After another frustrating year for the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest, two British artists have already ruled themselves out for Eurovision 2016. It looks like Electro Velvet’s disappointing (if expected) result in Vienna didn’t inspire confidence in British artists.
During an appearance on BBC Breakfast, Pop Idol‘s first ever winner Will Young was asked if he would represent the UK at Eurovision. He didn’t mince his words.
“No, I don’t think so because it’s going to be a bit of a poisoned chalice. I don’t want to do it. Please don’t make me do it.”
BBC Three’s semi-final commentator Scott Mills, who was at Radio 1’s Big Weekend, tipped former X Factor runner-up Olly Murs to represent the country, saying he would be ‘perfect’ for the Eurovision Song Contest.
However, all hopes were dashed when Murs responded to Scott’s suggestion in an interview with Digital Spy:
“No, I wouldn’t do Eurovision. Not that I wouldn’t do it, but I think it’s always something I’ve found… new artists normally do it. Not for me Scott, unfortunately.”
So what do you think? Can the UK attract another big name artist for Eurovision?
They have (like the rest of Europe) at least 6 months before the actual contest to select the song. Why not select, let’s say, 5 songs in December, promote them properly and then release them commercially, and whoever gets the best chart position gets to represent the UK. This way they test the songs, get proper exposure both in the Uk and in Europe (since the UK charts are, I think, the most followed music charts across Europe).
Ellie Goulding or Ella Henderson
@Eugene: I thought Simon Cowell hated Eurovision.
Whatever the case, it seems all academic that they should not have dismissed Kitty Brucknell’s “Yearning” without a second thought back in October.
@mawnck: Bonnie Tyler had absolutely nothing to lose. She was 61 and waaaaaay past her prime. The only thing Eurovision would allow her to do–if she had finished in the top 10–was go out with a bang. @Bronson is right. After the unprecedented disaster that was the bottom of the scoreboard, there is most definitely NO possible way a big dog in the industry will EVER consider participating in this contest. The only way that will happen in the U.K. is if the artist and/or his or her career has crossed over, from “still-in-their prime” to “winding-down” or “has-been”. They… Read more »
You’re all wrong. All of you. The UK is screwed. There’s NOTHING the BBC or anyone else can do about it. NOBODY WILL DO IT. ***NOBODY.*** Certainly nobody that anyone commenting here has put on their wish lists. Anyone even marginally capable of making money in the music industry would have to be demented to enter the ESC for the UK. It is a CAREER DESTROYER. There are no exceptions. There is no upside. It took out BONNIE TYLER, for crying out loud! If you had a national selection now, all the acts would be terrible, whether there were 5… Read more »
I feel so sorry about uk. The country with the biggest music industry in Europe and they-mostly- always send craps…
As others have said, it’s the song not the performer that is the key component! For me it comes down to if the song wouldnt be popular on UK radio then don’t send it to Eurovision. I initially thought the bbc introducing route had potential but Molly’s entry didn’t really work in the end because she had no big stage experience and it really showed, which will be true of so many introducing artists. In theory a selection show sounds like a good idea but so many people in the UK have no idea what Eurovision is now really about,… Read more »
Also, I don’t understand why the BBC hasn’t created a national selection show yet. There’s literally nothing on the T.V in January- when the X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing has finished.
@Luigi
This would be such a good idea to save The Voice. No one has become successful off of that show.
