Turkey was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "" ("Ferris wheel"), written by Ali Kocatepe, and performed by the Modern Folk Trio and Ayşegül. The Turkish participating broadcaster, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), selected its entry through a national final.
Before Eurovision
The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) held the national final on 14 February 1981 at its studios in Ankara, hosted by Bülend Özveren. Six songs competed and the winner was determined by a jury consisting of members of the public.
+ Final – 14 February 1981 Artist Song Lyricist Composer Points Place 1 Kayahan "Dostluk" Leyla Seber Aydın Esen 6 2 İbo & Grup Vize "Nerede O Eski Tangolar?" Olcayto Ahmet Tuğsuz 5 3 Ayşegül Aldinç & Modern Folk Üçlüsü "İstanbul İstanbul" Ülkü Aker Cenk Taşkan 3 4 Coşkun Demir "Miras" Ali Kocatepe 4 5 Füsun Önal "Bigudi" Ayşe Irmak Manioğlu Selçuk Başar 60 2 6 Ayşegül Aldinç & Modern Folk Üçlüsü "Dönme Dolap" Ali Kocatepe 87 1
At Eurovision On the evening of the contest Ayşegül Aldinç and Modern Folk Üçlüsü performed second in the running order following and preceding . At the close of the voting the song received 9 points, thus Dönme Dolap shared 18th place with . The Turkish jury awarded 12 points to Germany.Michael Kuyucu: Türkiye'nin Serüveni Eurovision, İstanbul, 2005, , p.83-84
Members of the Turkish jury included Süheyla Aldoğan, Hidayet Yarken, Hatice Akbaş, Lüftiye Duman, Nebiye Yazıcı, Nesrin Demirel, Sami Ersoy, Mehmet Kuteş, Mustafa Ekinci, Cengiz Doğan, and Ali Arslan.Yarışmacı ülkeler ve halk jürisi, Milliyet, 4 April 1981
Voting
+ Points awarded to Turkey 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 Turkey Score Country 12 points 10 points 8 points 7 points 6 points 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
References