In 1981 she was part of the effervescent quartet who gave the UK its fourth Eurovision win. But 37 years on, former Bucks Fizz singer Jay Aston has a somewhat gloomier attitude toward the UK at Eurovision. The “Making Your Mind Up” singer recently confessed she doesn’t think the UK could win Eurovision again.
Jay now sings as part of The Fizz, along with former Bucks Fizz members Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan. Speaking to Bang Showbiz, Jay expressed her doubts over the UK’s future at Eurovision.
She said, “I’m not sure we can win again, I think it would be miraculous if the UK could win. We have sent some good things over and we’ve always come in the bottom five. There’s no way we would want to do it again, I wouldn’t mind reading out the points though.”
Jay seems to be forgetting British Eurovision acts from the past decade who finished outside the bottom five. Acts like Jade Ewan (fifth place), Blue (11th place), Molly (17th place) and Lucie Jones (15th place) all delivered results that British fans were proud of.
And on the other hand, few fans were surprised when Electro Velvet placed 24th with the difficult “Still in Love with You”.
Jay’s comments — which imply that European viewers inherently won’t vote for the exceptional acts the UK enters in Eurovision — also ignores where the UK’s votes have been coming from.
In the past five years, the United Kingdom has received points from Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, FYR Macedonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia and Spain. They all seem to have their minds made up.
The Fizz get festive
Jay is currently promoting The Fizz’s new yuletide album Christmas with the Fizz. The album, which is produced by UK pop maestro Mike Stock, features covers of classic Christmas songs, as well as a few originals and a Christmas version of the dreamy Bucks Fizz single “The Land of Make Believe”.
Their first single off the album is “Don’t Start Without Me”. The track is a catchy, upbeat ode to getting caught in traffic in the busy yuletide season.
Earlier this year, Jay successfully overcame mouth cancer. And while she may have reservations about the UK’s future at Eurovision, she has some advice for the BBC: “The Fizz should be on the panel to pick the song, for sure.”
What do you think? Is the UK doomed at Eurovision? What do you think of The Fizz’s new Christmas album? Share your thoughts below!
The UK don’t think they can win, so the entries received by the BBC reflect that. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
We need to send a modern song from a modern band like Florence + The Machine’s “Spectrum”.
Two issues here: 1. Since 1981, the competition from the rest of Europe has grown and gotten much better. 2. The reality is that the BBC is holding onto Eurovision for the UK for now, and that it carries with it a long history. Some of the history is bad history, as some fans will point out. What was most interesting about the Lucie Jones year is how her own team were able to pull their weight and re-vamp the video to effectively “sell” her, and how the unique live mirror prop came about – i think private money came… Read more »
I don’t doubt that British people love Eurovision, for whatever reason that might be. The problem here is the BBC and, unfortunately, the legacy of Terry Wogan, because of the years of making fun of it, BBC is not treating ESC seriously, like SVT does for example. Sweden’s songs, year after year, are one of the best, that’s partly because preparations for the next Melodifestivalen start when the final of ESC ends. BBC is really thinking about ESC only in February when the selection takes place and on the three days they have to broadcast it. BBC’s attitude is really… Read more »
I wouldn’t say the Brits are not interested, trust me on Eurovision night everyone is watching, the BBC is just really not trying, and most expect good results with ‘meh’ song like storm. Storm is not a bad song but all the countries (most) that came ahead of it in the voting were simply just better and every year there is at least one underated song and in 2017 the UK just fell in that trap.
Some Brit being a crybaby again about the UK’s Eurovision participation. What’s new?
As if the UK’s track record was that bad, they’re no Czech Republic or Switzerland. Please.
no I’m sorry the reason why we haven’t been doing well is simply because we don’t send the right songs, and people forget about us, how Portugal can win last year after 50 years in the contest with never winning, or even a top 5, Israel win after 20 years, and Germany and Austria and Cyprus this year getting their best results ever in the contest, all because there songs have been catchy, well remembered and people liked it, maybe if we cared a bit more and put more effort in we would get a result like they do. Europe… Read more »
Hahahahaha okay. enjoy your flop album, has-beens.
Oh come on, we Germans practically invented failing at ESC and Michael Schulte was 4th place this year regardless of that. So what went differently 2018? We sent a memorable entry, a good song with a good singer. That’s all. If the UK keeps sending bad or boring songs, you’re indeed not going to go anywhere. But not because of Brexit, bc honestly people don’t care.
We can only hope with the brand new team that things will change!
I’m pretty sure you were fourth because you were the only ones who had an LED screen. It’s kinda like what Poland did in JESC this year with sending a star, knowing that all of her fans can vote for her. It’s technically still following the rules, but it’s a pretty shitty move.
