The band was put together specifically to perform "I'm Never Giving Up" in
A Song for Europe 1983, the United Kingdom's preliminary round to the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest. Sweet Dreams were often compared to the band
Bucks Fizz, because they were both mixed-gender bands.
Bucks Fizz was a band from the UK, which won the
1981 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "
Making Your Mind Up." Bucks Fizz was the evident prototype for several acts entered in the
1982 UK edition of A Song for Europe—including "Lovin' Feeling," another
A Song for Europe 1983 entrant. In 1982, "Lovin' Feeling" had featured McVay (in an otherwise female quartet) and had finished fourth with the song "Different Worlds, Different People."
A Song for Europe 1983 Sweet Dreams was the first of the eight contestants to perform on the
BBC-TV A Song for Europe broadcast live from the
BBC Television Theatre on 24 March 1983. Based on the tally from eight regional juries, "I'm Never Giving Up" was named the UK entrant for Eurovision 1983, receiving 109 points. In second place was "We've got all the Time in the World" by the band
Mirror (also composed of two females and one male), which received 91 points. This trio was formed of twins Tina & Sharon Enticott and Dave Lusher.
Eurovision 1983 On the night of Eurovision 1983, held at
Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle in Munich, Sweet Dreams performed "I'm Never Giving Up" third in a field of twenty. They finished the contest in sixth place. In 2008, Carrie Gray (now known as Carrie Grant) stated "We came sixth, which actually at the time was really shameful, but these days that would be a serious result." The sixth-place finish of "I'm Never Giving Up" at Eurovision 1983 largely replicated the UK' standing at
Eurovision 1982 when "
One Step Further" by
Bardo had finished seventh: however while "One Step Further" had afforded Bardo a #2 UK hit "I'm Never Giving Up" rose no higher than #21 UK – in spite of a
Top of the Pops appearance.
Later career Sweet Dreams released a follow-up single "17 Electric (Look Out!)" in August 1983. To downplay the group's Eurovision association, the single was credited to "Dreams". ==References==