Who should we enter for Eurovision 2013?

[Resi12]

The UK are so odd when it comes to Eurovision, they try so hard (too hard I think) in some cases to prove themselves to be putting out 'real' music but all they need is to send in one of their many popstars with a good song and there you are. A great contender at least.

I also think you (they, whoever!) take losing too seriously. It's like "Oh we lost, well we're not bothering putting in any effort now" when you should come back stronger.

[stevo_1988]

You're right Resi, and I think we should look at Sweden's mentaility since 2010 and take inspiration from them. Could anyone honestly think that 2 years ago Sweden would win Eurovision again?

[duffy]

I think they need to give internal selection another go before they bring back the national final, nobody worth the time would enter that purely because the people who vote are utter morons.

[mump boy]

We're in a vicious circle with Eurovision, we all know unless they win whoever enters for the UK will be branded a loser etc but we will always lose unless we start entering established credible acts instead of the dross we've been entering for the last decade. We put some effort in one year (Jade) and got respectable result but instead of building on that we entered Josh Dubovie !! and then complain when we come last.

The rest of europe enter some of their biggest pop stars and get Timberland to produce we get someone from a holiday camp

We have to find someone credible who can sing live and has nothing to lose and then write a modern, song with a hook and promote the death out of it. I could fine better entries in a week that we've had in the last few years. We won't win the first year but then we have to try again and again until the rest of europe can see that we don't treat it with distain anymore

AAAAAAHHH it's not going to happen is it ??m

[phoenix123]

No it isn't.

Any half decent UK based act already signed to a label simply doesn't need Eurovision and never will.

We will forever be destined to get the occasional top 10 placing with a half decent song and singer who is unsigned/unknown but an adequate live performer.

[mump boy]

that is exactly the kind of attitude we need to get over

Why would a signed act not need massive exposure in from of 500 million people across the whole continent ??

Pure snobbery

[Blerg]

No it isn't.

Any half decent UK based act already signed to a label simply doesn't need Eurovision and never will.

We will forever be destined to get the occasional top 10 placing with a half decent song and singer who is unsigned/unknown but an adequate live performer.

If they're looking to make a break on the European market but don't have the label backing or lack of promotional budget, then they certainly would benefit from it. It's a rather dismissive outlook on the competition and the UK have to get out of that mentality if we ever hope to do well again.

There's a number of artists willing to do it for whatever reason, but then quickly realise how much hard work is involved in being a part of Eurovision. You can't just turn up on the night and expect to do well. You need to promote, perform at promotional events etc. But in the long run, it's a good way of finding a fanbase in and around Europe if you have a good song and are some way half decent.

If The Saturdays can tighten up their live vocals I would say them. Una's got Eurovision experience so knows what it's like to be in that kind of environment, and as the way they currently stand I just don't think they have much to lose entering the competition.

I wouldn't be opposed going back to a National Final if the BBC chose the artist and then the public get to choose the song. I just don't trust the British public not to take the piss when it comes to separate acts and separate songs. I also tend to think more artists would be more comfortable taking part if that were the case.

[phoenix123]

Why would a signed act want to risk being labelled a failure in front of 500 million people across the whole continent ??

Fixed.....

[mump boy]

Tell that to all the major european acts who enter every year, many of whom have already sold millions of records across the continent. Many of them see the exposure (win or lose) as a positive as is representing your country.

It is only in this country that we think we are too good for it and therefore enter total shit. Just like the EU we should either join in fully or piss off, not just stand on the sidelines carping and making everyone hate us

[phoenix123]

I agree. The UK should leave Eurovision.

I would much rather the UK sent it's biggest and best artists but I just can't see it happening. It's insulting the stuff we send, year after year. I can't remamber the last time we sent someone with a career to speak of. Michael Ball is the most recent to my mind and his career was in theatre not pop music. Perhaps thats the most we could hope for? An established star in some other field wanting to branch out slightly into pop? (and I don't mean like Jordan)

[cupidissimo]

I don't understand what the problem is. Sweden won this year with a former Idol candidate, Germany won two years ago with someone who came out of a show dedicated to finding someone for Eurovision. Jade did pretty well. While it would be nice if the UK managed to send someone already famous, it's totally not required to do well. All other countries manage without anyone internationally well known. What the BBC needs to do is somehow find a process that is interesting to *songwriters*.

As tiring as it is, Sweden is a good example here. They ask for submissions from songwriters/producers and then try and find people to sing those songs afterwards. Because the selection there is quite big already they can get some big local names as well, but quite frequently someone not so well-known wins anyway (i.e. 2012 and 2010).

It doesn't even have to be UK-only songwriters. A song written by a Swede/Dane/Norwegian has won for 4 years now, why not open it to them, too? There's literally a thousand things the BBC could do if it really wanted to do well. It's not that hard.

[Seanie]

The reason no major UK artist would ever consider this whilst still signed and successful is because - despite having a captive audience of half a billion people, its highly likely that you're going to end up at the wrong end of the points table and be a laughing stock back home in the UK where you're established and Europe won't care about you because you're the ones that came last.

Its a worst case scenario - yes, but its a fairly big risk, why damage your domestic reputation on the off chance you might suddenly buck the trend and be big in Europe. It's far less embarrassing and stressful to just go and tour the countries rather than showcasing yourself in 3 mins and being judged instantly.