Cool theory but Germany DIDN’T use LED’s in Lisbon. Schulte’s graphics were made by projection mapping. Russia and Estonia also used projection mapping, the three countries shared the cost of the projector, remember how it was almost too expensive for Estonia?
There was one country who used their own LED screens in Lisbon. Malta. The LED’s were no help for Christabelle!!
Katherine Jenkins o with another song from Andrew Lloyd Webber and UK will be in TOP 5 , if juries push them so hard like Seden 2012,2015, Australia 20, Portugal 2017, Austria 2018 they have chance to win.
With good song they have chance. many songs from 80 s, 90 s from UK in contest, sound better than their song from 00 s. From 2000 , I like song from 2000,2009,2014. And UK didn t deserved to won in 1981 (they won like Latvia 2002 thanks to clever staging of song) For me better song in 1981 had Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal,Denmark,Israel,Ireland, Sweden than UK
She’s right. It would be a miracle if the UK ever won again…with its current attitude. The fact that they’re still obsessed over the nil points debacle (which they kind of deserved) from 15 years ago. Germany and Austria got nil points in 2015 and, 3 years later, they both made the top 5. They send uninteresting slop for 3 out of the last 4 years, that’s why, other than Lucie, they’ve finished in the bottom 5. Besides, a member of Bucks Fizz, the least talented singers to win Eurovision possibly ever, shouldn’t say these things.
Terry Wogan said, while commenting in Riga, that the 2003 nil points debacle was caused by post-Iraq backlash. Not sure if it was meant to be serious, but if it was damn, some Brits just can’t see themselves lose anything.
Other countries in the Iraq war (France, Poland) didn’t get nil points! Sh*t excuse really
Come on, saying the UK won’t ever win is on the one hand foolish and on the other hand shows ignorance as to what kind of song is needed. The BBC can send great artists and greater songs but they always go for the old and dated song. Storm was a bad song lacking in all aspects except for the singer. Send in good pop/rock songs or an emotional ballad and you may win. Italy is the atudy case for the UK to learn from.
Send Adele or Ed Sheeran or Sting and you will win. You come bottom 5 because you send amateurs whose only gigs were at cruise ships and underground clubs.
Nah. Too big. They are fairly famous UK artists who’d be better off. Leona Lewis, Marina and the Diamonds, what have you.
It’s the song, not the artist, the most important thing at ESC. Jessica Mauboy is a huge star in Australia, but she came with that pancake anthem and see what happened.
I also think with the huge stars, they’d collapse due to overhype and expectations. That can also be an issue.
Winning Eurovision always is like a miracle. Steel stunned over our victory.
I know many British people who share this view. My parents consistently think the UK have one of the best songs of the year (I’m including Electro Velvet in that) and then my father in particular cries ‘fix’ when the UK doesn’t win. Me pointing out that Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands have been consistently doing well for a few years now despite all having very poor records up until around 2013 seems to fall on deaf ears. Me pointing out that Germany only scored 11 points between 2015 and 2017, and then suddenly scored 300+ this year, also didn’t… Read more »
If their view is that UK has the best song and thinks they dont win because of just Brexit. haha then its so wrong i cant even say how wrong it is. UK came last 2003 and 2010 and there was a GOOD reason for that.
You should also point out the fact to your parents that Portugal finally won Eurovision for the first time in 2017 after 49 times of participating with many years of bad results.
And can the UK fault “neighborly voting” when Ireland and Malta were two of the only countries consistently saving their bacon in the ’00s? (That 12 for Scooch will not be forgotten, Malta). Like, no country has ever won exclusively from neighborhood/diaspora votes. How the hell would Israel win when they don’t border any of the other competing countries, or Portugal who have only ever had support consistently from two (France and Spain, three if you count Andorra while they were in it but they didn’t factor into their victory)? Portugal broke through all the blocs, snatching twelves everywhere from… Read more »
The UK is caught in the bad circle of losing. When they lose, the Brits are less interested, the ratings go down, they invest less in it, and they send worse songs and they lose again. The main problem is that they ridicule their losers and effectively end their careers, which doesn’t encourage good singers to participate. In Sweden for example all singers in Melodifestivalen are elevated and celebrated whether they win or lose. Monica Zetterlund is known as one of the classic iconic Swedish singers of the 60s, despite getting to last place in eurovision in 1963. Participation in… Read more »
I wouldn’t say the Brits are not interested, trust me on Eurovision night everyone is watching, the BBC is just really not trying, and most expect good results with ‘meh’ song like storm. Storm is not a bad song but all the countries (most) that came ahead of it in the voting were simply just better and every year there is at least one underated song and in 2017 the UK just fell in that trap.
