- Prima Donna (band)
Infobox musical artist
Name = Prima Donna
Img_capt =
Img_size =
Landscape =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Flag|United Kingdom
Genre = Pop
Years_active = 1980 - 1981
Label = Ariola
Associated_acts =The New Seekers
Kate Robbins
Audio
The Pearls
URL =
Current_members =
Past_members = Danny Finn
Kate Robbins
June Robbins
Alan Coates
Sally-Ann Triplet
Lance Aston
Notable_instruments =Prima Donna were the
United Kingdom representatives in theEurovision Song Contest 1980 . The group members wereKate Robbins , Lance Aston,Sally Ann Triplett , Jane Robbins, Danny Finn and Alan Coates. Finn was a former member ofThe New Seekers and was married to fellow ex-SeekerEve Graham .Kate Robbins later had a highly successful career as a comedienne, impressionist and actress. They performed the song "Love Enough for Two" which finished in third place, with 106 points. The song was written and composed byStephanie de Sykes and Stuart Slater. It was their second entry to reach the Eurovision final, having also composed "The Bad Old Days" in 1978 for Co-Co (which until 1987, was the worst placed UK entry in Eurovision history).Their journey to the
Eurovision Song Contest final inThe Hague was not straightforward and they only won the UK heat "A Song For Europe " after a very dubious 'sudden death' countback after the initial regional voting had placed them joint first withMaggie Moone . In an unrehearsed panic, hostTerry Wogan asked each of the 14 regional juries to cast a single vote for which of the songs they preferred. Some juries voted against the way they had earlier in the show and with the scoreboard unable to keep up, the entire process descended into farce. Regardless,Prima Donna were (correctly) declared the winners and went forward toEurovision , where they surprised many by placing 3rd.Author and historian
John Kennedy O'Connor notes in his "The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History" thatSally-Ann Triplett is one of only four singers to have sung for the United Kingdom in the competition twice, alongsideRonnie Carroll ,Cliff Richard andCheryl Baker of Bucks Fizz. [O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3] O'Connor also notes that this was the first UK entry since 1964 not to make the UK singles chart prior to the Eurovision final, only debuting in the top 75 the week after the contest, peaking at number 48. [O'Connor, John Kennedy. The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History. Carlton Books, UK. 2007 ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3]Bardo, Audio & The Pearls
Sally-Ann Triplett returned to Eurovision in 1982, as one half of the group Bardo. Lance Aston's sisterJay Aston won Eurovision the following year as a founder member of Bucks Fizz. Lance Aston tried again to reach the Eurovision final, performing with another ex-New Seeker Kathryn Ann Rae in the 1983 "A Song For Europe " contest as part of the group Audio. They finished 4th of the 8 shortlisted entries with the song "Love On Your Mind", written by Trevor Spencer andMarty Kristian , another New Seeker! Jane Robbins also had another attempt at the UK Eurovision ticket, in 1989 as part of female quartet The Pearls. They also placed 4th of 8 entries in the contest with the song "Love Come Down".References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.