final.
Postcard voting was used to choose the winner from 1965 to 1975. This had to be abandoned in 1971 due to a postal strike, with regional juries, made up of ordinary members of the public selecting the winner. Juries did the job from 1957 to 1964 and from 1976 to 1987. From 1988 onwards, with the exception of the internally selected entries (2011–15 and since 2020), televoting has been organized ostensibly to choose the winner, although this result wasn't always followed. Panels of judges have also played a part in selecting finalists and the winners in various years since 2008.
Festival of British Popular Songs (1957) 1957 Tuesday, 12 February. The King's Theatre Hammersmith, London. Host: David Jacobs Each song was performed by two different artists Voting: 10 regional juries of 12 members with 1 vote each, located in Belfast, Newcastle, Bangor, Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Cardiff, Birmingham, Glasgow and London.
Song title Performers Place Score "Don't Cry Little Doll" Bill Maynard & The Keynotes 4th 14 "Once" Pauline Shephard & Carole Carr 2nd 23 "Seven" Dennis Lotis & The Keynotes =5th 13 "All" Patricia Bredin & The Malcolm Lockyer Quartet 1st 39 "For Your Love" Ronnie Hilton & Alan Bristow =5th 13 "That’s The Way It Goes" Lita Roza & Stan Roderick 3rd 18 Unknown~ Marion Ryan SF N/A Unknown~ John Hanson SF N/A Unknown~ Janie Marden SF N/A Unknown~ Jill Day SF N/A Unknown~ Edna Savage SF N/A Unknown~ Bryan Johnson SF N/A Unknown~ Lorrae Desmond SF N/A Unknown~ Frank Horox SF N/A Unknown~ George Mitchell Singers SF N/A Unknown~ Frank Weir Quintet SF N/A Unknown~ Shirley Eaton SF N/A Unknown~ The Kentones SF N/A Unknown~ Lee Lawrence SF N/A
~ Eliminated in one of three televised heats (Tuesday, 22 January, Tuesday, 29 January & Tuesday, 5 February).
1958 Not Held. No UK Entry at Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest British Final (1959–1960) 1959 Saturday, 7 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: Pete Murray Voting: 7 regional juries from South of England, English Midlands, Northern England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the West of England, with 14 persons in each jury.
Song title Performer Place "Sing Little Birdie" Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson 1st "This Is My Town" Lita Roza 2nd "Suddenly" Glen Mason 3rd "One Lonely Heart" Steve Martin 4th "Oh, Oh, Reckon I Must Be in Love" Valerie Shane Unknown "Success" John Hanson Unknown "Love Me, Love Me"~ Sheila Buxton SF "How Could I Know?"~ Don Rennie SF "I'll Be With You"~ Marion Keene SF "That's It, That's Love!"~ Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson SF "Cha Cha Chocola"~ Rosemary Squires SF "This I Will Tell My Son"~ Lester Ferguson SF
~ Eliminated in one of two televised heats (Monday, 2 February & Thursday, 5 February).
1960 Saturday, 6 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: David Jacobs Voting: 7 regional juries, with 15 people in each jury. Juries: South of England, English Midlands, North of England, Scotland, Wales, West of England and Northern Ireland.
Song title Performer Place "Each Tomorrow" Malcolm Vaughan 3rd "Looking High, High, High" Bryan Johnson 1st "Love Me A Little" Dennis Lotis Unknown "Mi Amor" David Hughes 2nd "When The Tide Turns" Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson Unknown "Unexpectedly" Marion Keene Unknown "Girl with a Curl" Ronnie Carroll Unknown "Pickin' Petals"~ Pearl Carr & Teddy Johnson SF "As The Big Dipper Dipped"~ Don Lang SF "Friendly Street"~ Benny Lee SF "Teenage Years"~ Vince Eager SF "Love, Kisses And Heartache"~ Marion Keene SF
~ Eliminated in one of two televised heats (Tuesday, 2 February & Thursday, 4 February).