Its always the same thing: UK thinks they will never win and fans bashing Sweden and Australia because they are stupid and thinks they have bought the jurys. In that case they have forgot that Poland fixed their own win in JESC with 90% polish voters on Poland. So that is a real problem for EBU to solve. The other 2 dont even exist.
That was exactly what people thought here in Israel, that we can never win again I knew we just need to send a really strong song (because come on, we’ve sent some nice songs but not winners…) Then Netta came and I forced people to vote for her so we will send her xD I knew she would be the best choice and she won Eurovision, making people here understand we can win and all of Europe that any country is able to win as long as the entry is winner material The UK has struggled in recent years, that’s… Read more »
If we’re never outside the bottom 5, explain how we came 15th in 2017, 11th in 2011 and 5th in 2009? This is another example of how deluded some people from my country are! The BBC seem to be making some progress with Eurovision, but it’s very slow (not quick enough). I’m glad they’re trying something new with their national final this year (a method that last got the UK into the top 10 with the right song). There are many countries who do worse than the UK (even lately). For example, take Switzerland, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Spain. We need… Read more »
Did she lie though?
How exactly?
For example of the BBC gave it radio play on Radio 1, so long as it was a respectable entry that’s radio-friendly, the British Eurovision entry can have some momentum going into the contest, be a bit of a hit. And it’s much easier for a British chart hit or streaming hit to do well in Europe than it is for say an Estonian or even more a country like Sweden to have a hit in Britain, the BBC has the power to get European-wide exposure for their entry but they don’t put their resources to it.
she right in that UK got low places with good songs
Remember that Children of the universe was one of the favourites to win.
And personally, Love will set you free was perfect in my opinion, and I still don’t understand how he finished so low (I predicted top 5 after the performance).
“Children of the Universe” was in the top 20, barely a couple of places away from bottom 5.
The live performance was not that good.
He flopped because it was boring and totally dated.
Here we go again! So we’re never out of the bottom 5 you say (when we came 15th last year). We’ve been in the top 15 3 times in the last 10 years! You could ask any Brit on the street, and they’ll think we get ‘nil points’ every year.
There are so many countries that have not only waited longer for their next win, but have done far worse than the UK in modern times. The BBC are on the right track with You Decide and I feel we’re very slowly getting somewhere
Fully agree with you!
Here we go.. Another person who acts like he/she is a Eurovision expert while she’s completely clueless about it. For F’s Sake when did UK send a winner song and ended up in bottom 5??? Is she talking about “Still in Love with You”, “Storm” or other silly/boring stuff UK sent to Eurovision??
Then withdraw
shes right its a fix really we should of just drop out cause this show became too political europe hates us because of brexit even if we send Adele we would still get 0 points as usual this year we had a top 5 worthy song and she still came last because of politics im glad we are leaving the show because of brexit, bye europe
Im not sure if you’re trolling or drop dead serious. Just so you know: brexit doesn’t mean you guys aren’t part of europe anymore honey.
You’re talking out your ass
Brexit means exiting from the EU, not the EBU with a B.
Europe hates you? What a bull! You didn’t even get the lowest televotes for the past few years.
Even SuRie probably knew that she wouldn’t do well. And the Brits that didn’t feel her song, since “Storm” charted poorly in the UK.
The UK will win when the BBC decides that they want to win. That’s it.
Also, the UK are not the center of the universe to think that Europe really care about their brexitish dramas. Europe really don’t give a darn about it. Most of the past British entries were weak and/or lame, who would spend money vote for them?
Send a strong song and you will get a good result. You’ve already got the ticket to the Grand Final, so make it worth. Harsh but true.
BBC is profiting from UK entries being treated as a joke and that’s all there is to it.
How?
By sending strong entries that won’t be forgotten in the limbo. It’s a competition, not a parade.
Yes, if you keep sending “middle of the road” entries it’s indeed gonna be quite miraculous if you win one day.
It could be easy for UK to win, if they woud send acts like Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Adele, Ed Sheeran, ZAYN etc
They have worldwide careers, they wouldn’t touch Eurovision. There are many talented singers from the UK that aren’t well known
Paloma Faith and James Blunt both said they’d represent the UK. The issue is, the BBC is a controlling broadcaster. They want to control the entire project and performance. Bigger artists have their own style and creative directory and therefore don’t want to be a puppeteer.
Preach!
Even Poland’s broadcaster said they’ve been having a hard time courting big names for their national selection. This situation is not unique to just the UK.
Plus, since it’s a song contest, the song itself is what matters, not the artist.