The 17th season of the international television game show Jeux sans frontières was held in the summer of 1981. Broadcasters from Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia participated in the competition coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), while West Germany withdrew due to low viewing figures.Series Guide: 1980 - Introduction The different heats were hosted by each of the participant broadcasters in locations in their countries such as Lignano Sabbiadoro (Italy), Pula (Yugoslavia), Annecy (France), Meiringen-Hasliberg (Switzerland), Lisbon (Portugal), Sunderland (United Kingdom), and Charleroi (Belgium). The grand final was held in Belgrade (Yugoslavia). The head international referees in charge of supervising the competition were Gennaro Olivieri and .
For each heat, each broadcaster sent a mixed team from a city or town from its country that competed against each other in a series of physical games played in outlandish costumes themed in the specific topic of the episode. After the seven heats, the most successful team from each country competed in the grand final. Each of the episodes was presented by the host broadcaster in its own language. Each of the participating broadcasters had their own presenters who did some on-site presentations for their audience and commented on the competition in their language.
The season was won by the teams from Lisbon, Portugal, and Dartmouth, United Kingdom.
Participants Country Broadcaster Code Colour Cities RTBF / BRT B Yellow Torhout Molenbeek-Saint-Jean Herent Charleroi Bornem Lessines Evergem Antenne 2 F Green Bitche en Moselle Argentan Digne-les-Bains Les Gets Le Cannet Annecy Issy-les-Moulineaux RAI I Blue Lignano Sabbiadoro San Felice Circeo Montorio al Vomano Finale Ligure Merate Agropoli Senigallia RTP P Orange São Miguel Santarém Lisbon Braga Aveiro Algarve SRG SSR TSI CH White and red Regensdorf Saint-Légier Rancate Saas Fee Ittigen Intragna Les Bois BBC GB Red Sherborne Kingston-upon-Hull Dartmouth Luton Dunfermline Warrington Sunderland JRT YU White and blue Šibenik Pula Osijek Zenica Pirot Majdanpek Bitolj
Season overview Heat Date Host Theme Winner Broadcaster City 1 26 May RAI Lignano Sabbiadoro "Water" Lignano Sabbiadoro 2 10 June JRT (TV Belgrade) Pula "The Cinema" Pula 3 24 June RTP Lisbon "The Festival of Saint Anthony" Lisbon 4 8 July RTBF Charleroi "Professions" Finale Ligure 5 29 July SRG SSR TSI (TV DRS) Meiringen-Hasliberg "Mountain Holidays, Legends of the Swiss Alps" Ittigen 6 12 August Antenne 2 Annecy "Games of the World" Lessines 7 25 August BBC Sunderland "A Country-House Weekend in the 1920s" 8 September JRT (TV Belgrade) Belgrade "The Music, la Musique, die Musik... Long live the Music!"
Results Heat 1 Heat 1 was hosted by RAI on 26 May 1981 in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, and its theme was the sea. It was presented by Michele Gammino and Milly Carlucci. Place Country Town Points 1 I Lignano Sabbiadoro 46 2 CH Regensdorf 41 3 YU Šibenik 31 3 GB Sherborne 31 5 B Torhout 27 6 P São Miguel 26 7 F Bitche en Moselle 22
Heat 2 Heat 2 was hosted by TV Belgrade on behalf of JRT on 10 June 1981 at the Roman amphitheatre in Pula, Yugoslavia, and its theme was cinema. It was presented by , Minja Subota and Mersiha Čolaković. Place Country Town Points 1 YU Pula 45 2 CH Saint-Légier 44 3 F Argentan 34 4 I San Felice Circeo 31 5 GB Kingston-upon-Hull 30 6 B Molenbeek-Saint-Jean 25 7 P Santarém 19
Heat 3 Heat 3 was hosted by RTP on 24 June 1981 in front of the Belém Tower in Lisbon, Portugal, and its theme was the feast of Saint Anthony. It was presented by Eládio Clímaco and Alice Cruz. Place Country Town Points 1 P Lisbon 48 2 GB Dartmouth 39 3 F Digne-les-Bains 37 4 B Herent 34 5 I Montorio al Vomano 32 6 CH Rancate 25 7 YU Osijek 24
Heat 4 Heat 4 was hosted by RTBF on 8 July 1981 in Charleroi, Belgium, and its theme was professions. It was presented by Paule Herreman and Michel Lemaire. Place Country Town Points 1 I Finale Ligure 43 2 YU Zenica 37 3 F Les Gets 36 4 B Charleroi 32 4 CH Saas Fee 32 6 P Madeira 28 7 GB Luton 21
Heat 5 Heat 5 was hosted by TV DRS on behalf of SRG SSR TSI on 29 July 1981 in Meiringen-Hasliberg, Switzerland, and its theme was holidays in the mountains and legends of the Swiss Alps. It was presented by and . Place Country Town Points 1 CH Ittigen 40 2 F Le Cannet 39 3 GB Dunfermline 35 3 YU Pirot 35 5 B Bornem 31 6 I Merate 30 7 P Braga 19
Heat 6 Heat 6 was hosted by Antenne 2 on 12 August 1981 in Annecy, France, and its theme was the sports in the town. It was presented by Guy Lux and . Place Country Town Points 1 B Lessines 45 2 CH Intragna 43 3 F Annecy 37 4 P Aveiro 31 5 GB Warrington 28 6 YU Majdanpek 24 7 I Agropoli 21
Heat 7 Heat 7 was hosted by the BBC on 25 August 1981 in Sunderland, United Kingdom, and its theme was British weekend traditions. It was presented by Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring. Place Country Town Points 1 CH Les Bois 38 1 F Issy-les-Moulineaux 38 3 B Evergem 36 4 YU Bitolj 33 5 I Senigallia 30 6 GB Sunderland 28 6 P Algarve 28
Qualifiers The teams with the most points from each country advanced to the grand final: Country Town Place won Points won P Lisbon 1 48 I Lignano Sabbiadoro 1 46 B Lessines 1 45 YU Pula 1 45 CH Ittigen 1 40 F Issy-les-Moulineaux 1 38 GB Dartmouth 2 39
Final The final was hosted by TV Belgrade on behalf of JRT on 8 September 1981 at the swimming pool complex of the Tašmajdan Sports and Recreation Center in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and its theme was music. It was presented by Dunja Lango, Mersiha Čolaković and Minja Subota. Place Country Town Points 1 P Lisbon 38 1 GB Dartmouth 38 3 YU Pula 36 4 I Lignano Sabbiadoro 33 5 CH Ittigen 26 6 F Issy-les-Moulineaux 24 7 B Lessines 19
Broadcasts The competition was transmitted to the participating broadcasters via the Eurovision network. In most cases, broadcasters aired the episodes live in their territory. Country Broadcaster(s) Channel(s) Presenter(s)/Commentator(s) RTBF RTBF1 Paule Herreman,On refait Pula 1981 BRT TV1 Antenne 2 RAI Rete 2 Michele Gammino RTP RTP1 SRG SSR TSI TSR TV DRS TSI BBC BBC1 Stuart Hall JRT TV Belgrade 1, TV Zagreb 1, TV Sarajevo 1 Minja Subota TV Ljubljana 2 Borut Mencinger TV Pristina Osman Gashi
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