A Song For Europe (1961–1995) 1961 Wednesday, 15 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Hostess: Katie Boyle Voting: 12 regional juries of 10 jurors with 1 vote each, located in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Belfast, Leeds, Bangor, Manchester, Norwich, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Bristol and Southampton.
Song title Performer Place Score "Dream Girl" Mark Wynter 4th 16 "The Girl Next Door" Craig Douglas =7th 3 "Why Can't We?" Ricky Valance 3rd 24 "A Place in the Country" Bryan Johnson 5th 6 "I Will Light A Candle" Anne Shelton 6th 4 "Suddenly I'm in Love" Steve Arlen 2nd 30 "Too Late For Tears" Valerie Masters =7th 3 "Tommy" Teresa Duffy =7th 3 "Are You Sure?" The Allisons 1st 31
1962 Sunday, 11 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: David Jacobs Voting: 14 regional juries in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Plymouth, Southampton and Bristol.
Song title Performer Place Score "Pretty Hair And Angel Eyes" Robb Storme 5th 12 "Tell Tale" The Brook Brothers 8th 7 "There's No-One in the Whole Wide World" Jackie Lee 9th 3 "Look Look, Little Angel" Johnny Angel =6th 11 "Never Goodbye" Karl Denver 4th 15 "My Kingdom for a Girl" Doug Sheldon =10th 2 "Ring-A-Ding Girl" Ronnie Carroll 1st 59 "Get A Move On" Brad Newman 12th 1 "You're For Real" Rikki Price =10th 2 "Alone Too Long" Frank Ifield 2nd 26 "The Message in a Bottle" Donna Douglas 3rd 19 "There's Never Been A Girl" Kenny Lynch =6th 11
1963 Saturday, 23 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: David Jacobs Voting: 16 regional juries in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Norwich, Birmingham, Cardiff, London North, London South, Plymouth, Southampton and Bristol. 12 persons in each jury, awarding 3 points to their favourite, 2 points to the second and 1 point to the third.
Song title Performer Place Score "My Continental Love" Anne Shelton 4th 9 "Say Wonderful Things" Ronnie Carroll 1st 33 "If You Ever Leave Me" Barry Barnett 2nd 20 "This Kind of Love" Johnny Towers 6th 5 "Pick The Petals" Maureen Evans 3rd 17 "A Day at the Seaside" Vince Hill 5th 8 "The Little Cracked Bell of San Raquel" Jimmy Justice 7th 4
1964 Friday, 7 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: David Jacobs All songs performed by Matt Monro Voting: 16 regional juries.
Song title Place Score "Choose" 4th 16 "It's Funny How You Know" 6th 11 "I Love The Little Things" 1st 87 "I've Got The Moon on My Side" 2nd 43 "Ten Out of Ten" 5th 15 "Beautiful, Beautiful" 3rd 20
1965 Friday, 29 January. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: David Jacobs All songs performed by Kathy Kirby on The Kathy Kirby Show Voting: Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song. Result broadcast on Friday, 12 February.
Song title Place Score "I Won't Let You Go" 5th Unknown "My Only Love" 3rd 61,993 "I'll Try Not To Cry" 2nd 96,252 "Sometimes" 6th Unknown "I Belong" 1st 110,495 "One Day" 4th Unknown
1966 Thursday, 27 January. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: David Jacobs All songs performed by Kenneth McKellar on Kenneth McKellar's Song For Everyone (BBC1) and The Light Programme (BBC Radio). Voting: Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song. Result broadcast on Thursday, 3 February.
Song title Place "Country Girl" 2nd "As Long As The Sun Shines" 3rd "Comes The Time" 4th "A Touch of the Tartan" 5th "A Man Without Love" 1st
1967 Saturday, 25 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: Rolf Harris All songs performed by Sandie Shaw on The Rolf Harris Show Voting: Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song, result broadcast on Saturday, 4 March.