If I were Will Young I wouldn’t be so drastic. There’s a thing called Karma and I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes in 2018 with a ballad representing the UK. ;P
What people do not realise is that “a famous singer” mean nothign without a great song. Look at Bonnie Tyler, probably the most merited singer in 2013 but with a dated and bland song… it is so much more about the song than fame, look at the winners since 2010, lena wasnt famous before she won her national final and eurovision, ell/nikki wasnt famous, Loreen wasnt particularly famous before and won, emmelie was unknown, conchita wasnt famous before and Måns was famous in sweden but not abroad at all, so you see, fame means nothing without a great song. the… Read more »
Famous British artists are reluctant to participate because of the damage their reputation will get if they do not get a respectable placing. The BBC need to get their act together and look like they’re trying. If they can get consistent good results (such as Top 10) over a period of 5 or so years, then perhaps a famous singer will accept the offer, and then it kickstarts from there. The United Kingdom don’t need famous artists to do well, but that will help a lot. The BBC just need to use it to its full potential because it’s pretty… Read more »
Well, Guy Sebastian’s music is much better than Olly Murs and Will Young combined so I don’t see any harm…
@Robyn: Bookies picked Molly to finish 3rd the Monday before last year’s ESC. I figured her for 10th, after hearing the song and watching the video before the contest. If I must say so, 2 things might have worked against her: (1) She was singing last, where no one has won since 1989; and (2) perhaps the U.K. didn’t do as thoroughly a job of promoting her throughout Europe as they thought they did.
@beccaboo1212: The problem again is, if you send too big a star, you might risk a backlash. Guy Sebastian was in that territory, between hot-as-a-firecracker and on-his-way-to-winding-down, when the Aussies summoned him. Not too hot, not too cold. And it worked. So does sending someone still on the rise, because that person has less to lose if he or she fails… And again, in response to hurricane86 and E.R.E. Jones, someone launched petition for the introduction of a MelFest-style contest (the ESC Grand Prix; look it up on the Web) to select the U.K. participant. It may be time for… Read more »
I think BBC doesn’t have a clue anymore on how to do well. I think it is time to hand it over to ITV to let them try it out and see if they can fare any better. When the UK was in JESC they were in the top 3 2 out of 3 times and it was ITV as well. Also, Simon Cowell is with ITV and he owns one of the world’s biggest record company and has created some of the UK’s biggest talent searching shows. So maybe let them at least try.
Will You is a has-been so who cares.
Olly Murs said it’s something for young artists but at least he didnt call Eurovision a circus.
Leona Lewis should do it.
I think the UK should start sending more “legends” to Eurovision. They definitely sent Bonnie Tyler in 2013. 🙂 Here’s some of my choices for 2016: 01) Ellie Goulding. She has a stunning voice, and she could easily bring the UK back to the Top 5! And with a song like “Burn”, “I Need Your Love”, or “Love Me Like You Do”, who knows? The UK might win! 02) Jessie J. She has a terrific voice! With a song like “Mama Knows Best”, “Price Tag”, “Thunder”, “Nobody’s Perfect”, or “Bang Bang”, she could definitely bring the UK into the Top… Read more »
I can totally understand why established globally famous UK acts are not willing to do Eurovision. Imagine the potential reputation damage if someone massively popular loses the top spot to some one hit wonder from Belarus or whatever, not to mention how disastrous a non top 5 place would be.
I think song is the most important. If Electro Velvet had a decent song this years they would achieve much better place. Unfortunately, BBC seems to be clueless how to achieve good result – either the song is horrible (2015), staging is appalling (2014) or they send some outdated artists (2012 and 2013). Time to change BBC!
In my opinion the UK and Ireland need to get their stuff in order when it comes to the Eurovision. It will be a real smack in the face of my home country (Ireland) if TG4 manage a good if not great result in the JESC. It would leave RTE scratching their heads. They need to do the following in my eyes: 1) Increase the song numbers in our NF from 5 up to 10 just like they had in the 90’s. 2) Take it out of the damn Late Late Show, the acoustics are just plain awful and its… Read more »
I think it’s wrong to think, that Eurovision is only for new singers. It’s not Idols. Countries should send their best artists to Eurovision, not only new talents.
Katherine Jenkins with Andrew Lloyd Webber song for Eurovision 2016 and we wili UK in TOP 10 100 % and maybe 50 % TOP 5.
