The first female soloist to compete for UK at Eurovision since Olivia Newton-John with " Long Live Love " at Eurovision 1974 and also the second female composer of a UK Eurovision entrant to sing her composition in the contest ( after Lynsey de Paul ) , Vikki won the right to perform at Gothenburg by winning the UK national final , '' A Song for Europe '' , where she was the first singer to perform . At Gothenburg , the song was performed fourteenth on the night , after Norway 's Bobbysocks with " La det swinge " , and before Switzerland 's Mariella Farré and Pino Gasparini with " Piano , piano . " At the end of judging that evening , " Love Is " took the fourth-place slot with 100 points . At the time , it was one of the few entries that managed to receive 100 points without receiving any 12 point allotments from any jury . It was also the UK 's strongest showing since winning the 1981 Contest with " Making Your Mind Up . " The song was a contemporary ballad about a man and a woman who are both too afraid to plunge head-first with their emotions into a love affair ; while both of them want to be loved by the other , both of them are letting their heads rule their hearts . In the chorus , Vikki sings that " love is " the product of a number of impulsive decisions , such as " taking a chance on two hearts beating as one . " Vikki nominally used a single chair as a prop , first sitting in it while singing the song , then circling it and abandoning it entirely by the second half of the song
1981 Contest
Eurovision Song Contest 1981
Love Is (Vikki Watson song)