I think if the UK must continue in Eurovison, we need to stop looking for quick fixes and gimmicks to get us points and interest the viewers in the UK. We've had lord webber, pete waterman writing songs, a cheesy pop group with an innuendo laden track, ageing man-band on the comeback trail and an old crooner and none of them did us any good.

Find a decent song and singer(s) that'll do us justice, don't expect to win, stop taking it so seriously and ride it out and eventually it'll work.

[cupidissimo]

Excepr Lord Webber *did* do you good. You got a decent result that way. Always keep in mind, there's about 42 countries each year, Sometimes not even singing, baking grannies and a million neighbors are enough for the win. the UK won last in 97, so it's not really like you are *due* to win anytime soon...

Just as an aside, Germany was doing really badly too for a while, but for now we have a format that sort of works and gives us decent results (We've had it for three years, one win, one 8th and one 10th place) and people at home have stopped complaining about it almost completely! No more complaints about political voting, no more whininess, no more calls for withdrawing. There's a bunch of countries that have got a national format that works for them and that ensures the audience is behind the entry, you guys just need to find yours.

[Seanie]

Thats our problem though, we don't have any system. We just go SHIT THAT DIDN'T WORK TRY ANOTHER GIMMICK.

[WowWowWowWow]

I read all these posts about what the UK needs to do and it strikes me that Eurovision success is defined by winning only. Yes, of course it is a contest, and success can mean coming in first. But success can also mean coming second or third or fourth. Remember, between Charlotte and Loreen, there were 12 separate countries who won, so there are a lot of countries who are not "succeeding" by UK standards.

My point seemed more cogent in my head.

[Seanie]

I read all these posts about what the UK needs to do and it strikes me that Eurovision success is defined by winning only. Yes, of course it is a contest, and success can mean coming in first. But success can also mean coming second or third or fourth. Remember, between Charlotte and Loreen, there were 12 separate countries who won, so there are a lot of countries who are not "succeeding" by UK standards.

My point seemed more cogent in my head.

No you're right, the UK is obsessed with winning. Its the same with sport. We go in expecting to win (even in Eurovision) and then slag it off when we lose.

Though I think with Eurovision if we could get top 5 we'd be happy right now, we just need consistency.

[mump boy]

This is exactly what i was going to write. I think most countries (and therefore contestants) see winning as a bonus. The real competition is to find a great song, perform it well and have some fun. We still have this Empire attitude where we think we still rule the world and have an expectation to win.

Look at football (i'd rather not but hey) we've won precisely nothing since 1966 !! but we still go as if we're the best in the world and somehow have a god given right to win without having to try

[The_47th_belmon]

The Saturdays would be a bad idea. No jury would give any vote to a girlband. See the case of Ivi from Cyprus this year.

I always say Melanie C would be a good choice. Her voice and songs would get the juries on her behalf, and her popularity as solo singer and Spice Girl would get people's votes.

I read all these posts about what the UK needs to do and it strikes me that Eurovision success is defined by winning only.

Exactly. Any other position other than first is seen as a shameful failure. Jade Ewen made to #5 and her next single (not even album!) was sure to bomb even before being released. There are a lot of sides of this problem, but people's mentality is definitely one of them.

[imaduck]

What we need is, and bare with me here...

A public panel, maybe 100 real euro fans, picked from a application process who decide the outcome fully.

In my head it would work a bit like (for want of a better comparative) a sports cup selection (think world cup Olympics) where say ten songs are selected internally and performed live (on tv obv, the buildup would look closer at why each song was chosen with interviews and in-studio stuff etcetc) and the panel vote until a majority is reached (50% + lets say) if it is not reached bottom two artists are eliminated etc etc until we have a majority. Now THAT would be amazing.

Think, a 100 strong panel of popjustice aficionados.......

a boy can dream...

[cjwhite1]

What we need is, and bare with me here...

A public panel, maybe 100 real euro fans, picked from a application process who decide the outcome fully.

In my head it would work a bit like (for want of a better comparative) a sports cup selection (think world cup Olympics) where say ten songs are selected internally and performed live (on tv obv, the buildup would look closer at why each song was chosen with interviews and in-studio stuff etcetc) and the panel vote until a majority is reached (50% + lets say) if it is not reached bottom two artists are eliminated etc etc until we have a majority. Now THAT would be amazing.

Think, a 100 strong panel of popjustice aficionados.......

a boy can dream...

This is a great idea. Obviously the BBC are not fit to select our entrant - obviously the public alone are not fit to select our entrant - so some kind of combination of the 2 seems logical. It fits nicely with the way voting is conducted in the contest itselt too.

Fresh talent, performers and writers, with nothing to lose and a lot to gain. The BBC are simply never ever going to secure someone big enough to do well on their status alone. Song song song, it's all we need!

[euphorial]

I just don't get why we keep entering songs which we don't seem to like ourselves! The Englebert one was a massive flop in the UK charts so why anyone thought any other country would like it is beyond me.

We just need to enter a song that sounds current...

[nigel99]

Infernal could do well. Just been for a week in Greece and the love they have for Eurovision songs over there is great and apart from those they were all going crazy for Redefinition of Disco by Infernal so I think we should now get them to do it for us (or BWO they were always desperate to represent Sweden and do some great pop tunes)

[Sweet Music]

Lucie Silvas could it

[Alphableat]

Can we send Rita Ora, and then not have her back?

[playboy69]

I think Atomic Kitten with Kerry Katona... although her new single will be out later this year so she might be too busy with that..