This whole ‘we need a well known artist’ thing we have in the UK is just nonsense, we should stick to unknown artists with great voices, STAGE PRESENCE and a brilliant song! Or groups etc, but we need something current and modern and not tacky or half arsed. I do not believe that there aren’t any high quality unknown artists in the UK that would give Eurovision a go. If the BBC are intent on having a somewhat established artist, they should pick someone who’s out there but is still waiting for mainstream success, like the singer Delilah or the… Read more »
@hurricane86, @E.R.E. Jones: Someone put forth a MelFest-style proposal in March:
https://www.change.org/p/bbc-guy-freeman-channel-4-create-a-uk-melodifestivalen-eurovision-national-selection-format
https://twitter.com/ESCGrandPrix
Methinks it’s time for the creator of this proposal to fire up the engine once again.
@Daniel: Excellent! CHVRCHES are not so overly-well-known that their participation would prompt other countries to punish them. Once more, they are not considered to be has-beens, either. With a well-thought-out song, they might actually score bigger points. They would, however, do well to wait until mid-to-late-February, to actually STUDY their would-be competition (which this year’s participants and production team obviously DIDN’T do) before committing a song to the EBU.
I am not sure if the contest would be as enjoyable if big names participated. Can you imagine Adele sitting down for an interview with wiwibloggs or spending five minutes chatting into the webcam of escxtra ? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but such acts would not be as accessible
I would love to see CHVRCHES be the our representatives.
Just withdraw for many years already. Why can’t they only afford to watch the contest without them participating?
I also think BBC should give itv eurovision as when itv had jesc they sent really good songs that would get 3rd and even 2nd and this was the same time when people were moaning about political voting eg 2003 2004
The UK has amazing musicians. I just wish one of them would actually put their hands up and represent their country! Its such a shame that other countries participants take pride in representing their nations (eg Hersi got a tatoo of her countries symbol just for her postcard last year; the emotions that Australia showed for being part of Eurovision this year; and so forth), yet not even a single major UK artist would stand up for their nation even after witnessing year after year the embarassment their country suffers? How can participating at Eurovision be detrimental to their career… Read more »
As is apparent by the last few years winners of ESC is that its NOT how famous the singer is that is the most important. It is the SONG and performance.
This is wat we should do!! Bbc should scrap the voice but use the prize that is recieved in the voice to find a eurovision winner. I think it should have a national like eurovision where each region would choose a singer from their region internally and battle it out to win the prize which would be represent the uk in Eurovision and also get a record deal. They also have to be a songwriter as well. This would be a great idea as they would receive promotion from eurovision and touring and record labels usually look out for singer… Read more »
(@Victoria) Anyone who thinks the UK lacks talent may as well come from Mars. Take your pick! In the past few years, the likes of Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Adele, Take That, One Direction, Amy Winehouse, Paloma Faith, Paolo Nuttini, Ellie Goulding, Calvin Harris and Jessie J have dominated the world’s pop charts time and time again. The UK leads Europe in the folk, nu-folk, rock, hip-hop and singer-songwriter music- any European album or single chart will tell you this. The problem is undoubtedly the way the BBC sources new talent for Eurovision and the lack of public involvement in… Read more »
Uk has so many GreAtY artists that could throw in the arena of our Vision…With the right GreAtY song they could do really well…So i think that they should really take the risk & just fly the flag 4 Kingdom in our EuroVision..
Will Young should re consider and change his mind..
4 him it might seems like chaltice with poison but it will taste good & will not hurt him..
In my opinion the BBC have totally lost their way with Eurovision. Eurovision has moved on but the BBC hasn’t, and it still thinks that Eurovision is a cheesy novelty show to be mocked. A simple way to get big name artists interested is to hand the broadcasting rights to another company (ITV, Channel 4) who might be able to market Eurovision in the UK in a way that befits its status as a major modern music competition instead of a bit of a joke. Failing that, and assuming that it actually wants to keep broadcasting Eurovision in the UK,… Read more »
UK is so untalanted, they can’t even find a decent artist.
Wait 10 or so years, they will be dying to go on Eurovision for publicity. Anywho, I think BBC should stick to BBC Introducing like they did with Molly in 2014. I like they used the concept (which they already had for ages) and like Olly said it (Eurovision) can be used to further introduce the new artists.
Who the UK send isn’t the problem at all ! I think it’s obvious that if UK want to do well than BBC should invest in a better song if they are going to keep on internally selecting their artists.