Song title Place "Tell The Boys" 2nd "I'll Cry Myself To Sleep" 3rd "Had A Dream Last Night" 4th "Puppet on a String" 1st "Ask Any Woman" 5th
1968 Tuesday, 5 March. BBC Television Theatre, London. Hostess: Cilla Black All songs performed by Cliff Richard on Cilla Voting: Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song. Results broadcast on Tuesday, 12 March and announced by Tom Sloan.
Song title Place Score "Wonderful World" 3rd 19,990 "Do You Remember?" 6th 4,200 "High 'n' Dry" 2nd 30,500 "The Sound of the Candyman's Trumpet" 4th 11,200 "Congratulations" 1st 171,300 "Little Rag Doll" 5th 10,400
1969 Saturday, 22 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: Michael Aspel All songs performed by Lulu on the second series of her self-contained show Voting: Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song. Result broadcast on Saturday, 1 March and announced by Tom Sloan.
Song title Place Score "Are You Ready For Love?" 5th 5,560 "March!" 2nd 38,418 "Come September" 3rd 11,362 "I Can't Go on Living Without You" 6th 5,087 "Boom Bang-a-Bang" 1st 56,476 "Bet Yer!" 4th 8,306
1970 Saturday, 7 March. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: Cliff Richard All songs performed by Mary Hopkin on It's Cliff Richard! Voting: Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song. Result broadcast on Saturday, 14 March and announced by Bill Cotton.
Song title Place Score "Three Ships" 3rd 60,330 "Early in the Morning of Your Life" 6th 15,090 "I'm Gonna Fall in Love Again" 2nd 74,670 "You've Everything You Need" 5th 39,360 "Can I Believe?" 4th 42,160 "Knock, Knock (Who's There)?" 1st 120,290
1971 Saturday, 20 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: Cliff Richard All songs performed by Clodagh Rodgers on It's Cliff Richard! (BBC1) and The Acker Bilk Show (BBC Radio 2) Voting: 8 Regional Juries in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, London, Manchester and Norwich, each with 10 jurors who could award 1 vote to their favourite songResult broadcast on Saturday, 27 February and announced by Bill Cotton.
Song title Place Score "Look Left, Look Right" =5th 6 "In My World of Beautiful Things" 4th 12 "Jack in the Box" 1st 22 "Another Time, Another Place" =5th 6 "Wind of Change" =2nd 17 "Someone To Love Me" =2nd 17
1972 Saturday, 12 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: Cliff Richard All songs performed by The New Seekers on It's Cliff Richard! (BBC1) and Pete Murray's Open House (BBC Radio 2) Voting: Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song. Results broadcast on Saturday, 19 February and announced by Bill Cotton.
Song title Place Score "Out on the Edge of Beyond" 3rd 14,645 "Sing Out" 5th 7,412 "Why Can't We All Get Together?" 4th 11,337 "One By One" 2nd 27,314 "Songs of Praise" 6th 3,842 "Beg, Steal or Borrow" 1st 62,584
1973 Saturday, 24 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Hostess: Cilla Black All songs performed by Cliff Richard on Cilla (BBC1) and Pete Murray's Open House (BBC Radio 2) Voting: Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song. Result broadcast on Saturday, 3 March and announced by Bill Cotton.
Song title Place Score "Come Back, Billie Jo" 2nd 34,209 "Ashes To Ashes" 6th 17,115 "Tomorrow Rising" 4th 21,858 "The Days of Love" 5th 18,304 "Power To All Our Friends" 1st 125,505 "Help It Along" 3rd 25,369
1974 Saturday, 23 February. BBC Television Theatre, London. Host: Jimmy Savile All songs performed by Olivia Newton-John on Clunk, Click... As It Happens (BBC1) and Pete Murray's Open House (BBC Radio 2) Voting: Viewers cast votes via postcard for their favourite song. Result broadcast on Saturday, 2 March. and announced by Bill Cotton.