Cheryl Baker, who shot to fame when she won Eurovision as part of Bucks Fizz in 1981, has revealed the major threat that surrounded herself and the group before their victory
Cheryl Baker has admitted she was a “prime target” for terrorism at the onset of her fame. The singer, 72, famously won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 as part of Bucks Fizz with the track Making Your Mind Up.
The group, which, along with Cheryl, originally also consisted of Bobby G, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston, went on to enjoy considerate success with tracks like My Camera Never Lies and The Land of Make Believe, but the star has now admitted that on the night of their big win, it was the Irish Republican Army who posed as a threat.
She said: “For us, when we did it, it was the IRA. And because we didn’t do a show in Ireland, the IRA threatened to disrupt the show. I was young, so I thought it was really exciting − when you’re young you have no fear.
READ MORE: Best UK Eurovision entry named as winner gives true verdict on this year’s entryREAD MORE: Bucks Fizz star Cheryl Baker’s real name stuns fans as they’re left gobsmacked by her appearance
“Everywhere we went, we had armed guards. No other contingents were in our coach either, it was just us. And we had outriders, so it made us feel like royalty.”
Speaking to the Daily Star, Cheryl added: “You’d be going through red lights and on the wrong side of the road, going ‘woo!’. But we weren’t thinking about the reason for why that was happening.
“We were prime targets and if they had done something to us, it would have been fantastic for their political statement. But when you’re young.”
As part of the build-up to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, in which the UK will be represented by YouTube star Look Mum No Computer, a survey of 2,000 adults commissioned by WhichBingo, placed Sam Ryder’s ‘Space Man’ in second place, with Brotherhood of Man’s ‘Save Your Kisses for Me’ taking third.
Cliff Richard’s debut Eurovision entry from 1968, Congratulations, and Katrina and the Waves’ Love Shine a Light – the UK’s last Eurovision victory in 1997 – rounded out the top five.
But for the second year in a row, Making Your Mind Up was crowned the greatest British Eurovision entry of all time.
Cheryl said: “It’s fabulous. To still come out on top again after all these years is unbelievable really, and I’m thrilled.” The former Eggs n’ Baker presenter also gave her opinion on this year’s entry, which is titled Eins, Zwei, Drei.
She said: “I actually think our boy’s going to do really well this year – at the very least I think we’ll finally be on the left-hand side of the scoreboard rather than the right-hand side.
“It’s fun, it’s different, and Eurovision audiences love that. I’ve seen the rehearsals and he’s got dancers with these television screens – it looks great and could do really well.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
